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The Joe Dart Bass Course

Huge Dart fan. $250 is a big swing when you don’t know exactly what you’re getting, but they’ve certainly got my attention. I’ll probably end up getting it, I’ve certainly got a lot of enjoyment out of Vulf over the years and haven’t bought any hard goods from them.
 
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What can I sell to put 250 in my back pocket for this course? It looks pretty darn sweet!
Maybe you have the odd Bad Monkey hiding around your house somewhere.

I'm not sure what to expect of this either, both in terms of how to play and what to play. You may cover both in simply transcribing your favorite Vulf tunes, and watching some live shows and gear videos (I know compression is a big thing for him). Then again, if we all did that in general, we wouldn't need most bass courses in the first place.
 
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Now there's no doubt that he has insane skills. But that's overly expensive (like his bass). I'm seeing a pattern here. Like he plays his fans for suckers. Plus I don't know how well he speaks / instructs. After all, the material he'll cover isn't new or unique so we're relying upon his skills as a teacher to put value in the product. I'll wait for others to buy it first and sell it off. So wait a year or so and you can get it at a fraction of the original price.... just like his signature bass.
 
Now there's no doubt that he has insane skills. But that's overly expensive (like his bass). I'm seeing a pattern here. Like he plays his fans for suckers. Plus I don't know how well he speaks / instructs. After all, the material he'll cover isn't new or unique so we're relying upon his skills as a teacher to put value in the product. I'll wait for others to buy it first and sell it off. So wait a year or so and you can get it at a fraction of the original price.... just like his signature bass.

I think maybe it's less playing fans for suckers and more about finding a way to make a living as a musician in 2023. No one makes money from record sales and it's not like Vulf is writing pop hits. They seem to have developed a fan artist/artist relationship that allows them to charge this type of premium for some of their content while giving away other things.

That being said, while I'm admittedly tempted to pull the trigger on this, I'm curious how much of the Jack Stratton humor runs through it. I appreciate his schtick, but don't really want to pay $250 for it :)
 
I remember when I was in high school in the mid-90s, a friend of mine spent $20 on a "Flea's Bass Masterclass" (or something similarly titled) VHS. It was a 50 minute commercial for the Modulus Flea Bass and contained such pearls of wisdom as "the secret to playing bass is accepting love into your body from the cosmic universe around us" (or something similarly non-helpful hippy talk).

Anywho, seeing as how all of the Vulf Peck guys are legit good musicians, I would sincerely hope that there is some actual real instruction included in the course.
 
I remember when I was in high school in the mid-90s, a friend of mine spent $20 on a "Flea's Bass Masterclass" (or something similarly titled) VHS. It was a 50 minute commercial for the Modulus Flea Bass and contained such pearls of wisdom as "the secret to playing bass is accepting love into your body from the cosmic universe around us" (or something similarly non-helpful hippy talk).

The one with River Phoenix? He was still playing the Music Man then....and it cost closer to $50 :D

That was a fun video, though...I still pull it up on Youtube from time to time. I'm not sure how instructional it is, but I'll bet it inspired thousands of bassists.
 
Nope, he made another one around 1996 (One Hot Minute era). It was just one big commercial for the Modulus Flea Bass, that instrument lasted about a year and a half before being discontinued.

Ah, I think you're talking about the one he made for the "Flea Bass" (not Modulus), the low end beginner line he had for (One Hot) minute. The Modulus was around a lot longer than a year and a half.

 
$250 is a big swing when you don’t know exactly what you’re getting
The curriculum is linked in post #9

Plus I don't know how well he speaks / instructs.
As sample from the course
Here is a berkely bass clinic from 2019. He doesn't really lay out a curriculum, but he does answer questions.


I can't imagine joe has nothing to teach
But most likely all of it could also be found freely with some personal effort.
 
Well, there you go, I stand corrected about the "Flea Bass." It was still a 50 minute commercial to sell basses, though.

Take aways from the free sample:
1) Jack Stratton looks like Willy Wanka woke up in the gutter.

2) I like the fact that the material isn't a "secrets from the pros," "bass hacks," "short cuts" sort of promises. Joe and Jack actually said that it takes a lot of practice to get stuff right.

3) Citing examples of other players, original players of sampled basslines, and a certain amount of "you have to figure out what works best for you." No cookie cutter answers.

4) Making sure those Fearless Flyers guitar stands get used.

5) Didn't try to sell me Joe Dart or Joe Dart II bass.

Looks promising, if a little rambling and slightly disheveled.
 
Based on the slap video, I'd love to spend an afternoon watching the whole course. Is it worth $250 to me to do that right now? Not really, but maybe down the line. But I'm sure there are people willing to pay that, so more power to them.

Also, Joe looks like a young Boz Scaggs in these videos.
 
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So wait a year or so and you can get it at a fraction of the original price.... just like his signature bass.
You can? Sincere question here, because I'd be tempted. The only ones for sale on Reverb now are first-run numbered editions listed for big premiums. Looking at the TB Classifieds, the few that have been listed were priced at $2095 or higher when they sold.
 
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After watching the slap bass clip on YouTube, all I could think is "never meet your heroes."
Sums up my thoughts pretty well... that video is hopefully not representative of the course. Sloppy playing in parts, and no actual teaching going on, more like "it goes like this", which is nice to get a good look at, but doesn't really do much from an instructional perspective. (Always with the full-body shots, no zoom ins, no overlays giving you a transcription of what he's playing and so forth)
 

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