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Double Bass I feel like I'm about to make a big mistake....

#43
Jack Clark said:
Todd Phillips' DVD Vol. 2 is also good. And Ed Friedland's DVD is packed with good, basic double bass information, including some injury-preventing info. But your live teacher idea is number one—and ASAP before you hurt yourself and/or develop bad habits.
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+1
 
#44
Bass Doc said:
Normally I am a very logical person and have no problem making decisions, but I find myself totally frozen on this particular issue and I can't proceed, so thought I'd throw it out there for opinions.

First off, I know no one else can make this decision but me, but I am VERY interested in the opinions of people who have more experience.

So I'm not looking for someone to make the decision, but rather to pound on my reasoning until something gives. OK? Here goes:

I am an electric bass player that has recently become obsessed with Bluegrass. At age 52, I am ready to make Bluegrass my life's musical work from here on out. (I am a doctor not pro musician so this is a hobby for me).

I hand built my own fretted upright electric bass and love the way it looks, and plays.

Now, I have been playing with Bluegrass groups jams, and have noticed a kind of snobbish rejection of electric instruments. In fact there are places here where electric instruments are simply not welcome. Thankfully, not my main group. They are cool with the electric.

However, I accept that is Bluegrass is about acoustic instruments. So I decided to get one. Shopping now 6 months. In my region, there has been mostly junk in the $500-$700 (used) range. They feel unpleasant to play and unpleasant to my ear (at least in the stores).

So yesterday I wander into a REAL strings store and the owner shows me a new $1,600 Christopher bass. So I don't know much about big boy basses, but I know this - I touched it and it sang to me. I could not believe the difference between this and the junk I had seen out there. I am new to this, but my hands immediately felt that "this is good-this is right" for the first time when holding and playing a big upright. The sound immediately made me think "THAT is what I am looking for". All this from less than 1 hour in the store.

I feel crazy for even considering buying this thing: I have never had an upright bass lesson in my life, and yet this thing feels like it is calling out to me. I keep asking myself "What kind of idiot walks into a store and drops $1,800 (Bass plus travel bag) on an instrument that he does not even know how to play or if he will like it. Non refundable of course......

I have absolutely no skill or experience in picking out a bass, but, I have been obsessed with this monster, ever since I touched it.

So I keep trying to figure this out but it feels like my right brain is jumping all over my left brain and logic is not working here....

Sometimes I think that if not for the snob issue, I would be forever happy with my electric upright fretted bass. Other times, using my electric feels like I am "bringing a knife to a gunfight."

Sometimes I think "If you don't get a good instrument you like from the start, you'll never practice with it and you will never get good"

Other times: "You may never learn to play it, and your currently pretty good Bluegrass skills won't translate. If it doesn't work out, you'll never be able to sell it without a huge loss"



Sometimes my brain says: "maybe you'll hate it or end up with a repetitive stress injury - just stick with the electric and screw the snobs"

As I see it, I have 3 choices:

1) Stay with my current electric upright setup and just supress these feelings. Accept that there are simply Bluegrass jams where I will never be welcome.

2) Rent an upright to see if you like it. Unfortunately, all of the rentals in my area that I have played, look feel and sound like junk to my ear. They also are NOT fun to play. Actions are way high and none of them have adjustable bridges.

3) Just jump in, spend the $1,800 and see where this leads. If it does not work out, accept that and just take the loss. Be poorer but wiser, knowing that you tried it.

The money is not a huge issue. I have it in savings. It will not bankrupt us. I just feel really shocked and a little stupid that I am seriously considering dropping $1,800 on something like this without any real certainty that it is going to work out. This feels like a total impulse decision. And yet, when I touch and hear this bass it just "feels right" I can't describe it any other way.

For the first time in my life I feel like whatever I coose here, I could possibly make a VERY big mistake.

Either lose big $ if I jump and it goes bad, or worse, miss the opportunity of a life to expand to a whole new level and experience of playing (if I pass it up to stay with the "safe" electric upright.) If I try and compromise with a junky rental and throw away $150 on a 3 month (minimum here) rental, will it cost me my interest and enthusiasm?

So, I welcome all comments. I'll try not to be too thin skinned. I guess what I am really looking for is perspectives. Has this ever happened to anyone else out there? Did it work out for you or leave you sadder but wiser? Were you glad you took the intuitive leap?

All insights welcomed.

