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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 3:57:36 GMT
A word on ebay purchases: according to the serial number, the bass is from 2007 and new. It has not a single scratch nor any serious sign of use, either on the body or on the ebonol fingerboard. There is a little rash on the back when looking at reflecting light from an angle, showing it was used a bit. It appears to have come with new D'Addario strings.
The La Bella strings are shiny black and still stretching. They keep going flat whenever I stop looking at them.
These are two more cases of people buying things they don't really need, not liking them enough to use them and selling them new for 39% to 64% of their new price (and that's including shipping costs, seen from the seller's side it's 35% and 60%). Andertons Epic Deals don't even come close.
Now let's see if I can make money out of that bass…
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 5:58:53 GMT
If I play bass sitting down my hand seems to naturally fall over the neck end area of the bass. I have to stand up to play nearer the bridge, it seems such a weird stretch to play down at the bridge. Sitting, my hand falls naturally on the 5th fret. I feel comfortable playing from the 3rd fret on. Right down the neck, I can fret an F and an A flat without moving but it feels a little stretchy on a 34" scale. Playable but not easy so I tend to move my hand around more in that area. Playing up the neck is another type of difficulty, especially on the lower strings. The angle has to change a little. This is where a well balanced instrument with a well designed body shape has definitive advantages. I can move a Strat' around any way I need, it still feels comfortable and stays in place. Do that with a butt heavy, edgy Les Paul and you have to catch it before it falls on the floor or wear armour on your ribs. I wonder how the offset shape of the Jazz Bass and Jazzmaster came about. It's as if weight removed by contours on the top of the body had been consciously added at the bottom end to keep them balanced. The "cool" offset look is just a by-product. It's a bit of a hindrance when sitting on a wide flat surface like a couch but musicians sit on chairs. Leo was smart. Smarter than the guy who thought he'd just make the neck and headstock bigger to accommodate a 5th string and left it at that. The longer scale and thicker strings make bass difficult. Notes are harder to play, require more care. The string spacing is a clear advantage for finger picking, much easier, but I see how it can be a curse too when using a pick. I have no trouble with a wide neck, I can reach the low B or F# string without effort but that's because I play sitting with the thumb behind the neck. Rock star postures are something I have shamefully neglected to work on so far. I'd have to buy a large mirror… The difficulties of instruments can be compared one by one but there is no "winner". People always go to the limit. If something is easier to use, it gives birth to more difficult techniques until the possible is exhausted.
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Sept 28, 2018 7:59:26 GMT
If I play bass sitting down my hand seems to naturally fall over the neck end area of the bass. I have to stand up to play nearer the bridge, it seems such a weird stretch to play down at the bridge. Sitting, my hand falls naturally on the 5th fret. I feel comfortable playing from the 3rd fret on. Right down the neck, I can fret an F and an A flat without moving but it feels a little stretchy on a 34" scale. Playable but not easy so I tend to move my hand around more in that area. Playing up the neck is another type of difficulty, especially on the lower strings. The angle has to change a little. The other hand!
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Post by Vincent on Sept 28, 2018 8:20:06 GMT
It is a second hand guitar.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 8:35:47 GMT
Yes, of course Now that you mention this, I did struggle with this at first. Not very long. Sitting down unprepared, I find my hand wants to pluck or pick all over the 21st to 24th frets. The Jazz Bass solves this nicely by having only 20… Now, that's a saving grace I got used to a different position in which the end of the forearm, just before the wrist, rests on the side of the body with the hand dangling down to pluck right below the bridge pick-up, as opposed to the elbow resting there on guitar. I remember it was uncomfortable but I no longer notice it. It has become natural. Do all bass players become misshapen? I do these things unconsciously. The same goes for muting. I wanted to go "floating thumb" (which I will on 5-string), thinking I would never quite manage to put my ring finger on the A string but it started happening on its own. I'm not fluent in it yet, but it keeps getting better. The strange thing is that it's more difficult when I think of it.
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 8:37:56 GMT
Silly thing's too big for my gigbag. What do I do now?
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 9:13:04 GMT
Practice isn't complete if it's not leaning towards the end result. Anyone who aims at standing on a stage needs to practice that. Robert Fripp sat on stage throughout his career and classical musicians do as well. It's a choice to make. I saw Al Di Meola play live and sitting too.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 28, 2018 10:12:55 GMT
I can remember a conversation I had with one of Loudon Wainwright's daughters, Lucy, at a Cardiff gig. She played a song in her set that she said she'd never played live before because the microphone and the audience required her to look straight ahead but there were so many tricky chord position changes that she needed to look down. There is no requirement to look ahead from the audience. This girl will stop and sit down on stage in the middle of a gig, spend half her time looking at the neck, the other half looking nowhere at all and they still love her:
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