Hi everyone!
My name is Jack and, like many things in my musical life, I didn't choose to play bass guitar, it chose me. My main focus is songwriting, and that grew from humble beginnings as a teenager writing poetry and short fiction. Words were (and still are) my Lego bricks. Of course I loved music - anything, really - but I never thought I'd be a musician. Until I learned my first chord on a nylon acoustic guitar: E-minor. I've always had natural rhythm. Well, many would just say I had a nervous condition because of my incessant tapping and banging on anything with a little feedback: table tops, pots & pans, and random parts of my body. I found keeping a steady rhythm on that little Em-chord felt natural, i.e. not hard work at all. As I expanded my musical vocabulary, it didn't take long for my muscle memory to do its work. I surprised myself within a couple of weeks that I was 'writing' decent three-chord songs with few chord mishaps. It felt good, really good ...
Fast forward a couple of years and I started collaborating with other musicians. As I was writing most of the songs it only seemed logical for me to try and sing the songs. No one else put their hand up. Dare I say, I found my voice and the rest, as they say, is history.
What's this got to do with bass guitar? Well, I had been playing 6-string guitar for more than 20 years and my band already had a very competent guitarist. It just didn't sit right having two guitars. And, besides, I could never compete with the other guitar as a strummer and singer. Then one day, about three years ago, the band suggested maybe I could play bass guitar. At first, I didn't like the idea because of all the time and money I had already invested in all my guitar stuff. More importantly, I wasn't looking forward to the learning curve in front of me. All this aside, I borrowed a friend's 777 bass and - POW! - I was hooked. Finally I could hear myself in the overall mix. I had my own special place in the music and I liked what I heard. My natural rhythm and previous knowledge of the guitar meant the learning curve wasn't very steep at all. Sure, it's no walk-in-the-park, but I certainly didn't feel like I was holding the music back. I knew within a couple of months that I had found my instrument.
Currently, I play a Fender Precision Highway One (2008) with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders. It's US-made and I picked it up second hand for exactly A$1000. A bargain! And I love that Badass bridge! Plus, I had a custom scratch plate done based on my heritage.
Now, I'm at bass amp stage. I currently borrow a Laney amp, but it's starting to show its limitations. It just doesn't seem to cut-the-mustard in an energetic band setting. In the next few weeks I hope to get a Fender Rumble 500, either combo or rig (210 or 410).
Thanks for reading.
My name is Jack and, like many things in my musical life, I didn't choose to play bass guitar, it chose me. My main focus is songwriting, and that grew from humble beginnings as a teenager writing poetry and short fiction. Words were (and still are) my Lego bricks. Of course I loved music - anything, really - but I never thought I'd be a musician. Until I learned my first chord on a nylon acoustic guitar: E-minor. I've always had natural rhythm. Well, many would just say I had a nervous condition because of my incessant tapping and banging on anything with a little feedback: table tops, pots & pans, and random parts of my body. I found keeping a steady rhythm on that little Em-chord felt natural, i.e. not hard work at all. As I expanded my musical vocabulary, it didn't take long for my muscle memory to do its work. I surprised myself within a couple of weeks that I was 'writing' decent three-chord songs with few chord mishaps. It felt good, really good ...
Fast forward a couple of years and I started collaborating with other musicians. As I was writing most of the songs it only seemed logical for me to try and sing the songs. No one else put their hand up. Dare I say, I found my voice and the rest, as they say, is history.
What's this got to do with bass guitar? Well, I had been playing 6-string guitar for more than 20 years and my band already had a very competent guitarist. It just didn't sit right having two guitars. And, besides, I could never compete with the other guitar as a strummer and singer. Then one day, about three years ago, the band suggested maybe I could play bass guitar. At first, I didn't like the idea because of all the time and money I had already invested in all my guitar stuff. More importantly, I wasn't looking forward to the learning curve in front of me. All this aside, I borrowed a friend's 777 bass and - POW! - I was hooked. Finally I could hear myself in the overall mix. I had my own special place in the music and I liked what I heard. My natural rhythm and previous knowledge of the guitar meant the learning curve wasn't very steep at all. Sure, it's no walk-in-the-park, but I certainly didn't feel like I was holding the music back. I knew within a couple of months that I had found my instrument.
Currently, I play a Fender Precision Highway One (2008) with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders. It's US-made and I picked it up second hand for exactly A$1000. A bargain! And I love that Badass bridge! Plus, I had a custom scratch plate done based on my heritage.
Now, I'm at bass amp stage. I currently borrow a Laney amp, but it's starting to show its limitations. It just doesn't seem to cut-the-mustard in an energetic band setting. In the next few weeks I hope to get a Fender Rumble 500, either combo or rig (210 or 410).
Thanks for reading.
