Well hello there,
thank you for showing interest in me.
A long, long time ago I was visiting a few friends of mine who were in a band. They weren't particularly looking to become famous or well-known.
I enjoyed going to see them practise as we had a good laugh and they appreciated my opinion and input (or so I keep telling myself).
Being friends and all, I often accompanied them to go to the local music store (read: drove them there) and was intrigued by the amount of instruments, and was quite baffled with the different techniques that came with each instrument.
Me, being not very skinny and quite big in both shape and weight, found the bass appealing. It's a large instrument with thick strings wich produces (in my opinion at least) the best sound known to man; bass. Let me put it this way; if i can make a room shake with the stroke of a finger, I feel all good and I enjoy it. don't get me wrong, it's not the reason I picked up the bass, it was more of a day-dream at that very moment.
The band I was with didn't have a bassist, and so I jokingly said I'd buy a bass and join them. They laughed as well and it was over for that day.
Later that night I kept thinking of playing the bass. I looked up video's and artists till the early morning.
The next day, I went to to store and picked up my first bass; and Ibanez srg-200. The cheapest available.
I purely wanted something just to see if it was something for me.
I did not get a strap, amp, cord or anything that was unnecessary (i know, i know).
At home I was just learning how to finger my bass (the instrument, not my fish) and adjusting every single screw I could find. As a result (hey, I was young!) My bass was close to unplayable. That didn't matter though, I could barely produce anything at all.
Later that night, I went to band practise, and we had a good laugh about it. A friend taught me the very basics of playing bass in a band and I quote ''just keep doing this and you're just fine.'' He then showed me to pick away at the E string.
Later that weekend I picked up an amp(combo, just for home use) an Ibanez somethingsomething 30 watts. Along with some cable and a random strap.
In the time to follow that I kept practising with a pick, since that's how I've been taught (in five minutes, mind you) and I have been generally gathering upgrades here and there.
I got straplocks, potmods (am I saying that right? I changed the knobs for other knobs), a stompbox (line6 recommended thing here on TB back then) and I recently got myself a wireless kit, a(n) Hartke HA3500 amp and Ashdown 410 T cabinet.
A new bass is on it's way (hopefully). I ordered the ESP LTD F-415 back in April and found out that the delivery time is awful. It *should* arrive somewhere this month though.
anyway, that would be a five stringer with, dare I say, better hardware and electronics.
Over all this time I have learned some very important lessons;
Don't adjust every screw you can find. (sorry action and neck)
Don't put magnets on your strings trying to improve sound. (I must have been drinking :/ sorry pickups)
Don't not use straplocks. (sorry headstock)
Get a strap. (sorry shoulder)
Don't plug in your bass directly to your PC. (sorry speakers)
Don't floss using the E string. (sorry teeth)
And lastly, and maybe most importantly in my case; Don't let me and my Paypal loose on an internet music shop. (sorry wallet)
I tried to keep this history short and brief, but I guess that is hard to do.
Anyway, today I'm still using everything mentioned above, since I picked up my first bass about four or five months ago.
I really enjoy playing it, trying new techniques, and my desire (dream?) is to build my own bass from scratch.
Hopefully it was a good read and I haven't bored you.
If I have, please e-mail me and I will reimburse your lost time with hugs.
Thom
thank you for showing interest in me.
A long, long time ago I was visiting a few friends of mine who were in a band. They weren't particularly looking to become famous or well-known.
I enjoyed going to see them practise as we had a good laugh and they appreciated my opinion and input (or so I keep telling myself).
Being friends and all, I often accompanied them to go to the local music store (read: drove them there) and was intrigued by the amount of instruments, and was quite baffled with the different techniques that came with each instrument.
Me, being not very skinny and quite big in both shape and weight, found the bass appealing. It's a large instrument with thick strings wich produces (in my opinion at least) the best sound known to man; bass. Let me put it this way; if i can make a room shake with the stroke of a finger, I feel all good and I enjoy it. don't get me wrong, it's not the reason I picked up the bass, it was more of a day-dream at that very moment.
The band I was with didn't have a bassist, and so I jokingly said I'd buy a bass and join them. They laughed as well and it was over for that day.
Later that night I kept thinking of playing the bass. I looked up video's and artists till the early morning.
The next day, I went to to store and picked up my first bass; and Ibanez srg-200. The cheapest available.
I purely wanted something just to see if it was something for me.
I did not get a strap, amp, cord or anything that was unnecessary (i know, i know).
At home I was just learning how to finger my bass (the instrument, not my fish) and adjusting every single screw I could find. As a result (hey, I was young!) My bass was close to unplayable. That didn't matter though, I could barely produce anything at all.
Later that night, I went to band practise, and we had a good laugh about it. A friend taught me the very basics of playing bass in a band and I quote ''just keep doing this and you're just fine.'' He then showed me to pick away at the E string.
Later that weekend I picked up an amp(combo, just for home use) an Ibanez somethingsomething 30 watts. Along with some cable and a random strap.
In the time to follow that I kept practising with a pick, since that's how I've been taught (in five minutes, mind you) and I have been generally gathering upgrades here and there.
I got straplocks, potmods (am I saying that right? I changed the knobs for other knobs), a stompbox (line6 recommended thing here on TB back then) and I recently got myself a wireless kit, a(n) Hartke HA3500 amp and Ashdown 410 T cabinet.
A new bass is on it's way (hopefully). I ordered the ESP LTD F-415 back in April and found out that the delivery time is awful. It *should* arrive somewhere this month though.
anyway, that would be a five stringer with, dare I say, better hardware and electronics.
Over all this time I have learned some very important lessons;
Don't adjust every screw you can find. (sorry action and neck)
Don't put magnets on your strings trying to improve sound. (I must have been drinking :/ sorry pickups)
Don't not use straplocks. (sorry headstock)
Get a strap. (sorry shoulder)
Don't plug in your bass directly to your PC. (sorry speakers)
Don't floss using the E string. (sorry teeth)
And lastly, and maybe most importantly in my case; Don't let me and my Paypal loose on an internet music shop. (sorry wallet)
I tried to keep this history short and brief, but I guess that is hard to do.
Anyway, today I'm still using everything mentioned above, since I picked up my first bass about four or five months ago.
I really enjoy playing it, trying new techniques, and my desire (dream?) is to build my own bass from scratch.
Hopefully it was a good read and I haven't bored you.
If I have, please e-mail me and I will reimburse your lost time with hugs.
Thom
I think your previous bass is just a small price that you paid for your curiosity, your first step towards your own/self-built bass 
