Hey folks, for those new to the diary, I am a middle aged musician enjoying a bit of a musical renaissance, including finally picking up the bass as a secondary instrument. I have been learning mostly on the fly gigging in a duo/trio, and documenting my gigs with brief writeups. See the links to past entries below!
So, anything interesting happen in the past 6 months? A *lot* has changed for me! For those new to the diary (see below!), I picked up bass "seriously" in Dec 2024, and joined a duo/sometimes trio that I played with from January to August. I learned a lot, both about bass, playing with other musicians, interpersonal dynamics, and conflict resolution! Fun times that you can read about below.
Long story short, the project ended up being a goose egg, and fell apart. I was very disillusioned coming out of it, and decided to put my focus back on guitar 100% for a while. I spent the rest of 2024 gigging solo on acoustic guitar, or in my duo with my main musical partner. I had never really learned any theory, and started making it a heavy focus for the late Summer/Fall. I started improvising solos during our gigs, and my playing definitely improved.
I sold off every piece of bass gear I had, including my dear Mustang that I miss now. I don't regret it, as that wasn't my focus, but the low end kept calling..
Fast forward to early Jan, and a guy had a Sterling Stingray 5 up for sale. I offered him a trade, and he took it! I more or less took it home, and jumped in on an impromptu jam that came together this past Friday at a well known blues bar, hosted by my friend "Frank". Yes regular readers, *that* Frank. I preemptively nipped the previous issue of him not ensuring everyone knew the song being played by specifically requesting that he ensure everyone knew the chords & key for a given song. My main collaborator was there on lead guitar, with Frank on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, me on bass only (recovering from a nasty flu), and a wonderful piano player.
It got messy at times, and having both never played this bass before, nor played a 5 string, I kept things fairly simple. I thought it went pretty good for a thrown together deal. We had a well known local blues player jump up for a solo on "After Midnight" which was super cool. The only issue was towards the end, Frank wanted to play some reggae, which is not a strong point for any of the rest of us. He didn't clearly communicate the chords, and it kindof went off the rails. I brought it back around towards the end tho. The issue was that before I did, Frank said on mic to the audience "we don't know the chords" with a shrug. I was livid. I came *very* close to walking off the stage, but I decided to tough it out. This had been a problem before, and I wasn't having it. The jam got better from then on, and was on balance a great time out. We played for about 2.5 hours, all off the cuff. My pal Jim really opened up on lead, and showed off some of his chops. It was his first time playing electric live since high school, which was a cool deal.
So I messaged Frank about the callout. I took the high road, but told him that I didn't appreciate being called out, and that the only way it was going to work is if everyone knew what was going on. I think he understood, and thanked me for coming down.
Now, part two!
Frank is hosting a kind of "band recruitment" under the guise of an "open jam" at a venue he regularly plays at (not the blues bar from Friday). Jim wanted to go also, so it was the three of us from Friday minus the piano player. This one went *very* well. There was almost noone at the bar, so we basically got to have a proper rehearsal (which was kindof the idea, it was early in the evening before the bar picks up). We did a solid hour, and almost everything went well, which everyone agreed on. I really focused on keeping time/the groove, and was less busy in my lines than I like to be, as I focused on rhythm and accents. Frank made sure everyone knew the song/key/chords, and even made some helpful bassline suggestions. I jokingly said to Jim after that Frank was on his best behavior, perhaps finally getting the message after I admonished him for his callout Friday night,
Both guitarists were on point, taking turns on solos, one playing rhythm, the other doing accents, etc. I kindof stayed in the corner lost in the groove. I liked a lot of the lines I came up with, and the 5th string felt MUCH more comfortable than it did at the jam a few days prior. As an aside, while from a monetary value I downgraded going from what I had to this Sterling Stingray5, I think it's my favorite of the basses i've had. I've longed for a Stingray for close on 20 years, and this is a real deal Stingray IMHO. I absolutely love the 2-band EQ, and find it much more intuitive to dial in than either the Fender Deluxe Active MIM I had, or the Sire active basses I played. I like it better than the passive single tone of my previous Mustang also.
This was probably my best band performance on bass yet. I did a lot less, but what I did was much tighter, more in the pocket, and when I would make a mistake, rather than let the groove go, I would lay out and catch up without throwing the groove off. I felt like an actual bassist finally!
It was a little awkward when Frank's "band" bassist showed up during our last song, and was kindof throwing a nervous look at me. We ended with "You Can't Always Get What You Want", and he announced that we'd be back after a break, at which point his bassist realized what was going on. Maybe I should give him a tutorial in "Frank 101", lol!
Anyway, I am *so* glad I didn't give up on bass. Ironically, I made the most gains by taking the break I did. I never stopped thinking in bass notes, and finally the allure was too much to resist. I am fine with playing in jams here and there, and continuing to refine my playing.
As a hilarious coincidence, Frank's bassist looks at mine as I was packing up, and says "what is that a Stingray"? I said "Yeah, but an import one". He says "my bass is like yours, but a four string", which it turned out hilariously that he meant *literally* as you can see below!
