Question GF wants to learn to play bass...

[mmbassplayer]

My old acoustic guitar has only held her off for so long. She has decided to make the swap to bass. She is truely interested and would take nice care of whatever i gave her but... should i feel obligated to let her learn on one of mine? Or should i look for a nice SUB for her first rig? JOSH

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Get her a made in Taiwan bass copy worth no more than 50 bux. Oh and make her work for it!

joking aside, why not? let her play with your balls!! Saves you on buying a new instrument, You never know she might end up a star and teach you a trick or two.

 

[ekb16b]

introduce her to balls, she'll get addicted and become a gear whore and will buy heaps more balls then you marry her and have lots of balls, happy ending

 

[adouglas]

Crappy tools lead to nothing more than frustration and are a waste of time and money IMHO.

Age and experience have taught me to be patient, buy quality, buy it once, and hang on to it once you've got it. It's less expensive in the long run.

Being hooked up with you, she should know already that MM basses are among the finest there are. It gets more expensive than this, but it doesn't get better in any significant way.

When you're a beginner, it's tempting to blame your gear when things aren't going well. If she learns on one of yours, she will have the confidence that she's already playing a top-shelf instrument.

Besides... showing her that you think enough of her to let her mess with your precious instrument (get yer mind out o' the gutter, pal) will generate HUGE relationship points for you.

Use the time while she's learning to start saving. When she gets good enough, surprise her with a nice used MM bass. If that doesn't make her swoon, not much will.

 

[jlepre]

Hey Josh,

I've heard that women who want to learn bass really want to learn on a 5 string. Also the color green is very attractive..(hint...hint...)

 

[mmbassplayer]

She has been eye-balling my Dargie as i have been eye-balling yours. JOSH

 

[adouglas]

The mention of the 5-string brings up something to think about re your gf....

Those with small hands (like many women) often assume that they'll never be able to deal with a 5-string bass because of the extra width.

IMHO, horsehockey.

I've got small hands (photo showing this will be posted on request) and a 5-string is no problem at all. In fact, it's actually easier to play, because the real challenge for small-handed people, I believe, isn't neck width...it's being able to span several frets when you're playing down in first position, near the nut. With a 5-string, you don't need to...you can play farther up the neck (above the fifth fret), which is a lot more comfortable.

The trick to dealing with a wider neck is to wear the bass high enough that you can get your fingers all the way across. A lot of beginners wear their instruments way too low because it looks cool.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Dr Stankface]

Get her something that sounds ok and set it up with some light strings. A good setup can go a long way. The EB Extra Slinkys are killer.

 

[oli@bass]

I'm a fan of being able to upgrade my gear when getting better. To me, it's part of the whole growth process. Also, when I was just starting out, it was great that a better bass was able to reward me with a perceivable step, soundwise and in my playing. I think I might have gotten frustrated if I already had the best bass to play the first notes on.

 

[tkarter]

Hand her your bongo and let her have so much fun she won't quit.

tk