My bass and Day 58

My bass.

Well, not my actual one, but the same model.

Where as my father was the one that helped me get my guitar equipment, it was my mother that helped me get my bass guitar.

How far do I go back?  Well.  I never liked the look of Fender instruments.  They looked too much like the era of cars I was never much into either.  One day, while waiting for a friend to show up at a gaming shop, I went into the music shop next door.  In there I saw, for the first time, a group of Warwick basses.  These were unlike the stereotypical bass.  They did not have an inch of thick paint and finish.  They did not have these gigantic guitar inspired bodies.  They looked like a piece of wood carved by hand into theses slick shapes that I had never seen before.

(pictured: someone luckier than I with a collection of Warwick basses)

It inspired me to pick up and play bass as my main instrument.  I only casually looked at them, far too scared to touch instruments of this quality and cost.  In fact, the cost of such instruments(a fraction of what they cost now actually) made my heart sink, but it was something to aspire for.  There was one in particular though.  This one was unlike the others as well.  It was this creamy white... like the whole thing was made out of the same wood.  When I moved around it, the woods shimmered as if it was a holograph... but it wasn't paint or holograph, it was a natural feature of the wood.

Years later I would be in a good job making enough money that I could possibly spend it on such a luxury.  I know good gear doesn't make you a good player, but I wanted not excuses.  If I sounded like shit with the best gear I could hope to have, then I had only myself to blame.  Its motivation for me.  I found out that, just my luck, this bass was a limited edition.  Only made in the year 2003.  The 2003 Bleach Blonde Thumb bass.  I spent time looking for it, this was before it was so easy to find good stuff on the internet.  I went to music shops all around for the next year and 1/2.  I found a 2004 special edition, which was nothing like my white whale, in North Carolina.  I was brave enough to play it, and it made me want my 2003 so much more.
(Pictured: 2004 ltd Corvette)



I wanted this Bleach Blonde Thumb bass so badly that when I petitioned a friend to paint a piece of art for me, and I told them "whatever you want to do", they found the silhouette of a thumb bass and did that.  By the time the painting was done though, it had happened.  I found the bass online for sale at a major retailer.  The problem was, my credit was not good enough to get an account to buy the bass.  I just did not have the credit history.  So my mother checked her rating and it was 1 dollar over what the bass cost.  She let me order it using her credit, and soon I had my dream bass.

  

I've learned a lot with this bass.  I've learned that I don't deserve it, and I'm not good enough to own it, but I work at getting that good.  I learned I shouldn't own a bass I'm too afraid to hurt, ha.  I've learned how to work on necks, adjust bridges, and fiddle with pre-amps.  She has the sweetest, smoothest high registers I've yet to hear in a bass, and sometimes I get a fleeting amount of inspiration and make her sing like she really wants to.  People warn about going out and getting an instrument that's too good for you, but sometimes it can teach you humility.  Sometimes it works out.

Day 58

Better late than never.  Still, I got the post in before the deadline ha.

I did play today, I just had things to do so I did not get the blog post done before I left the house.  Rocksmith was a little rushed.  I did 2 String Skip Saloons, 5 Scale Racers till I crashed, 2nd level of Castle Chordead till I died once, and a Gone Wailin' just because it had been a while.  Then I went to practicing over on the amp.

I'm doing this thing where I'm remembering older 70's rock songs and just trying to play stuff that sounds similar to the main riffs.  I'm moving around the neck and trying to pick out where it sounds most accurate.  Maybe its helping train my ear?  I have no idea, but I'll learn how close I was to a few of them later.  With this exercise I'm coming up with some good sounding stuff myself.  Stuff that sounds nothing like what I"m remembering in my head, but stuff that still sounds good.  One of my favorite riffs is from me wanting to play something that sounds like "Magic Carpet Ride" on guitar.  Its a song that I know the bass part of, one of the earliest I learned the bass part of, and so one day I'd like to be able to play it on guitar.

I need branch out a little bit.  I know I feel an affinity to 70's rock, and blues based blues, but there's this whole section of light 'airy" rock riffs that I'd like to learn.  I want to be able to copy John Fusciante's style in case I ever play with my one really good bass friend again.  Higher registers just don't sit well with my ears, and I'm not really good at using them to produce music, so its something I really need to work on.