Tuesday, December 31, 2013

How it is vs how it should be

I have Cerebral Palsy [I believe I've beaten this subject to death with a stick] and nothing sums it up quite like saying my normal is not your normal. Sometimes it's because it's just how my body does whatever, it doesn't necessary mean I can't do whatever they way you do, I just don't see the point of doing it a more difficult way. But there are random times I just do something the normal way, and it tends to bowl people over.
This doesn't really apply, but I love it.

Sometimes I do something because the situation calls for it [apparently the first time I did something like this is when I set up straight on a horse]. Playing bass is one of these situations. My frame is on the small side, so I have to throw my shoulders back in order reach the top frets on Igor. I also move my elbows away from my torso when I do this, which makes my wrist straight. With guitar I don't have to, so I don't, and the results kinda suck.         

Monday, December 30, 2013

there's no rattle in Rock & Roll


Demon rattles whenever I manhandle him. I hope it's just a piece of wood from his busted screw hole [which I did not cause!] finally broke off. I should take off the back and check it out. But I don't want to. I don't want to have another broken instrument.
[In some slightly related news I took the rubber band that was keeping Igor's wonky strap lock quite, and that rattling I don't give a shit about when compared to his shivering truss rod cover.]  

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Demon's Body

Is tiny. It's harder to have proper position with him since it's so easy for my elbow to be in my side even when I'm playing high on the neck [it's not like a guitar's neck is even that high]. I'm having more issues with my plucking hand then I've ever had on bass.
This looks actuate.
Demon's body is small, so I've found my left arm reaches around the bottom of his body [to pluck, actually it's more like barely touching his strings]. I have no idea how to adjust to him to get proper position.  

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Lord of the Rings

I decided to finally crack open a Tolkien book. If my halfhearted dream of becoming a Prog Rock writer was ever going to come true [right after that Historic Album] I knew I would have to finish the trilogy that the majority of my friends were raving about. Plus I think just about every self respecting band [I'd like to think] of the 1970s had a song inspired by it.
I'm about nine chapters in and personal opinion aside, I gotta say I shocked by how many song have been written about this trilogy. I mean these hobbits [and that Tom fellow] do nothing but sing. People act like hobbits naturally do nothing but eat, but it seem like they're singing twice as much as they are eating. I see how this book is the cornerstone for so many fantasy books I've read [Tolkien published this book in the 1930s] but I just find this book so bland. [Oops, that was personal opinion.] But I just can't see how someone would write a song about this,when there are already so many songs in it.         

Friday, December 27, 2013

Pinky

Upon attempting chords [on Demon] for the umpteenth time I noticed that one of the reasons I was struggling was because my pinky finger was turning in [and under] my ring finger. I immediately peg it on my CP and go posting on TB asking about what the proper position is.

As it happens most of the time, I didn't get the answer, but I did learn not to so quick to blame my CP. Someone else has the exact same issue and it went away with practice.     

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Playing Sick

You know how being sick can distort your sense of taste? Come to find out it can fuck with more then that. [i.e. hearing] Being forced to blow your nose every five minutes leads to alot of popping ears.
I came to realize this when I plugged in Igor and I automatically reach for the master knob [aka the volume knob, but that's what it's labeled, and that's what I will gleefully call it]. I never fuss with the master knob, I'm rather forced to fuss with the other knobs, but the master knob stays put at just audible.

Since I didn't want blow my ears, I just turned off my amp.         

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Fretting Hand Tone

There was a tread on TB about low action vs high action and how it effects tone. I've noticed I like it when I play a note while plucking it at the same time [in other words I come down on the fret while I pluck] instead of already holding down a string when I pluck. In order to do the former the action needs to be a little higher so that the string don't smack the fretboard or pick ups.

This is generally frowned upon because it's harder on the player's hands, so I'm currently debating whether or it's worth it. [I mean, hey, this could all be hearsay!]      

Monday, December 23, 2013

I Have These Other Forms of Media

Like this one [it's my favorite and it would make me very happy]

And follow this one [if you like, I really don't care].

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Grammy Nominations


The Grammy nominations are out, and checking them out is my guilty pleasure. I feel rather conflicted this year because Sara Bareilles is up for record or album [I don't know the difference, I've been wondering this for years] of the year. This is her third album, and like most third albums it's way different from the first two [and I'm not a fan]. I love that someone I think has a great voice is up for recondition, but I don't like the music that is.