Thanks!

Jeff

Charleston, SC
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Jeff, here's my two cents, haven't read through the whole thread yet.

I had been strictly an electric player for over twenty years, I played mostly 'rock', for lack of a better term, but last year I joined a start-up alt-country band. The electric worked fine but I found myself itching to play upright. It just felt like the right thing. So last November I went out and got one never having played one before. My only regrets are that I didn't do it sooner and that I didn't buy a better bass the first time out.

As others have said, you only live once, and if the money really isn't an issue, I can't find a single reason for you not to make the jump. If the instrument you played sang to you and felt right in your hands, so much the better, though you should probably have someone else who has some knowledge check it out too.

And TAKE SOME LESSONS. I'm sure others have pointed out the technique is very different between electric and upright and you can really hurt yourself. So again, take at least a few lessons to get the hand position/fingering down.

In short: GO FOR IT! I'm glad I did, upright is a whole new world, big, warm, resonant, awesome. :)
 
#46
You only live once. And you already answered your own question, as evidence by your effusive praise of the bass. If it feels good to YOU, sounds good, plays good...there`s your answer. Don`t drag your feet on it and let it get away ! BTW...you`re a doctor, you got the scratch :)
 
#47
What a wonderful dilemma! My sense is you've made up your mind (heart?) to buy... you just need encouragement to override your over-developed, medically trained logic and follow your heart. You're in love, follow your heart. Worst case, you'll sell it later for a small loss, but you won't regret it. You'll only regret not buying it. I'm happy for you... drop everything and head over to the store. Let us know what happens next.
 
#49
Bass Doc said:
-Had a big insight : I can play her gently. No need to thump away ax max volume from the beginning. Made a promise to her I would play her softly, quietly and gently until we get to know each other better.
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This is something to keep in the front of your mind. Make a deep, rich sound .... not necessarily a loud one. Keep the smaller muscles (in the arms and hands relaxed) and use the bigger muscles in your back to do the work. Keep both feet flat on the ground.

Bass Doc said:
-This AM finished the Todd Phillips DVD on introduction to DB. Realized that I had been holding the neck like a baseball bat instead of the correct way. - No wonder my hand hurt.......

-Started the Hal Leonard String Essentials 2000 for Bass Book One

-Made a decision to find a live teacher locally
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Great decision.

Bass Doc said:
-Promised myself that I did not have to give up BG just because I bought a DB. No reason I can't play both. That in itself was a stunning insight. Why did I think I couldn't play BG anymore just because I bought a DB. The idea of giving up BG made me really sad.....
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Of course ... in fact going from upright to electric is much easier than going the other way, so if you spend more time and energy on the upright in the near future your electric chops won't completely disappear.
 
#50
I'm older than you when I got serious on the upright bass. I had no bass background. I was looking at buying a 1960 German Shop bass for someone else to play and it just fit in my hands. The notes fell in place and my left hand wanted to feel the neck some more. In my wildest dreams I never would have considered a fret
less instrument and now I'm having more fun than I could have imagined. The way that bass talked to you - go for it!!
 
#51
Congrats Bass Doc!

Nothing beats showing up to a jam and just playing, especially when there's no electricity available. I've played my DB at parties, beaches, in the woods/jungle, on ferry rides (and terminals), street corners/sidewalks, subways, playgrounds, in hair salons, book stores, abandoned houses, warehouses, bars, parks, restaurants...

You're not powerless, you're empowered!

Besides... While I'm sure you won't regret your decision, if you ever do decide acoustic DB isn't for you then you can sell the bass and chalk up the "loss" as what you would've paid in rental fees to find out it wasn't for you. Actually, rental fees would probably amount to a helluva lot more loss, especially if you gave the rental route a decent trial period.

Unlike some other's advising you to get a teacher. I say, DON'T GET A TEACHER...

...Get a GOOD teacher.

There are some great youtube vids regarding proper posture and playing technique that made me realise my first teacher wasn't emphasizing these things enough... that and an injury that I'll be nursing for the rest of my life lead me to my current teacher.

Have fun, and congrats once again.

Cheers,
FF
 
#52
Done that, have the T-shirt. It is very frustrating to try to move from slab to DB, you are working against yourself for weeks. I am five years into it and still working on it. I would say, even playing simple piz, no bowing, no thumb position that DB is 10x harder than slab.

