Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[LBS-bass]

Passed on the LPF when I jumped as the cab sim on the VT Bass handles that. Technically it acts as a HPF as well, but a very gentle one.



One of these days I'll post a clip
with a bit more self-confidence

I wish you would! I would love to hear you play (along with everyone else here).

 

[Jeff Scott]

A Yamaha concert grand is (by everything I've heard) every bit the equal of a Steinway.

When I saw Chick Corea in '82 (with Bunny Brunel) he was touring with his own Yamaha concert grand. While I was taking a berimbau lesson with Naná Vasconcelos in the back alley I saw the road crew putting the piano in the truck.

Oh my, completely forgot about Martin! It's more than a half a lifetime ago ...

Did they start making those (saxes), too, in 1833?

Ibanez has a newish model out that's a hollowbody. I understand it's a tad under 6 pounds. Might be worth looking into.

View attachment 3731393

Isn't that facing the wrong direction?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

When I saw Chick Corea in '82 (with Bunny Brunel) he was touring with his own Yamaha concert grand. While I was taking a berimbau lesson with Naná Vasconcelos in the back alley I saw the road crew putting the piano in the truck.
Did they start making those (saxes), too, in 1833?

Isn't that facing the wrong direction?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

There used to be a music store nearby that specialized in brass and classical instruments. They also catered to schools until music programs in public schools died. I used to go in there and marvel at the array of instruments and the quality. They had a service shop that was always busy. It was an old business that looked like nothing changed in decades.

Alas, one day they were gone. Along with the shoemaker that made custom shoes and boots and the typewriter store next door. There were three violin makers, only one is left. The old man that crafted the instruments has long died, the kids run the business but only broker sales and import high end from distant lands.

When I was in college, there was a Baldwin Store nearby the U district. They sold school instruments, and interestingly, some commercial keyboards and amps. AND Baldwin guitars and basses. Maybe I was poor or young or something but the Baldwin amps/guitars/basses always seemed very well constructed and tasteful. The bass amps were pretty nice too. They are still there but have long since stopped selling for pro musicians and now concentrate on pianos and student instruments. But it was a cool place to visit.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I remember going by the Baldwin factory, once in a while, when I lived in Cinci.

 

[GwenOnBass]

March 4 is National Marching Band Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/marching-band-day/
(speaking of student instruments)

 

[LBS-bass]

I wanted to be a piano player when I was younger. Wish I'd kept at it. We had an upright Kawai in our dining room, and I used to wait for my parents to leave the house and then play all that crazy Rock and Roll they hated while they were out.

 

[GonePlaid]

I remember going by the Baldwin factory, once in a while, when I lived in Cinci.

I thought the Baldwin factory was in Eddystone, PA. Different Baldwin?

(Baldwin Locomotive Works)

 

[GonePlaid]

I wanted to be a piano player when I was younger. Wish I'd kept at it. We had an upright Kawai in our dining room, and I used to wait for my parents to leave the house and then play all that crazy Rock and Roll they hated while they were out.

Like the video.

 

[LBS-bass]

Like the video.

Thank you!

 

[GonePlaid]

March 4 is National Marching Band Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/marching-band-day/
(speaking of student instruments)

We used to say "what has 240 legs and stinks(or other word)"? Marching band.

 

[GonePlaid]

I wanted to be a piano player when I was younger. Wish I'd kept at it. We had an upright Kawai in our dining room, and I used to wait for my parents to leave the house and then play all that crazy Rock and Roll they hated while they were out.

I took 'regular' piano lessons starting around 7 y/o and maybe 3 years of 'jazz' piano up to ~17. Learned about reading chord symbols. Couldn't get used to playing left hand chords without the root being the lowest note. Just didn't sound right to me. Played clarinet then sax starting at 12 y/o. Went in the USN music program in 1964 on sax and some mediocre clarinet. Picked up bass in 67 while still playing Sailor. Ah-Ha! That's what was missing.

 

[BassmanPaul]

It's Wednesday and I just got back from my Periodontist appointment. My Gentle High Dentist said that everything is good! She asked me if I was still playing in a band and for the first time since I've been going there, 30+ years, I said no. She asked if I missed it and I do, very much so. Playing my bass has been a foundation of my life since 1962. Even coming here to offer what advice I can, I feel like a fraud!!

I've looked about and responded to some ads on Craigslist and have yet to receive a reply from anyone. Perhaps this is how my musical career ends. Not with a triumph but with a whimper!!

I see my dentist tomorrow. <sigh>

 

[spiritbass]

I solved the problem of getting rid of my student-grade (Bundy) trombone by trading it for my first bass. I played baritone horn in HS marching band and the USCG band when I was in boot camp. The HS band was average, the USCG band did not suck - we took a trophy away from the Marine Corps band that they had won for years running.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Promises, promises!

While unlikely I'll be recording anything I'm happy with anytime soon, I make a video recording every other week. It's humbling, and instructional, and what the sam hill am I doing recording myself

 

[steve_rolfeca]

1751729533

I too am beginning to feel the wisps of irritation through my shoulders to knees. I switched to Ibanez a long time ago because I liked the aggressive tone and small body and lightweight profile.
...One thing that I forgot to mention is that because of the big top horn and extreme body shape the neck pulls very close into your body so you don't suffer fatigue reaching for the low notes. Really a smart, clever and modern design.

Ibanez has a newish model out that's a hollowbody. I understand it's a tad under 6 pounds. Might be worth looking into.

Speaking as a former frozen shoulder and current sciatica sufferer, shoulder and neck pain are tricky.

