Work Bass

[pbass74]

I kept a bass and amp at work until I retired last year because we had a work band and I was lucky enough to be the in-house bassist. Truly, it was the best part of work even though we practiced on our lunch break or after work and had to furnish all our own gear. We sounded pretty good and had a great time. We practiced in a storage room in the underground parking structure--a true garage band.

 

[mikeswals]

I used to. I'd get out the headphone amp and practice during my lunch hour.
But I stopped because we changed to a 4/10 work schedule and only 30 minute lunch break.

 

[KellyC]

I used to, but as a commercial helicopter pilot working in a large city, not having both hands on the controls upset some of the clientele.

Knee driving is frowned upon in the commercial helicopter piloting field?

 

[MCF]

I did pre-Covid. Not in the office enough to make it worthwhile now.

Yep. But I’m home most days of the month these days and always have one by the desk.

 

[King Harvest]

Frankly, I think it's a bit weird to keep an instrument at work. Then again, I've never really had a job where you would just have time on your hands with nothing to do. Even if you had nothing to do, you had to look like you were working. I'd have wanted to get my 8 hours in and get out of there anyway.

I work from home now, but my usual playing time is about 11 PM to midnight.

 

[Danny O Danny]

I work from home, so yeah. But many years ago I worked for MCI in Denver on the 41st floor of the Arco Tower. The entire floor was a cubicle farm, and my cubicle was against a wall, but there was a small gap between my cubicle wall and the actual wall. The gap could only be accessed by standing on my desk and reaching down over the cubicle wall, and it was just wide enough to fit a bass case. I often worked nights (for a 20% shift differential), all by myself on the 41st floor. Essentially my job was to answer the phone if someone called (which they never did). So I stashed a bass there and would spend my nights practicing. It was awesome.

 

[mrjim123]

The custodian absconded with it, so I sued upper management. I won, but lost on appeal. All those strings! I earn, strictly based on commission, but where is my base? All of those notes ... LOST, like tears in rain. Time to die.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

I read an interview with Steve Morse, guitarist extraordinaire, who, for a time, worked as a pilot for a freight carrier while taking a break from playing professionally. Apparently he kept up his chops by playing a mini guitar WHILE DRIVING to the airfield to pilot a flight. It seems the road was pretty deserted at the times he drove.

The Bar Band Bassman

 

[bigdaddybass12]

YES!! I found a Yamaha tbrx174? For $100. Perfect to practice scales and songs. I had a gig last night that I went over a part of a song that I struggle with. Plus, I can toss it in my vehicle if I need a backup

 

[InhumanResource]

I saw a thread about someone wanting a work bass. It gave me GAS as my role can be EXTREMELY cyclical.

Who all has a bass they keep at their work to use during the day?

I have several! But my office is at home

 

[Wesley R]

I used too have a budget priced Yamaha at my desk. Worked well.

 

[GKon]

I would, but it's not allowed.
I'd also have a work bouzouki.

 

[shirojiro]

I was just searching about this topic.

I have and Ibanez Mikro short scale PJ bass and a Vox Amplug with headphones in my office.
When I have down time or when I’m on call, I break it out and work on learning tunes, or work on writing bass lines for original songs.

it doesn’t happen much, but I like having it at work, and it doesn’t take up a lot space.

 

[MtManiac]

I saw a thread about someone wanting a work bass. It gave me GAS as my role can be EXTREMELY cyclical.

Who all has a bass they keep at their work to use during the day?

I’ve been working from home since 2011 or so - my office has a corner with a table and chair where I also do all my practicing. So where “n” equals the number of basses I own and “n1” equals the number of basses I keep at work, n=n1.

 

[gtirard]

I'm just about to bring a bass & amp at work. But I must admit that my main motivation is that it allows me to keep more basses and amp than my wife would let me keep at home.

 

[Avigdor]

I do, we are lucky in that we have permission to use a local space at work after hours for rehearsal. I rotate my basses between home and work every now and then, it keeps reminding me what I like about each one of them

 

[smtp4me]

Prior to COVID, my answer would be a hard "no". However my company and my team now works from home almost exclusively. So my answer now is "yes". My basses are always nearby when I'm working.

 

[tb-player]

I keep a Kala uke bass hanging in the wall in my home office. But nothing like that in my actual office.

 

[Smith357]

I manage a warehouse, and keep a bass and amp in my office. Nothing special as it is a dirty environment. I don't get the chance to use it much, but it is nice to have around on those rare occasions when I can actually take a lunch break.

 

[Tnavis]

I used to keep a Squier jazz bass next to my desk when I worked for a different IT company; when I had downtime on phone shifts I'd run scales and arpeggios. I've thought about it at my current job, but realized that I'd most likely just use it for sporadic noodling and would have to answer questions about it several times a day.