Led Zeppelin is up for a few statues too, at first I was sure that someone hacked the site [and quite honestly I'm too lazy to see if someone did] but like I said above, I have no idea how these lists are made. I want to look at these categories as obvious runaways, but then I remember that the winners tend to be best sellers, and I don't know how they fall in their groups. I feel bad for everyone else that stand next to them in those categories, I mean how do you stand next to Led Zeppelin [and possibly] be declared better then them?      

Saw Taylor Swift's name on a list of "song of whatever" and as my eyes were rolling into my head I noticed that her song was the only one with a single writer [herself']. I gotta tip my hat to her for that.

For nostalgia's sake I checked out the Christian music categories, it was the same old people, people I've never heard of, and one person I've never liked.

Finally I noticed one of the categories at the bottom of the list: "Best Historical Album". I don't have the foggiest clue what this is, but I want my name next to it one day. Is it odd to put "obscure grammy" on your bucket list? [When you know your chance of getting it is below zero] Become a famous song writer is my Plan C, behind become a Nun [actually a Sister, but those are totally going to happen in order].             

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Hand Size

When people say girls should play short scale [because they're smaller] I laugh. I've never had an issue playing playing bass, in fact I have better posture in order to fit Igor [I don't think I've written about that before, I'll get on that]. Yes I do have shift when I play the first fret of the E [natural F] but I have yet to see a pro bassist not do the same.
My pointer has to reach to play the B string, forget E.
With guitar I'm simply not as lucky. Most basic chords are designed to be easily reachable when you're playing the right way around. Now I have to play a note and clear five strings with my pointer finger, and I just can't do that high on the neck without putting my wrist in [read bad] funky positions. If I wanted to look into straight up bazaar solutions I could just look into a different tuning...       

Friday, December 20, 2013

Old Time Help

I found this little paper [less then] booklet that came with Lula. For as crappy as Lula is, this booklet is a wealth of information. It has a handful of chord charts on the back [which I double checked on CB.com and it's totally right] and get this, with Demon's strings being flipped these charts make total sense in my head.

Perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that on another flap of the booklet is the note of every fret, on sheet music! You see how far the tiny E string is from the other one, it only goes up to the fifteen fret [kinda odd number if you ask me] but it's pretty obvious where the notes go from there.    

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I tried to study the master

A southpaw playing a right handed [guitar] upside down? it seems like falling down the Jimi Hendrix rabbit hole is a requirement. It's funny how when I started playing bass [properly left handed] I'd think of Paul McCartney for support when people gave me crap about playing southpaw; I mean if I get crap in the 2010s image what he must of got in the 1950s and 60s! [Or so I'd like to think, for all I know about him he may as well be a fictional character.]  

Somehow I can't take this same mindset with Hendrix, maybe it's super long fingers, or the fact nearly all his videos rarely shows him playing [see below] but I just pick out the musician from the player, He's just this huge ball of...him.
When you look at all my likes and dislikes in music you'd think I'd love Hendrix, and I've tried, I can recognize his stellar playing, but I've also noticed how much his guitar playing tanks when he starts to sing. Something about this just pisses me off to no end.   

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Dead Men

Some days I just go on a Youtube binge. Watching every interview and live performance I can get my hands on. This past weekend it was John "The Ox" Entwistle of The Who. He died in 2002 and the majority of his videos are "tribute" videos; and when you look up "interviews" all you get are [insert living person's name] reaction to [dead person]'s death.

Once I actually found some videos of him playing, it was actually really cool. They say that he was the only member of The Who who was unmoving on stage [when compared to Moon, and everyone else] but whoever said that failed to look at his hands.          

Do you see his hands?!? They don't stop doing whatever awesomeness they're doing! The closest to this I've seen was that dude from Primus and that just pales in comparison. 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

With my Pinky Finger

I've figured out how to play pain in that ass chords like A major and the like. Instead of using my rather large pointer fingerpad, use my pinky! Thank god, my pinky is plenty strong enough from my bass playing.
  

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fingertips

I've been playing bass for almost two years now and my fingers have never gotten calloused  or blistered like you hear about from guitar players. Some rouge thread on TB said it's actually pretty rare to get rough fingertips because the strings are so thick on basses. Some part of me hoped that my bass playing prepared me for callous free guitar playing. [That was very wrong, and very stupid].

There are track marks left by Demon's strings, and peeling skin, which happen every time I pick him up. Also my fingertips seem to be huge, I have to kinda maneuver my finger pad and nail under the string next [to what I'm fretting] so there won't be unintentional muting.      

