I don't post very often, but I need to vent.
It's probably me...Since I picked up the bass at the ripe young age of 45, I've tried several different forums in order to get some different insight & perspective, some answers to some (usually general) questions and basically broaden my knowledge about bass guitar. Like most folks, I've been listening to music all my life, and I've had an affinity for the bass since I heard Roundabout for the first time. In my lifetime, I have tried to play piano, guitar, drums, etc. and have failed pretty miserably at all of them. It has been quite a struggle for the past 3 years to get where I'm at with the bass guitar: loving it...struggling, but not failing.
Baasists: My own preconceived generalizations
I've always pictured bassists as the kind of people who can piece together their instrument with tape and wire, turn it up real loud and thunder away, holding the band together. I know, there's much more to it than that, that's just always been the image I've had: barefoot, jeans, t-shirt, thunder, a wry smile, in their own little corner of space. The kind of folks who were easily approachable and eager to help out - it's what they do.
I'm utterly disappointed everywhere I turn in bass forums. For the most part, the forums are filled with egomaniacal types who constantly need to demonstrate just how great/smart they are, and how people with differing opinions are just not informed/skilled enough to have any worthwhile insights. It's really frustrating, but I had a completely different view of bass players before I joined my first forum. I don't really like posting, but I'm constantly reading threads, and the majority of those threads have topics that really interest me...until I read them. The Internet has provided us all with a tool that allows us to unleash whatever venom reaches our fingertips. I'd guess that 99% of the venom that's spewed out on these forums would never be uttered face-to-face. I always like to check the profiles of some of the folks who can't help but trashing each others. Surprisingly (if you believe their own profiles), some of the biggest offenders appear to be the most accomplished musicians (OK, folks with an array of expensive equipment who earn money playing bass). I know things are not what they seem when I read some trashers signature and it lists "Christian Bassist Club member #456"...yeah, Ok.
People will say that it's just the way society is today, and unfortunately, that appears to be somewhat truthful. I guess that I was hoping that bassists and cockroaches would be the lone survivors of an Earth that was eventually ruined by greed, ego and selfishness. I guess I'm disappointed because I've always felt like a good judge of character, and in the case of bassiss, I was making that assumption based on my own ethereal notions of what I thought bassists would be like.
Having said all that, there have ben quite a few unassuming, very helpful folks on these forums. I wish they outnumbered (or typed faster than) the egomaniacs.
Sorry about the rant (and any spelling errors). I needed to get it out and start over.
Steve
