No worries, liebe Ricsters - they like it ...

[uwe]

The way it stands there leaning against the wall, is that a Kramer XKB-10?

[gearHed289]

Nope. SMB-2 Stagemaster. Bought new in 1982. De-fretted in the early 90s.

[uwe]

The bass with the alu neck separating the men from the boys!

[Pilgrim]

The bass with the alu neck separating the men from the boys!

About 15 years back I vacillated for a half-hour on whether to buy a nice aluminum neck Kramer with a very pretty laminated body and dual pickups.  Given my eventual dislike of heavy basses, I'm OK with having passed on it.

[Alanko]

About 15 years back I vacillated for a half-hour...

I hear you can get a cream for that, these days.

[Pilgrim]

Vacillation uber alles! 

[uwe]

    

But we're not even allowed to sing that part anymore (and for good reason too)! The first verse is now the former third verse starting with "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit", i.e. "unity, rule of law & freedom". Somehow, the Nazis never liked that part all that much.

[OldManC]

That's what a Ric with rounds should sound like! IMHO of course.

Yep. Great sound and I really like that part.

[godofthunder]

He's more annoying than any Ric.

ain't that the truth! This guy annoys the crap out of me.

[Alanko]

I find his videos annoying for the constant fast edits and jump cuts. Bass lessons for Tok Tok youth, I guess.

I also think there is a bit of a grifting need to overly complicate studying the bass. You could approach it as simply learning music theory concepts and then bringing it to bass. Or you create a subscription-only twenty part course looking purely at slap techniques. I see too much of the latter, almost game-ifying the instrument.

[uwe]

"Or you create a subscription-only twenty part course looking purely at slap techniques."

Even that could not advance my non-existent slap capabilities! And believe me I've tried. I remember asking my former bass teacher Lothar about teaching me some slap in 1979 and he laughed "There is nothing to learn there, just do it." Well, that never worked for me  , I still sound like a strangled chicken whenever I attempt slaps and pops. I'm neither accurate enough to hit the strings properly (not even the E string) nor fast enough to get away from them in time for them to ring (same with tapping by the way).

But Lothar taught me the circle of fifths and lots of scales - for that I'm eternally grateful! My melodic and harmonic grasp of bass is great, it's just that no one gives a rat's ass about those skills! (No one has ever said to me: "Oh, you connected those chords wonderfully, Uwe, using root notes only sparingly!" or "That's really neat how you play a descending chromatic run of E, D#, D + C# to the E Major, B Major, E Major, A Major chord sequence of the Stones' Satisfaction bridge!")

To this day, it turns my stomach when someone says "Yeah, do a bass solo there!" and sees that as a synonym for a couple of random slap bass licks while the band stops playing. Yet when I go, "No, you guys keep playing and provide the harmonies and I'll solo a melody over it!", I get incredulous looks and a "But that's NO BASS SOLO!".  People always think that I refuse to slap because I consider it beneath me and just want to be different, yet little do they know ... 

[westen44]

I would put my name on the list of those annoyed by Scott's bass lessons.  The past few weeks I've been getting emails from him every day telling me about getting the deal of the century on bass lessons.  Even worse than that, I was once in the kitchen with You Tube on in the den.  You Tube started playing one of his videos and I couldn't believe how much it irritated me.  When I finally got out of the kitchen, I saw the video was demonstrating his top ten favorite slap techniques.  No thanks.  If he doesn't stop sending me videos, I'll just have to have them go to spam.  I know he is making a living and all that, but I'm not sure how much I care right now. 

[uwe]

I don't have issues with his persona (he talks a lot, but it's all genial and pleasant enough to my ears, there is nothing mean about him either) though there are limits to how serious I can take someone who needs a rubber glove*** for his fretting hand. To me, fretting a bass is pretty much like a prostate check-up: gloves are for sissies.

***Scott Devine suffers from a neurological disorder called focal dystonia. It makes his fingers involuntarily and uncontrollably move. However, he came up with a solution once he noticed they don't move when he's touching them. He wears gloves to ensure they're always in contact with something, so they don't move. I was unaware of that and thought he had an allergy or something, so if that helps his playing, it's all good. He's a nimble player, but he also - forgive me - sounds totally "unrock"  and pansy-playing to me, more Jamiroquai than Alan Lancaster if you know what I mean. 

[westen44]

I don't have issues with his persona (he talks a lot, but it's all genial and pleasant enough to my ears, there is nothing mean about him either) though there are limits to how serious I can take someone who needs a rubber glove*** for his fretting hand. To me, fretting a bass is pretty much like a prostate check-up: gloves are for sissies.

***Scott Devine suffers from a neurological disorder called focal dystonia. It makes his fingers involuntarily and uncontrollably move. However, he came up with a solution once he noticed they don't move when he's touching them. He wears gloves to ensure they're always in contact with something, so they don't move. I was unaware of that and thought he had an allergy or something, so if that helps his playing, it's all good. He's a nimble player, but he also - forgive me - sounds totally "unrock"  and pansy-playing to me, more Jamiroquai than Alan Lancaster if you know what I mean. 

I think it's the lack of rock bass that bothered me the most, too.  He can play well, but he never plays rock.  I didn't even realize I was subscribed to him.  I thought I had unsubscribed years ago.  But somehow that became reactivated and I've been getting so many emails recently. I've just now attempted to unsubscribe again.  In his most recent email, he is asking for someone with a sales background to come work for him. 

[uwe]

Bass players like that have always existed: Even if they play something rock'ish, it just never sounds like they mean it. You need to have grown up with this stuff. OTOH, I have played with lounge oriented and funky bands and heard things said to me like: "You play really well, but every note you play cries out "RAAAAAWK!!!!"" And they were completely right, I can't help it.