Thursday, December 5, 2013

There Be Buzz

Since lowering Igor's action I've noticed that this kinda fret buzz has popped up on the middle strings [kinda meaning that it's actually the string smacking the fret board that is causing the racket]. I don't have time to raise the action by hand with finals around the corner [and yet I type this] but I have to say it's annoying to have what basses that consistently need fixing.

I'm really trying to be a good Madam. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Something I Just Noticed

I've had Demon for about a week, and I just noticed he doesn't have fret markers on the side [on the side I see since he's really upside-down].

I have no idea what this says about my playing, I have [for the most part] been paying attention to where I'm fretting, but just to figure out what note I'm playing. It's also really straight forward by looking at the frets/counting the frets/noticing where the nut is. [I mean all the basic chords are around the third fret.]     

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Is He Worth it?

Demon has serious structural damage, and I'm not sure if he's worth keeping. I wanted a guitar that would last me, but I'm not sure he will. My mom is willing to pick up the shipping cost so I'll walk away from this at no cost.

PRO/KEEP                                                                                                              CON/RETURN
Finish                                                                                                                              Damage
Fretboard wood I wanted                                                                                              Wiring What
Bridge PUP is Awesome                                                                                               Screw Holes
Cost
Will owe mom
[Can I say color too?]
Good Neck...



I'm honestly kinda 'meh' on the other two PUPs, but that might change when I get his innards figured out. And honestly I can keep the back on snugly just by using the two good screw holes. I guess I'm keeping him.     

Monday, December 2, 2013

Wiring What.

I thought soldering on a wire would be straight forward, until I noticed two possible places the wire could of come off of. This made me decide to pull up a wiring diagram.

Demon was made just outside of Ibanez's ten year backlog of wiring diagram, so I decided to pull one up from the internet. The one I found was made by someone replacing the pick ups on a GSA60, and it didn't match up to Demon [at all]. Being that the guy was replacing pick ups it would make sense that he'd be using different color wires and such, but he listed all the old wires too, and they weren't running in the same configuration as Demon's innards. [Like the red wire on the third branch of the PUP switch was running to the PUPs not the volume pot like in the diagram.]      

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Solder On

I decided to solder the green wrapped wire back on the tone pot. I've never soldered anything before [but I watched my mom's boyfriend do it a couple times] but how hard could it be? Ignoring that little voice in my head reminding me that I burn myself ever time I handle a glue gun [and what is a soldering gun, if not a worst glue gun?] I gave it my best shot.

I only burned myself twice [and only one mark hung around for a week] but I couldn't actually get the solder to stick to anything. Plus the gun kept burning the little plastic thingy on the tone knob. So it didn't work out. 

Saturday, November 30, 2013

This is a Crack

I ran Demon's cracks by the all knowing members of TB [that was a joke]. Good news is that the cracks by the neck are just finish related [and a sign of a good finish job] but someone suggested I look deeper into the damage in the image below; I'm glad I did.


Beyond the fucked up screw holes [one is beyond repair, and three more are cracked] the wood you see coming through the black paint is a crack. What I thought was cosmetic damage is actually structural. Then there's the matter of the totally disconnected tone pot... 

Friday, November 29, 2013

Is this a Crack?

There's another one on the other side of the neck that's not as big.  Demon has other scars and believe me, but as long as he's structurally sound I'll keep him. I'd like to keep him for at lease ten years, but these cracks sure look ominous.   

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Igor's Action

Playing around on Demon all week has given me new eyes for Igor, mainly I realized the fact that Igor's action is ridiculously high. I went searching on my night stand of bass pieces and dug out all my allen wrenches.

I remember adjusting his action once before [just by adjusting the bridge] and I could of swore it was the shiny tiny allen wrench; but alas, I tried it and it seemed a hair too big. [This is were the situation gets perplexing.] I have four allen wrenches, two larger one that adjust truss rods, and the "shiny tiny" one and "an uber itty bitty" one [which I honestly don't know what it fits] none of them will suddenly work, and I know I've done this successfully before.

With the Allen wrenches worthless, I decided to loosen Igor's strings and twist the action lower by hand. 
[This actually worked.] 

See the little feet under what looks like hammer heads? That's what I twisted down by hand. 

Look I'm a Demigod!

The strings they put on Demon are of a very light gauge [says the bassist]. Where four of Lula's strings are wrapped only three of Demon's are. The three that aren't wrapped are just the tiny core of the string, and I have no problem fretting them.

I've come to realize that if you put too much pressure on a string you can distort the sound. So I need to learn to light up and [or] get some larger gauge strings.
[Pardon the title, I've just been wanting to use the word demigod for awhile.]    

