@Majik
Keith,
My note ‘choices’ were bang on the mark. We had lead sheets with parts for rhythm, melody and bass. I’d already learned the bass part on my guitar so I just played the same notes on bass. I can’t remember what the actual notes were. And yes, I used a pick.
I’m not against getting a bass myself sometime in the future.
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Ah, well if you had already learned the bass part then, of course, it was going to be correct. I assumed, by your post, that you were improvising. My bad!
Cheers,
Keith
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No bad at all. I knew even less back then than I know now. I didn’t have a clue what improvising was but I’m getting into it now. Early days, but it’s fun!
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Oh yes indeedy, a different mindset is needed when moving from guitar to bass. 
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Darrell! That’s a great starter set-up! I have a Cort, they’re not bad at all, and that amp?!?!? Just a little over $100 for an 80-watt monster with tone controls, what a steal! I wish you tons of luck on your low-end journey, I hope you have a ton of fun with it!
Thanks for the call @roger_holland though I’m not in that band anymore. The entire band steered extremely right-wing and I couldn’t bear it any longer.
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I thought perhaps you’d taken up violin Darrell! 
Looks like a load of fun ahead.
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Have fun bumpty bum-ty-bap bap’ing bro! 
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Hello Darrell,
looks amazing! I am happy with you! 
Do you have some nice corner or place in your home where will it fit? That AMP is really big. 
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Have lots of fun with that beeautiful bass guitar, Darell! 
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Happy NBGD Darrell, looks nice. Of course we all would like to see you slapping that thing over in the AVOYP section.
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Always knew you were a muppet, Darrell 
Enjoy the toys and look forward to hearing your bottom line
Good to hear from you too, @Endureth, Sorry the band didn’t work out- It looked like it had a lot of promise.
Vibes for not deviating from your path and sticking to your principles. 
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@brianlarsen @SgtColon @JokuMuu @Helen0609 @roger_holland @Notter @Carreta @LievenDV @Sairfingers @Endureth
My oh my! I’m a bit emotional about this, all of you being so interested and supportive!
Well everyone, it’s definitely a change from a guitar, it’s like you have to start again although the knowledge you’ve gained playing guitar is definitely useful.
The Amp is an absolute cracker for what it costs, it’s got so many options for such a low cost! As it’s got a 12” speaker and a horn it can do the highs (for harmonics) very well, it’s also got a FX loop so gives me the option of using time based FX like Echo, Reverb, Chorus, Tremolo and Phaser which can give you some amazing sounds! The only thing I might get a bit further down the line is a decent Fuzz effect like a zyvex or Big muff.
The only thing I’ve not tried yet is playing my guitars through it, that’s going to be a must do soon!
I’ve now got to use the spare bedroom for my stuff so that’s now my Man cave! I’ve not yet had much chance to go to town with it but I do know that everything works very nicely and sounds pretty good to me. I’ve got a few other things to do yet but as soon as I mange to record something I’ll post it even if it’s not too good !
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See above 
@TheMadman_TobyJenner @Majik @BurnsRhythm @Lefteris @NicoleKKB @Silvia @jkahn @Lunarocket @tony
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Yeah, that Bass is really nice and plays really nicely, the setup was pretty good and the balance is nice! Having the Active / Passive option is nice, you can go from a nice traditional sound to a growly modern sound at the flick of a switch!
Sorry to hear about the band but you’re 100% right sticking with your principles, not doing what you really want to is a recipe for bad karma, you absolutely do not want that! Hope things work out for you in the future!
The bass vs guitar conversation is interesting! I’ve done two terms of bass courses now, here is what I learned/observed about bass vs guitar playing:
- As a very generalised statement, guitar is more about being able to play something, bass is more about knowing what to play.
- As a broad generalisation, guitar players focus on sounding good, bass players focus on making others sound good.
- “Bass is easier to play than guitar” is a popular opinion among guitar players, not so much among bass players. I would say that it is easier to achieve the competency level required to play gigs on bass than guitar.
- Bass players play less complex things, but the expectation is that they should be able to play them much better. As guitar players, we can use the term “mastering a song” a bit easily. For a bass player, mastering would mean having complete control over the timing and the volume of the notes as well as choosing good notes to play (it should mean no less for a guitar player too!). Anecdote: I learned a song on the bass, went to a jam, played exactly the same notes as the original without a mistake and I think I played it as well as I’d play it on the guitar. Right after the song, the drummer asked me if I was new
- Bass players tend to improvise a lot more than guitar players.
- Bass has more rules as to what you can play. Bass players often use scale, arpeggio or chromatism-based patterns whereas guitar players focus more on melodic ideas.
- Guitar players specialise a lot more e.g. there are blues guitar players, rock players, finger-style players, shredders and so on. Bass players are generally expected to play any style and adapt to different styles quickly.
- Bass playing is a lot more formulaic and context-based. For e.g. where a guitar player is playing one bar of A chord and then one bar of E chord, the bass player is choosing notes from an A-based scale (A, A6, A Mixolodyian etc.) during the first bar, figuring out how to “walk up to” E towards the end of the bar, then quickly switching to choosing notes from an E-based scale for the next bar.
- String muting is much more important for bass than guitar therefore you learn it right from the start and are always mindful of it.
- Guitar players have more “comfort-zone” expectations. They may expect to play at an open mic that they rehearsed for weeks, they may be doing a gig they’ve been rehearsing with their band for a long time etc. Bass players often use the term “getting the gig” meaning being chosen to play bass for that one time for that one situation.
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Darrell
As a dedicated amp, I would expect the HB to perform well. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on how it performs as a guitar amp too - when you’ve given it a good test drive.
@elevatortrim
Interesting insight and observations about bass v guitar playing Serhat.
Did the drummer give you any helpful tips?
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What model Cort is that that it has an active/passive switch? I tried to install something like that on mine but Sweetwater botched it and a local guitar shop told me it couldn’t be done. I’d love to know how it works so I can adapt mine.
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I would add:
- Bass is (usually) part of the rhythm section of the band, so playing the right notes isn’t enough; it’s about rhythm, groove and connecting with the drummer.
Cheers,
Keith
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