The Prognosis

I called the shop Wednesday and Igor was on the table, they said they'd call Thursday. Guess who didn't get called? [Okay, maybe I'm being abit bitchy about this situation, but I have trust issues, and bad luck at music stores.] So I call Friday, and Igor needs a back ordered part. I'll be out $80[that's parts plus service] and they won't be able to get the part for a month.

I planned on spending $100 on myself for my birthday, so I can afford this and a pack of strings [I'll just put off getting my hair cut for a few more months]. I'm going to bring Igor home next week since I don't want him sitting around who-knows-where. I'll also be able to change his strings with my new toy while we wait for the part to come in.    

About Time

I had a stroke of genius/common sense the other day: Use my amp's tuner and my clip on tuner at the same time! For months I thought my two types of tuners were at odds, I'd use the clip-on, than the amp [And in the time it took to get my bass across my room] and end up with a full step difference in tune.

They must of known what I was doing, because they made total sense together, the clip on tuner even pointed out that the farther down the neck I played, the more off a note was. I realized I needed to tweak the truss rod, but was unable to find the right allen wrench. [Which is for the better since I couldn't recall which way to turn it.] 

Buying Away the Emotion

The dude at the guitar shop said they'd call with the estimate on Monday. Monday passed and I haven't heard anything. I dropped Igor off on Wednesday and they were up front about the tech being on vacation and the holiday being in the middle of the week, so waiting til Monday seemed reasonable. Now they're late. [Mom says to wait until a week later, but meanwhile I have visions of them selling Igor.]

In other news, my birthday is this month! With Mom's okay I ordered a bass string clipper and tuner turner in one [which she will be paying for]. I can't wait until Igor is back to try it out.     

New Strings!

[This post has been sitting in my drafts for months.] 

I got my flatwounds, and I'm in love. I liked them from the moment I peaked into the package the moment when I got them. The thread color is purple, and it only has thread at the top, which seems so old school [to my utterly uneducated mind]. They feel like silk, I want to keep running my hand over the strings [more the the feeling then the sound, like the rotos].

The roundwounds bite when you change strings, flatwounds don't and I could play them for hours for the feeling. The rotos sounded zingy with the G string sounding down right like a piano. In contrast the flats sound almost woody, dull in a warm way, mellow.

I'd probably go mad if all my basses only had flatwounds, but I like having one pass with them, it's calm, plus you can't beat the investment since flats last for years.        

I'm a Bad Madam

Ages ago I decided I really hated the look of The New Guy's string tree. So I took it off in a late night rage [fueled by vanity]. Some member of TB said the string is to keep the intonation right and help keep it in tune. The bit about intonation is true, now I can't get him in tune without half the strings being at a way different tensions; but I'm calling crap on the in tune bit. The tree string also chews up the thread binding on the strings ends which really annoys me.

I've said it and said it, so I'm saying not it again, but I need a new screw to get the string tree on.

[Maybe I should start calling my basses my troop of hobos]       

Feeling the Sounds

Also while I was at the beach party there was a moment when I was alone. The sun was warm on my skin, the cool perspiration from my water bottle was a trilling contrast [especially to my neck]. I want relive that moment with my bass, I think it'd make a good song if I could get drums to mimic the waves and an electronic guitar to copy the cries of the gulls. It was beautiful.

He's Gone

I dropped off Igor today, I'm not lying when I say: I was very near having a panic attack before I handed him over. The panic began when I remembered that there was this circle piece that came out of Igor that hadn't made it's way in. I got that back in and I realized how much like a hobo Igor looks. My inability to use a screwdriver has resulted in a wanky strap knob and the truss rod cover being held on by only one [stripped headed] screw.