Monday, November 25, 2013

I Have Strong Hands

I went back to the A# chord that I talked about earlier:  I've found two ways to play this decently. Option one is to [flat out]cheat and use my thumb on play the end string you play. Using this it actually sounds really good, but I've had people point out that it's impossible to change chords swiftly in while using your thumb.

The other option is to play a bar chord [or barre, I've seen it spelled both ways]. To pull off a bar chord you lay your finger along fret, so that it covers most or all of the strings. This acts kinda like a capo [I'm told] and is a somewhat advance chord to pull off.
A capo.

Starting out on bass has given me the finger strength needed to actually pull this off decently. [I just have to work around my short fingers around them.] With my pointer finger occupied, the rest of the chord is surprisingly easy to manage. The lone difficulty is that if a string under your finger joint it will end up muted. [My hands may not be tiny, but my fingers are far from long.]    





These are Hard

Chords are hard. A chunk of it is from maneuvering your fingers into the right configuration on the fretboard, but a whole other part is getting the chord to ring out clearly. You can tell if unintentionally mute a string, or if your finger slips to the wrong fret [so that it rings out horribly] but getting it all to ring out clearly seems nearly impossible.

I can understand now why [when isolated] bassists who started out as guitarists tend to sound messy. I wonder if I should lighten up on my standards.      

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Guitar Wrist

I came to notice when playing Lula, my fretting hand's wrist position was horrendous. I was hoping that it was just because Lula has a thick neck, but Demon has Ibanez's thin neck, but I still have deplorable wrist position. [I did see a review that said because Ibanez does there neck so thin they have to compensate by having a wider fretboard.] 

I think part of it is that my hand is stressed out while trying to figure out [and pull off] a chord. [You really can't use the bassist's mindset of 'relax' while playing.] So far the only solution I've found is go slow and correct my wrist only after I get the chord right.     

Saturday, November 23, 2013

What's in a Name?

I had The guitar shipped to my [least] favorite music store, mainly because I didn't realize I could test out his [the guitar's] electronics at home. Given my horrid experiences with Western Shore music stores in the past, I walked in with my teeth gritted, and my guard up.

Shockingly, I didn't need it. I had it un-boxed in the store and when I asked to check out the pick ups and they asked what I'd be plugging into; they didn't flinch, or comment when I said I'd be running it [I refer to my instruments as objects in front of people] through a bass amp.

I held my guitar by it's neck as I carried him over to the amp section of the store, and I couldn't help but notice that his strings felt older than dirt. When the employee tried to tune it, but was clearly a lost cause. After all but cussing out the store that sent it, he handed it over to the guitar tech, and put new strings on it! [I still can't believe they let me walk out without paying for them!]

With new strings I checked the neck for dead spots. While I was doing this the employee who tried to tune the guitar earlier came back and started chatting with my mom. Come to find out this was they same employee who gave me crap nearly two years ago for buying Igor [read playing Southpaw]. He came to explain how it sucks playing left handed because there are so few left handed guitars to choose from. As a dude who makes him commissions off sales, I can understand where he's coming from; but as a player, it's still not cool.

[Long story short, buy a bass from GC and get treated like crap. Buy a Guitar from GC and get treated like a customer.]       

I Christen Him

I shall call him Demon!  Reason #1, His color and finish remind me of my favorite demon and [spoiler alert] shooting star Calcifer of Howl's Moving Castle.
Reason #2, Look at these marks: 
It has clearly been to Hell, or through it, or something akin to it.

Reason #3, My snark tuners likes him. Remember that tuner I've all but declared dead? If [and only if] the Tuner's clamp smacks one of Demon's strings on the way down [but it doesn't stay under the clamp] the tuner will work perfectly, but only Demon, and only if I don't move the tuner.

[You know how I said I envision Igor as an old man who yells at me in an Eastern European accent? I see all my necked instruments like that. New Guy is a awkward middle schooler, Lula is my two Great-Grandmother,  and Demon is a stoned teenager.]
   [Yup, I've run out of stuff to say, but I feel like I should say something because I have all these photos.]

Friday, November 22, 2013

My Web Friend

Chordbook.com is awesome! [I hope you don't mind that  I linked you straight to the chord maker/finder thing.] 
This baby can give you pretty much any chord [I have no idea if that's true] or you can but the dots anywhere on the fretboard and have the program tell you if you've made a chord or not. But beware that when you put the setting on 'left' [meaning handed] it just flips it over as you were just playing a right handed guitar left handed [which I'm learning is kinda the norm].  

