Hi everyone
So TalkBass is now the latest forum I've joined--as befits a lifelong multi-instrumentalist and autodidact I have accounts on forums for all the instruments I play, and I hope to be a regular here. The occasion for registering on TB is my finally splurging for a new bass to augment the old Frankenstein's-monster I've been honing my skills on for 20 years. More on that below.
Music's been part of my life as long as I can remember, being surrounded by records and musical instruments since early childhood. I first picked up guitar from noodling around with my older brother's assorted collection, and when he more or less gave up on serious playing I, well, tried to carry on with it. My guitar education amounts to a few books and a lot of goofing around with the help of turntables and cassette recorders. I was essentially an aimless bedroom noodler for my first 20-odd years.
My first bass was a funky old Kent hollow-body violin bass that was cool in a retro sort of way but utterly horrid as a serious instrument. I didn't get very far on it.
My first proper bass was a Peavey Milestone II purchased in 1998 for just a hair over $100 if memory serves. It was essentially a plywood-bodied P-bass copy with a more modern cutaway style. My main purpose was that I'd acquired a Tascam Portastudio and I figured multitrack recordings would sound a little thin without something on the bottom end. Besides, I've always been a sucker for trying something new. I didn't consider myself a bass player. It was fun, though.
Then in 2001 I found myself joining my first band. They already had two guitarists--much better than me--but would I like to try sitting in on bass? I didn't even have my own amp. Playing with others on actual songs with arrangements, often in public, was the best education I've ever had in music. I learned a lot, and got pretty good, very fast. I ended up staying in that band for two or three years, and a great deal of fun it was, until they decided to sack me for someone else who knew how to play slap.
I moved on to other bands, one switching between guitar and bass for various songs, and the other primarily on keyboards (now on lead guitar). I went back to playing bass mostly on my own home recordings, and practicing for its own sake, always trying to get better. I'm happy to say that I'm a fairly competent bass player now, and I wouldn't feel self-conscious playing in a band as one, even though I still can't slap worth a crap.
What of that Peavey Milestone II? Fairly early on I swapped the plywood body out for a white vintage-style P-bass body, replaced the stock pickup and electronics, and more recently strung it up with flatwound strings that I'll probably never get rid of. Only the neck, bridge, and a piece of the pickguard remain from the original Peavey. It's my own low-rent Funk Machine and in spite of rattly tuners it's a lovely characterful instrument.
The Kent violin bass is sitting in my attic, awaiting eventual resuscitation.
My purchase today: a new-but-on-clearance Yamaha BB434 that cost me $260 plus tax. I bought it from the same shop where I bought the Peavey 20 years ago. It might have even hung on the same hook. It's a nice instrument.
I still don't own a proper bass amp. My Line 6 DuoVerb 2x12 guitar amp, set to its Fender Twin model, is having to substitute for the time being. Low volume, of course. I have a big old Peavey bass combo in the basement that I hauled out of the alley once, not working. Awaiting eventual resuscitation.
I have a number of videos on YouTube and songs on Soundcloud that feature bass to varying degrees, although the YouTube stuff is pretty embarrassing to be honest; I don't play in front of a camera nearly as well as into a DAW.
And that's it. Hopefully we'll have more opportunity to cross paths and talk shop in the near future. Apologies for my verbosity. I'm like that.
cheers
Billy S.
So TalkBass is now the latest forum I've joined--as befits a lifelong multi-instrumentalist and autodidact I have accounts on forums for all the instruments I play, and I hope to be a regular here. The occasion for registering on TB is my finally splurging for a new bass to augment the old Frankenstein's-monster I've been honing my skills on for 20 years. More on that below.
Music's been part of my life as long as I can remember, being surrounded by records and musical instruments since early childhood. I first picked up guitar from noodling around with my older brother's assorted collection, and when he more or less gave up on serious playing I, well, tried to carry on with it. My guitar education amounts to a few books and a lot of goofing around with the help of turntables and cassette recorders. I was essentially an aimless bedroom noodler for my first 20-odd years.
My first bass was a funky old Kent hollow-body violin bass that was cool in a retro sort of way but utterly horrid as a serious instrument. I didn't get very far on it.
My first proper bass was a Peavey Milestone II purchased in 1998 for just a hair over $100 if memory serves. It was essentially a plywood-bodied P-bass copy with a more modern cutaway style. My main purpose was that I'd acquired a Tascam Portastudio and I figured multitrack recordings would sound a little thin without something on the bottom end. Besides, I've always been a sucker for trying something new. I didn't consider myself a bass player. It was fun, though.
Then in 2001 I found myself joining my first band. They already had two guitarists--much better than me--but would I like to try sitting in on bass? I didn't even have my own amp. Playing with others on actual songs with arrangements, often in public, was the best education I've ever had in music. I learned a lot, and got pretty good, very fast. I ended up staying in that band for two or three years, and a great deal of fun it was, until they decided to sack me for someone else who knew how to play slap.
I moved on to other bands, one switching between guitar and bass for various songs, and the other primarily on keyboards (now on lead guitar). I went back to playing bass mostly on my own home recordings, and practicing for its own sake, always trying to get better. I'm happy to say that I'm a fairly competent bass player now, and I wouldn't feel self-conscious playing in a band as one, even though I still can't slap worth a crap.
What of that Peavey Milestone II? Fairly early on I swapped the plywood body out for a white vintage-style P-bass body, replaced the stock pickup and electronics, and more recently strung it up with flatwound strings that I'll probably never get rid of. Only the neck, bridge, and a piece of the pickguard remain from the original Peavey. It's my own low-rent Funk Machine and in spite of rattly tuners it's a lovely characterful instrument.
The Kent violin bass is sitting in my attic, awaiting eventual resuscitation.
My purchase today: a new-but-on-clearance Yamaha BB434 that cost me $260 plus tax. I bought it from the same shop where I bought the Peavey 20 years ago. It might have even hung on the same hook. It's a nice instrument.
I still don't own a proper bass amp. My Line 6 DuoVerb 2x12 guitar amp, set to its Fender Twin model, is having to substitute for the time being. Low volume, of course. I have a big old Peavey bass combo in the basement that I hauled out of the alley once, not working. Awaiting eventual resuscitation.
I have a number of videos on YouTube and songs on Soundcloud that feature bass to varying degrees, although the YouTube stuff is pretty embarrassing to be honest; I don't play in front of a camera nearly as well as into a DAW.
And that's it. Hopefully we'll have more opportunity to cross paths and talk shop in the near future. Apologies for my verbosity. I'm like that.
cheers
Billy S.