I thought far too much about what I was wearing, and finally got down to the shop. I was nervous as shit and it showed, but the dude I dealt with didn't make it worst. He commented on Igor being a lefty, but not in a condescending manner. First thing he noticed was the bowed neck, something I didn't even notice [there was a second weather whiplash while he's been broken] that I kicked myself for. I lied about the state of Igor's strings [to save some cash, and my dignity]. He asked about the the wiring issues and was surprised when I said it had nothing to do with the jack [as far as I can tell]. That felt like a victory until I realized it would just add to the bill.

I should get an estimate Monday, until than I am a very sad Madam without her henchman.   

I should just dig a hole

I've been working on learning sheet music, and if a note [line/bar] is sharp, it will tell you at the beginning of the line, and that's the end of it.  The result is me triple checking if the note is on a sharp [line/bar]. I've been thinking of just highlighting the note in question but I don't want to develop a bad habit, so I ran the idea pass TB.com to see if it was a good idea.

The result makes me want to put my head in the sand. I am not musically talented, and I'm okay with that. Bass is less about sound and a thousand plus times about the feeling for me. The advice was about listening and learning by ear. I'm not stupid, I just learn a different way. I'll get it musically one day, it's just going to be a later day.   

I should look before I post.

It appears I posted this post too soon. Right after clicking the 'Publish' button I decided to check the thread that was giving me peanuts, and lo and behold real try-able ideas.

All I needed!

I decided to try a thin hairband between the top cap piece and the strap itself. I couldn't get top cap thingy off [I even went to the directions and no luck]. So I just wedged the hairband in and twisted it over afew times, it actually worked. There's still some rattle, but it's muted and barely audible [and therefore at a pitch I can stand].        

With Alittle Help From My Friend

Friends are awesome, I mean real friends who actually know who you are when you bombard their Facebook inbox with random messages. One of my friends is classically trained [like her summer job is teaching violin to kiddos] and after my humble Google search's best result was Wikipedia I decided to see if she had better resource.

[The answer was yes, and it is awesome!]

I really don't know what to say about this website [linked above] but it's a wealth of information that in no way seems condescending. Sheet music has alot of small nuances which make a world of a difference, this site really spells it out.  

Stolen Music

I didn't get Igor to the tech this week, instead I went out partying with some friends. Surprisingly my bass playing will be able forward because of it. The hostess grabbed some old papers to use as kindling for the bonfire, some of those papers were sheet music. My concern for the sheet music was overruled by the need of s'mores [thus fire].  

Miraculously [no seriously, the sticks were wet] a couple of the papers weren't burnt and I put the only one with the bass clef in my bag before turning the other un-burnt over to the recycle bin. The sheet is church music meant to be played on a piano, so I don't even know if it'll be possible to play on bass, but hey I can try!         

Only One More Step, right?

I don't have great luck with music stores near me, so I was not looking forward to dealing with a tech. I tried my darn-est to find a tech in Delaware, but TB.com had no info for me, so I was stuck near home. [Oh Facebook, double edge sword that you be] I messaged every person who had ever posted anything about playing a guitar.

Luckily for me a guy I knew in middle school posted about getting a guitar pedal, and he has a relative who does instrument repairs. After hemming and haling, an epic trip and more hemming and haling I emailed the tech, and his [quick] reply seemed friendly enough. I figured up what a brand new GSR200l would cost plus shipping and new strings, and the tech said that's would be ridiculous amount of money.

So I will be able to keep my beloved Igor! I just have to hand him over to some stranger....[Please don't be a jerk, please don't be a jerk, please don't be a jerk]. 

Bloody Little....

I hate tambourines. I really can't stand the consent jingling, so when I played the open E string on the New Guy and heard a metallic rattle I was not happy. Okay, honestly I thought it was his [is it weird I refer to my basses by a non-intimate object pronouns?] new bridge. I thought I did something wrong [again] got the wrong bridge, or messed up placement; so I ignored it.

Months later the bridge hadn't fallen off and showed no signs of movement, I started thinking it was something else, and I remembered the strap locks. They were metal, and had way too many moving parts, and sure enough they were the problem.

I went to TB to see about strap lock muting and all I got was, take them off/buy a thicker strap/get a different type of strap lock. Since I have too much invested in these strap locks [over $30] I want to keep using them, plus I love my straps. It looks like I'm in new territory here, but I will be trying some stuff.

[Or I could just played plugged in 24/7 since that's the only time I don't notice it.]   

Last Stab

For fear that I would send Igor only to have him fixed by getting a new battery, I cracked open his back again. [I even tried to be mature about it and do it at the nice flat kitchen table, instead of my bed; but then remembered my amp was still in my room] By opening him up I was able to see that two pots were grounded again and one was loose. I'm not gonna lie, hope surged through me. [maybe I wouldn't need a tech at all!] I got out the hex wrench and went to work, all seemed well as I screwed in the last pot so I turned on the amp and plugged Igor in.

Nothing. 

I decided to wave my hand by the wires to see if I could get any sound. 

Still nothing. 

I turn on the reading light I normally never use since it wakes the whole house [I meant business]. Third time is the charm for me. Another wire is disconnected [this one from the computer chip looking pot] and I'm not going to mess with it. I'm done, and ready to hand him over to a professional.

It's the grey wire, seen in the top right corner of the chip pot. 

  

On A Road Trip

I think whoever makes music should listen to their music through horrible speakers before they release it for mass consumption [and realize just how crappy formatting it to mp3 makes it]. Today I spent four hours in the truck my family has owned for for 13 years [read: therefore it has only one working speaker].

For nostalgia's sake I plugged in the live Rush album that was my lullaby as a child. [The Many Stages CD that had Tree, 2112 and Driven on it]. I was blown away but how Driven [my favorite] rattled the truck's floor boards with the bass.

Half way there the windows came down and the volume didn't come up, only the highest of notes registered with my ears. It's amazing how much a song can change with the windows down. I turned up the music at one point, and just when the low notes hit my ears is when the floor boards began to rattle again.    

Summer Homework

Summer is upon me, and in an effort to learn something I've decided to transcript some sheet music. I have this book: Bass Tab White Pages [also see photo]. It's huge, a thousand plus pages of sheet music and man I have alot to learn about music.

I grew up in a parish with lot of money, each hymnal had every music sheet along with the lyrics. Understanding the bare bones of sheet music went along with learning the Apostles Creed for mass. As I said before I dislike the lack of information giving on tabular and with my background given above, sheet music seemed like the obvious path.

It's not so easy, I'm gonna have to call for back up.

So Long...

I picked up Igor for the first time in along time. It sucked, his strings don't sound or feel right, but there's no point to change them until I get him fixed. It had been so long that I picked him up like a righty [I still pick up New Guy like he's a lefty, every single time] When I went looking for the G notes I was totally, dyslexious, wrong.

I'm not gonna lie, fear hit me. My dreams of being a successful [successful here meaning playing both sides fluently] ambidextrous bassist were heading for the window. Then I remembered in my daydreams of being an awesome bassist including finding the F on the first fret [my psyche even gives me slack] before registering that I have a different bass. I try it out and I don't know if it was the chill time but I got the first fret F right.

After that everything fell mostly into place, I still had issues with fret placement since I was going from short scale to normal [called 'long'] scale but it was still home.

[With horrible strings, I can't get over those damn strings!]         

I'll Take It!

I have a consistent history with ear buds. It goes something like 1) get new set of ear buds 2) use twice over a period of a week 3) somehow manage to have only one of the ear buds working by the end of said week. I have about five sets of ear buds scattered around my room, besides always being being broken I rarely use them because they give me a headache.



So the fact that there was an ear bud setting by my door still the plastic wasn't a surprise, the fact I noticed at midnight the other night was. This set was backwards, one ear bud and two plugs, my brain hit that punch drunk place of awesome and decided to see if one of the plugs would work with my amp [at midnight, bright idea uh?] Shockingly the first plug worked and I didn't wake up half my street.

