In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional
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There are certain particular oddities inherent to this forum that you learn in due time, grasshopper. The mere mention of "tort" conjures the magical powers of thread derailment, and also seems to act like troll bait, of which I know of no guard.
Your Peavey looks great the way it is, with aesthetics that don't promote the inclusion of a pickguard, tort or otherwise. You should go ahead and start playing it even without a cord or amp. Enjoy the feel of it, get acquainted.
Your Peavey looks great the way it is, with aesthetics that don't promote the inclusion of a pickguard, tort or otherwise. You should go ahead and start playing it even without a cord or amp. Enjoy the feel of it, get acquainted.
I've been around Internet forums for long enough I should have caught that. But it's nearly midnight, and I recently have come to feel like midnight is too late to be awake. At least if I want my brain to be functioning at full levels.
Thank you all for a great welcome to the forum - I'm off to bed and I'll read some more tomorrow, as well as spend a little time with my new baby.
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
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You are waiting until WEDNESDAY for an instrument cable?!! Lots of stores carry these. Besides your local music shop, even some stores like Target or Best Buy might carry a very (very!) cheap instrument cable. I think I've even seen them in Toys R Us.
Now a GOOD instrument cable is definitely recommended, but until Wednesday even a cheapo one will do.
Or, as you play, put the headstock of the bass up against a wall or a door. The vibrations will resonate to the wall/door and amplify the strings. For the more limber, you can put your ear to the back of the bass neck while you hit a string and you'll hear a nice warm and loud note!
Now a GOOD instrument cable is definitely recommended, but until Wednesday even a cheapo one will do.
Or, as you play, put the headstock of the bass up against a wall or a door. The vibrations will resonate to the wall/door and amplify the strings. For the more limber, you can put your ear to the back of the bass neck while you hit a string and you'll hear a nice warm and loud note!
so true, just play it and play it some more, kinda reminds me of my days as a wedding/portrait photographer. I knew so many photographers that had all the best equipment and 10 or more cameras and still couldnt take a great photo, the key is to put the work in, results will surly come, good luck,
Here she is.... Lousy photo- the color is too dark in it. Our house has terrible lighting.
A bass AND a stack of longboxes? Is this... Some kind of dream...?
There are seven major and eleven minor running jokes here on TB. In time, with practice and dedication, you will master them all.
<internet history>
What's funny to long-time Net users like myself is that the meaning of "troll" has completely transformed from its early usage (I recall reading it in newsgroups around the mid 90s). It originally was used as the verb "troll" which refers to a manner of baited fishing. When someone was just egging people on, you'd see comments like, "ignore this guy, he's just trolling", i.e., he's just baiting you, trying to get a response... get you to bite, as it were. But some people would use the noun form and refer to a certain post as "a troll", i.e., a baited fishing line, and... well, lots more people think of a troll as those fantasy creatures than as baited fishing lines.
</internet history>
Seriously, I spent a lot of time on other books that didn't get me very far, but Ed's book is the beginner's bible. You need this book right away, before anyone starts teaching you wrong things.
And welcome to the coolest, most exclusive club in the world!
And welcome to the coolest, most exclusive club in the world!
Welcome! I've been playing bass for decades but I learn new things here all the time. Hope TB is as good a resource for you as it has been for me.
Ok! you have your first Bass, the first this to do is to take it to a music store to match the strings that are on the Bass.
I am thinking the strings are roundwound type.
Get someone to teach you how to hold and play.
It will take time but you are now a Bass player.
Get a amp with 60watts or more to learn on and at this time most amps in this power range will work for you Fenders,Hartke, Ampeg amps etc.
I like the Hartke for the tone and price.
The key is to start learning.
FIND A BASS TEACHER
Welcome to TB!!!
All very very good points so far! My little bit I'd add in would be to say, while waiting on a strap and instrument cable, you could still play your bass! One of the best things (to me and those that I teach) is to sit down with your bass, and get it into a comfortable position. Make sure you're not resting on your elbows or anything, and can freely and comfortably move around the neck. When your strap arrives, set it up so that the bass is in the same position as when you are sitting, when you are standing (that sounds weird to say, like grammatically awkward). My reasoning for this is, more than likely when you practice or are learning, you will be sitting down. When you stand up if your bass is now at your knees, your wrist angles and everything have shifted.