More Gifts Coming

I hit up Best Buy for a school project [no really] and long story short is that I'll have a few more CDs to review come the gift giving season.

I don't have them sitting in front of me right now [for obvious reasons] but I'm getting a Korn Album, a Black Sabbath CD and a Megadeath Album. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hello Miss. Luck

Lady Luck has decided to smile on me recently, I can use my bass amp with my guitar! My stomach was in knots because I had my new guitar sent to the local GC [which treated me like crap in the pass] but I don't have a guitar amp so what could I do?

You're probably asking why I'm didn't just think to use my bass amp? [Little known fact that should be a widely known fact, you can't play a bass through a guitar amp, seriously it might blow.] So I just assumed that it was just vice versa with a guitar and a bass amp, but it appears not! behold a video:
  [And if you were wondering what happens the other way around] 

I'm Getting Headphones

I ran into the local Tuesday Morning [like T.J. Max or Marshal's, alot of random stuff at discount prices] looking for a cover that would fit my new laptop. Lo, and behold the laptop covers were in the electronic section, not far from the ear buds and head phones.

I hate ear buds [and I always have] they consistently give me a headache and I always found that I've had to turn them up too loud in order to enjoy them. But I've never had a set of headphones, so I started looking at the plugs, while I rattled off a list of reasons to get a pair in my head [They could work with my amp, I've been flying a fair bit; and I'm always jealous of the people who bring their own headphones, they could work for school; since I'm current dragging that single ear bud I posted about ect]. But alas, all the the head phone only had the standard 3.5mm jack. [My amp needs the other size, don't ask me what it is, but it's the other bigger size.]

My mom noticed that I was looking at headphones and quickly drags me to the clearance section [where I ironically find a laptop case]. Sitting in clearance is $50 head phones with converter jacks! I'm abit leery of the price but my mom keeps insisting that they are a great brand [Koss] and she wants them to be a Christmas present. I couldn't argue with that, so I'm getting headphone for Christmas [and my mom even asked if I needed them now]!      

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

It's that time of year again!

It is that time of year that my fingers get cold. I've posted about this a few times before so I'll spare you the details. I have found [a quick ass] solution, I rarely turn on the heat in my bedroom [aka the music room] so in the winter I use this mattress heating pad. This heating pad is really neat where is even has extra heating coils for the foot of the bed.
The pad has a 12 hour shut off, so I just crank it about 12 hours before I have to get up in the morning. [No, really, this is related to bass, wait for it.] On week nights I always play before bed, so I've learned to spend a few minutes with my fingers on the heating coils to warm up my hands. Its sometimes [always] drives me up the wall how long it takes for my hands to warm up, but for as worried as I am about proper wrist position, and getting ear plugs, I should not be complaining.  

I See a Trend Here

I have my guitar. I want to talk about my guitar, and how I got my guitar, but I think I''ll talk about something else now:
I got Igor 1/3/12, I got New Guy fifteen months later, and now seven months after that I have an electric guitar. I must have seasonal GAS or something. I think it's connected to Winter Blues, since I do rely on playing instruments for emotional support.

[I really need to make sure this doesn't happen next year.] 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My Ears Work!

I never thought this day would come, but I did it. I found the same note without totally cheating! I was playing random note [noodling] when I just changed string without much thought. I found that two frets [one above the other] that sounded good next to the note I just played. I played all three notes over a few times and settled on the two notes I thought sounded best.

They were both F#! I didn't count it off or anything! [well I did at the end but that doesn't count.]   

It's Mocking Me

This guitar is on used.GC.com for $69. I haven't the room for it, and I'm pretty sure I've posted about the dangers of playing upside-down, but it sure is pretty.

  • And has the fretboard I want.
  • Actually it's pretty much Igor in guitar form.
  • And you can see the grain in the wood!
  • And it's yellow! 
  • Shit, with tax and shipping it's under $100.
[Someone please buy this before I do! Too late.]

Monday, November 18, 2013

Whammy Bars

There's a stick on guitars, they make noises called dive bombs and the like. I've heard it be called a Whammy, Vibrato, or Tremolo Bar. The video I checked out earlier was kinda useless explaining how it works, but this guy I have a college class with [I'm starting to find a guitarist in every class] said it was just like vibrato [where you wiggle a string with your finger] but it does it to all the strings at once.

It works by shaking the bridge, which explains why several people reported some guitars going out of tune when they used the Whammy Bar alot.   

