Recent content by Phinn

What criteria is someone supposed to use to determine whether someone else is overpaid or underpaid? How do you know? What information is that calculation to be based on? Where does this information come from? How is it better information than what the actual buyer and seller involved in the...

Income is a matter of the value of the goods that you provide to others AND the extent to which you can be replaced. I value the food I eat very highly, since I can't grow or farm or hunt it on my own in time for dinner. In that sense, the people who are involved in creating and delivering my...

I grew up in SATX, and spent half my childhood in and around Pipe Creek. I learned to drive a car out there. (A truck, actually.) Now I live in a town in Florida of about 10,000. It's less than an hour from a big mall, and 2 hours away from 2 major US cities. So we have the small town life, but...

Rhythm is at least as important as scales. Every rhythm (other than an endless series of quarter notes) is comprised of a contrast between the strong (emphasized) notes and the weak (de-emphasized) notes. The pattern of that contrast is what makes a rhythm unique. This rhythmic contrast is an...

Time spent eating and sleeping is time not playing bass. Therefore, if you're truly dedicated, you'll never eat or sleep again.

I can't imagine being nearly kicked out of a band ... because of your strap height. Of all the things to worry about. Had all the other problems in the world been solved at that moment? Freaking drummers.

Exercise is extremely important. You don't have to make fitness an obsession, but exercising should be as normal as eating, sleeping and brushing your teeth. It's what intelligent people do to maintain themselves. Pretending that your body doesn't need these things is like pretending that...

I bought one from a high school student off of Craigslist for $40, and it's just fine. He was in the school band, and the director did the setup on it. Action and relief were perfect. But the pickups are mediocre, and I hated the roundwounds he had on there. And it had a scratchy volume pot. A...

I was on page 3 before I saw that the thread was 12 years old. Damn! It was started less than a month after 9/11. My son is only 9. Two-thirds of my basses are newer than this thread. Anyhoo, a bass is played with the neck held more vertically than a guitar is. Maybe if you play with a pick...

I can't speak from experience, but it would appear that, yes, the upside of using a horizontal bass position is that it is easier to play with a pick. The downside of playing that way is that it sounds like you're playing a bass with a pick.

At least he's not holding it horizontally! I wonder if he plays that stand-mounted NXT in the background the same way.

Yes, it differs. Take a look at classical guitarists. They play with all 5 fingers, seated. The neck is held angled way up high, with the left foot on a raised footstool. Or a cello. It is bowed, and occasionally plucked. It is nearly vertical. Or a double bass -- played with fingers...

I think showmanship is awesome. I just think it's hilarious how you think your strap height is such an indispensable part of your showmanship.

Comfort is a play better thing. They're the same thing. Especially long-term.

I'd focus on getting the neck angle right. Once you do that, the correct height is much easier to find, and it becomes much less critical. In other words, the neck angle matters much more than the strap height. If your wrist hurts, raise your neck. Mine hovers between 45 to 60 degrees...