WY Jazz/Punk Bassist Intro

[SlappyDex92]

Greetings, Y'all

Finally decided to join up after years of creepin' in on discussions here - definitely been a great source of info in times of need; don't know why I didn't sign up many moons ago.

So, intro stuff... Wyoming based musician. Northwest College alumni 2014, a SMALL-town comm. college that has long been accredited for their outstanding music department/educators, with a strong overall focus on jazz performance. I know, a jazz-oriented school in the barely inhabited "cowboy state". Stranger things.

I've been playing music for... almost 20 years now (scary thought). Started on guitar at 13-14; quickly found myself filling the bass spot in my buddies' punk/ska/grunge groups. Felt a deeper connection with the instrument than I did with guitar, in spite of being "volunteered" to pick it up after one jam session. Started learning the kung fu of jazz around that time in high school, and that became my main purpose all through college.

Fast-forward 11+ years, lotta ups & downs, moves here & there, and I'm back in WY doing pretty typical stuff for musicians in their 30s - full time day job to stay fed & sheltered, music during my "free time". Haven't had steady gigs or played in a serious band in an embarrassingly long time, but hoping to get back out into the real world before much longer.

Proud new parent of a Yamaha TRBX604 for about a week now, pretty stoked on that. Shout outs to other Yammy owners and any other musicians living in rural areas, Whyoming or otherwise.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Welcome! Good to see more jazz players who use electric here. You got started in jazz early, I only discovered playing it a couple years ago, though my ears consumed mass qualities back in the 70's and 80's. To be truthful, I got kinda bored listening to jazz, but I have NEVER been bored trying to play it.

You are well served with the Yamaha. Beautiful instrument. I use a Fender '90 Jazz Plus, Ibanez SR1350B, and Sire P5. Each one has it's own relative strengths, and I love the variety.

 

[SlappyDex92]

Welcome! Good to see more jazz players who use electric here. You got started in jazz early, I only discovered playing it a couple years ago, though my ears consumed mass qualities back in the 70's and 80's. To be truthful, I got kinda bored listening to jazz, but I have NEVER been bored trying to play it.

You are well served with the Yamaha. Beautiful instrument. I use a Fender '90 Jazz Plus, Ibanez SR1350B, and Sire P5. Each one has it's own relative strengths, and I love the variety.

Many thanks! Yeah, in all honesty, I don't know that I would've gotten as involved as I am with jazz if I'd never started *playing* anything. You know how it goes - brain can't help but try n figure out what peoples' hands are doing.

And yes, the Yammy was a decision planned LONG ago, just couldn't pull the trigger until the time was right. Much love for all Ibanez & Fender J's (don't think I've ever played a plus, once had a standard though). I hear a lotta good things about Sire, but haven't had the pleasure of meeting one quite yet.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Many thanks! Yeah, in all honesty, I don't know that I would've gotten as involved as I am with jazz if I'd never started *playing* anything. You know how it goes - brain can't help but try n figure out what peoples' hands are doing.

And yes, the Yammy was a decision planned LONG ago, just couldn't pull the trigger until the time was right. Much love for all Ibanez & Fender J's (don't think I've ever played a plus, once had a standard though). I hear a lotta good things about Sire, but haven't had the pleasure of meeting one quite yet.

The J Plus was only made for a couple years in US, back when Leo and Kubicki collaborated on a mod to the standard J. They down-sized the body and put a 9V version of Kubicki's 18V Factor pre-amp in it. Only about 1,300 got made, the smaller body wasn't popular. It's a little neck heavy but is a beautiful bass and fun to play. I rarely use the active settings. I started a thread here a couple weeks ago asking "why there weren't more posts about Ibanez?" and a flood of responses came in. In a nutshell, many people thought it was a bass past it's time (popular in early 90's), lacks a distinctive sound, though many others loved the playability and the neck. I think both points are true, just depends on perspective. If I was only buying one bass, I would probably not go with the SR. I bought the Sire just in the desire to have a decent P with out dropping $$$ and have nothing but good things to say about it. It is actually my favorite of the three, and a lot of fun to play. Have heard nothing but good things about Yamaha. A friend has a mid-80's P model, still as good as the day he got it, a very solid and well-built bass.