I don't feel at ease playing my bass...
 

..Any of you guys experienced "problems" with their instrument of choice?

Lately (last couple months, but I don't play every day) I don't enjoy playing it, I get distracted too easily and can't come up with decent stuff..
I think my "musical side" is a bit caught up in other "genres" I couldn't replicate/emulate with a bass, but it's not like I'm trying to do so while I play, there's no frustration involved...dunno, perhaps I just need some time off, try and play with other instruments for a while, etc...

Just curious about your stories on similar situations.

play the drums with your bass. hit it with a piece of metal and amplify it heavily.

Don't force it. Just take a break... sometimes what you need to do is listen... even if there is just silence around.

to john boy->toAre you suggesting "playing around" a bit with the same instrument rather than focusing on other ones for a while, then?

ah, suggestions are cool, not just your stories, eh!

Playing some other instruments might work. Go ahead and try some different genres, get your mind of things.

yes keep playing but just in a way that your not used too. lay it on the floor and wedge things into the strings and make an awful noise that sounds like the end of the world. seriously another approach is needed when you get tired of the same old same old.

i have almost completely given up electric guitar and moved to acoustic. i just feel more comfortable playing that then the electric. i dont know why but i play the electric and i just hate what i hear when i play. i hope that someday i will go back to playing it more seriously

to jb->I don't mean to sound cocky or "superexperimentalavantgardesocool", but I do actually play my bass with quite a lot of different "approaches" already, I might try going a bit more over the top with that stuff, as you suggest...

The present setup is a digital kinda crappy keyboard + monitors, a drum machine sometimes controlled with a midi keyb, amplified with a SWR redhead bass head + 2x12" eden cabinet, my crappy lovely OLP semi-musicman replica bass + Peavey tnt 130W 15", a bunch of stuff with a bunch of contact mics+ a pc with a bunch of software (fruity loops etc)....I'd love to try working with a cello, but I don't feel like renting one coz I'd love to experiment with it and I'm afraid I'd damage it a bit and make the shop owner angry and stuff...

edit: how fuckin' much goes a decent cello for?

try this then?

hmmm, I don't like that idea much, wouldn't be much of a departure from other stuff I do with the bass..I like the whole idea of basically sitting behind the cello and hugging it hehehe.
BUT, I'd love to try an e-bow.

what about renting an electric upright bass-- it's "more unbreakable"!

or an electric cello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9t1kicp2jE

Problem is I don't know shit about those instruments (I mean, I couldn't tell a good one from a lame one), I need to investigate more...
I think I'll take a pause from playing (in general) for a while and get some infos on the instruments that fascinate me the most lately.
This does not mean I'll end up renting/buying one of those, but sure will help making my ideas more clear in any case.

I find bass to be a difficult instrument - people who are good at being bassists are not necessarily people who are good at the bass.

I find that having other instruments really helps. I'm primarily a guitarist, but I spend most of my time on the violin. Violin is kind of perfect for me, because you can practise for years and years and never truly be happy, while the guitar doesn't provide the same sort of pain.

Not to be funny, but why did you go for bass in the first place? What drew you to it?

try different things out. If it feels like you're limping in your approach, and your doomed with only "experimenting" with it because you feel unable to play in a way that confidently makes you think that you can fall back to "technical'' playing, you might want to consider giving up altogether.

try different things out. If it feels like you're limping in your approach, and your doomed with only "experimenting" with it because you feel unable to play in a way that confidently makes you think that you can fall back to "technical'' playing, you might want to consider giving up altogether.

alot more than im guessing you can possibly afford, beginners ones start around the $1200au mark, and that doesnt mean decent

"genteel death"?

too gloomy!!!

ok, whats your suggestion?