This really is great timing, I was just thinking about getting getting nice headphones for my amp/when I traveled. I'd still rather have headphones but this saves me money for awhile.      

Words in Passing

On the way home my mom and I had a layover in Boston. [Alas no Boston Cream Pie was consumed.] Mom wore a PRS shirt which caught the attention of our waiter who was a guitar owner. He starts talking about woods ect. and Mom directed the conversation to me since she loves music, but beyond drums I'm the instrument expert [scary, right?].

This guy had already brought up three different guitars he owned and when I said I had a bass he replied with "yeah I got one of them too. How many strings do you have? Six? Eight?" I was caught off guard by his nonchalant attitude of a bass is just another guitar. I felt so fake saying I that only had four strings, and that I wasn't a "failed guitarist". I picked up bass by default, not by the shadow of failure.

This all happened over this.

It's a mostly agreed upon fact that a bass guitar is more double bass then guitar. There's a number of reasons I picked up bass and not guitar, which lead back to this fact; I can't comprehend people not understanding this. I can't communicate with people when I can't see where they're coming from, it's my worst fault.       

Seventh Fret Haven

There is a saying in the bass world: "There's no money above the seventh fret." I don't know where this phrase comes from but if Geddy Lee's playing is any indication, [my seats were just that good, the second time around] it's true. All the '80s music was played strictly blow the seventh fret while the music off the newest album was all over the neck, including well above the seventh fret.

I've been spending lot of time learning the fret board and you know how you can check your tuning with the five frets down, one string over technique? Well using it you can play the the 5th fret of one string, and the open string of the string below it and have the same note. You can do this backward by going to [duh, duh, DUH!] the seventh fret! Suddenly [if nothing else] BEAD being the second most used alternative tuning [Drop D being the first].  

    

My Nails

This is a decent post I did on this subject, but since this is my blog and I don't have much to post about at the moment, I'm stretching this one.

I travel when I can without checking any bags; besides the limited amount of liquids, I can't bring nail clippers. Let me tell you, I embraced having short nails before I started playing bass as I should, so the past three weeks have been killer. One week in I nearly killed an emery board filing down my claws. In London I decided against buying union jack nail clippers, which I regretted for the rest of the trip. I lived as long as I could with my nails digging into my palms until I gnawed them down with my teeth behind my mother's back.

Bottom line, I utterly hated it.       

I'm an impatient piece of sod

The moment I got home I had Igor in my hand [I had to wait for the shower]. I didn't bother to tune him because I missed bass, and it is all about the feeling for me. Today I decided plug in and play the new guy [whom I just wanted to call by another name!!]. Of course the first step was to tune the sucker, and to my amazement almost all the strings were damn near tune. We'd had another forty degree whiplash during my trip so that was a miracle, until I got to the E string, which was being unplayable again.

When this problem first reared its head I went to TB who said I had to stop being a wuss and adjust the neck [they didn't say that, but I believe I was being a wuss]. Checking the neck I saw that the it was indeed bowing. No big deal, I even know which way to twist the allen wrench [don't ask me which way that was].

To do this properly I should of taken off or at lease loosen the strings. If you can't tell from this post's title, I didn't. The main reason for my impatient was the storms threatening today was that the weather channel [whoa, never thought I'd reference that on this blog] had people prepping for a major power outages. So no lovely amp bass sound [can you tell I really missed bass?] since the most agreed upon wait time for neck adjustment is two hours [via what I've found on TB] I was out of the game until after the storm.

Now it's the next morning, and besides some some hail [and a tornado that touched down a few minuets away] it was all hype. Now to see what damage I've done....                

I'm Back in Town!

I'm home!!! It was a three week trip of a lifetime through Europe, but my god I never missed something so much in my life. [That something being my basses, which is ready pathetic when you realize I have dogs.] I honestly don't think I can go that long without my basses again, which means I'll either have to shorten the length of my trips [something I plan on doing the rest of my life] or learn to like Uke Basses [something that currently makes my skin crawl].