See you on the next one!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight
| Facebook
2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
16th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-16-coda.1658000/#post-28611190
17th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-17-et-iterum.1658933/#post-28643352
So, anything interesting happen in the past 6 months? A *lot* has changed for me! For those new to the diary (see below!), I picked up bass "seriously" in Dec 2024, and joined a duo/sometimes trio that I played with from January to August. I learned a lot, both about bass, playing with other musicians, interpersonal dynamics, and conflict resolution! Fun times that you can read about below.
Long story short, the project ended up being a goose egg, and fell apart. I was very disillusioned coming out of it, and decided to put my focus back on guitar 100% for a while. I spent the rest of 2024 gigging solo on acoustic guitar, or in my duo with my main musical partner. I had never really learned any theory, and started making it a heavy focus for the late Summer/Fall. I started improvising solos during our gigs, and my playing definitely improved.
I sold off every piece of bass gear I had, including my dear Mustang that I miss now. I don't regret it, as that wasn't my focus, but the low end kept calling..
Fast forward to early Jan, and a guy had a Sterling Stingray 5 up for sale. I offered him a trade, and he took it! I more or less took it home, and jumped in on an impromptu jam that came together this past Friday at a well known blues bar, hosted by my friend "Frank". Yes regular readers, *that* Frank. I preemptively nipped the previous issue of him not ensuring everyone knew the song being played by specifically requesting that he ensure everyone knew the chords & key for a given song. My main collaborator was there on lead guitar, with Frank on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, me on bass only (recovering from a nasty flu), and a wonderful piano player.
It got messy at times, and having both never played this bass before, nor played a 5 string, I kept things fairly simple. I thought it went pretty good for a thrown together deal. We had a well known local blues player jump up for a solo on "After Midnight" which was super cool. The only issue was towards the end, Frank wanted to play some reggae, which is not a strong point for any of the rest of us. He didn't clearly communicate the chords, and it kindof went off the rails. I brought it back around towards the end tho. The issue was that before I did, Frank said on mic to the audience "we don't know the chords" with a shrug. I was livid. I came *very* close to walking off the stage, but I decided to tough it out. This had been a problem before, and I wasn't having it. The jam got better from then on, and was on balance a great time out. We played for about 2.5 hours, all off the cuff. My pal Jim really opened up on lead, and showed off some of his chops. It was his first time playing electric live since high school, which was a cool deal.
So I messaged Frank about the callout. I took the high road, but told him that I didn't appreciate being called out, and that the only way it was going to work is if everyone knew what was going on. I think he understood, and thanked me for coming down.
Now, part two!
Frank is hosting a kind of "band recruitment" under the guise of an "open jam" at a venue he regularly plays at (not the blues bar from Friday). Jim wanted to go also, so it was the three of us from Friday minus the piano player. This one went *very* well. There was almost noone at the bar, so we basically got to have a proper rehearsal (which was kindof the idea, it was early in the evening before the bar picks up). We did a solid hour, and almost everything went well, which everyone agreed on. I really focused on keeping time/the groove, and was less busy in my lines than I like to be, as I focused on rhythm and accents. Frank made sure everyone knew the song/key/chords, and even made some helpful bassline suggestions. I jokingly said to Jim after that Frank was on his best behavior, perhaps finally getting the message after I admonished him for his callout Friday night,
Both guitarists were on point, taking turns on solos, one playing rhythm, the other doing accents, etc. I kindof stayed in the corner lost in the groove. I liked a lot of the lines I came up with, and the 5th string felt MUCH more comfortable than it did at the jam a few days prior. As an aside, while from a monetary value I downgraded going from what I had to this Sterling Stingray5, I think it's my favorite of the basses i've had. I've longed for a Stingray for close on 20 years, and this is a real deal Stingray IMHO. I absolutely love the 2-band EQ, and find it much more intuitive to dial in than either the Fender Deluxe Active MIM I had, or the Sire active basses I played. I like it better than the passive single tone of my previous Mustang also.
This was probably my best band performance on bass yet. I did a lot less, but what I did was much tighter, more in the pocket, and when I would make a mistake, rather than let the groove go, I would lay out and catch up without throwing the groove off. I felt like an actual bassist finally!
It was a little awkward when Frank's "band" bassist showed up during our last song, and was kindof throwing a nervous look at me. We ended with "You Can't Always Get What You Want", and he announced that we'd be back after a break, at which point his bassist realized what was going on. Maybe I should give him a tutorial in "Frank 101", lol!
Anyway, I am *so* glad I didn't give up on bass. Ironically, I made the most gains by taking the break I did. I never stopped thinking in bass notes, and finally the allure was too much to resist. I am fine with playing in jams here and there, and continuing to refine my playing.
As a hilarious coincidence, Frank's bassist looks at mine as I was packing up, and says "what is that a Stingray"? I said "Yeah, but an import one". He says "my bass is like yours, but a four string", which it turned out hilariously that he meant *literally* as you can see below!
See you on the next one!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight
| Facebook2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
16th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-16-coda.1658000/#post-28611190
17th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-17-et-iterum.1658933/#post-28643352
Last edited:
