Hopkins
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So long...it's been a fun ride.
- Thread starter Sundogue
- Start date
I was in the same place some time ago but didn't sell my equipment. In the past, every time I sold something I regretted it later. Anyway, I retired last year and joined a band of other older guys plus a female singer. It didn't take long to get back into it and I'm having a blast even though we seldom play out. I'm now 67 1/2 and I'm not the oldest is the band. The 68 year old horn man (pre-rock) takes that honor. "When one door closes, sometimes another opens" was true for me. BTW, I still schlep my '65 Dual Showman with twin 2x15 cabs around and play my '67 Gibson EB2DC with no pedals (because when I started there were no pedals). Good luck, peace and happiness man.
You know, that's a great idea. I started off wanting to be a drummer (until I realized I was too smart
), but wound up playing a bass because a friend took the top two strings off his guitar so I could play "bass" and accompany him.The the OP: I totally get it. I'm 60 now; been playing since I was 14. Don't gig out so much anymore, and after putting up with other people's drama all these years, I have a strict "No working with A-holes" policy. Since leaving my last band two years ago, I've been focusing on composing for solo bass and becoming a better player. Personally, I'm really really enjoying working on my own personal development as a player and musician. My next home will have a space big enough for a rehearsal/recording studio, and I may take Bodeanly's excellent advice and buy a set of drums and see where that leads.
Good luck on your new direction.
-Alan
I have a good friend who is a drummer (the kind that is a true musician with percussion instruments) and we've written music together. We've been THE rhythm section trying to get bands going for the last 5 years or so. I'd rather just play guitar and write music now. The music scene sucks around here, although there is a small group of people who write their own stuff and perform sets occasionally, so I might do something along those lines, rather than being in the role of a bass player again. Who knows? I'm even thinking of starting an evening of original music with a variety of small groups that could all take turns performing the same night. Kind of like the typical rock scene where multiple acts perform, but on a smaller, more "unplugged" type scale, and ALL original.
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Having fun and keeping your love for music is most important I believe. BTW there are some nice acoustic basses
I've had acoustic basses...I prefer playing guitar. I'm a pretty good player fingerpicking style. I'm no lead guitar player and just like I play bass, I play guitar with funky off-beat rhythms. The style I play and write on guitar is kind of like Dave Mathews (though I'm nowhere near as accomplished as a player as him).
I know I can do it. I've quit Talkbass many times! LOL.
Seriously though, I came here more for the technical aspects of gear (I was/am a huge fEARful fan). Now that I'm not playing bass anymore it's not likely I'll be on here much. I don't think I've been on here at all over the past year or so.
Yes, you are so right. I had a long conversation with my wife (who was initially shocked I was going to quit playing out live and wanted to get back to guitar). She's always been super supportive of my playing (one of the many reasons I married her). This is just another path with music. Since I've been so frustrated finding people to play the kind of music I've wanted to play, switching to guitar means I can write and play my own music, either by myself or, who knows? Perhaps I do play again, but with my own material and on guitar instead of bass.
I just sold ALL my gear within this past week. My fEARful 15/6, my ShuttleMax 9.2 head and my customized ESP-LTD. Sorry to see my killer go-to bass and rig go, but I needed to clear out my office/studio for my new musical adventure. And ridding myself of all my bass gear also kind of cleared my mind of it.
In a grad school, after rage-quitting one of my bands, I began hosting a weekly open mic. I met some great people and several projects evolved from it. Eventually, I fell back into my roll as a bassist. You gotta go there in order to come back.
The thing for me is, I had to make a decision and logically, there were just not any opportunities to play the music I wanted to play around here, out live. Every attempt got sabotaged. 5 or 6 years of trying to get something going failed and it wasn't for a lack of the wholehearted attempt on my part. But I work full time now and I'm going to school full time and I still have a wfie and daughter at home, so realistically there is just no worthwhile opportunity or time to learn new material, rehearse and gig.
However, in getting back to guitar, it's been so easy to sit down and grab my guitar (if only for a few minutes) and work out a new section to songs I'm writing. I'm in no rush because I'm just enjoying the process of writing music on my guitar with no goals to reach for. This is really a new musical experience for me...Playing music simply for the sake of enjoying playing (without any of the garbage or BS that comes with being in a band). I'm loving it, and my family is loving me being home and hearing what I'm playing. Music is a beautiful experience again.
Yeah, I hear you. I'm not really thinking "open-mic night", yet kind of along those lines, but rather just a venue for original artists to sit down and play a few of our originals. Very low key, small club and not even for any pay other than for the free expression of music...which is sorely lacking around here. Most of the music around here is the same old crap...just cover bands, playing crappy worn out old tunes nobody even really wanted to play the first time around, to a crowd of annoying, unappreciative drunks who'd rather listen to Mustang Sally all night long.
Obviously I've grown tired of appeasing the lowest common denominator in the audience population, as well as the prostitution of myself in order to please the pimps who hired us. And worse yet, are the spineless musicians who feel they have to do it if they are going to play anywhere (and I was one for a while). If rock ain't dead, the spirit of it surely is.
I think everyone goes through periods like this. Everyone. It's like Del Paxton says " You gotta keep on playin'. No matter with who."
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. You'll be back and you know it. Once a bassist, always a bassist. In the meantime, enjoy the guitar (or is it a short scale six string piccolo bass?) and family time. Or you can always pack up the RV and go somewhere with a better music scene. Best to you.
I remember. Selling my fEARful 15/6 (as I was one of the original proponents before they caught on) was definitely the turning point. Once that was sold, I was completely committed to playing guitar and writing. I'm nowhere near as good a guitar player as I was a bass player, and its taking me some time getting used to it again, but I'm enjoying everything about it. I've already got back to playing Dust in the Wind, Blackbird, Classical Gas, Layla (unplugged), etc. on guitar just to get my fingers used to the string size and spacing again. Along the way I've come up with some really nice originals (some new, and some that I wrote years ago but rediscovered again).
The best things about getting back into guitar (as opposed to continuing playing bass in a band)...
I'm doing it for the love of it with no ulterior motives or goals.
No rehearsals.
No schedules.
No dealing with other's issues.
No travel.
No time wasting.
It's fun.
It's challenging.
It's always convenient.
I'm happy again.
No GAS (Got a gorgeous Taylor 110e and don't need or want anything else).
Worst things about it?
The strings are so tiny and the spacing is so close!
My fingertips hurt (for the time being...getting better)
It's a bit frustrating at times re-learning how to play it again.
Not enough time, because its so damned fun I want to do it all the time.
Not this time. I have no desire to play bass anymore. I've done it for almost 40 years. I have tendinitis pretty bad in my left elbow and the long scale when playing near the nut causes problems with my wrist of my fretting hand. Guitar is a shorter reach and no issues with my wrist now. I also work full time and go to school full time. Realistically, even if I wanted to play in a band again, I don't have time to. And that RV thing...Yeah, my wife and I have plans to build a tiny house and move somewhere warm year round. Won't have the space for anything but a guitar. I'm going mobile.
In that case, hope the future is bright for you.Not this time. I have no desire to play bass anymore. I've done it for almost 40 years. I have tendinitis pretty bad in my left elbow and the long scale when playing near the nut causes problems with my wrist of my fretting hand. Guitar is a shorter reach and no issues with my wrist now. I also work full time and go to school full time. Realistically, even if I wanted to play in a band again, I don't have time to. And that RV thing...Yeah, my wife and I have plans to build a tiny house and move somewhere warm year round. Won't have the space for anything but a guitar. I'm going mobile.