About my trip:

Paris subway accordion player! I don't even know how to express how cool it was. On random stops they/he [I'm not sure if it was just one guy or what] would walk up and down the train for only between one stop with his hat out. Maybe it's the overuse of the acoustic guitar but the accordion seemed alot more portable and practical. I like the French they seem like a very practical people in general.

  Ireland was a stab to my bass missing gut at every turn. Actually the gut stabbing started in London when I saw electric guitar repair for cheaper then I will pay at home. [Even with the exchange rates, and no I haven't gotten no that yet.] In Ireland there was a music store on every street, music on every corner and in most pubs. All the music I found was on the acoustic/traditional [this is not a dramatization] though traditional sometimes meant Top 40 acoustic. Also seeing something relating to Thin Lizzy was the reason I went to Dublin [beyond having a city to fly out of]. Unfortunately vandals got to the Phil Lynott statue: [see my picture] Now I'll have to go back to Ireland. At lease Ireland has great beer.

  

Forward Motion From Backwards

[Disclaimer: I'm on a TFK kick as I title this post, and yes I'm just that impressionable.] Remember this post which I just happened to publish before this post? [And by 'just happened' I mean I thought of and tried first because my mind is just that backward.] Well I put both concepts together and the result was less then disastrous!

I played a random note [which ended up to be B on the D string] and tried to find the same note everywhere else it is one the fret board. I found B again on the G string but on the E and A strings I got within a full step or half step of being right. That means I was one [half step] fret or two [full step] frets from the right one!

There are twelve different notes on a fret board so at worst I was right slightly more then 50% of the time! Maybe I'm not as tone deaf as I thought [or just somewhat logical, yeah that seems more likely].      

Why One Must Use a Gig Bag Properly

Igor has been sending his sick time on the stand so The New Guy has had the gig bag. One night I was super tired and really shouldn't of pulled New Guy out [or just got distracted]. When I did call it a night I just slid him the the bag and slid that under the bed [where the gig bag lives] without so much as reaching for the zipper.

Later as I stumble to the bathroom my foot hits something that should not be on my bedroom floor: a bass knob. In a sleepy haze my mind tries to figure out where it came from. [I put all of Igor's back on and they require a allen wrench to remove.] New Guy's knobs can be pulled off by hand but they were on as I tossed him [carelessly] into the bag. 

In the morning I confirmed that the knob was from New Guy [though I have no idea how it left the bag] and as I go to pull him from under the bag the bass just slides out. [The zipper on the gig bag faces the wall so how the knob got out is really a mystery.] 

Lesson learned, zip [use] the gig bag!  

Midnight Math

Midnight, New Guy in my hand I'm staring at the fret board, unsure of what to do. I'm normally so punch drunk I'm useless at that hour, but then I recall that the fret board repeats notes after 12 frets, and that five frets down, one string over is that same note as the first open string. [It's actually open string is the same as the eleventh fret, and the first fret is the twelve fret ect.] Using these rules I realized that there is only one G on my A string [of the 19 fret neck] and nailed where both of the G notes are on the E string!

It would be very impressive if I could tell you what frets those G notes were on were, but I can't do that without a bass in my hand. [But that's when it matters right?] 

Scales? Chords?

I took another stab at understanding chords/scales. Plot a scale on a music sheet and I'll know it, but vertical chord charts throw my dyslexia into the point of no return. Regardless I tried Studybass.com and Learnbass.net but nothing clicks.

Why does this not make sense?!?

  

Looking for My Tone

Since New Guy is the only bass I can plug in and get a result with, so I decided to hook him up with the amp and play around with my combo's knobs [because that worked out so well the last time]. People on Talk Bass are always tone chasing [trying to copy X bassist's tone in whatever song]. In the same way you always see guys talking about 'that classic Fender tone' that way basses always sounded on records when they were growing up. I grew up in a double bass/prog rock tunnel [if you haven't noticed by my Rush/can my amp knock people over? posts].

