#1963262 - 06/26/08 03:43 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Smelvin7]
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Joe Bloe
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Registered: 06/18/07
Posts: 322
Loc: Illinois, USA
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First, have somebody look at the Samick and see what work in needs. Under $100, get it fixed. Over $100, save up for the Geddy.
Strings going out of tune: My guess would be how your stringing the guitar. If so, you'll have the same problem with your next bass.
Action rattles: My guess would be the neck needs adjustment. See my opening comments.
Terrible tone: Strings? DR High Beams are an affordable string with good sound. You may want to try these (I know that are not everyone's favorite, but they are decent).
Don't select your bass on the price tag. There are some really nice Squire's out there.
I like the Geddy. Someday I may get one...
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#1963263 - 06/26/08 03:46 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Joe Bloe]
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cassius
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Registered: 08/17/07
Posts: 566
Loc: Springfield, MO
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Yeah, go Squier, or eBay the Geddy used. There are some VERY good Squiers out there though. Go to a music store and play a few.
Don't get obsessively attached to ANY model of bass. It is never a good idea, no matter what stage you are at.
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#1963264 - 06/26/08 03:48 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Smelvin7]
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Bumpcity
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Loc: Seattle, WA
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I can barely play Higher Ground once without one of the strings moving.
U R GUD IF U KAN PLAY THAT SONG!@!!!
edit: New tuning pegs can fix your bass slipping out of tune. Or even a proper setup.
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#1963272 - 06/26/08 04:05 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Bumpcity]
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cassius
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Registered: 08/17/07
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Loc: Springfield, MO
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He's got a point, you could probably have it professionally setup for $40-50 bucks. I had my J professionally setup for the first time one year ago, and I was shocked at how much better it felt. I thought I was taking care of everything on my own--apparently I was missing a few details. Until you're quite skilled at bass guitar setups, you should consider asking a luthier, and now's a great time to start.
Ask the luthier and he can tell you if you need new pegs.
By the way, that song IS fun to play.
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#1963283 - 06/26/08 04:24 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: cassius]
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Bottom End
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Registered: 05/27/08
Posts: 197
Loc: VA
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I'd bet a set up solves a lot of your problems, and it's the cheapest way to find out if you need to spend money on a new bass.
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Guitar solos only last about 30 seconds, the bass line goes on for the whole song.
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#1963299 - 06/26/08 05:06 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Smelvin7]
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kenfxj
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Registered: 12/02/03
Posts: 2020
Loc: Princeton, New Jersey
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When you say your parents won't lend you $250, do you really mean your parents won't give you $250? Do you have a plan for paying your parents back? A plan that doesn't involve helping out around the house doing things you should be doing anyway?
If you learn nothing else from this forum learn this: Buy what you can afford. If you can't afford it now, save up for it. Don't borrow money to buy a bass. Don't buy a bass on credit. Don't buy any pleasure items on credit. You will never regret NOT being in debt. Try real hard not to learn this the hard way.
If you still want a new bass, look real good at the Squier Vintage Modified series. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you Squier means cheap crap. I have a Squier VMS fretless Jazz. It rocks.
Actually, I like it so much I'm seriously considering one of these.
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"Right you are, Ken!" - Vic Romano
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#1963371 - 06/26/08 08:23 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: kenfxj]
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cassius
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Registered: 08/17/07
Posts: 566
Loc: Springfield, MO
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If you learn nothing else from this forum learn this: Buy what you can afford. If you can't afford it now, save up for it. Don't borrow money to buy a bass. Don't buy a bass on credit. Don't buy any pleasure items on credit. You will never regret NOT being in debt. Try real hard not to learn this the hard way.
I think that, considering all the awesome bass players who came before us that got by on nothing, we should certainly at least try to live within our means. My basses are by no means sawmill fodder, but I am not in debt because of them either, thanks to tight budgeting and a willingness to wait a REALLY long time to get a good price. (Or in the case of my Jazz Bass and Stingray, to buy used, a not-so-uncommon practice to begin with.)
Seriously, listen to Ken's advice. He is right on the money in more than one way.
