Well my wife just became a bassist! (And she now has a sweet Fender JMJ Mustang!)

TimBosby

TimBosby

Dec 19, 2004
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Omaha, NE, USA
#1
(Overdue post since it's been about a week now.)

Guys, it finally happened. I'm 45 years old and on my second (and hopefully last) marriage (lol) and my wife just went from not being a bass player to being a bass player! She just finished law school at age 45 in May and, while she's waiting for her bar exam results, she decided "What the hell, why not learn bass?" I've been playing for 30 years and I really SHOULD be better so I imagine she'll surpass me in 2-3 years... or 2-3 weeks, lol. She played percussion and trombone in middle school and high school but that was about 3 decades ago, so she's never touched a stringed instrument before but is learning quickly!

Here's how it happened:
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned to my wife that I could teach her bass and she'd be as good as me within a year. Well, she took me up on the challenge! I showed her how to play one of my basses (a G&L Custom Shop Matador double P) a few nights later and it turns out that my basses are huge compared to her. For reference I'm about 6'3.5" with long arms and large hands and she's about 5'2" with short arms and tiny hands. I figured a short scale (30") bass would be best for her small stature and hands...

...SO after some breakfast burritos last Sunday, we took a trip to Ground Floor Guitar 🎸here in beautiful Omaha, NE and had a nice conversation with Johnny, the owner. (We bought my 19-year-old stepdaughter's guitar from him a few years ago.) Excellent shop and an excellent guy who has always been super kind to me and my family. After trying it out at the store, my wife is now the proud new owner of a beautiful faded Daphne blue Fender "Road Worn" Justin Meldal-Johnsen Signature Mustang Bass. The color in direct sunlight looks more greenish-blue but it's definitely more of a faded Daphne blue. Came with a case and a perfect setup with Ernie Ball flats for $1000. I probably could have gotten something less expensive but this was a good deal and I figured it'll hold its value pretty well since this is a model that people seem to dig and JMJ is such a great bass player. Hold on to your hats 🎩, she'll be better than me in no time. (Which is fine, as long as she doesn't steal my spot in any of my bands. 🤣) Also, I got a cool T-shirt that Johnny designed.

Since then, I've also gotten her a coincidentally-named Fender Mustang Headphone Amp and the guy at Guitar Center was nice enough to throw in a free Ernie Ball strap with a bird pattern that she liked. I've taught her some scale patterns and she picked up righthand fingerstyle technique pretty quickly and her fretting hand is getting stronger every day. She is currently learning how to play "Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads. 🔪🎵🎶

Now, if she ever ends up on Talkbass with G.A.S. like the rest of us, I'll be murdered for sharing a picture of her with strangers, lol. 🎵🎶 Run run run run run run awaaaayy... 🎵🎶


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#2
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#3
WayneP said:
Way cool! But the million-dollar (possibly literally!) question is, can the family afford TWO GAS’ers? :)

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Ecclesia: Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Pedulla Club #45
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
My Basses
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Absolutely NOT, lol. And even though she already has an attorney job lined up, we have a lot of debt to climb out of. So I told her, "All you need to do is handle one multi-hundred-million dollar class action lawsuit..." :D :D :D
 
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#10
Gilmourisgod said:
Sweet bass, and a great color. Nice dark rosewood board on that one too. Those are perfect for smaller stature players, hope she sticks with it. Alas, my wife of 34 years has yet to display any interest in playing bass, though she does appreciate a good looking instrument. Didn't Tina Weymouth play a Mustang for a while?
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Yeah, I've seen pictures of Tina playing various Mustangs and MusicMasters (at least in the late 70s and early 80s.) Could have easily grabbed a Fender Mustang PJ or even a Squier Bronco or something from an online retailer but I wanted to support my local shop since they have cool stuff and are good people.

Interestingly, my wife liked the short scale, but much like me, she did NOT like slimness of a Jazz neck in her hand (I had her hold a few Jazz neck basses vs the JMJ Mustang's P neck for comparison.) I believe the Fender Player Series Mustang PJs are more of a Jazz neck but the JMJ is a rather chunky P neck with a gloss finish. She prefers the chunkier necks, despite having small hands. She DOES like the satin neck finish of my other basses so I may gently sand down the JMJ to a satin using a green kitchen scrub pad but we'll see. I also have to put some short scale rounds on it since she does not love the feel of flats.
 
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#11
WayneP said:
Way cool! But the million-dollar (possibly literally!) question is, can the family afford TWO GAS’ers? :)

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Ecclesia: Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Pedulla Club #45
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
My Basses
Click to expand...
My first thought exactly, and what I came to post! Lol. Let the fun begin. Let's see.. a Mesa Subway D-800, a couple of cabs, what else?
 
