Hi from West Houston Texas.

[BornAgainBass]

Hi everyone. I found TalkBass through doing some research on basses and gear that I wanted to find out about before I went out to some shops to try some out. I took about 2 months of bass lessons 14 years ago but had to stop taking lessons because I was moving out of state. Then I just stuck to playing my guitars. So through the years I have been pulling basses off the walls of shops and fiddling around with them. I recently went to a couple of local shops and GC to try some out and see which one is a right fit for me. Well I found the perfect bass for me and then found one used in excellent condition up at the Dallas GC and it comes with a hard shell case. So it will be delivered to the store tomorrow and I am stoked. After playing the new bass on the wall multiple times, it just feels perfect for me and I can easily walk my fingers all over it pretty easy.

I have been playing guitar off and on for 35 years but Stopped playing and focused on singing when I was younger. I am recovering from a back surgery that I had to get from a moron hitting my car while I was waiting at a set of lights on a highway service road so I have a lot of time on my hands these days. They were going 70-75mph, texting while driving and really screwed me up. That was over 3 1/2 years ago and I just found out recently that the doctor screwed up my back surgery and my only option now is to get my lower back fused together to my hip with some rods. Go figure! So I went out and bought an electric guitar since all I have is acoustic/electrics, acoustic guitars and 12 strings. I purchased a nice amp, the foot switch board for it, a bunch of effects pedals and an effects processor that I used to own. I am far from being the guitar player I used to be these days lol. But I always found myself listening to the bass line in songs and listening to bass lines in songs that I don't even like the lyrics too hahahahahaha! So I started thinking that I have been playing the wrong instrument all these years lol.

I tried tried a bunch of different basses that cost up to $700 since I figured that I could find one used on GC's website for a cheaper price and have it delivered to the store. But after going down the ladder, I found that the Yama TRBX 304 bass seems to be a good fit for me and the string spacing seems perfect for my small digits lol. So I am picking it up tomorrow when it gets delivered to the store! I am paying it off with the birthday money that I get every year from my in-laws. Money is tight these days and I am running out of things to sell so I can get stuff to keep me from dying of boredom. But I am going to have to come up with some more stuff to trade for a Markbass combo amp that I want for an amplifier. A local pawn shop has one for sale so I might see if they want to trade it for some upland bird guns. Hopefully they say yes or it's going to take some time for me to get an amp for it lol. Well it's good to be here and have a great day everyone!

 

[MalcolmAmos]

A 15 watt bass amp will be OK for getting started and playing at home. You can find them most anywhere for under $100.

Sorry about the back, my Wife has had two back surgeries, with fusions, so I kinda relate to what you are going through.

Don't know how much of those lessons stuck, but, coming over from guitar is an easy learning curve, just remember the bass is an instrument for accompaniment and rhythm. Scales first to get your fingers moving, but chord tones are what we get paid to play.

Here is a good "take the rust off site". How to get started? Lot of good information in this string.


Welcome and have fun.

 

[Reedt2000]

Welcome. I love my markbass combo but admittedly it is way overkill for just playing at home.

 

[BornAgainBass]

A 15 watt bass amp will be OK for getting started and playing at home. You can find them most anywhere for under $100.

Sorry about the back, my Wife has had two back surgeries, with fusions, so I kinda relate to what you are going through.

Don't know how much of those lessons stuck, but, coming over from guitar is an easy learning curve, just remember the bass is an instrument for accompaniment and rhythm. Scales first to get your fingers moving, but chord tones are what we get paid to play.

Here is a good "take the rust off site". How to get started? Lot of good information in this string.


Welcome and have fun.

Thanks MalcolmAmos! Sorry to hear about your wife having to go through all that. The doctor who did my surgery, covered it up for years and let me go through years of pain to cover his butt. He was supposed to cut my discs down 30%, cut then down only 6% and spent an extra hour worth of time doing the surgery. There are medical records, MRI's from before and afterwards to prove it all too. So my back ended up getting worse to the point where I have to have it fused now. So back in to surgery with a different doctor who specializes in re-do's lol. Now I have a huge kidney stone because of all the years from the medications that I am now trying to shrink down so I can pass it. Drinking a lot of the apple cider vinegar/lemon juice/water cocktails all day now and having to take Flowmax so I don't feel like someone is constantly stabbing me in my kidney with a knife lol. But it could have been worse and I could have been parylized from the accident. The one thing I miss the most is getting out and fly fishing.

So far on bass I can really use my fingers pretty well and even learned an Iron Maiden song on the bass. I can slap but I am not good enough to pull off any funky songs lol. But I have a lot to learn and am really looking forward to it. It seems like playing bass is my true calling for an instrument. I called a local shop because it said that Mark White from The Spin Doctor's was giving lessons there after he stopped touring but he is no longer giving lessons there which is a bummer. They asked what kind of teacher I was looking for and I said someone that is a funk master and I want to learn to slap better and get funky lol. He told me that I will probably need to find a teacher who specializes in it.