As a last note, consider that if you fixate on a physical object such as a bass--as I was doing recently over the Ric C series--you are totally missing the point and obscuring your true source of inspiration, the music itself. It's a cheesy, heavily reiterated sentiment, but then it also happens to be true. Meditate on it.
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#1963377 - 06/26/08 08:35 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: cassius]
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rizzo9247
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Registered: 04/12/07
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Loc: NYC
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I'll give you the advice my father gave to me: get a job.
Squier Vintage's are a good start, or if your set on the Benloy(tm), used on ebay for $400-500.
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#1963380 - 06/26/08 08:39 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: kenfxj]
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jlrush
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Registered: 09/19/05
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Loc: Columbia, Missouri
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+1 to all the sage advice. Maybe all you need is a good setup for your Samick. Or maybe you need to learn how to string it properly, or just buy new strings.
If not, then get something YOU can afford, not what you can get your folks to buy you. Squier VM gets good ratings on this forum and several members own one. I played the VM fretless Jazz and they're a good bass for a low price.
BTW, do you know how to get a bass player off your front porch? Just pay him for the pizza.
Six months of making pizzas would give you enough money to buy the Squier VM, and some strings, or a tuner. Hey, maybe all you need is a tuner. Problem solved.
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#1963497 - 06/27/08 05:40 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: vinxbass]
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Tom Capasso
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Registered: 04/30/01
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Loc: east meadow,NY,UNITED STATES
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First, let me add myself to the "get a good set-up" advice.
Two other thoughts:
1. If you are working, then you will have that $250 soon. Maybe not as soon as you'd like, but not so long a time either.
2. (I know this is hard) Think about why your parents won't lend you the money. I can think of a few reasons - a)prices of basic things (like gas) are jumping up. They may actually not have the money available. b)Or maybe you've acted in a way that makes them think you don't deserve it. c)Or maybe they have the idea that people have to fend for themselves as a way to learn to be independent. If it's a), show some sympathy. If it's b), think about doing something to change their opinion for the better (yeah I know - parents don't always see the changes, but still...). If it's c), there's not much you can do but wait it out and save.
In my family, we lent money to our kids. They always took the loan very seriously and put money aside to pay us back each time they got paid. Of course, we (mostly my wife, but I was OK) forgave the last part of the loan when they worked very hard to pay it back quickly (which was all the time). This has translated to pretty good money-skills now that they are in their 20s.
Maybe if you set up a payment plan with them and stick to it, they might lend you all or part of the money.
Tom
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#1963505 - 06/27/08 05:59 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Tom Capasso]
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Ross Brown
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Buy more than you can afford.... then wait for the bailout.....
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#1963508 - 06/27/08 06:16 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Ross Brown]
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The Pot
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Registered: 06/13/08
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I work at a music store doing setups. From my experience you can get pretty much any P.O.S to play decently enough. Just adjust the neck which tends to be most of the problems I run into. And if you are getting buzz when you slap, raise your action a bit. If all else fails I agree with Ken check out the Squire VM line or some of the SR series basses from Ibanez. They are cheap and play rather nicely
_________________________
"Music is the space between the notes." -Claude Debussy
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#1963673 - 06/27/08 12:27 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: The Pot]
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Lowtones11
Senior Member
Registered: 12/27/07
Posts: 124
Loc: AZ, United States
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too
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#1963679 - 06/27/08 12:37 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: The Pot]
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Chad
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Registered: 05/15/01
Posts: 3226
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Here we see the folly of complaining about your parents to people who are your parents' age. 
I work at a music store doing setups. From my experience you can get pretty much any P.O.S to play decently enough. Just adjust the neck which tends to be most of the problems I run into. And if you are getting buzz when you slap, raise your action a bit. If all else fails I agree with Ken check out the Squire VM line or some of the SR series basses from Ibanez. They are cheap and play rather nicely
Pot, are you near Pittsburg? Can you help a brutha out (for a reasonable fee, of course)?
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#1963796 - 06/27/08 07:22 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: rizzo9247]
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jar546
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Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 592
Loc: West Pittston, PA
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Gimme Gimme Gimme
This must be part of the entitlement generation.