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#12
Just a suggestion, use a GREY scotchbrite on the neck, gives a nice satin feel, but it's easy to buff back to gloss if you ever change your mind. If you go with green, you'll probably have to wetsand it back to gloss. Is that natural wear on the body, or a Relic finish? In ether case, the inevitable further wear will just improve it's looks. I'm a skinny neck guy myself, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with hand size, just what feels right for the player. Jazz is just about right for my hands. I've been building 32" scale basses, which is a nice compromise between long and short scales. I painted a 90's era MIM P in a similar color. I was actually shooting for more of a surf green.... and missed!
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#13
Gilmourisgod said:
Just a suggestion, use a GREY scotchbrite on the neck, gives a nice satin feel, but it's easy to buff back to gloss if you ever change your mind. If you go with green, you'll probably have to wetsand it back to gloss. Is that natural wear on the body, or a Relic finish? In ether case, the inevitable further wear will just improve it's looks. I'm a skinny neck guy myself, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with hand size, just what feels right for the player. Jazz is just about right for my hands. I've been building 32" scale basses, which is a nice compromise between long and short scales. I painted a 90's era MIM P in a similar color. I was actually shooting for more of a surf green.... and missed!
07c0eJW.jpg

KBesDlj.jpg
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Good suggestion on the gray Scotch Brite - I've only ever used the green ones on necks and have had good results.
It's a "Road worn" series so the relic'd look was factory made. I am not a huge fan of factory relics but in this case it looks pretty great and she likes it. I told her "It's kind of like our lightly distressed hardwood floors in the living room - if the cats damage them, nobody will ever know." :D :D

Your bass looks great! I have a surf green Drake J as well as a "mint" green Musicman.
I regret selling my last shell pink bass because I'd like to get a whole array of pastels in my house :)
 
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#14
aspdevboy said:
My first thought exactly, and what I came to post! Lol. Let the fun begin. Let's see.. a Mesa Subway D-800, a couple of cabs, what else?
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Actually just bought a 1x10 Trace Elliot Elf Combo. I had one before and loved it and stupidly sold it. But I found a decent deal on one from Guitar Center used so I snagged it. It's perfect for multiple applications - loud enough for my instrumental surf rock trio (no PA) with one band, physically small enough for my other band to use at our semi-acoustic (stripped down electric) suburban bar cover/original gig (very limited floor space), and also great for just having in the living room (plus it's not fur so the cats can't damage it, lol.)
 
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#16
Gilmourisgod said:
Just a suggestion, use a GREY scotchbrite on the neck, gives a nice satin feel, but it's easy to buff back to gloss if you ever change your mind. If you go with green, you'll probably have to wetsand it back to gloss.
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The grey ones are the ticket I agree--harder to overdo it, easy to get nice and even all over. But I find on my sticky Fender necks the gloss eventually comes back all by itself just from playing (which is kinda weird).
 
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#19
Congrats to your lovely wife for her first, NBD. Fantastic story. You're a wonderful partner treating her to such a great bass, and helping her.

Now....if I may play Devil's advocate for a second or two....just for fun.
She's just learning, so it won't happen yet, but that G&L is already inventoried by her. Sorry, man. You lost it. Ergonomics can be worked out.
She'll be searching for that "plays like butter" or "oh, that tone..." from sources other than the JMJ...
You'll find the latches of your bass cases mysteriously unfastened, and the odd long hair in the accessories section.
Since GAS has been vetoed outside the walls, there's a loophole. She's a lawyer. She doesn't ask questions to which she doesn't already know the answer.
You gigs are safe....but is your herd....????
I'm kidding, of course.
Or am I?
 
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#20
ThudThudThud said:
Congrats to your lovely wife for her first, NBD. Fantastic story. You're a wonderful partner treating her to such a great bass, and helping her.

Now....if I may play Devil's advocate for a second or two....just for fun.
She's just learning, so it won't happen yet, but that G&L is already inventoried by her. Sorry, man. You lost it. Ergonomics can be worked out.
She'll be searching for that "plays like butter" or "oh, that tone..." from sources other than the JMJ...
You'll find the latches of your bass cases mysteriously unfastened, and the odd long hair in the accessories section.
Since GAS has been vetoed outside the walls, there's a loophole. She's a lawyer. She doesn't ask questions to which she doesn't already know the answer.
You gigs are safe....but is your herd....????
I'm kidding, of course.
Or am I?
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You may be right! She loved the G&L Matador. It's a transparent satin blonde finish and she liked the satin feel of the roasted maple neck. She said "How can I get this but smaller..." so then I started trying to think of a way to get a G&L Custom Shop Fallout with the same finishes haha! And since I've been a customer of Andrew Drake of Drake Custom Basses for many years, my wife also said, "I'm going to have Andrew Drake build me a small custom bass just for me!" And I said "He actually specializes in those!" Haha. So yeah not quite ready to drop $3k+ but down the road I'd consider it. Who needs retirement, anyway? :D :D :D
 
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