So I turned all knobs down and cranked one up to see how it sounds. My one sucky pick up New Guy didn't really react notably to that so I crank two at a time. For me the the sweet spot was Gain all the way up with midway or all the way up Bass. Prefect mug you, punch you in the gut, in your face sound.  

Playing Blind

I took another stab at kicking fret marker dependence by playing at night. Okay it was a school night and I shouldn't of been picking up my bass [again]. I was playing in the almost total dark [save the weak street light] and it was so much fun!

The fret gradually decrease in size and I found it alot of fun to use my knowledge of the neck and the sides of the frets to get the right note. Not much point to this post, just found  [have I said fun?] and interesting way to almost woodshed.

Igor is Back!

To square one, but that's better off then before! After my Step-Dad battled the soldering gun [having electrical issues of its own] we got the wire back to its proper place and I had nothing, until [oh, blessed until] I squeezed the microchip looking pot:

Back we are to nothing back static, but it's better off then where we were before. Plus I noticed when my hand was on the bridge/bottom strap knob the static changed frequency. I'm not sure what that means but it it means something.  

Polish and Other Things.

Going off Micheal's idea I checked the wire connections again, taking out the pick ups out while I was at it. I had to take out the strings while I was at it and man, are the strings thread bare. It wasn't what he said to check but I discovered I put the second broken wire on the wrong spot. [WAH Wah wah...]

While the bass was string-less I decided to give the rosewood fret board some TLC. I dug this:

[see photo] from some recess of the house. The last item on its list was 'musical instruments' so why not. The fret board had been looking abit thirsty anyway.

I also clipped some the exess before restringing, I don't think the 66's will take another stringing which is a shame since I wanted to try washing strings, but I can't wait to see them go. [Even if I don't have the cash for the next set.]

I'm not sure how he'll sound different with the polished fret board, it's been so long since he's been played and I currently have his strings in not tuned but won't warp the neck tension. So we will see.
    

New Idea

I emailed a good friend asking if he knew of a good tech, in reply he gave me another option as to why my bass is making no sound. He suggested I look at where the wires connect to the pick ups. Unlike the New Guy who has the pick up come through the pick guard, and under the pick guard is nothing but a big whole; [whoa, run on sentence much?] Igor has holes for the pick ups on the front and a whole for the electronic on the back.

I did [slightly] tug on wires that went to the pick ups from the electronics' hole but there was no give. I have a new adventure before me. I just wish I didn't hate restringing.  

I Live in a Dead Zone

Good new is if I ever have an extra $1,000 to send I can totally find award winning double bass techs in my area [guitar repair not so much]. You'd think there would be some options living in the northeastern megapolis as I do, but no, this area is utterly void of well known techs, just like the non-existing music scene.

 Eh, close enough. 

 My options are drive into a city I rarely visit to hand over my henchman, or drop him off with some local tech who I can get no reviews on, and probably spend an arm and leg for. I haven't talked to Micheal in awhile.... 

Stalling Myself

Igor is crippled with no tech in sight, so I took the new guy out of the body [gig] bag. As I've touched on before, once I played Igor for nearly a year my fretting had chilled out from the beginner's stressed out crane hand:

Not exactly what I meant but clearly stressed.

Instead of moving forward and learning chords and songs and such, I want to learn the fret board again. [Actually I don't really know the fret board now, I only have half a clue.] I know I'm anal about fret buzz, but the only way to get over that is get comfortable with New Guy's neck, which  take months.

DUH! DUH! oh fuck...

My mom's Luke broke out the soldering gun. [I've burned myself every time I've handled a glue gun, me with a soldering gun is a bad idea.] It was a bit hit and go with the spotty soldering gun while I timidly pointed at where the wire went but it got connected.