Appreciate what you have. Practice with what you have.
It is the Indian more than the arrow.
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#1963798 - 06/27/08 07:45 PM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: jar546]
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jeremy c
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Registered: 02/01/01
Posts: 10829
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My parents bought me a clarinet and a saxophone and paid for music lessons. They paid for my first two years of college.
I bought my first bass and amp with my own money and dropped out of college in order to just play music. I went back and finished college as a music major and paid for it myself. I had been playing bass for 5 years before I got my first good bass.
Now I have a whole house and it's full of gear and it was all paid for (including the house) by gigging, which I started doing when I was 15.
I don't have a Geddy Lee bass because I don't need one. 
That's all.
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#1963830 - 06/28/08 04:28 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: jeremy c]
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Bottom End
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Registered: 05/27/08
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Loc: VA
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Here we see the folly of complaining about your parents to people who are your parents' age.
+1, LOL
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Guitar solos only last about 30 seconds, the bass line goes on for the whole song.
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#1963862 - 06/28/08 07:32 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Chad]
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The Pot
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Registered: 06/13/08
Posts: 58
Loc: PA
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Pot, are you near Pittsburg? Can you help a brutha out (for a reasonable fee, of course)?
I am in Hanover about 30 minutes north of Baltimore and 45 minutes south of Harrisburg. If you can make it down here I'd do it for free. I do them all day like every day, so no prob.
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"Music is the space between the notes." -Claude Debussy
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#1963867 - 06/28/08 07:40 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: The Pot]
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DavidMPires
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Registered: 01/25/06
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Once I said to my father:
"I really want that bass (Marcus M was playing on tv)
My father look at me... look at the tv...look at me again, and said:
"Save money"
I did and bought a spector instead, and save more and bought a car, and saved more and bought my Mark bass and all my gear, my parents never paid for any of my basses or gear. I don't expect them to.
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#1963868 - 06/28/08 07:41 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: The Pot]
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Frank M
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Registered: 11/21/03
Posts: 1737
Loc: Benton City, WA
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I got a bonus cheque from my job back in April. It was $732 (US). That same week, I loaned my son $500 to buy a car ... he was to pay me back that Friday. His girlfriend (mother of his child and NOT covered by his insurance) needed to see a doctor. He borrowed $90 from me for that. She needed a prescription. He borrowed $125 for that. This was all money for my URB "hedge" fund. I still haven't seen a dime, let along have the congliones to even bring it up in coversation.
Sometimes parents are strange that way ...
BTW, I went to visit them at their apartment the other night. The car wasn't there so I assumed they were gone. I knocked on the door and they were both there. I asked were was the car and they replyed "don't ask".
Edited by Frank M (06/28/08 07:49 AM)
Edit Reason: Updated.
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Respectfully, Frank M They have to keep me. I own the domain name. The Columbia Jazz Trio
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#1963883 - 06/28/08 09:02 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Frank M]
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5 string Mike
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Registered: 08/23/07
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Even us grownups can't get everything we want at once, that is why everyone is saying to save.
There is also one more lesson to be learned here. Do not buy a bass or anything else just because some famous person has their name on it somewhere. The Geddy Bass is not the only bass out there. It is a good value for the money, but others are, too.
If your parents won't 'lend' you $250, that won't buy a Geddy, so is it safe to say you have a few hundred packed away somewhere? If so, you ca get a VM Squier for under $300, maybe a used Fender MIM jazz for close to that, there are a few options.
The main point that everyone is getting at is that good things come to those who wait. Make wise decisions based on needs, not emotional wants. The gear is the means, not the end. Many of us take years to build up to the high dollar stuff. Truth be told, the entry level instruments now are leap years ahead of what they were even 10 years ago. Squier is making some very respectable stuff, so is Peavey, Ibanez and Yamaha. Try those out. DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE PRESSURE OF GEAR SNOBS. I can tell you from personal experience that it is a great feeling for me to get compliments on my sound from my standard Squier, even from the snobs. At your stage of the game, it's about learning the basics, and learning how to hone your your skills to get a good sound out of basic equipment. Once you do that, when you do get the Geddy, YOU will be able to get an awesome sound above and beyond what you would by getting it now, because of YOUR skills, not the name on the bass.
