LeftyBassist.com

Welcome Rob/sentinel:

First things first. You'll learn lingo soon enough the more you converse on forums such as these and interact with other musicians. So if there's any terms you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask. (I've been playing for over 20 years, and I still don't know what a "cowpoke" is).

What bass to get? Well it sounds like you're just starting out so I'll assume you haven't acquired one yet. So what are using now? Also, why do you think you're a lefty? As you may know, finding left handed instruments is pretty difficult unless buying sight unseen, and while I am a strong defender of true lefthandeness and prefer not to force change on anyone I will say that you will undoubtedly have more choices/options if you switch to righty. Many lefties ended up playing that way out of convenience, or they developed some hybrid of both (i.e. they play righties upside down or string their basses from high to low). If you want to stay lefty and you are a beginner, I suggest a good well-rated/reviewed inexpensive bass. Agile, SX, Brice, Douglas, and Fender/Squire all get good marks for decent quality at a low price point. Personally, I don't recommend getting a super expensive bass when starting out, though some may disagree (market value for resale being a prime argument). IMO, develop on a decent quality lower priced instrument first. If you choose to continue with bass, then in time you'll know what you desire in an instrument and can better hone in on the "bass of your dreams" should you want to upgrade.

3rd, in terms of getting better, my advice is to take it slow and steady (wins the race), be patient, but also keep it stimulating and fun. Nothing turns a future bassist off quicker, IMO, than having to practice dull rudimentary 1/4 note plucking without accompaniment when you're first starting, but we've all been there (before we realized there are funner ways). For me, my skill developed rapidly thereafter once I found enjoyment out of simply learning bass parts to my favorite songs. (I still have tapes of me playing along to The Go Go's songs, and dare I say it, I have to site Caffey Valentine as an early influence). It will help you develop your ear as well. As I got better, I would up the ante and challenge myself with harder parts/compositions to play, and I would practice until I nailed it.

Hey Sentinel/Rob welcome aboard. Yes, let us know a bit more background on your playing, your gear and what kind of stuff your goal is to play and I'm sure we can give you some helpful advice. Everything Peter said +1. Good advice there.

And Peter, a cowpoke is a MIM p/j bass Fender made in the 90's that has the big pickguard on it like a 50's P-Bass.
I think Jack (Bovinehost) from boards of yore coined the term.

ok well i started playing when i was about 18. i was in a metal band called this or the apocalypse. did that for about two years and i would say i could play the bass a bit better than some people. im not at the point where i feel confident enough to jam with someone. i dont feel like i know where to go and i get jambled up. i know all of the notes, but it takes me a second to find the name to them when i go up and down the fretboard(which i am getting better at. lol) and i can write music well on my own, just not with other people on the spot. when i played when i was younger i played a ibanez soundgear and really really liked how low the action was, it felt so good for me, so i would like to get a bass that has a medium, preferably low action, and a range of tones for my personal project which ranges from very driving fast crunchy metal to ambient pretty soft sounds. i never liked the way (fender) p or j bass' felt when i played them. and i played a rick a couple times when i was younger and dont remember liking the feeling though the tone was great. thanks for the reply's and i hope to get more! ps. if anyone knows where i can find a digitech bass whammy or is willing to sell one to me for a reasonable/not so reasonable price, i would love that information also!

pps. i cant read music but know the notes so alpha tabs are my thing right now till i learn to read sheet music. if anyone has stuff like scale exercises and fingering exercises that i can practice that would be awesome! i can do that stuff for hours! lol

If you've already played for a couple years and have played with other people then a lot of the basics you've already gotten beat. Work on finger independence exercises, memorize your fingerboard so there's no hesitation where to find notes. If someone says play an E, be able to play every E on the fingerboard. So try little exercises like that, find each note in every position and start to connect where the same note of the same octave is found on different strings. Get good at this and you'll start understanding how the fingerboard relates to itself on each string. If you have a buddy who also plays bass or guitar to monkey with that's a big help too, you guys can drill each other on notes and do things like work on note patterns that are in key while the other person drones on one chord/note. Things like that will help your ears so you can jam with people more easily.

Listen to lots of music. When you really like a particular band's bass style, find out who their bassist is influenced by and check their influences out. Listen with open ears to see why someone cites another bass player as an influence to see what you can take from that person's playing. ie: you like Fugazi and Joe Lally cites Peter Hook from Joy Division/New Order as an influence, so check them out too. Maybe you won't like Joy Division or Peter Hook's playing, but see if you can tell why Joe Lally was influenced by him and see if you can take any ideas from his playing. Or conversely you also like Joy Division and you've been turned on to another new band to listen to with a whole new style.

What's your budget for a new bass? What are you playing right now, a loaner, or nothing? What are some bands that you really like the bass tone in?

P.S. Start a new thread in the Basses forum to answer our posts here so we don't keep talking in the welcome thread.

here is a list of bass players i like whether it be playing style or tone. i have a very very broad taste/knowledge with music, so anything that you throw at me i will probably like if i dont already.


joe lester
http://www.myspace.com/joelesterbass ( his jazz stuff is good but im a bit more interested in his metal stuff. its in some of his videos on the page.) -style

justin chancellor from tool. -style and tone
http://www.myspace.com/toolofficial

joe lally-style
http://www.myspace.com/fugazidischord

al cisneros from om-a bit of his style and i really like his tone.
http://www.myspace.com/variationsontheme

charles mingus-style
http://www.myspace.com/charlesmingus

geddy and primus. but you all know that.

ps. i enjoy the play of a sound gear so im looking for a medium to low action, and i dislike the play of your fender j or p bass. in case you were wondering where to start. haha.

Sorry for the muddled posts here guys. This is Sentinel's thread, but I did a botched thread split/merge from another thread.

Peter didn't start this one.

Sweet! OKay, so you like Ibanez that is a good place to start. You would probably like Wal and Rickenbacker basses if not for feel at least for tone (but they are expensive), Ampeg is really going to be your friend in life. Basses are great and they all feel and sound a little different. However, once you get into the "I like an overdriven tone" mind set, it sort of makes what the bass you play sounds like less important IMHO. I hope I was a little helpful. If you have any specific questions we will definitely try to help out. Cheers.