I watched some recent videos of his bass solos and they were nothing compared to what I seen him play onstage back in 1993 at the Spin Doctor's/Soul Asylum/Screaming Trees concert. He got slap Happy on that bass solo and it blew away any of the solos from any of the other bands members. I wasn't too thrilled about going to that concert at first but the tickets were $22.00 for the lawn seats at Greatwoods and my buddies asked me to go so I went. I was really happy I went after seeing that bass solo and The Spin Doctor's were actually a really great band to see live. My buddy told me that they got signed fast because they sounded so good live onstage. He was definitely right!

Tonight I went to GC and tried out some bass amps to see if there were any less expensive ones that I might be able to afford. I really didn't like the sound of a lot of them so I wound back up in front of the Markbass amps and tried one that I haven't tried yet. I really liked the sound of it and decided that I am going to sell one of my rifles that is a collectors item to a shop that buys high end firearms that are rare so I can afford the amp. Then I will use the rest of the money towards maybe some pedals, a good effects processor and maybe an acoustic/electric bass. I really don't want to part with the rifle but I really want a Markbass amp and some gear to go along with it. I am addicted to bass guitar now lol. All the wasted years hahahahahaha! Well at least I got my head right finally lmao. Thanks again Malcolm White and I hope your wife is feeling better now.

 

[BornAgainBass]

Welcome. I love my markbass combo but admittedly it is way overkill for just playing at home.

Thanks Reedt2000. Appreciate the review from someone who has a Markbass combo amp. Which model do you own. Yeah I tried a good amount of other bass amps at GC this evening and I found myself back at the Markbass amps afterwards. I just didn't like the sound of some of the practice amps and larger amps. Some where a one trick pony for sound and others sounded horrible once turned up past 4 lol. I was looking at the CMD 121p combo amp and the pawn shop has a CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo amp that I was thinking of trading something for but I plugged in to the CMD JB Players School combo amp this evening and really liked the sound that I got from it. I read that it's a little lower quality speaker and not as good as the CMD 121p combo amp but it's reasonably priced.

Hopefully the guy at the pawn shop will trade me for the CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo amp. Just incase I do decide to play with a drummer down the road. I haven't played in a band in forever but I have a buddy who plays guitar and has a mini recording studio that I might sit down with and have a jam session once I get good enough lol. But I wouldn't mind playing in a band later on and just goofing around and making some sound with a good group of people.

The Markbass seem like a little overkill for bedroom jamming but they are so darn portable lol. I am planning on moving up to Centerville Texas in the country so I will be able to crank it up outside next year without having to worry about bothering any neighbors since there won't be any close to me lol. With my luck I will find out some strange note that will end up being a wild hog mating call and I will end up having to run for my life with a bass strapped over my shoulder and 36# amp in both of my hands lmao. Okay I might have to get a wireless rig lol. Thanks again Reed2000.

 

[Reedt2000]

Thanks Reedt2000. Appreciate the review from someone who has a Markbass combo amp. Which model do you own. Yeah I tried a good amount of other bass amps at GC this evening and I found myself back at the Markbass amps afterwards. I just didn't like the sound of some of the practice amps and larger amps. Some where a one trick pony for sound and others sounded horrible once turned up past 4 lol. I was looking at the CMD 121p combo amp and the pawn shop has a CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo amp that I was thinking of trading something for but I plugged in to the CMD JB Players School combo amp this evening and really liked the sound that I got from it. I read that it's a little lower quality speaker and not as good as the CMD 121p combo amp but it's reasonably priced.

Hopefully the guy at the pawn shop will trade me for the CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo amp. Just incase I do decide to play with a drummer down the road. I haven't played in a band in forever but I have a buddy who plays guitar and has a mini recording studio that I might sit down with and have a jam session once I get good enough lol. But I wouldn't mind playing in a band later on and just goofing around and making some sound with a good group of people.

The Markbass seem like a little overkill for bedroom jamming but they are so darn portable lol. I am planning on moving up to Centerville Texas in the country so I will be able to crank it up outside next year without having to worry about bothering any neighbors since there won't be any close to me lol. With my luck I will find out some strange note that will end up being a wild hog mating call and I will end up having to run for my life with a bass strapped over my shoulder and 36# amp in both of my hands lmao. Okay I might have to get a wireless rig lol. Thanks again Reed2000.

I've got the Markbass Mini CMD 121P. I had exactly the same experience. I went GC intending to spend $300 on a 100 watt amp for small gigs. I tried fenders, hartkes, TC electronic, GK, and they all sounded aweful. I almost didn't try the markbass cause it was more than twice what I wanted to spend. Once I did I was sold. I went back 2 days later with my bass and played it for an hour at higher volume to see what it could really do (shook the crap out of just about everything at GC, had to take it down off of the shelf they had it displayed on, it was great). I'm glad I did, it works great for all my gigs. Plenty of juice for small and mid sized places, a clean direct out for running into the sound system at big places and outdoor venues. I have used it for practice at home with the volume at 1.

 

[two fingers]

Welcome to TalkBass!

Here's to a good recovery.

Talk this guy down to $175
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