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[RTS] So Long, Bass Guitar
Aug. 14th, 2011 06:46 pmI'd mentioned this over on Google+, but I may as well post it here: I've decided to retire my white Arbor Stiletto bass guitar (for those curious, it looks like this one, only mine was opaque white). I've had it since I believe late 1986 or early 1987 when I bought it for fifty bucks at a music store in Athol.
I loved the damn thing from the start, and definitely put it through a workout. The original jack had a ceramic covering that cracked and fell apart, and was later kludged together using a couple of cut-up squares of an Elmer's Glue bottle. It had quite a few dings and scratches from all the times I accidentally bashed it up against something or it fell over after leaning it up against the wall. I probably didn't change the strings nearly as many times as I should have. And the red leather cover has seen all kinds of weather. At this point, the tuning pegs are weatherbeaten, the pickups are rusty, and the jack is pretty much shot.
I taught myself how to play by listening to the multilayered sounds of Cocteau Twins, the blues of Led Zeppelin, the melodies of New Order and Joy Division, and the foundations of The Cure. I'm still not the best, but to this day these kinds of bass lines stick out whenever I listen to music.
I'll miss playing it, even though I have my acoustic bass now. It was the bass I played for The Flying Bohemians and jeb!, so all my personal music has that bass playing somewhere on nearly every track. I'm half-looking for a new electric bass, but I'm in no hurry.
Thanks, funky white bass! It was fun playing you all those years. :)
I loved the damn thing from the start, and definitely put it through a workout. The original jack had a ceramic covering that cracked and fell apart, and was later kludged together using a couple of cut-up squares of an Elmer's Glue bottle. It had quite a few dings and scratches from all the times I accidentally bashed it up against something or it fell over after leaning it up against the wall. I probably didn't change the strings nearly as many times as I should have. And the red leather cover has seen all kinds of weather. At this point, the tuning pegs are weatherbeaten, the pickups are rusty, and the jack is pretty much shot.
I taught myself how to play by listening to the multilayered sounds of Cocteau Twins, the blues of Led Zeppelin, the melodies of New Order and Joy Division, and the foundations of The Cure. I'm still not the best, but to this day these kinds of bass lines stick out whenever I listen to music.
I'll miss playing it, even though I have my acoustic bass now. It was the bass I played for The Flying Bohemians and jeb!, so all my personal music has that bass playing somewhere on nearly every track. I'm half-looking for a new electric bass, but I'm in no hurry.
Thanks, funky white bass! It was fun playing you all those years. :)
