Neko

bass page:

equipment I use:

davison full-size electric bass

davison full size electric bass in black

davison full size electric bass in black. the body is covered in various stickers

davison full size electric bass in black. the strap has two pins on it: one of bocchi from bocchi the rock, and one that is a set of vampire fangs in the bi flag colors

davison full size electric bass in black. the headstock has two small stickers on it, as well as two charms attached to the top tuning key: one of small, brown, sleepy cat, and a light blue one with a weaved loop and a star.

AKA liz. she's a cheapie (and a gift, but IIRC she goes for around $100 USD, maybe a bit more if you get one of the packs with an amp and case and everything), but she's mine and i love her. as for how she sounds/plays on a technical level, i have no idea. i have heard that davisons are servicable starter basses so long as you get them set up properly at a shop but that squier and ibanez have some low-cost basses that sound good straight out the box with minimal set up. i'd reccomend shopping around and shopping in-person just to get a feel for what works best for you, especially if you're in the beginning stages of learning to play like i am.

i originally got liz sometime in 2016(? i think?) as a gift from my older brother, but i didn't have the time or wherewithal to start learning how to play until my last semester of college. as of right now (9/22/23) i've been playing on-and-off for about 6 months!

i mostly play pickstyle right now, and i tend to prefer medium-thickness picks. my favorites are the ernie ball glow in the dark ones, but i have another set of ernie ball picks in electric green and a whole bunch of various hand-me-down picks from my sibling.

most of her stickers are from the official splatoon 3 sticker set from mynintendo, with a rin from suugrstudio on etsy and an otasune sticker from the philanthropy zine.

I'd include where I got the charms on her headstock, but one is so rare I haven't seen it for sale in ages and the other I got out of a blindbox and I have no idea who made it or what the blind box was called.

i got her strap for super cheap, i think it was like $6 shipped? it's just a standard fender guitar strap, nothing fancy but it's comfortable.

the pins on her strap are from here and here.

for now i'm just using a fender mini-deluxe amp, though i'm like 99% sure there's a honeytone sitting somewhere in my garage i might hunt down at some point. partially bc i'm pretty sure that one has a clip on the back so i don't have to worry about pulling the amp off the table or knocking it over or anything.

i do have some recording equipment but it's all pretty old and i haven't figured out how to set it up with my pc yet. just for the sake of listing everything i've got, though, i have a line6 ux1, a digitech genesis 1, and an alto professional zmx862. if you're more familiar with this equipment and have any knowledge to pass on or guides to point to, please reach out i'm so lost lmao

as for how i learn, i mostly just follow tab tutorials. i'm also studying music theory bit by bit, both by just studying it dry through youtube lectures and through finding bits and pieces of it applied to stuff i already listen to. i don't have any particular favorites for dry lectures BUT i absolutely reccomend scruffy for applied concepts. it's a lot of just general sound engineering stuff but they have some videos dedicated to specific concepts like harmonic rhythm and on why certain compositions are so catchy.

songs i've learned/am learning:

  • guitar, loneliness, and blue planet by kessoku band (~75% proficiency, still working on the solo and on general accuracy)
  • fascination street by the cure (~60% proficicency, i know the loop well but tend to lose my place once the guitar comes in and it's harder to hear myself play)
  • sharpest lives (~75% proficiency, can mostly play along but can't play or remember the solo to save my life)
  • tombstone arizona from pizza tower (first piece i transcribed by ear, near 100% proficiency)
  • ...fuwa fuwa time from k-on (this is entirely by ear and i learned it YEARS ago before i ever picked up bass seriously. it's an extremely easy song)

songs i want to learn:

  • foundations of decay, sunsets over monroeville, and honey this mirror isn't big enough for the two of us by mcr
  • burn and disintegration by the cure
  • pretty much anything from red vox
  • every bit of city pop i have ever listened to has some very fun bass, lots of slap. would want to explore that
  • i will inevitably learn something from sonic. whether it be something by senoue or tee lopes or something from CD has yet to be seen but i will learn sonic music
  • more bocchi songs (mostly that band, seiza ni naretara and flashbacker, though i'm pretty sure all of those require alternate tuning)
  • this is also just from a listening perspective but i wanna explore acid jazz and jungle more