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Things you play while trying a bass/amp.

#62
Arpeggios, to warm up.then some lemon song, ramble on, what is and what should never be, caroselambra..Zep stuff obviously, Beatles, queen, Floyd, eagles, not all at the same time but just stuff I have played when I do go to the GC. :bassist: one that I always play though is that Flea song cant think of the name right now though something like pee or little pea really eazy but fun to play. :bassist:
 
#64
First I usually play a classic piece that goes real fast, can't remember the name since I've played it as a finger excersice. Then I do some slapping like Higher Ground or Pow. Then I move onto stuff I usually play on gigs and such, so I usually play a bit of improvised blues and funk, then I move on to some other crap I just happen to remember. After maybe 15 mins of this I eighter buy it or move on :D
 
#65
Funny thing, I was trying out some effects today and I was completely blank.

I didn't know what to play, but after a while I managed to blurt out the Ballad of Bodacious (by Primus) and H. (by Tool).

From here on out, I'll start playing Roundabout (by Yes) and I will not be held accountable for anything that might follow.
 
#66
PastorofMuppets -- I don't usually think to go take the bass to another room. I just try and play a bunch of stuff that I know my band will play, or that I know will get brought up in jams. I want to hear the instrument on the songs that I know will get played over and over. Never occurred to me to go to another room at all. Heck, there's usually enough guitarists screaming away in the store that no one notices that lady trying out the bass over in the corner. ;)

Cherie
 
#69
For a bass guitar: arpeggios and scales from side-to-side and top-to-bottom on the fretboard so I can hear how the thing sounds. Usually slowly and carefully as I listen to the details of the tone, letting some notes ring out and decay, sometimes faster for checking out playability.

I am almost certain I have never played a song or a recognizable riff in a music store. I think it stems from the "Stairway to Heaven" bit in "The Blues Brothers" movie.
 
#70
i usually warm up with Higher Ground, or some random pentatonic run thingy, then...

For Whom The Bell Tolls
Cult of Personality (the Doug Wimbish bassline)
Glamour Boys (living colour)
some random Pantera melody

then to test how fast i can move my fingers around on the bass, ill usually go metal with it...

Before I Forget-Slipknot
Now You've Got Somethin To Die For-LOG
Laid To Rest-LOG
Redneck-LOG
and then....

LA GRANGE!!! :bassist:
 
#72
If fretted: Crossroads is always first, then Stride (by whom, I do not know), then Damn Blue Collar Tweekers

If fretless: Fisticuffs (Primus), Stride

Besides those, I run scales, my normal warm-up exercises, and basically just feel the bass up in various and sundry ways. If there's any imperfection at all, I'm going to find it. I'm a big fan of the neck dive test, which most basses do not pass.
 
#73
I usually just improv while tinkering with tone and such. I usually I draw a blank and end up defaulting to something I've known forever. lol I don't really care about turning heads. If it's a bass I plan on buying I'll slowly check out every fret on every string and make sure there's nothing dead or weak.
 
#74
I always play it unplugged at first. All I'm testing is how smooth the feel is and how responsive it is. This will tell me a lot. When I'm doing this I'm not really playing anything, just some sort of guitaresque solo usually. If it passes this test I will pretty much always buy it. (I don't try out basses I can't afford.) When I think I'm going to buy I play Weezer's Only In Dreams plugged into an amp. This actually is great to play with pickup tone. And then I might play through some of my old bands songs. If I get to my originals it's a done deal and I'm just playing with the sales persons head.
 
#76
I start noodling around on the strings a little bit, eventually playing a certain blues solo that my bass teacher wrote out for me to play a while ago to see if I'm comfy playing that on the bass, and I might play some Primus, or I might improv to some SOAD or something. See, I WOULD play some Dream Theater, but I kinda can't.
 
#77
i like to do
Hard to Consentrate - RHCP
A few little slap grooves - Myself
Trooper - Iron Maiden (gets some good looks =])
Cant Stop - RHCP (ive litterally had other bassist in the room adn guitarists across play this with me after ive played it ><)
and whatever comes to mind really.
 
#79
Whatever lets me check how the bass is made, if there are dead spots on it, the sustain/decay, how it handles basic technique tones, if it takes more of a modern sound or classic, the different sound witht the different configs, all with the amp on flat.

I'm there to try a bass, no to get anyone listening... I don't really play anything at all, apart than maybe some pentatonic scales which do the best for me to check playability, I need to focus on the bass and it's pros & cons, not in a pointless arpeggiofest.
 
#80
I'll generally play a collection of my own pieces to get a feel for how she plays in different positions. Since I have to retune the bass to play most of my stuff, it's difficult to play any cover riffs. The only one that I sneak in once in a while is the middle section of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Iron Maiden ("...and by the light of the moon..."). My fingers have alwyas played that line when they don't know what else to do.
 

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