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The real art of conversation is to not only say the right thing at the right time, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
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#1963888 - 06/28/08 09:32 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: 5 string Mike]
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Rocky MacDougall
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Registered: 04/08/06
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Rule no. 1 Never borrow money from friends or family.
Rule no. 2 When you get a good job never loan money to friends or family
Rocky
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#1963892 - 06/28/08 09:45 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: Rocky MacDougall]
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The Pot
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Registered: 06/13/08
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How old are you Smelvin? If you are 18 just take out a loan and be in debt like the rest of us. Plus, most music stores offer financing of some sort or a Lay-away program. Pay it off little by little. But of course don't get high end stuff if you are not going to make use of it (i.e. gigging like every night). No sense in having a $1,000.00 bass if you are just leaping around in your bedroom or mom and dad's basement.
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"Music is the space between the notes." -Claude Debussy
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#1963897 - 06/28/08 10:29 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: The Pot]
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BenLoy
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Registered: 03/22/01
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I wouldn't recommend borrowing money from a bank just to buy a bass, especially one that's so inexpensive. Credit card debt is a dangerous sinkhole to fall into and I always advise people to avoid it like the plague.
Get a job at a grocery store or something and save the money so you can buy it if you want it so badly. Federal minimum wage is currently $5.85 an hour, you could earn that money in less than two weeks.
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#1963906 - 06/28/08 11:23 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: BenLoy]
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Frank M
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Registered: 11/21/03
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That's Federal. Most state MWR's are usually a buck or two highter.
Credit cards, much like the internet and Shawn and Dianna's spawn, are the anti-Christ (and I have irrefutable proof the the internet claim. Shawn and Dianna's spawn is mearly a hunch).
Depends where you gig ... would you take a $1000 (that's about 218 Euros) axe to a gig at a biker bar/grill/meth lab - especially if no one in the band knows "Freebird".
Edited by Frank M (06/28/08 11:26 AM)
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#1963908 - 06/28/08 11:27 AM
Re: Why I should but Don't have the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
[Re: BenLoy]
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dcr
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Registered: 11/07/01
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Creativity & patience often bring better results.
Example. Earlier this year, I decided I wanted a P Bass. I came down to 2 that I really liked; one cost $900 (Lakland), the other $1,100 (Fender). Both were extremely tempting. I was getting close. Then I found a used, 25-year-old Yamaha on eBay. It was in excellent condition, I've always liked Yamaha, & it had a J bridge pickup in addition to a P neck pickup. And it only cost $350. Booya!
Will it satisfy the gear snobs? Probably not as much as the others, but three things. (1) Gear snobs can shampoo my crotch, for all I care. (2) I actually like the feeling of going my own way & scoring a good deal. It's like "stickin' it" to someone; don't know who, but it still feels good.  Hey, saving money feels good; whodathunkit. (3) I think this instrument is at least as good as the others I was looking at, maybe better. I might even prefer it to the last Fender I had...a Geddy Lee. (In fact, in many ways, I know I do.) I played it out earlier this week and it definitely brought The Rock.
EVEN SO, I'm still not convinced you need to replace this bass anyway. Check the setup; it sounds like it could really use it. And check your technique. I've heard a lot of heavy-handed slappers (thwakkers?) make even high-end gear go "Blarggh!"
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Moderator: Bob Gollihur (bob@gollihur.com), Tom Capasso, _Sweet Willie_
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. But I did get a new head and cab. The B200H and B115 from Acoustic. Its nice but alittle on the heavey side. My friend sugested I trade in my old bass to make up for the difference. Nows when I tell you why I NEED a new bass! First off, my Samick always slips out of tune. I can barely play Higher Ground once without one of the strings moving. Second, it rattles like crazy. I tried rasing the action but it only helped a little. Third, its tone is terrible. Infact, I get better sound out of my brother cheap squier! If your wondering why I didnt notice this when I bought it, it's because.... I didn't play it before I bought it 
. O well, lesson learned.
, and I know that everyone here can play that easily.
