Bass Nation

So it’s been five days since I got my electric upright bass and I’ve been trying to play it at least a little bit each day. The other night I was just messing around with it unplugged and noticed a buzz on the lower notes of the lower strings, so I played around for a really long time adjusting the bridge height and the truss rod. I at least isolated the buzzing to 2 notes on one string which are less noticeable when it’s amplified, and I can get rid of it if I hit the string just the right way. I’m not sure if this is something that a simple professional setup might fix, or if it’s something I can eliminate through proper playing technique.

And speaking of proper technique, I’ve decided to take a few lessons just to make sure I don’t develop bad playing habits so early on. I think I may have found somebody who I can afford on craigslist.

But just messing around and playing simple lines on it at least is starting to sound good. Besides trying to develop some of my own grooves on it, I’ve been covering Hey by the Pixies and Walking on the Moon by the Police (links go to bass tabs). They’re both really basic but also very melodic and involve a little bit of sliding. Hey has a nice little walk to it as well. My sister took some great pix of me playing which I’ll post once I get them, and once I’m a little more confident on it I’ll take some video.