Also a nifty little trick, while you wait on your cable, is to sit with the bass in your lap and press the headstock against a wall (don't press till you put a hole in the wall or damage the bass just a little pressure is fine) You will get a nice little amplification that way.
Above all else, practice practice practice practice, and don't spend too much time on here (it detracts from playing time, I usually only log on here while at work during the rare slow times). And when I play/practice I always keep in mind what Victor Wooten (if you haven't heard of him, you will) said "You're never more than 1 note away from a 'right' note", and something I learned in High School Jazz band "If you end up playing a wrong note, play it again a few more times to make it look like it was on purpose".
Have fun with learning the bass!
All very very good points so far! My little bit I'd add in would be to say, while waiting on a strap and instrument cable, you could still play your bass! One of the best things (to me and those that I teach) is to sit down with your bass, and get it into a comfortable position. Make sure you're not resting on your elbows or anything, and can freely and comfortably move around the neck. When your strap arrives, set it up so that the bass is in the same position as when you are sitting, when you are standing (that sounds weird to say, like grammatically awkward). My reasoning for this is, more than likely when you practice or are learning, you will be sitting down. When you stand up if your bass is now at your knees, your wrist angles and everything have shifted.
Also a nifty little trick, while you wait on your cable, is to sit with the bass in your lap and press the headstock against a wall (don't press till you put a hole in the wall or damage the bass just a little pressure is fine) You will get a nice little amplification that way.
Above all else, practice practice practice practice, and don't spend too much time on here (it detracts from playing time, I usually only log on here while at work during the rare slow times). And when I play/practice I always keep in mind what Victor Wooten (if you haven't heard of him, you will) said "You're never more than 1 note away from a 'right' note", and something I learned in High School Jazz band "If you end up playing a wrong note, play it again a few more times to make it look like it was on purpose".
Have fun with learning the bass!
I might be a minority voice here, I dunno. I have only 2 comments.
The first is that when I was learning I wanted to sound halfway decent as early as possible. I found that the fingers on my fretting hand created a lot of extraneous noise with roundwound strings in the beginning, something that flatwounds did not. Also, since I was a guitarist I was used to using a pick so I started out playing flatwound strings with a pick and that allowed me to sound as good as I could in the early stages. After about a year I started plucking with my fingers and also added roundwound strings later still as my fretting ability improved. I still use a pick on some songs though, especially when speed and accuracy are required. Fingers and pick are mutually better than using only one or the other exclusively.
Point is, I'm not suggesting that you play bass with roundwounds and a pick forever. Just saying that recipe allowed me to maximize the fun of playing bass early on when I was not very good at it (fun is verrry important, IMHO). Your mileage may vary. BTW, about 35%-40% of players favor a pick. The majority will prefer using their fingers.
Second point is your choice of bass. Like you, I really didn't know what to get in the beginning. I just found a good deal on an used Ibanez and ran with it. While it was a decent bass there were many aspects about it that I liked (and did not like), so that Ibanez really became the basis for what my second bass should be. I sold my first bass (and have since acquired too many extra basses since) but most bassists that actually play in front of an audience prefer having at least one extra as insurance in the event your one and only craps out. And, although not particularly common, they sometimes do crap out.
The only problem is that acquiring new or different basses can be habit-forming, a condition known as GAS (short for Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I only mention it because you'll see it a lot and it's not intuitive as to what the acronym stands for.
Othewise, just start playing and try to have as much fun in the process as possible.
The first is that when I was learning I wanted to sound halfway decent as early as possible. I found that the fingers on my fretting hand created a lot of extraneous noise with roundwound strings in the beginning, something that flatwounds did not. Also, since I was a guitarist I was used to using a pick so I started out playing flatwound strings with a pick and that allowed me to sound as good as I could in the early stages. After about a year I started plucking with my fingers and also added roundwound strings later still as my fretting ability improved. I still use a pick on some songs though, especially when speed and accuracy are required. Fingers and pick are mutually better than using only one or the other exclusively.
