I got my new Fender Squire Fretless Christmas eve would you believe it? Played it today and did my practice routine on it and I adore it...especially for the money. Yeah yeah I wish it had black hardware and active pickups--and right now until I fool around with it there's a little buzz at the twelfth fret line...but it is incredibly well made,with a thin narrow fast neck and it's own unique tone that sounds truly fretless to me.....I believe that once i get the black, nylon wrapped, fender strings on the sound produced will be perfect....

Playing fretless does tune you up...during practice today there were definitely some iffy notes that never appeared on my fretted six. The 4 is a vacation from the neck and the weight of my Yamaha 6--and I sometimes feel like a lost little child on the 6 fretboard but not that way on the 4....The Squire fretless also fits in with the old guy sound vibe I want to produce...more mature, yeah thats it, not old--mature--riiiight.

I am lucky in the fact that I can cannibalize some material from my guitarist pedalboards and begin creating my bass pedalboard. I've got compressors, tuners, volume pedals, flange, chorus blahblahblah pedals. I had two professional airline cased pedalboards i used on the road as a guitarist----one of which I'll convert to bass. My delay is in the fact that my wife and I are rehabbing the studio house right now and I have to wait pulling my shit from storage to begin working on this new pedalboard project.....It will be really interesting to see what I will transfer from my previous guitarist life to my new bass life.

Remember when I said that this time around with music I would fight the acquire gear syndrome? Yeah well not so much...As I learn more with the bass old feelings arise..more basses, bigger amps, pedalboards.....I love this Mark Bass NYC 1-12 combo I purchased...great sound--Lot's of power, lightweight----but small...and as we all know electronic musicians gotta stack---even if you are creating the mini-tower of doom amp line--you gotta stack. I've been fighting against the urge of getting a Mark Bass 2-10 traveler speaker cabinet to add to my NYc amp. Adding a cab increases the power of the NYc from 300 to 500 watts at 8 oms....and of course it's a stack--a small stack but that's immaterial it's a stack. The problem is of course money. Mark Bass makes great stuff and great stuff costs. So it may be awhile before I can accomplish this but---gives you something to think about when you can't play.

Practice, Practice, Practice---with some success and hopefully more as time goes by. I have admitted to myself that I really never want to go back to playing regular guitar again--

Committing yourself to a new instrument seems to be the best way back to practice.

This produces a beginners mind that I have not had for a long, long time---everything is new and difficult...and I am filled with demands on myself. I play with my brain and not with my soul or emotions which took me a long time to admit....because of this I have no great flashes of insight while performing and I absolutely have to have a wiring diagram of what I want to do and what I can do in my mind.

I fall in between extremes when it comes to practicing---Most musicians either love or hate practicing.....I really don't have extreme feelings on it. I practice because I have to---not much natural talent in my DNA....I do better when I practice on a routine basis...with a specific time set in my head and on a daily or every other day schedule. I don't preconceive what i am going to work on--I do just let it flow and If it is instantly apparent that "I am going to suck today" I stop immediately so i do not practice in mistakes. Otherwise I do not think about how I practiced purposefully since I am my own worst critic and enemy on performance standards----I practice and let it go.

"Everything I've ever done was out of fear of being mediocre."
Chet Atkins

For no apparent reason I have been feeling much better towards my music, my new instrument and in some ways myself for the past few days....I am looking forward to the day I can say OK I'm not doing too bad on the new choice. PRACTICE--PRACTICE--PRACTICE tho....that's the pirates life for me.

I am without a doubt the OLDEST bass player in my area...............

I have been wondering how this is going to work out for me now. I never before had to worry about convincing people to gig with me. After all I had two CD's out, gotten radio time, sang on a commerical for a shrimp company (really yes)....played locally quite a bit. All tho a long time ago and completely across the country from where I am now. I never had to hunt for musicians they pretty much came to me---

Couple my age 57 with the factor that----- although I've played popular music for the money---but have never liked it--preferring progressive, world music or smooth jazz. This all now adds up to the fact that I probably will have a difficult time finding musical soul mates.....from a new world of strangers.

Gigging is important, as we all know. Nothing builds you as a musician as does facing that audience that may turn on you at any moment. It's like being a prison guard---you may be taken hostage at any time by the mob. So you had better be sharp and on top of your game.

Once I feel complete on the bass I want to gig. What good is it being a musician if you don't gig? It's like being a addict without a needle----How I am going to accomplish this is a mystery to me.

Maybe an add in the paper or at the local ( the only) music store:

OLD GUY----ELECTRIC BASSIST SEEKS BAND....

NO GIG'S AFTER 9:00 PM--NO HEAD BANGING---

NO JESUS BANDS PLEASE!

NO TEACHING---- YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PLAY----

NO ARGUING---PAIN'S IN THE ASS-- PRIMA DONA'S---

OR LEAD GUITARISTS WITH GIRLFRIEND SINGERS!

CALL THE GEEZER BEFORE 9:00 PM.

ya think this will work?

My concept of what I want to do as a bass player, how I hear my sound, and basically where my head and soul are at with the bass---is a fretless smooth jazz place. This is why when I decided to start playing again and decided to switch to the bass I went six string, which I do love. That perfect sound you hear in your head is a bitch however, and must be pursued. I needed to experiment while I was in training with a fretless bass. At this time I required reasonable expenditure, fret markings at least since I am still on the learning curve, and direction since I am new to this instrument. The Fender Squire fretless jazz bass seemed perfect for my needs. Reasonably priced, painted on fret lines and a perfect score on all reviews. So I just ordered one. Unfortunately the reviews on this bass expend much ink in discussion on how this bass may help you develop Jaco's sound BLAH-BLAH-BLAH.

You cannot copy a man's sound--it's his or hers and you may get close to it----- but it is not yours and everyone listening will know....yeah they will know....not in the way a professional will know, but there will be a nagging thing in the audience's mind of "he's good but....." going on.

My intent is to develop my own, old guy, smooth but very trick sound, unique patterns and develop my own technique---right or wrong. I for sure did not purchase this bass to copy a sound but to create one.

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Fender/Squier+Vintage+Modified+Fretless+Jazz+Bass/10/1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_jazz

I did pay attention to the reviews on the Squire Fretless that indicated the first thing necessary is to switch to round wound or nylon coated strings so my order included a set of Fender Nylon Tapewound's.

I had promised myself that this time around converting to the bass from guitar I would not become swallowed up in gear acquisition. I knew at the time that this was a laughable position to claim if you are any form of an electronic musician. Although my 6 string Yamaha is tremendous and I have yet to learn the subtly of playing it---i had to have a fretless bass and the Squire seemed to be the way to go with this.

Next of course comes the pedal box construction and building a real gigging amp rig. Basically the internal concept of "I promise no gear weirdness" is completely fucked.

warren