1. Thou shalt not f**k up the groove.  F**k up the notes if thou must, but not the groove.
 
2. Thou shalt not lust after thy guitar player's part; he keepth the fun, thou keepeth the groove.
 
3. Be not swayed by a drummer with crappy time, for thou art the keeper of the beat.
 
4. Be not led into temptation before the gig.  After is cool.
 
5. Thou pusheth thy luck with 5 strings.  Six strings is a mortal sin, for thou hast no business in the upper registers.
 
6. Thou shalt not thump with thy thumb, nor honk with a pick, when thine fingers are the way of truth.
 
7. Thou shalt not fear whole notes, for they can be the way and the light.
 
8. Thou shalt leave the fancy sh*t to thine bandmates, that they may wrestle with their own bad taste.
 
9. Thou shalt change thy strings at least once per decade, whether they need it or not.
 
10. Thou shalt tune thy bass before each and every gig, even if it was in tune when last thou put it away.
 
Yeah, a guitarist sent me that......
 
Peter
 
[moderators edit: as per Peter's request, update #6]
 
(Message edited by artswork99 on September 11, 2013)

we need a 'like' button on this forum :-)
 
graeme

Pretty good stuff, except the part about not using a pick (ask the old time recording bass players on many hits).

Oops - Num. 6 should of course, read thump with thy thumb.....
Can one of our fearless mods tighten me up here, as I am past the limit?
Thanks.
 
Peter

Number 6...well that's me totally blasphemed!

I'm pretty sure I've violated #4 a thousand times.

Does anybody has the GUTS to question #6 to Carol Kaye?

I questioned her once and she barred me from her website :-(   basically she stated that all the bridge saddles should be pulled right back to get the best tone so I was asking her about intonation. don't think she likes being questioned.
 
graeme

I'm pretty sure I've violated #4 a thousand times.
 
Just don't think of it as imbibing before the gig.  Rather, it is imbibing after an extended period of time AFTER the last gig!
 
hehehehe
 
Bill, tgo

Number 5 is crazy. One of my bass' six strings is the Low B.

My familiar Spirit , the cunning Raven bird in my yard , spoke thus ;     Set no rules for the music and no rules shall be violated and thou shalt see and hear the land past the horizon.

 
:-)
Jazzyvee
 
(Message edited by Jazzyvee on October 02, 2013)

Yeah, considering I got more than a few of them for free( I'm lucky that way)...my cat doesn't care but I would hope that my family would do their homework...and my bicycle collection too; my Cook Bros stuff alone is worth many thousands...Tony

Jazzyvee, now that's funny! Thanks for the laughter. Art

Not sure how I feel about # 2, I like to play harmony lines on occasion  I think Jimmy Johnson plays quite often above the 12 fret as well