I signed up to this forum about a month back and have already chatted to a few of you and gained some excellent information and in-sight...and stumbled around the forum drunk on the free beer
So as a way of a slightly belated introduction...
...I started playing guitar and electric bass when I was about 17 but never really took the learning part of the process all that seriously (although at the time I thought I was...you know, young, already know it all)
I was on the verge of giving up entirely about 8 years ago and finding a new hobby, as I was very frustrated by my limitations...but decided to get back into it and give it one last shot. So I took things bit more seriously this time round and jumped head first back into bass playing...I finally got my chops together and started gigging around Sydney in an indie rock band 6 years ago. That band fell apart after about 3 years, so I immediately joined another one 3 years ago (less indie, more rock) and we have just released our second album on MGM/Green Distribution.
I had an old Yamaha bass lying around and had worn a hole about a cm deep in the body with my fingers (yes very cheap wood!..balsa perhaps?! lol) This was the bass I used to get my chops up, so wearing a hole in the body from playing it shows how much work I had to do...or just how bad a player I actually was!
Anyway...I decided to patch up the hole and give it a coat of paint...as soon as I started working on it I was hooked and a quick patch job immediately turned into a complete restoration and customisation...which then immediately inspired me to build a bass from scratch the moment I finished the project...I then moved house, went overseas, changed jobs and became a first time father...and then finally finished the customisation of the old Yamaha...I had no tools, no knowledge, no experience and no idea and didn't yet know about this forum!!...so I made a lot of mistakes...but learnt from them all.
I have just started on my first build...a Thunderbird replica and have posted the progress so far (not much at all!) in the Instrument Builders Forum : )
So although I am completely new to this art I am totally hooked and dedicated to learning as much as possible and building as many basses as I can and perhaps one day earning the right to call myself a Luthier : )
I also enjoy home-brewing...oh and long walks on the beach at sunset...
Cheers
Kane