I plugged Igor in, and nothing. I have a slight freak out and than remember to put in a battery [this will be my last active bass]. Still no sound, not even hand static [before the disconnected wire I could get static noise when my hand was near the wiring]. I could get some chirp like sound when I plugged in the battery, but otherwise nothing. Inspecting the pots again I found another broken wire off a different pot.

Round two the the soldering gun and all wires are clearly connected and still no sound. Even the members of TB think it's time for the doc [tech]. 

I Hexed It!

This is a hex nut driver, I used one on the pots to get the get the terminals in the right spot. It was easy enough once I took out the cobwebs out. [Yes, there were actual spider webs inside my bass, no insect carcasses though.]  As I checked the last pot I noticed something that wasn't there before:

Bring on the soldering gun. 

Doctor Time

Sadly the title is not a Doctor Who reference. I pulled up some not exact wiring diagrams and looked into Igor innards. With my mild knowledge electronics [everything has to go in an unbroken loop] I checked the wires and all seemed to be secured. I noticed a tape wrapped wire that didn't fit with any diagram so I took pictures and put it on TB.com.    

The consensus was that the pots [round metal thingies] had spun around enough that the terminals [little metal things sticking out from the pots] were touching the side of the cavity and grounding the power. Also I must of just picked up bass, because who waits over a year to figure out what the knobs do? [...] 

Well Twist My Arm!

I'm going to uni, I'm in still a teen, I'm a girl who just wants to buy eyeliner once and awhile! Point being, I've been holding off buying a strap for the new guy because I'm poor. I was looking at a $33 Levy's strap [in the $40 range when shipping was said and done with] 2.5 inches, double snitched, leather ect.

I Liked Bass Strings Online on Facebook, and man am I glad I did. A 2.5 inch leather Levy strap popped up on my news feed for $11! My first thought was that it was a typo, the only leather Levy's strap at that size I remembered on that site had padding, and was $50 before shipping. I get the impression that this company is more competent than most so I figured they would caught this before it shipped and but it in my shopping cart.

 It was no mistake! It was on sale from $26 for the model below what I wanted [no double snitching]. It's in black but for $15 I'm not complaining!!! 

Instead of Cash

I see worth in bass items. A textbook is an entry level bass; a date is a pack of strings [thank god I'm aromantic]. College is proving a challenge since a Ric cost about $2,000 which is the top of whatever I could ever want bass related. [Yes, I could spend insane amounts on stuff like walls of amps, but I'm just a bedroom bassist.] 

It's funny, I used to enjoy watching wedding dress shows, now I sit there yelling that's worth a fricken Music Man!

[What a stupid little post, eh, I've been swamped as finals near.] 

Oh Igor

Funky strap lock or not, I decided to give Igor some plugged in love. Since I discovered my cord reaches to my bed, I made up my mind to find out what his knobs do. I found the volume and all was good until I turned it all the way up, and the knob kept turning but the sound died.

I pulled out the allen wrench [because it does so much less damage than a screwdriver, when it's not messing with the truss rod] and took off the knobs. The half nut on all the knobs were loose so I tightened them by hand; but will I twisted the knobs all the way up they loosened again. I took off the back panel [you don't want to know, only lost one screw] and found the bass' pots twisted when I turned the knobs.

Tightening them by hand, I tried and tried but could not get the sound back. I don't know what I'd do without TB.com.   

Glitter is Not Good

Well it seems like I don't even know how to use a screwdriver. I chalked up to the fact that the reason I couldn't get the screw all the way in was because it was too long [even though it was the same size as the old screw]. So I made up my to take out that screw out and use the screw that came with the bass.

Well the screw wouldn't come. In a cursing my dyslexia state I googled images to make sure I was twisting the right way. What I found made my gut drop: I was right. I was trying to be so careful, going so slowly, why wasn't it working? Looking at my screwdriver tip I found silver dust, and the grooves in the screw head looked bigger. Everything stared out fitting perfectly, now I fucking stripped the screw head.

