The Top Ten Things I Learned From Talkbass

[tubedude]

Ah, so Maroon 5 is the dullest of the maroons!

 

[neckdive]

1. I've learned that you mustn't wear hats on stage indoors, despite bright lights, personal style or freedom of choice. No shorts and black shirt only, please.

2. Oh, and use full sentences on music forums.

3. For every 1 hour of practicing bass, spend 10 hours writing to strangers online about your basses and gear, and telling them how they could become better bassists/people.

 

[AltGrendel]

Tube amps sound better than SS amps, unless they don't.

Lined fretless finger boards are cheating.

'70s Fender basses are actually pretty good, unless they are't.

 

[SirMjac28]

Fender hasn't made a decent bass since CBS destroyed the company.

 

[corndog]

The ignore function is great!

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Forgive me Leo. I have done things I ought not to have done, and I have left undone things I ought to have done.

1. I played a short-scale bass for several years and loved it. In a truly bad moment, I sold it because I was sick and tired of explaining to drummers why I played it.

2. I cannot play a 1.75" width at the nut Fender Precision Bass well. So I sold it.

3. I can't tell the difference between tube amps and solid state amps, except that the tube ones are heavier and sometimes need new tubes.

4. I never figured out how a BBE Sonic Stomp works, but I use it anyway.

5. I play in a band with two guitarists. They are nice guys and don't play too loud. I tell myself I'm lucky, but I'm probably just a wimp who won't stand up to those damn guitards.

6. I refuse to behave like a creative artist. I just play what people want me to play. I lack spine. I lack character.

I'm sure there are four more failings I could list that obviously diminish my standing as a bass player, but I am already overcome with remorse just writing these words. I am now going to pray before the Great Shrine of Jaco, Jamerson, and Squire (or is it Squier?) and atone.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Can you "cut" through a mix if your bass "plays like buttah"? Butter can't cut anything.

Are you making an argument for margarine??

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

2. Lights are pretty. Grils are not.


View attachment 763844

I Googled "Pretty Grills" and got nothing about speakers, cabs, or grills.
Oh! "Grils" - same result only more of it.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

11. who gets lemmy's basses?


12. why is nobody banned?

11. Nobody

12. He ain't no more unless he is again.

 

[jamro217]

Happy New Year TB'ers.
It has been almost a year since I signed on here.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found that almost everyone here is really cool.
There may be a few who act like they think they are big swingin' richards, and there is a sixty-three percent chance that I fall into that group.
However, despite a couple of aggressive disagreements, I have learned a lot from everyone over the past year. For that I say Thank You.
After careful reflection, I have come up with a list of the top ten things I've learned from Talkbass.

10. You can over-power your speakers.
According to everyone who has never blown a speaker, they won't go poof!

9. A bass is NOT a guitar.
Saying "bass guitar" is wrong. Plutonium224 will agree.

8. The jack on a bass is an INPUT jack.
Because you PUT the plug IN to the jack.

7. The jack on a bass is an input jack SOME of the time.
Since the bass' signal is Alternating Current, the signal goes IN to the jack sometimes and OUT of it at other times.

6. Jerkweasel.
It is a badge of honor. Wear it with pride.

5. Bass players have a better sense of humor than the average bipeds.
It is both an evolutionary, survival, defense mechanism and a part of an intelligent design.

4. Carrots are good, except for eating.
My favorite (eating) carrot recipe:
Boil carrots in butter until they are almost mush.
Drain the butter.
Throw out the carrots.
Pour the melted butter over a baked potato.

3. Don't fix the dings, dents, scrapes, broken parts and worn paint on your bass.
Doing so reduces the Mojo. I fixed a paint scratch on my bass and now the E string won't stay in tune.

2. Tort is not a choice.
Tort is a way of life.

And the number one thing I have learned...

NOBODY CAN BE BANNED FROM TALKBASS.

You can blow your speakers by overloading the intermittent signal coming out through the input jack. Other than that, you learned a lot. I prefer the melted butter over popcorn, especially when reading insipid rants about tort, mismatched impedance catastrophes and the inevitable "What's the best _____ for metal?" Hope this year is another good one. Keep playing your bass guitar.

 

[jamro217]

After adding $1000 worth of parts to my $200 Squier not only is it better than MIA, It's better than Custom Shop.

After doing that you realized there wasn't anything left of the original bass except for the strap buttons, and since you were gonna replace those with Straplocks anyway...Wow! It IS a Custom Shop, only better.

 

[jamro217]

*Carrots are an actual option.
*Trolls don't just live under bridges.
*I don't spend nearly enough on my equipment.
*There are WAY more bass players than I thought possible.
*Some musical styles refuse to go away.
*Right don't equal popular.
*Cat avatars seem to generate negative attention.
*There are only two brands that matter.
*Upgrades are useless, just buy you know who.
Finally
*There are some incredibly cool people from every part of the world, and they seem to all play bass.

Nodding in agreement until that last line, then came to a screeching halt.

 

[Dug2]

this is cool

 

[jamro217]

What?! so simple.

Maroon


ha.


View attachment 763858

Fender didn't call it maroon, they had some other, more romantic name, like "Midnight Wine" or "Parisian Velvet". Unless, of course it was on their Skull and Crossbones Strat, then the moniker was something like "Type O Negative" or "Sam Peckinpah's prop".

 

[jamro217]

4. Shortscale basses are the awesome-est.


View attachment 763860

Yeah, and Daisy ROCKS! (Whoever she is.)

 

[jamro217]

6. Rics usually have four strings, and should be black.


View attachment 763863

Unless they're Jetglo.

 

[Nev375]

After doing that you realized there wasn't anything left of the original bass except for the strap buttons, and since you were gonna replace those with Straplocks anyway...Wow! It IS a Custom Shop, only better.

You're right. The strap buttons are the only thing on it that is 100% Squier.

95% of the original body remains. (had to route some of it for added controls)
90% of the Pickguard remains. (had to remove a bit to add an upper control plate)
75% of the original lower control plate remains. (Had to cut a big hole for the strat jack)

But I'm not replacing the buttons for straplocks. I use 25 cent rubber washers for that!

Thats right. $200 original bass, $600 neck, $400 in other parts, $0.25 straplocks.

 

[jamro217]

You're right. The strap buttons are the only thing on it that is 100% Squier.

95% of the original body remains. (had to route some of it for added controls)
90% of the Pickguard remains. (had to remove a bit to add an upper control plate)
75% of the original lower control plate remains. (Had to cut a big hole for the strat jack)

But I'm not replacing the buttons for straplocks. I use 25 cent rubber washers for that!

Thats right. $200 original bass, $600 neck, $400 in other parts, $0.25 straplocks.

Now it's a serviceable instrument. Better than a Custom Shop because you personally oversaw every detail.

 

[Humbled]

7. "Which strap-lock system do you use" is a contentious topic.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

7. "Which strap-lock system do you use" is a contentious topic.

"Which contentious topic do you like" is a contentious topic.