I bought my first bass 34 years ago, an early 80's Japan Squire P bass for $200. I have played on and off since in bands and at church. I have owned probably a dozen basses over that time, initially trying to emulate the style of Duff McKegan, then Bobby Sheehan, and in the last few years I have been trying to think like Phil Lesh. I have a Starfire II on the way, and have been reading what I can about Phil's strings. As a result of that reading I decided I will use flats on it, and while I waited for it to arrive I ordered some to try just to see what they are about.
So yesterday I put on GHS CM3050 Precision Custom Medium) on a bass for the first time, in this case an Elite Jazz (18v active, but not the best pre-amp ever, for sure) and went to rehearsal. I play through a Markbass 210 combo tied into the PA that has an 18" sub.
Doh!
I believe I actually became a better bandmate and player just by changing the type of strings! I now understand the "thump" that I have read about, that my sound has apparently been missing. We do some old country in addition to classic rock, and this new anchor on the bottom was absolutely the sound those tunes needed. The character of the tone allowed whatever it is in my brain that drives me to overplay to chill out and lay back. The space became more useful than it has been with all the other bass/string combinations I have played in the past, and using that space and that thump to do my job on the bottom end created a noticeable improvement in the sound of the band overall. I actually played differently in response to how the strings played, and that smooth slick feeling is totally new to me. And great!
I am shocked and chagrined that as I get older I only realize how little I have known all this time. It seems a bit late to make a "discovery" that has been there on the shelf of every music shop I have perused since high school. I have a Grainger 4 with D'Addario XL ProSteels that fits me like a bespoke glove, but it didn't come out of the case last night. I guess now I will be figuring out what to do with this new sound. I don't know whether it changes everything for me, or if I will find having the option between what will soon be 3 fairly different tones results in me using them all, or if I am a straight flats guy now.
Any thing else in the bass world that I definitely should have experienced at this point?
Oh wait I do see a pattern here - I just recalled that the guitarist and I had been poo-pooing 6 strings with comments like, "If I haven't mastered 4 strings, why do I need more. When 4 just isn't enough for saying what I want to say I, then maybe I will need a 5 or a 6, but I am nowhere near that now. If 4 was good enough for Europe 72, 74, 77-78 for Phil it's certainly good enough for me. Those guys with 6's are mostly kidding themselves." Then I tried one at an open mic and realized how easy it was to play across the board to riff more easily, more quickly, and more articulately. It wasn't about needing more notes, it was accessing them efficiently, how they sound in different places, and having more choice.
Ok so aside from flats and 6's, what else does everyone else know that I continue to kid myself about?
So yesterday I put on GHS CM3050 Precision Custom Medium) on a bass for the first time, in this case an Elite Jazz (18v active, but not the best pre-amp ever, for sure) and went to rehearsal. I play through a Markbass 210 combo tied into the PA that has an 18" sub.
Doh!
I believe I actually became a better bandmate and player just by changing the type of strings! I now understand the "thump" that I have read about, that my sound has apparently been missing. We do some old country in addition to classic rock, and this new anchor on the bottom was absolutely the sound those tunes needed. The character of the tone allowed whatever it is in my brain that drives me to overplay to chill out and lay back. The space became more useful than it has been with all the other bass/string combinations I have played in the past, and using that space and that thump to do my job on the bottom end created a noticeable improvement in the sound of the band overall. I actually played differently in response to how the strings played, and that smooth slick feeling is totally new to me. And great!
I am shocked and chagrined that as I get older I only realize how little I have known all this time. It seems a bit late to make a "discovery" that has been there on the shelf of every music shop I have perused since high school. I have a Grainger 4 with D'Addario XL ProSteels that fits me like a bespoke glove, but it didn't come out of the case last night. I guess now I will be figuring out what to do with this new sound. I don't know whether it changes everything for me, or if I will find having the option between what will soon be 3 fairly different tones results in me using them all, or if I am a straight flats guy now.
Any thing else in the bass world that I definitely should have experienced at this point?
Oh wait I do see a pattern here - I just recalled that the guitarist and I had been poo-pooing 6 strings with comments like, "If I haven't mastered 4 strings, why do I need more. When 4 just isn't enough for saying what I want to say I, then maybe I will need a 5 or a 6, but I am nowhere near that now. If 4 was good enough for Europe 72, 74, 77-78 for Phil it's certainly good enough for me. Those guys with 6's are mostly kidding themselves." Then I tried one at an open mic and realized how easy it was to play across the board to riff more easily, more quickly, and more articulately. It wasn't about needing more notes, it was accessing them efficiently, how they sound in different places, and having more choice.
Ok so aside from flats and 6's, what else does everyone else know that I continue to kid myself about?