In my weak defense I couldn't see the screw since it was cast in shadow in the strap knob, and I've been fed the 'girls have weak upper body strength' lie so I was going too hard at it [clearly]. But, just, shit. [This was to my beloved Igor.]    

CUT THE CRAP!

I'm Becoming a Man

Strap locks are in! My mannishness is coming from how I put them together: fiddle first, glance at instructions later. [This is going to be a multiple post subject since it's day two and I have one SL on, and two kinda on.]

First Impression: Alot of metal, and seems pretty dummy proof. Push button [watch all the metal pieces fall apart] slide screw into strap knob, screw onto bass, pop all pieces back together and there you go. There are instructions with illustrations for when your struggling to put it back together, it even included where to put the strap tab [which the new guy doesn't have yet].

The instructions also bring up maintenance, lube once and awhile using WD40 and a Q-tip. The instructions also say to drill a new hole...I'm not really following that one, and it's worked for one so far....

[Behold madness.]  

That was Jazz...

I decided to dust off the piano and try out the metronome while banging away on the keys. I thought it would be easier to keep time since I didn't have to mute anything. My timing sucks. There's no way around it. [Besides work at it, which is so much fun.]

There's a line between getting my body to do what I want, and to calm down enough to hold back. I found myself trying to use the metronome as a pocket, I had a blast playing three notes between 60bpm ticks, but that doesn't help my inner tempo.

So there was alot of jazz, no real musical progress, but playing something else really expanded my horizon. [In an ADD fashion, which I should probably not follow.]  

I Wood Shed-ed!

I've was listening to Muddy Waters and surfing TB.com when I came across a topic about what makes a good bassist; I devoured it. This has been a question I've mulled over in my head several time [I've been thinking of taking off the "Greenhorn" label off this blog].

According to a couple of random internet users being able to nail a walking bass line is a must. Do to my love of Muddy Waters and my ownership of Bass Tab White Pages [I haven't really posted about it yet because I don't use it enough, I really should get on that] I decided to take a shot at it.

I knew my bass book had the sheet music, but I couldn't find the book [a feat considering the book has over 1,000 pages]. So I went on to practice something one person mentioned: kicking fret marker dependence. I played the first fret on each string then the fret below it, back to the first fret then the third fret, so on and so forth until I got fret buzz. [All without looking at the neck, got to the fifth fret on each string before spacing messed me up!] I found that is I started at the seventh fret I could get to the second to last fret without issue. [And who uses those last two...besides maybe Jaco.]

I also think I found a dead spot on Igor, E string, fourth fret.      

Bipolar Weather

I live under the Jet Stream. What does that mean? I live in an area where the "seasons" [in reality days] are ruled by the wind, or whatever happens to gets caught up in the Jet Stream. Within the past week my area has gone from 50 degree [Fahrenheit] to near 90 degrees with 80% humidity.

Basses like consistent weather, they will get piss-y without it. New Guy had his first tantrum the other night. He was acceptably out of tune considering the wonky weather, but simply refuse to get back in line. The change on the metal/wood wasn't little which is understandable, but the E string [biggest] would not get in tune. It was either smacking the fret board or threatening to snap something at D#.

I will admit I was totally punch drunk, and it had be questioning if I had flipped string tuning [again...] but I swear he had an attitude. The next day the weather calmed down and so did the new guy; tuned without an issue.         

I'm Stale [screw bathing suit season]

It's a fact, I've been playing for just over 15 months and I know 0 [Zero] songs. Yeah I have a general idea how the bassline of I Love Rock & Roll goes; but I'm forgetting the top line [first line on a music sheet, I totally made that phrase up] of House of the Raising Sun which is my favorite song to play, and I've discovered I'm forgetting it. This summer I have nothing to do, so why not memorize a song? I've been listening to some stones and I gotta say I love the basslines. [The rest of the songs are abit meh, but good enough for me.]

So there be my summer plans. May they go better then last summer's [not] 10,000 pages, and discovering I'm asexual. Well it looks like I have a goal! [Famous last words...]