Your G string should be about a #2 pencil thickness above the fingerboard on the big end and very little more for the E. If not get a setup now.

A bit of help from a teacher is in order, really, you will be surprised how valuable and worthwhile it is. A good bluegrass player-teacher will better understand what you need to learn and should be available in your area.

At first, simplify, play less connective notes, concentrate on intonation and hand(s) position. Play easy-but-firm, you don't have to kill yourself to be heard and this acoustic (ear) adjustment takes some serious getting used to. Remember you are standing in the worst possible place while you are playing to hear what you are doing.

I transitioned from a two/three-finger (right hand) into a classic single finger (pointed at the floor) player, and my middle finger was always trying to get in on the action at first and just caused trouble. DB takes more hand action than finger action; sort of a wiping motion. Get as much surface area on the string as possible. Don't hesitate to use tape as you begin to wear a sore spot on either hand.

Learning to use open strings is also a contradiction to the normal slab methods and takes a lot of effort. Practicing scales with the open strings fpr the common BG keys is in order. I like playing in C still because I can use the old BG box in that key.

So you are dead right, it is a different animal and a challenging transition but it will work out. Stick it out for a month. Get some teacher help. Practice at home Karaoke style a lot. Don't worry, it will come. The big old thing grows on you, eventually.
 
#53
I have been playing bass for 33 years. I have been in cover and original bands playing everything from blues, to country to rock to heavy metal. I have toured, recorded and licensed music to television shows. Lately, I have become interested in playing the cello. I don't know why. I don't like classical music but I like the sound of a cello. If you like it, play it. The worst thing that can happen is that you find that it isn't for you.
 
#55
Sorry doc - this one is a no brainer. I'm sure you have had to make many decisions more difficult than this. You have decided on a life direction music genre that requires a specific instrument - go for it. What's the risk? - you won't get $0 if you decide to sell your bass later. What's a few hundred bucks. Don't be the richest man in the graveyard. :smug:
 
#56
I am a bass player and a piss poor guitar player. Years ago I was in a musis store (not GC) and picked up a Gibson acoustic...not the expensive ones but still $1,400. And it played magic for me. Literally people turned to watch me play what little I knew, and even my daughter was proud of the old man...I didn't buy it. To this day I regret that, because just as you may find a soulmate in life, you may find the same in only one instrument in your life. And I've never found another that played like that. MORAL: You're a doctor with a passion. BUY IT! Remorse can be cured by reselling it. Regret is forever.
 
#57
Been there done that. My first bass was a hybrid Christopher - walked into a shop and bought on sight like the Doc kinda did. 7 years later that bass is for sale and I own something a couple times the price. The first bass changed my life- I found my musical voice. I sold all my guitars and my EBs collected dust from then on.

However, the fastest path to mastery still involves a DB specific teacher and a setup on the bass. Those are both mandatory. After that, it all depends on you and how much you hit the shed. Yeah it's harder than EB but every single note delivers so much more satisfaction I'm willing to pay that price. So... much.... fun!!!
 
#58
adbass said:
... in fact going from upright to electric is much easier than going the other way, so if you spend more time and energy on the upright in the near future your electric chops won't completely disappear.
Click to expand...


In fact you might find your electric chops might improve after playing DB.

I played electric bass but gave it away about 20 years ago when I decided to concentrate on guitar. About 4 years ago I took up DB and the other day I picked up my friend's electric bass. Man, I was all over that neck in no time!

If I had stuck with electric bass my chops might have been pretty good, but I can't help think that playing DB has improved my electric playing.:bassist:

Cheers
 
#59
Go for it, I'm 60 and have always wanted to play a bass--been playing for three months now and really loving it--I've got almost 50 years experience with music--trumpet, t-bone and they no longer give me the feeling of accomplishment playing the bass does. Best part, despite the difference in instruments there is quite a bit that is transferable and it's all music! Best wishes!
 
#60
Old thread now, but here's my two cents worth ... go for it. I've played bass guitar since the late 60's but just picked up the bass since early 2009. I play country, bluegrass, blues, and jazz standards, and never enjoyed it as much as I do now on the upright. It's always an attention getter at a gig (Strunal 50/4 blonde), sounds great through my little Ampeg combo or my full Ampeg stack. It took some getting used to (not long!) and now it's my favorite instrument when I can make it work (depends on the band, the stage setup, the sound guy, etc).
 

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