Yeah I'm really obsessive about tuning before I play, LOL. There's really not much to fuss over when you're just the "bassist" so I let the lead guitarist go through all his rituals and I just watch.
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Do you have any bass rituals?
- Thread starter Jason Wilson
- Start date
I usually grab two beers and a shot from the bar and put them on stage, then empty EVERYTHING out of my pockets, and tune. At that point I'm good to go... and if I'm lucky the shot hasn't spilled by the time I get to it half way through the set.
On Friday. I commented to my wife, "We have a lot less to schlep around when it's only the two of us playing".
Got to the gig. Unloaded, and wife asked "Where's the amp?"
Doh!
It was a Fools on Stools gig, and wife had to do it with just her and her acoustic guitar. She did OK, I died of embarrassment..
A friend's band just failed to do that. There was an irreplaceable acoustic guitar sitting on the running board. :-(
I find it physically difficult not to play the harmonic run at the beginning of "Portrait Of Tracy" when I pick up a bass. I'm not particularly a Jaco obsessive, it's got to sound pretentious as hell to any listeners who recognize it, but my hands just *go* there.
-NT
One different thing than those mentioned: wash my hands, preferably with hot water. Suggested by Lane Baldwin, I love it. Warms up the hands a bit, gets the blood flowing, and I just prefer addressing the strings with clean hands. It's at this time that my bladder usually figures out if it needs to be emptied, too.
Then I tune silently, then I do a line check, which can be involved if I have the full pedal board b/c I check that each pedal / FX loop is working, and I may adjust some gain staging given the room. Then silent again and I play some scales for warm-up, slowly and quietly first, then faster and louder.
I usually don't EQ much until the band starts, and then I try to be gentle with EQ adjustments. Usually also some gain-staging goes on here, too.
Then I tune silently, then I do a line check, which can be involved if I have the full pedal board b/c I check that each pedal / FX loop is working, and I may adjust some gain staging given the room. Then silent again and I play some scales for warm-up, slowly and quietly first, then faster and louder.
I usually don't EQ much until the band starts, and then I try to be gentle with EQ adjustments. Usually also some gain-staging goes on here, too.
Without TMI: I always use the commode at home before I leave for a gig. Stomach problems are the last thing I want when I go on stage
I always put my truck keys and anything in my pockets in my gig bag. No ritual or affect to my playing, just don't like stuff in my pockets.
Same here, except I include the neck and shoulders as well. Less kung-fu and more yoga, I guess, but if it helps prevent RSI, I'll do it.
Once I have the axe in hand, there's a few routine finger exercises I do *always* if I haven't played yet that day.
Before: the "spider" finger exercise, both on adjacent strings and skipping a string. Sounds kinda weird, if you're listening for key centers, but it gets my fingers halfway limber.
After: the neck flexion exercises in Robin McKenzie's book. Looks pretty weird, but it get any kinks out of my neck.
After: the neck flexion exercises in Robin McKenzie's book. Looks pretty weird, but it get any kinks out of my neck.
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Before band rehearsal and gigs: warm water wash the hands (yes, +1!), tune all basses, finger exercises and chromatic exercises up and down the neck on all strings on the bass I'm using first for my left hand while doing 1 - 2, 2 - 3, 1 - 3 finger exercises for the right hand. Check levels on pedals. Double check levels on pedals. If there's time, double check tuning before playing to make sure room temp hasn't messed with the original tune effort. Hit the head, PLAY!
Afterwards, wipe down basses w/clean cloth. One day I'm going to try those cleaner thingies...
YMMV
Afterwards, wipe down basses w/clean cloth. One day I'm going to try those cleaner thingies...
YMMV
- Oct 18, 2012
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- Endorsing Artist: Fender, Spector, Ampeg, Curt Mangan, Nordstrand Pickups, Korg , Conquest Sound