Point is, I'm not suggesting that you play bass with roundwounds and a pick forever. Just saying that recipe allowed me to maximize the fun of playing bass early on when I was not very good at it (fun is verrry important, IMHO). Your mileage may vary. BTW, about 35%-40% of players favor a pick. The majority will prefer using their fingers.
Second point is your choice of bass. Like you, I really didn't know what to get in the beginning. I just found a good deal on an used Ibanez and ran with it. While it was a decent bass there were many aspects about it that I liked (and did not like), so that Ibanez really became the basis for what my second bass should be. I sold my first bass (and have since acquired too many extra basses since) but most bassists that actually play in front of an audience prefer having at least one extra as insurance in the event your one and only craps out. And, although not particularly common, they sometimes do crap out.
The only problem is that acquiring new or different basses can be habit-forming, a condition known as GAS (short for Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I only mention it because you'll see it a lot and it's not intuitive as to what the acronym stands for.
Othewise, just start playing and try to have as much fun in the process as possible.
Ink, we may even throw in a bit of humor, every now and then... Nice bass, btw... I, for one, wasn't familiar with that model, so I looked it up... we're always learning, right? You're already familiar with a stringed instrument, so I think the best humble advice I can give you is to have as much fun as you can, no matter what you're doing...
Take care, and good luck!
Take care, and good luck!
I used to do it all the time, when I first started out...
... not so much for the lack of amplification, but mainly to afford the rest of the family sleep...
... Mom finally gave in and bought me amplified headphones... she was always really good at taking care of life's minor annoyances.
Here's a video explaining how to change strings on a bass. Not the best I've seen, but I copied this one because like you, he's using a bass with a 2X2 tuning peg design. (Two tuning keys on each side of the headstock rather than all 4 on the same side like a Fender.) Hopefully this will help a bit.
One thing you'll need to be aware of with a 2X2 design is that the bottom two tuning pegs (D and G strings) will turn opposite from the top two (E and A strings) when loosening and tightening them (tuning up or down to the proper pitch). Just remember that you want the long length of the string (that goes down to the bridge) to be on the INside of the tuning pegs.
Also, he says in the video to cut the strings "about 5 inches" past the tuning pegs. I think that is too much. I'd recommend about 3" past the tuning peg. If you cut them TOO long, all the wraps might not fit onto the peg. And if you cut them too short, they won't hold tune well enough. So 3" beyond the peg should be reasonable.
Another thing I like to do that he doesn't mention is this: After you install your new string and tune it up to pitch, I always stretch the string manually a couple times then re-tune it up to pitch. I usually grab the string around the 12th fret and stretch it straight up several times before retuning to pitch. Be a bit more careful when stretching the G string because it could break more easily if you pull/stretch it too far. The stretching will help with keeping the new strings in tune.
One thing you'll need to be aware of with a 2X2 design is that the bottom two tuning pegs (D and G strings) will turn opposite from the top two (E and A strings) when loosening and tightening them (tuning up or down to the proper pitch). Just remember that you want the long length of the string (that goes down to the bridge) to be on the INside of the tuning pegs.
Also, he says in the video to cut the strings "about 5 inches" past the tuning pegs. I think that is too much. I'd recommend about 3" past the tuning peg. If you cut them TOO long, all the wraps might not fit onto the peg. And if you cut them too short, they won't hold tune well enough. So 3" beyond the peg should be reasonable.
Another thing I like to do that he doesn't mention is this: After you install your new string and tune it up to pitch, I always stretch the string manually a couple times then re-tune it up to pitch. I usually grab the string around the 12th fret and stretch it straight up several times before retuning to pitch. Be a bit more careful when stretching the G string because it could break more easily if you pull/stretch it too far. The stretching will help with keeping the new strings in tune.
+1, this. In a way, it's a bad thing that in the Internets age, we have ALL this information at our fingertips. In the old days, you got an instrument, a friend or the music store employee helps you get the FEW accessories you need, then you put on your favorite records and start to play along, constantly picking up the needle and dropping it to hear that rough passage over and over again...
Ignore the noise. Get the cord, the strap, the amp, and play. (PS: skip the pick for now...