Different Mindsets

Guitars and bass guitars may sound like they're from the same family, but let me tell you, the mindsets are totally different. I decided to find out how a whammy bar works [I'll post about that later] and came across an interesting video:

First off I have to sit through "How to get Good Feedback" [this kinda made my head implode]. In week two of bassist 101, you should learn that feedback is akin to fret buzz and it is therefor bad. [I mean I'm sure some punk/metal bassists use it, but it makes it difficult to 'play the silence'.] I'm learning that guitarists [tend to] want to fill up as much space as possible sound wise, maybe they think it covers up mistakes?  

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Unexpected Pro

I got a new laptop! This one has a web cam and microphone so I can do this!
[Woo Hoo!]


[This title is misleading...]

Call me Alice

I have fallen down the rabbit hole of electric guitars [and my, what a bazaar rabbit hole it is]. The good news is that there seems to be a shit load of resources for guitarists, the bad news is that I have no idea where to start.

Judging by [what seems to be] the major influx of non-bassist musicians joining TB, it's the web's awesome-est resource [no bias here]. I going to have to spend a long time digging.       

Saturday, November 16, 2013

So Many Option

I looked up the A# chord that's been running around my head, there are alot of options. I found this one that seemed easy to remember, so I tried it out on Lula: [pardon the fact it's written in my log.]

The x means you don't mean the string and the dots mean you do. I just copied down what I found on the internet so I have no idea which string is which [farther confused by the fact I'm dyslexic and I'm playing Lula upside down].

What I did discovered is that what guitarists do is physically wicked hard. See those three dots in a row I underlined? I can't figure out how to play them together. Your fretting hand [and thus your fingers] are sitting vertical while these are all on a horizontal line. I can't get my finger where they need to be, so there is no fret buzz. Each finger pad ends up alittle higher then the finger before it, and I can't get a clean sound.

There's also the question of how to play five notes together when you only have four fingers. I thought guitarists only moved their fretting hand when they changed chords, but I guess this proves me wrong.  

I picked up a pick [again]

This time I tried picking on Lula, and I found I kinda don't mind using a little plastic pick with her. The kinda refers to how I have to hold the pick in order to be happy. [I'm using the same picks that inspire this post.] Normally your fingers hold the wide part of the pick, while the string makes contract with narrower corner of the triangle.

I've found that if I pick with one of the wider corners hitting the string, it makes a more solid sound which I can totally stand.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Stamp Review

I broke out the stamp I got so that I could get Lula's strings and the Steepenwolf CD with free shipping. It's a stamp of a four fret portion of your six string guitar [or as I cleverly discovered, turn it on its side and you have a bass stamp].

It's abit on the small side, but you really should have a problem seeing it. [Says a 20-year-old] My biggest complaint is that you have to watch pressing the stamp evenly so that all of the lines show up. You also shouldn't plan on trying to make a whole fret board by repeating this stamp in a row, you just can't get them to line up easily, as you will notice below: [But fear not! They make a stamp for your whole fret board!]

Thursday, November 14, 2013

A New Step Forward

I have another song running around my head [another solid blues tune, if this ends up being my one trick, I am 100% okay with that]. I found the root note on Igor [A#] but I found it super hard to focus because no matter what Lula sounded like an acoustic guitar, which was too far from the sound I wanted in my head.

As it stands now I have no potion but to power through and figure out some different A# chords.  

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Tuners Wars

BSO.com has started selling different types of tuners. Previously they only offered one kind of clip on, a planet wave brand [even though I've learned to not trust a brand, even if they make one stellar product--I'm looking at you Rotosound] but now they have quite a few options.

My snark is being to crappy that even the TB members agree, the told me to try repositioning the clip, being careful of other noises in the room, and to try and squeeze the head and steam of the tuner together. The last one took the tuner from totally dead to kinda working [as in it would read the bass, but nothing above the 5th fret] but it was impossible to use when you're pinching the tuner with one hand, and it still won't read open strings.

  

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Lula's Fret Markers

Have I said Lula came from the Toys R US? Probably her shortest coming is that fact that her fret markers are in the wrong spot. Moving up the neck from her body you notice that her first fret marker is on the 12th fret [and it's only one marker] and they alternate every two or three frets.

This annoys me to no end so I tried to properly mark them with a gel pen [staples of 90s childhoods for females] It just ended up scratching the fret board. Maybe the ink was all dried up, but I tried. 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Bronco 40 Tuner Note

The tuner will not work unless you have a working 9-volt battery in your active bass [battery is on necessary for passive bass].