ordering stuff for bass

It's hard to get stuff for bass. Music stores in Trinidad don't sell classical or jazz bass books or equipment. Imagine every time I pop a string I have to order it online. And let's not talk about those shipping charges!!! Guess as I am among the few bassists in the country there would not be a large market for it. I have had to be really careful to ensure that I don't pop any strings when tuning or anything like that. However, it would eventually wear down. Pops rosin also has to be ordered. I only use Pops. Does the job well.
Some of the better online music stores I have come across are musicroom.com and jwpepper.com. They do provide better service. The books are shipped via fedex or dhl. Like I said the shipping charges make things a bit more expensive but I think it's worth it. I think I want to try to be a music book distributor for people in my position because it's really not fair to be denied the joy of the bass, especially as the books are essential in contributing to having this joy.

still going strong

Being a bassist in Trinidad really has not been easy. The first thing you have to consider is that no one really teaches bass on a personal level. I only started as a result of a former music teacher's urging to join his orchestra. Knowing my musical capabilities on the piano as well as my size, it would have been ideal for me to become one of the masters of the instrument. However, the prime problem has always been that the majority of music teachers tend to teach almost everything except bass. So I had a piano, violin, viola, cello teacher all in one. Which would have been fine, except that I play bass!! It's tuned differently and requires a different technique.
Thank goodness for youtube. That has really been a tutor of sorts. Nothing can replace personal one on one teaching but for me it has been a relatively good push. Hopefully one day I will try to repay the favor that has been given to me. Simandl's books have also been really helpful and I think those are the real foundation for any bass player. I also got a couple dvds from Gary Karr in which he talks about the techniques he developed. You could say I have also been learning from the best.
Then you have the transportation issue. A person really has to love playing bass to be transporting this large thing all over the place, whether it's at practice or private functions or taking it home, it could really be a headache. But it's a pain worth having. It will be very interesting where all this would take me. It's a journey just 8-9 years old but it's still only just beginning.

Its interesting how fate is. Having spent a great deal of my childhood slaving behind the piano while the old music teacher would oversee me laboriously practicing my scales, I had vowed never to return to those days at all. However, no sooner had I decided to leave music had music decided it was not done with me. I would be soon introduced to an instrument that has reignited an interest in music that I had at a very young age: the double bass. Its size was intimidating, as I had been accustomed to being with an instrument that was mostly stationary. Never really had the opportunity to be with an instrument that I had to manuver myself, especially with that awkward german bow. It has become a most interesting experience and I will continue to aspire to be among the best. Its been 8 or 9 years since I first started bass and I could easily say that it has been really hard in various aspects, particularly as it is I am one of the few classically trained bassists that you would find in Trinidad, or in the Caribbean for that matter I'm sure. Maybe writing this may get the wheels turning and make things happen for people in my position.