u/Anon_use_fun_alias

Well, my first summer as Cubmaster and with a supportive Committee Chair, we're going to offer 3 summer events for the scouts.

I'm expecting very low engagement - we only have about 30 scouts since cross-over, and I expect maybe 10 scout families, tops, based on our typical engagement for special events.

I'm planning:

1. a hike at a state park and a picnic (there's bathrooms and a picnic area)

Duration: a couple hours

2. fishing at an accessible location (there's porta potties)

Duration: a couple hours

3. a field day / BBQ / picnic. (there will be bathrooms and running water available.)

Duration: undecided- maybe an afternoon.

Any lessons learned in your own experience?

I'm in need of some advice or reassurance.

For background: tough_interscout_issue OR TL;DR: Scout A and Scout B can't get along at school, and Scout A doesn't want to come to meetings as a result. according to Mom A. I've offered to help mediate, but the offer was declined, so I'm keeping to myself.

Now we continue on with new information...

Recently, unrelated to any of this, I've been filled in on some of the school drama from Dad D who's Scout D and another Scout E got sent to the principal's office for quarreling with Scout B when Scout B destroyed their "snowman" (some kind of craft) on the playground at school. Dad D is a friend of mine and our Committee Chair, and he was just sharing this information as a dad disappointed in his kid's reactions. I haven't mentioned to him anything about the predicament between Scout A and Scout B.

Now we have Scout C who also doesn't get along with Scout B at school, and now Scout C has been missing meetings as a result, according to Mom C.

Thinking back, I think I can recall some times when Scout B might have been rude to some of these other scouts in my Den meeting, but without the context of these strained relationships, I didn't really think much of it. I recall having to remind him to be nice after one of those instances.

This is Scout B's first year in my Den, and I've gone from having minor issues, to issues that are impacting my Den's ability to function. I've not discussed any of this with Mom B- it hasn't been my place, since I've been asked to not intervene. My instinct is to continue turning a blind eye to it until I'm tapped to do something. However, now there's more than 33% of my den being impacted in some way or another and I feel compelled to do something to ensure a safe space for the scouts.

At the very least, I'm considering breaking up my Den up into two groups- swapping meetings every other week. I'll separate Scout B from Scouts A, C, and possibly Scouts D and E as well. With 11 scouts, I have more than enough scouts to do that. It does mean we'd cover half as much material in the school year, however, but armed with the information that I have, I feel like that's the best I can do.

What do you think I should do?

The only songs I've ever learned note-for-note by ear are songs like Hysteria - songs where the bass line needs to be learned as played. In these situations, the line is so prominent that the original artist doesn't toss in their favorite fills, and that makes learning the tune note-for-note a lot easier.

There are other songs where it's more difficult - situations where I'm essentially trying to learn another bassist's "fill of the day" that they played in the studio, and maybe just that one time, and maybe it was edited later. Usually in these situations, I'll learn the main riffs and anything that seems really important to the song, then I add my own flair of fills and what not.

There's obviously a benefit to learning songs note-for-note, and I'm sure it would make me a better player, but there's so many songs to learn, and only so much time to devote to it.

Anyway, bass community- I was just wondering what your experience is like.

24 years of playing and I’ve owned 4 bass guitars, and all of them ended up being 5 strings for the very reason I’m about to outline to you.

So I absolutely love the look and concept behind the Joe Dart 1, and I’ve been eyeballing the page for weeks. I’ve gone to guitar center and played on the entry level passive sterling to see if I think I’d like the Joe Dart 1. I imagine the JD1 is better quality, and the entry level isn’t that bad! With a proper setup, I would have walked out of Guitar Center with that $300 orange entry level Ray-lookin’ thing.

The reason I always end up with a 5 string is that I started on one and I’m so used to the convenience of the 5th string. The ease of positional playing as well as the extended range are just niceties I’ve become accustomed to. It’s especially nice at gigs where unexpected tunes can be called and I don’t have to worry about what tuning they’re in.

So back to the JD1… I have a hard time imagining that I’d ever elect to play a 4 string over my typical 5 strings. I never play two of the basses I already have as it is, but I just can’t bear to part with them.

Anyone else have this “problem”? Is this me just talking myself into making a rational financial decision?

ETA- who the heck is downvoting this? This is not intended to be a 5 vs. 4 battle- it’s an honest question.

I had picked up bass because I thought it would be an accessible way for me to break into the rock music I was listening to at the time. I was 16, and brand new to bass, when I came across “Classical Thump” and it changed how I viewed my new instrument. There was room for tremendous excellence on the humble bass. I practiced harder, day dreaming of playing like Victor.

When I was 23 I ran into him after a Wooten Brothers show. I was star struck because he’d become somewhat of a personal hero. He was such a humble guy, and lived up to what I imagined he’d be like in every way. Sometimes it’s completely okay to meet your heroes- they don’t all let you down.

Now he’s dealing with Focal Dystonia and I was pretty devastated to hear the diagnosis when that news broke. Lately, I’ve been having a hard time myself with the news, because I’m 40 and the temporary nature of life taints things with some amount of sadness. This is just another one of those events for me that underlines that theme.

Then I watched his interview with Charles Berthoud. Even now, crippled with Focal Dystonia, he’s still playing, still hopeful that he can over come it, and above all, he’s demonstrating that he can humble himself into a more typical bass player role, and still enjoy it.

For a guy like me who will never reach VLW’s level, not even close, this was really an amazing moment of relief for me. I’m a competent player, and strangers who watch me play will stop to say how much they appreciate what I can do… but in my mind I always wanted to be better. I haven’t practiced enough, I should be better.

Bass guitar was never going to be my whole life; it was always going to share time with other things. It’s a privilege that I get to support different bands and share in great musical experiences in some part time capacity. Once again Victor teaches me that it’s really not about being the best. Greatness can be achieved by doing what you can with what you’ve got. If VLW can acknowledge his limitations and still press on for the love of playing, can’t we all?

Well, thanks for reading my ramblings.

So I've been thinking about this for years, revisiting it over the past week, and read a post that reminded me about it just now.

I have my old Yamaha RBX765a bass, my first. I love how it plays and it sounds great after all these years. I hate the preamp (too bass-heavy, too treble-heavy, nothing in between) and I hate the battery. I've read somewhere that the pickups are "passive" pickups, meaning that when the EQ is flat, there's technically no boost. I think I've been draining batteries for years without much benefit.

My dream is to convert it to a 3 knob.
Pickup Sweep -> Volume -> Tone.

if I have to, I'd go for a J-bass setup with 2 volumes instead.

Anyone have any experience out there?

I notice I have a tendency of playing too aggressively during some gigs for the past several years. We’re playing more demanding songs that require some faster playing, and I catch myself playing harder during some live shows. I’ve got solid callouses, but I end up with some kind of blood blister on my middle finger to various degrees.

I’ve arrived at the conclusion that I’m loud enough for the audience, but I think subconsciously I feel like I don’t hear my sound as well, and I’m playing harder to compensate. At my last gig, the band I was working with was paired down without electric lead guitar or drums, and without the competition I played like my normal self and didn’t end up with blisters.

So I think I’m going to take the plunge for in ear monitors. Everything I hear currently comes through wedges and past -15 dB ear plugs. So here comes the question-

Is it weird playing with in ear monitors when the drums aren’t mic’d? Maybe it’ll be absolutely fine, but I’m worried that everyone else will sound crystal clear, but the drums will sound muffled and that will throw me off.