Noob but old bass player

Hello. Thought I’d say howdy to the tribe here. I’m 69 years old and decided to learn the bass. Played the guitar back in high school, all by ear and I was mediocre at best. Hope to learn some good habits and start with the basics with Josh’s Baddass Bass course.

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Welcome aboard, @mvintx85 . . . :slight_smile:

Wish you good luck in the course and hope you enjoy your time with us!

Cheers
Joe

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You chose a great course , good luck :+1::sunglasses:

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I was 70 when I started to learn Bass at the beginning of 2021.

Here’s some advice for you - When you get to the lesson for Billie Jean just follow the lesson and if you cannot keep up with the slow track don’t let it get you down. Just move on and come back to it later. Most cannot do the slow workout at first.

The idea is to learn and have fun.

What Bass and amp are you using?

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum and all the best on your Bass journey and don’t forget to go over to the Introduce Yourself! topic if you have not done so already :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hello @mvintx85 and welcome. Nice to meet you.

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Thank you, @Celticstar . . . I should have mentioned that to him :wink:

Cheers
Joe

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Welcome aboard @mvintx85 ,
Enjoy the ride,
Cheers Brian

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Thanks for the advice. Comforting to know I’m not the only ‘seasoned’ student here.

I ordered a Squire 70’s Jazz Bass and Fender Rumble 40 from Sweetwater. It was supposed to be delivered today (Sunday? Really?) but I kinda doubt it’s gonna get here. We live far off the beaten path but FEDEX knows where we are, although sometimes they’ll leave packages at our gate which is a half mile from the house. Complaints have no effect.

Can’t wait to get started and thank you again. And thanks to both Jtaylor and TNKA.

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This is what I started with and they are perfect.
Please do sort out a proper setup on the bass early on. You don’t want the bass getting in your way of learning. What comes from Sweetwater is not setup (not part of their ‘55 things we do except setup’ deal).

I paid the extra $60 to have it set up by their luthier…hope it was money well spent. I have no idea where I could have it done where I live. I did buy a book on setup…“Pocket Guide to 6,7 & 8 String Guitar and Bass” by Chris Letchford. Comes with a metal ruler so you can measure your action. The Sweetwater salesman told me to measure the strings when I first get the bass and write them down. Sounded like a good idea to me.

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Yes, measure and note.
Then let the bass sit for a week or so before doing much to it to let the neck acclimate to your home.

Setups are easy, great you bought a book to get started! Lots of methods, some folks like different methods. Don’t be afraid to experiment. It will take some time to know what you like and how you like it set up.

Welcome @mvintx85 . I started learning on BassBuzz when I bought myself a bass for my 70th birthday. I’m still thumping 2 1/2 years later.

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Hi all. My musical journey started with piano at 6. Then my parents bought me my first guitar when I was a teen - a Gibson ‘75 which I still own and played in a band. After a long nonmisical career I Rediscovered the guitar at 58 and bought my first bass at 59 along with this course. Great fun!

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Excellent choice, the folks at Sweetwater are good people. Your setup will be just fine. You may have to fine tune it a bit once you get a feel for your playing style. But that will be minor, at best. Don’t worry about it until you get a feel for the bass. Welcome!

Edited to add: I’ll reiterate, the folks at Sweetwater know what they’re doing. Your setup will be a bang-on, real world setup that will be comfortable to play, won’t rattle (well, they all rattle a little), and will get you going strong. You may discover at some point that you like a slightly higher or lower action; that’s personal preference.

That’s good to hear. Sweetwater was great to deal with. I’m so glad I didn’t buy it on Amazon. It was the same price but with Amazon there is no service and sometimes no recourse.

The folks at Sweetwater are top notch. I’ve been dealing with them for almost two decades now for guitar gear, studio gear, and now bass gear. If you haven’t gotten your bass yet, expect a small packet of candy, usually tootsie rolls, sweet tarts and fireballs. I have learned to hide these. When there is a new one in the pantry, my wife will eat the sweet tarts, then want to know what I’ve ordered now and if she needs to transfer money from savings :grin:

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Don’t take my name damnit!

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@mvintx85 greetings from another ‘seasoned’ student. Beards might have turned silver but the bass is still pure black :wink:

Got a Fender Rumble 40 too, great sounding practice amp. You’ll have fun with it.

Welcome aboard @tech4u2day ,
Enjoy the ride,
Cheers Brian

Sorry man. I’ll change it to Old Newb. How’s that? I should have spelled it that way in the first place.

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