The past 3 months have been a bit busy for me. On 14 March I passed my driving exam (on the 4th attempt) so I had an “excuse” to buy some more vinyl records as a way to reward myself for my hard work 
Some of the new additions are records by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Eno.
Guitar-wise, I continued my attempts at transcriptions, and I can feel a steady improvement at it. Currently I’m working on various melodies and riffs from this album but there are so much stuff I’d like to tackle that sometimes I’m a little confused by the number of options.
I’ve been afflicted with a serious case of GAS, or should I say BAS, for a week or so. I listened again a bunch of songs by Hungarian band Skorpió and the fat bass rumble made me start to have plans on buying a bass guitar (and a bass amp, of course). Yesterday I went to a local music store who deal in second-hand instruments as well, and I tried a few basses just to get a taste as it’s something brand new to me. I was pleasantly surprised that the basses felt quite comfortable to play and apart from my lacking technique, it does not seem impossible to get the hang of it. I tried these basses:
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Ibanez BTB676 NTF from 2009: a 6-string bass tuned from B to C that at first looked quite intimidating but it was very easy on the fingers and the it looks more graceful than on pictures. It has 24 frets which is more than what either of my guitars have, but I can definitely see a use for them. The only odd thing (apart from the 6 strings) was how the volume and tone controls worked. I was a little surprised that most basses with multiple pick-ups still have fewer volume/tone setting options than most guitars.
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Squier Contemporary Active Jazz Bass HH V: my original idea was along the lines of a Squier/Fender Precision Bass or a Jazz Bass, I gave this one a try. This was also quite comfy to play and had a nice warm tone. I don’t fully understand the added value of the active preamp, but it’s not a decisive factor for me.
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Lakland HB-30: this was on the expensive side for me. It turned out to be a semi-hollow body bass (the f-hole is not very apparent on the black finish) so the whole instrument is quite light. It’s a short-scale bass so there’s less tension on the strings (i.e. easier to bend); however, given that the full-scale ones did not feel difficult to play, I wouldn’t sweat over seeking a specifically short-scale bass. But this one was a real beauty, too.
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Epiphone EB-3: the cheapest one of the 4 basses I tried but it’s probably no. 1 on my list. As an admirer of Jack Bruce’s work and more vintage sounds, I’d be happy playing it. As opposed to the original Gibson EB-3, this bass is a full-scale one. The volume/tone controls are pretty much the same as on my Epiphone guitars, so I could rock out immediately. I’m really tempted to choose this one but the 6-string is also pretty tempting…
I’m sitting on the fence a little regarding the EB-3 and the Ibanez 6-string. On the one hand, I can already see myself playing some fuzzed out basslines not unlike the ones on Wheels of Fire, but I’ve also become interested in modern classical pieces that utilize a bass guitar so the 6-string might be more suitable for that. And more strings mean more options. I think I will have to go back to try them out a little more before making my mind up. I also have to research bass (combo) amps.
Until then, back to my guitars.