Surf's Up from SoCal

[bassamp4jc]

Just wanted to introduce myself - haven't gotten my 8HD yet, but I wanted to get a headstart reading up on it :-D

[Shreddie]

Welcome!

I joined a few months before I got mine, I've not had it long but I've learned so much from being here that it all seems quite easy.

From your username... you're not a bass player by any chance are you?

[bassamp4jc]

Thanks Shreddie!

My username contains a wealth of information about me - I sang in a choir for a while as a bass, and I also play bass guitar :-D I've been playing piano since I was a toddler, and picked up synth's as a teenager, and play both keyboards and bass in my band currently.

Do you play bass?

[Shreddie]

Yeah, I do! Your story doesn't sound all that dissimilar to mine to be honest... I started with a little keyboard when I was about 4, I got my first synth (of sorts) at 11, got into sequencing when I was 12 and sampling when I was 13. I got my first bass when I was 15. I went on to play bass and keys for a band I used to be in as well as doing the occasional backing vocals and bit of session work. Now I work almost exclusively alone.

Despite of the fact that I've been playing keys for much longer, I'm a much better bassist than I will ever be a keyboardist! Just thinking about it, that's kinda strange as I have 2 basses (only one of which I ever use) but I have 4 synths and plan to get more... It doesn't really add up!!

[bassamp4jc]

That's great - I got my first bass at 14 :-D It was this crazy 3/4 size 60's custom with a finger rest - I actually learned to play with my thumb (because of the finger rest). When I upgraded to a full-size (no finger rest) I had to relearn the right hand!

I feel the same way you do - I think I'm a much better bass player than a keyboardist, but there's something familiar and comfortable about the keyboard that always makes me come back to it!

I think there's a constant unrest, and ability for improvement in gear for synths that always make me want more of them. With my bass though, I've got one that I like, a head & cab that I'm happy with, and don't feel like there's much that needs improvement. On the other hand, the synth universe and potential there is so unlimited, I think if I had 50 of them, there'd still be another one that I wanted to get.

[Shreddie]

I just got a cheap Encore to start with, that's my other bass. It got badly damaged in a car accident a few years ago though so I've chopped out alot of the damage and repaired the rest, it has a rather nice shape now although I've still not put the top coat or made the new scratchplate for it so it's undercoat grey and has half the wires hanging out of it, still plays ok though! It sounds better than usual too but that's because I put my own pick-ups in it. My favourite one is a Vester 5 string, I don't think I'll ever need another bass, the range of tone you can get out of it is amazing, Add to that my recent purchase of an ART SGX Nightbass SE and I have everything I need. The Nightbass is simply the best bass preamp/effects unit ever made in my opinion, if not, it certainly has the most responsive EQ! I've never learned to play with my thumb (or a plectrum), it just seems unnatural to me, I finger pluck or tap usually.

I love the synths for the sheer wealth of sonic self gratification they give you but whenever I pick up a bass, it just feels like part of me, I doubt that I could ever say that about a synth. I love synths for the fact that the sounds themselves inspire me, it's the same with effects units and the bass, if I use an effect that's heavily distorted, I'll be hammering it (and my fingers) to death, choose another effect with a slow attack on the compressor, a bit of chorus, a reasonably long delay then a good dose of reverb and I'll be playing some kind of rhythmic pad. To be honest, I probably would've given up the bass if I hadn't have got my first multi effects unit, one of those cheap little Zoom 506's. Another strange thing though, even though I feel the way I do about the bass, I don't actually use it that often these days on tracks that I make, it's almost always used as a writing tool though.

I doubt I could cope with 50 synths! You must have a serious case of gear lust to want that many! I need to know how to use them all, in depth, if I had that many I doubt I would be able to remember. There's only about 5 or 6 more that I want, I think ten would just about be manageable! All of the ones I'm after are quite different in the way they generate their sounds though.