Geometry matters a lot, and weight concerns are magnified in importance. I can easily carry a 40lb cab and a class D amp up and down flights of stairs to a gig, but I can't tolerate a 9lb bass around my neck any more.

If you have serious neck or shoulder complications, 6 1/2 pounds or less is your best bet, preferably with a short reach to the nut, and NO neck dive.

As @alaskaleftybass pointed out, there is a fretted version of the new Bass Workshop hollow body. If you can live with the Ibanez SR string spacing, that is definitely an option, apparently coming in at under 7lb:

SRH500 | SR | ELECTRIC BASSES | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars

Unfortunately, the tone and volume knobs don't provide a lot of tone shaping for the piezo-only electronics. As a result, I suspect that without an outboard preamp and parametric EQ, you can expect it to sound closer to an ABG than a conventional electric bass.

I haven't tried the fretted version, but the fretless left me cold. Also, the conventional scale length means that you're still reaching a fair amount.

Proper German Hofner Beatle basses are lighter than the copies from Epiphone, et al, and have conventional magnetic pickups. Unfortunately, the teardrop body is an issue if you play standing up. The nut hangs waaay out there despite the 30" scale, and the hanging balance is headstock-heavy.

There are a lot of other tasty 30" short scales out there, and some of the smaller-bodied ones are pretty ergonomic. The Fender Mustang comes to mind, although they are on the heavy side. Geometry is all over the map as well- for some reason, short-scale basses tend toward short upper horns.

Uke basses are always an alternative, but they're kind of a one-trick pony, and the silicone strings make for an odd feel- not just tension wise, but spacing because of the large diameter of the lower strings.


I'd like to suggest an alternative:

Based on personal experiments during my first major bout of sciatica, this is the perfect scenario for a guitar-scale ABG.

TLDR: I bought one of these as a practice toy to keep me from going nuts while I was immobilized by sciatica. To my surprise, it has become my #2, and gets a lot of home and stage use. They are the perfect couch bass, and it only takes a small amp to bump up the output for use at acoustic jams, open mics, church gigs, picnics, etc. With some careful EQ, they can sound much closer to an EB than a normal ABG with bronze-wound steel strings.

Long version:

There's a bunch of these little guys, using nylon-core strings (basically fat versions of the wound strings on a classical guitar) that come from D'Addario or La Bella.

Scale lengths vary from about 23" to 25", and the weight is generally between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 pounds (!!!). They balance nicely on a strap, and the reach to the nut is far easier on your shoulder and neck than any normal electric or acoustic bass.

At the low end, Ibanez has PNB14E with a 25" scale and a 12-fret parlour guitar body for $250. There's a lot of tone shaping available (bass and treble controls on the preamp), although they sometimes need some attention paid to the saddle in order to fix the string to string balance when they're plugged in.

Traveller has a deluxe offering with a trick cutaway and armrest at around $450, the CL3BE SPSE.

Then there's the Guild Jumbo Junior and the Ibanez AVNB1-E around the $500 mark. Both of these have solid tops. The Guild has tone and volume, and 14 frets clear of the body. The Ibanez is basically an upscale version of the PNB, adding a better pickup and a stronger preamp with an XLR out.

Taylor has the GS Mini Bass, which was pretty much the pioneer in this class. Better-made and finished, with prices ranging from $700 to $900. Not my favourite for amplified tone, though. Clangy if you overplay as well, thanks to low string tension caused by the 23.25" scale.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Ugh. Sciatica. What we put up with! My own encounter with it landed me in acupuncture. It worked for me and it was a last resort.

 

[Al Kraft]

Ugh. Sciatica. What we put up with! My own encounter with it landed me in acupuncture. It worked for me and it was a last resort.

I've found that unless it's a clear case of two pieces of bone sticking our of my leg, chiroprcatic and acupuncture are my first line of medical intervention these days. They're not inexpensive and won't cure everything, but they beat most Western medicine and associated pharmaceuticals IMO/IME for aches and pains. I even find that many TCM herbal preparations do some rather amazing things and do it without the frequently deleterious side effects of modern medicines.

 

[Fat Freddy]

It's Wednesday and I just got back from my Periodontist appointment. My Gentle High Dentist said that everything is good! She asked me if I was still playing in a band and for the first time since I've been going there, 30+ years, I said no. She asked if I missed it and I do, very much so. Playing my bass has been a foundation of my life since 1962. Even coming here to offer what advice I can, I feel like a fraud!!

I've looked about and responded to some ads on Craigslist and have yet to receive a reply from anyone. Perhaps this is how my musical career ends. Not with a triumph but with a whimper!!

I see my dentist tomorrow. <sigh>

Maybe your dentist is a drummer?....

Trying to be positive.....Failing.....Sorry man.....

 

[LBS-bass]

It's Wednesday and I just got back from my Periodontist appointment. My Gentle High Dentist said that everything is good! She asked me if I was still playing in a band and for the first time since I've been going there, 30+ years, I said no. She asked if I missed it and I do, very much so. Playing my bass has been a foundation of my life since 1962. Even coming here to offer what advice I can, I feel like a fraud!!

I've looked about and responded to some ads on Craigslist and have yet to receive a reply from anyone. Perhaps this is how my musical career ends. Not with a triumph but with a whimper!!

I see my dentist tomorrow. <sigh>

It's hard, and it's harder as we age, because ageism is a thing. But if you keep working at it, you'll find something. Three years ago I was where you are and I'm super busy today. Just got to keep pulling weeds to find the flowers, I guess.