Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I hear you Alan. I snicker every morning when I sneak up on the mirror.

I have the opposite problem. I can hold my own if I practice a piece enough. But I often find myself in a music store, when I hear some monster moves coming from the bass area. I'll slide over to see who's on fire, only to discover some young kid killing time and me, as he waits for his Mom to pick him up after a lesson.

I have to hide behind an SVT until he walks out carrying his Squire P Bass with no case, before I go near a bass. I hate when that happens.

Buy a Carvin. Mines a B4 bolt-on. About $500ish for a new one.



Nice playing bass. Very versatile sound. I just strung here with light guage D'Addario's. The neighbor kid loves it.

Hey Scott, they are cool for the money. I've got an old fretless that is a lovely piece for under $500.

Hope they stay under the radar for a while. Still can find a nice one cheap.

I am hoping that people will just think I borrowed my 4001 from some dude, and not run me down for not being a great player! You know, make sexism work for me, here.............

"I have the opposite problem. I can hold my own if I practice a piece enough. But I often find myself in a music store, when I hear some monster moves coming from the bass area. I'll slide over to see who's on fire, only to discover some young kid killing time and me, as he waits for his Mom to pick him up after a lesson."

Wow, that sounds like me. I can play pretty much ANYTHING (well, okay, no Victor Wooten, Jaco, or Manring) if I just practice it enough and get it into my head . . . I'm great at memorizing stuff, and then I just go from there. But every time I go into a music store, there's always some guy sitting in the bass section playing something completely improvised that makes me feel like a moron because of how absolutely amazing it is. I just want to cry when that happens.

You just have to remember that there's always going to be someone "better" out there. It's not a contest. Some of the best players just play what's required for a song & no more. That's pretty hard to communicate when playing by yourself in a store.
Sure those 32nd notes are impressive, but just how useful is it to play like that all the time?
Practice, be creative, & try to find your own "voice".

to add to Kevin... there are lots of people who can play great bass lines, but they don't know how to play WITH people. Sometimes less is more when playing with others, especially with bass.

Too true!
A great way to analyze your own playing is to record a live show. I find it hard to pick apart things in the heat of action, but the next day while listening you can really tell what works & what just gets in the way.

Ditto Kevin and John, there is also the "want to" factor. A guy took my bass yesterday and played some good riffs, and I felt kindof inadequate, but guess what? He doesn't WANT to play bass. Fine with me, 'cause I do! The biggest part of playing music isn't being the best, a lot of great musicians have major problems, from no -showing to being dead! The secret is showing up! Pretty soon a person improves it they keep playing.

It's all about the fun. I can play some fairly complicated stuff, but the songs we do in the band usually don't require you to be playing YYZ 20% faster while doing a backflip off the drum riser!
There's a guy near here who doesn't move around much & plays pretty laid back, but he doesn't make any mistakes. A good solid player. I've never had a night where I didn't make some mistakes, & the same goes for my band's guitar player (who is phenomenal!).
Everyone's got their own thing to contribute.

basses that cost me under $200 ...









and this one here cost me $150 a quite a few years ago ...

I used to get bummed listening to the younguns, but I got over it. I realized that I'm much better at the Motown/Beatles stuff anyway. And alot of these hotshots can't do that, at least to my ears. No groove. As dumb as it sounds, and beat to hell, the bass in Brown Eyed Girl is truly every bassist's "Free Bird", but alot of guys can't play it "right" if you get my drift. Sad but true. So, I'm happy in my little bubble here!

The Motown stuff is not fancy, but it is something not everyone can master without putting some real effort into. There's a very good reason those session players got so much work, & it wasn't flashy chops. Flash is nice & fun, but fundamentals first, then flash.

Jeff, I haven't seen the Stingray before. It would look fantastic in a nice FG!
I had no idea you could get those style bodies.
If I had known, I wouldn't have bought a 5er, but would have made my own.
I always find out too late.

that musicman clone is a Dillion ... it is similar in quality to a olp mm clone ...

I appreciate knowing that there are reasonably priced basses out there. I would like to try fretless and I would get a less expensive one, if anyone has one, let me know......
But the reason I bought the 4001, not just to be cool, is that I have a 320 that I have played for over 25 years and I just love it SO MUCH, that when I decided to take up the bass, I just figured that Rickenbacker would make a good one! I am not a bass groupie ( or I wasn't, rather!) but I just liked my Ric! ANd I was right, the bass plays really nice, also. I just took a yard work break to play my 320, and wow, I still love that guitar, but I would like to get a full size Ric one of these days! Thanks to everyone for showing me some cool basses. No stopping the addiction now!