ECG -Chapter 9 Never Underestimate the Electric Bass

Lin Hao held back the urge to burst into laughter and turned around to say to Wu Xiaozhou, “Stop spacing out, hurry up and pay!”

“Ah!” Wu Xiaozhou felt that Lin Hao was definitely up to something shady, he just hadn’t figured it out yet. Since Lin Hao told him to pay, then he would just pay!

The old man took the money and stuffed it into the pocket of his white Tang suit. He narrowed his eyes and said nothing more.

Lin Hao had Wu Xiaozhou carry the small amplifier. Then he walked over to the pile of junk and started rummaging through it again, putting on a look of disgust.

“Hey! Not bad, I’ll take this one!”

He muttered to himself as he picked up the KS bass. Then he added, “Old man, throw in a connecting cable and a strap too, alright?”

“Take them yourself!” The old man impatiently waved the cattail fan in his hand. “Take the cheap strap!”

“Got it!”

Lin Hao casually took down a connecting cable and a guitar strap from the hanging rack, then carried the bass and walked out, tossing out a sentence:

“Thanks!”

Wu Xiaozhou hurriedly followed him outside.

Not long after the two left, a chubby man ran into the music shop, panting heavily. The moment he entered, he shouted:

“Boss, here, 500 yuan!”

The old man lazily lifted his eyelids, but then he looked slightly surprised.

What was going on today? How come everyone was suddenly interested in this pile of broken instruments?

This pile of junk was either old stock that had been sitting in the warehouse for years or things he had collected over the past two years.

Some were stolen goods from thieves. Some were brought in by taxi drivers who exchanged them for the price of a couple packs of cigarettes. They were probably things passengers had left behind in their cars.

Ever since his son went to the provincial capital to perform at nightclubs, this music shop had basically been abandoned.

As for himself, he was only half-knowledgeable. Being able to remember the retail prices and purchase prices was already pretty good!

Once these things were sold off, he would close the shop for good. Why bother worrying about it anymore? Wouldn’t it be better to go to the park and dance with those old ladies?

However, he had already checked through that pile of junk. There wasn’t anything valuable inside. There were only two imitation Fenders and one Gibson, and even their pickups were broken!

How strange!

This fat guy had come to look around earlier. He had told him that each guitar cost 500 yuan, and the guy had run off.

“Bring it here!” The old man waved his fan at him.

“What?” The fat man froze.

The old man rolled his eyes. “The money!”

“Oh! Coming, coming!”

The fat man immediately handed over the money with an eager smile.

Then he quickly walked over to the pile of instruments in the corner.

“Damn it! Where’s the guitar? Where’s my KS?”

The fat man started shouting.

“What are you yelling about?” The old man sat up, looking displeased.

“It’s gone! My KS is gone!” The fat man’s face turned red with anxiety, and sweat poured down his chubby face.

“What KS?” The old man had no idea what KS was.

“It’s that dark brown bass!”

“Ah!”

The old man seemed to remember something. The two young men just now should have taken away a bass.

“That one was sold just now.”

After saying that, he lay back down on the rattan chair.

“How much?”

“200.”

“Damn!”

The fat man was stunned when he heard that. He nearly collapsed onto the ground.

……

Lin Hao pedaled his bicycle as fast as he could.

After Wu Xiaozhou carried the amplifier inside, he collapsed onto the sofa. His front and back were completely soaked with sweat.

“Was there a dog chasing you or something? Why were you running so fast?” Wu Xiaozhou complained.

“What do you think?”

Lin Hao chuckled. He took off the electric bass hanging around his neck, patted it, and said, “Do you know what this is?”

“Electric guitar?”

Wu Xiaozhou regretted saying it the moment the words left his mouth, because he saw Lin Hao’s eyebrows practically stand upright.

He immediately corrected himself.

“Bass, bass! Electric bass!”

Lin Hao let out a long sigh of relief. Just now, he had even started doubting whether his decision had been right.

“200 yuan? Is it really worth it? It looks all black and dirty to me!” Wu Xiaozhou asked.

Lin Hao couldn’t be bothered to respond. He picked up a clean rag from the table and started wiping it down.

“Damn, it actually looks pretty good!” Wu Xiaozhou stared at it wide-eyed.

“Of course!” Lin Hao stroked the tiger-stripe pattern. “This is walnut wood!”

Then he frowned. The shape of this KS bass looked somewhat similar to the Black Tiger, but the style of this double-layered top was not quite consistent with the Black Tiger. It was really strange—he had never seen a KS with this kind of design before.

He carefully checked the frets. Fortunately, although there was some wear, it was within the normal range.

Most likely, the original owner had more than one instrument, so this bass hadn’t been used very much.

“Is this thing expensive at 200 yuan?”

Hearing Wu Xiaozhou ask that, Lin Hao almost wanted to spit blood in his face.

“Let me tell you, for this bass, even if you add two zeros to the price and then multiply it by two, you still wouldn’t be able to buy it!”

“Add two zeros and multiply by two?” Wu Xiaozhou counted on his fingers for a long time. “Damn, 40,000?”

Lin Hao nodded. “Only more, not less!”

Before he transmigrated, he had been very poor. So no matter how much he studied these instruments or how much he loved them, he could only go to music stores to touch them and play for a while, just to satisfy his craving.

He had once saved money for more than a year before finally buying a second-hand Black Tiger.

He never expected that in this life, he would actually stumble upon such a great bass. It truly wasn’t easy!

It was like a martial arts master who had no weapon in hand suddenly obtaining a divine blade by chance.

He plugged in the amplifier, quickly connected the cable, and then played the first note.

Lin Hao nodded, adjusted the tuning with a few twists, and then began playing:

“Sex In A Pan – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones”

“UFO Tofu”

“Stomping Grounds – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones”

“Live Art”

“A Show Of Hands”

“…”

One song after another, with hammer-ons, pull-offs, slapping, tapping…

All kinds of techniques appeared one after another, and he played with incredible enjoyment.

When the music stopped, Wu Xiaozhou was staring at him with his mouth wide open.

“How was it? Does the electric bass sound good?” Lin Hao asked.

“Damn!” Wu Xiaozhou cursed. “It’s freaking amazing! From now on, this is what I’m playing!”

“Good! That’s exactly what I wanted to hear! Brother, remember what I said—never underestimate the electric bass!”

“If you compare a band to a person, the lead singer is the soul, the drums are the heart, the guitar is the facial features, the keyboard is the limbs, and the most easily overlooked electric bass is the torso!”

“Without it, this person has no body. Without a spine, he can’t even stand!”

After saying that, Lin Hao handed the bass to him and began teaching him the basic finger techniques.

Lin Hao hadn’t expected this guy to actually have some talent. After being taught the basic finger techniques once, he already understood them.

Watching Wu Xiaozhou practice his finger movements, Lin Hao held a cigarette in his mouth and thought.

By the end of August, there were only a little more than two months left. What could he teach him so that he could amaze everyone in one performance?

It was impossible to start from the basics. That would be far too slow. He needed to play something that could shock everyone the moment he performed it, only then would he have a chance of successfully switching majors.

Looks like he could only take a shortcut. After successfully transferring from the Fine Arts Department to the Music Department, he could teach him the fundamentals afterward.

What should he play?

“I’ve got it!”

A flash of inspiration struck Lin Hao.

Victor Wooten had a song called “Classical Thump.” It was extremely fast and contained all kinds of flashy techniques!

Alright! It’s this one!

I refuse to believe that even if we break it down section by section, I can’t make Wu Xiaozhou master it within two and a half months!

It’ll definitely fool everyone—people will be completely stunned and think he’s a genius!