How many of you also play bass?

[Durockrolly]

I started out playing bass when I was 8 years old. 41 years later I still play a bit but focus mainly on guitar which I picked up when I was 12.

[Eric VB]

...That said, I invite everyone here to play bass, even if it means playing with a pick...

 

You mean like Macca?

 

My favorite bass tones involve a Ric 4001, a set of flatwound strings and a pick. It is amazing the variety of sounds McCartney was able to get with this combination.

Point well taken. I do play a number of songs at our gigs with a pick as well. I don't have the luxury of having a second Ric strung with flatwounds, however, so I do the best I can by adjusting tone knobs, EQ, and playing technique.

[Phil W]

I only play bass. I mess around on guitar and keyboards.

[Guitarzan]

Bass, sure. it is a different approach but loads of fun locking that beat.

i can hold down a groove somewhat on a drum kit in a pinch.

[Strategery]

Well, I wouldn't call myself a bass player, but I did buy a bass for when I record at home.

 

Of course, a bass's tuning is the same as the top 4 strings of a guitar..being..E-A-D-G...but a good bass player is a different animal.

 

Sure, I can conjure bass lines that are adequate for songs I create...but that damn sure doesn't make me a bass player.

When I think of a bassist, I think of John Enthwistle of The Who.

 

So...I bought an inexpensive Ibanez bass and run it through the bass modeller on my Roland DR-880 when I record.

 

So...am I a bass player?

Uhhh...I doubt it.

 

Randy

[rw2003]

Its funny... as of late I've got GAS for a bass guitar. Yeah I've picked up friend's basses and played the usual walking bass lines we guitarists know so well but I've never remotely considered myself a bassist.

 

Last weekend I stopped by the local GC and went past all the nice shiny guitars right to the bass section. I'm really considerering buying something in the sub-$300 range. I'd like a short scale Mustang Bass but maybe a Fender P-bass will do it.

 

If I had a bigger budget I'd go for a MusicMan Stingray.

 

We'll see!

[Strategery]

You know, there's a certain feel that you have to learn to get a good sound out of them.

Also, I prefer using the finger method over picking.

It takes a while to learn but I like the sound better.

 

After a while...it seems to smooth out on the sound, but hit the string too hard...and it'll let you know with a big BOING!

 

Randy

[Eric Iverson]

I just bought a CD copy of the Band's "Stage Fright" and loved what Rick Danko did on bass! But it fit the tunes so well that it doesn't sound like a bass solo.

 

There is a lot of subtlety to playing beautiful bass lines in any style, and my hat is certainly off to the people who can do it!

 

Re: pick vs. fingers on bass... I do a little of both... sometimes I'll practice a part both ways, just like there are a couple of classical guitar pieces I play both fingerstyle and with a pick. I would imagine that most guys would have to focus more on one or the other, though!

[Zuben]

I use to be a passable bass player and played bass in several of my early bands when needed. I had a 64 Fender Jazz that I wish I still had. (sounds failiar)

 

I think a couple of weeks with a Bass, I could do a passable job again but I wouldn't hire me.

 

Peace

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Bass is my main instrument, but I'm in the odd situation where I tend to play it as a sort of cross between a bass and a rhythm guitar. To me it's a bass guitar. In addition to more "vanilla" stuff, I sometimes play stuff that while technically a bass part, might actually be in a higher register than the guitar part. Or I might throw in a bunch of chords to fatten out a chorus. Or whatever.

[Mudcat]

Bass is my main instrument, but I'm in the odd situation where I tend to play it as a sort of cross between a bass and a rhythm guitar. To me it's a bass guitar. In addition to more "vanilla" stuff, I sometimes play stuff that while technically a bass part, might actually be in a higher register than the guitar part. Or I might throw in a bunch of chords to fatten out a chorus. Or whatever.

 

This sounds a bit like the approach Mike Mills used with REM on their Chronic Town EP and Murmur album. I really liked his playing on those recordings. Unfortunately, his playing has become progressively bland over the years (at least to my ears).

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

I should check that out then, I've always felt kind of "isolated" and would love to hear someone else's stuff along the same lines.

[Mudcat]

I should check that out then, I've always felt kind of "isolated" and would love to hear someone else's stuff along the same lines.

 

Get a copy of Murmur. It's got some really interesting bass playing on it. Especially check out "Catapult," "Pilgrimage" and "Moral Kiosk." Don't try to decipher Michael Stipes mumbled lyrics, though. They were gibberish, but still profound to hip, early eighties college students.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Because of the studio, I have a Fender VI and a Heartfield bass. I had a Fender V, but I sold it last year. My brother (the bass player) has a hell of a collection of basses, so if I need anything I know that I can borrow it from him. But I am fortunate in that a good friend of mine is a superb bass player....really crisp and sharp and right on the fundimentals, tonally consious, compositionally conscious, and he locks in with the drummer like they are Siamese twins. So between him and my brother, there is seldom any need for me to embarrass myself with my bass playing. When I do need to do it myself, the Heartfield has a wonderful tone. I was going to buy a Precision or build a copy of a '54 Precision, but the Heartfield plays and sounds so nice that I've never really needed to go past it for traditional bass sounds.

 

Bill

[Eric Iverson]

It's great to see good bass players getting their due here!

 

Maybe the bass players never "get the girls" but their fellow musicians certainly appreciate them!

 

Of course, there may be a female bass player in the audience who is their soulmate.....

[Strategery]

Hey, we've all heard many drummer jokes, but are there any Bass Player Jokes?

 

Randy

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

... are there any Bass Player Jokes?

 

Randy

 

That would be unkind if not redundant.

 

Bill

[The Geoff]

I don't want to see any bassplayer jokes here.

 

I habituate the Lowdown, and get pretty p*ssed off that they even spell guitar as g****r, and let guitarist (and drummer) jokes fly around.

 

We don't slag off bassists here. Never have in the few years I've been here, and hopefully never will.

 

I don't know why the Bass Forum has to denigrate guitarists, or why they seem to have some kind of down on them.

 

However, that's how it is over there, and that's NOT how it is over here.

 

We, generally speaking, value the many bassists (it's guitarist, so why not bassist?) who visit here, and those who do frequently appreciate it.

 

Geoff. <>

[Dr. Ellwood]

Like I've said allot of times, our bass player along with our keyboard player are the best musicians in our band!

[The Geoff]

Right - that's a knife in the back from your drummer, then!!

 

 

G.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Right - that's a knife in the back from your drummer, then!!

 

 

G.

 

LOL!! Nothing gets by you mate!! hay he got all the praise he's going to get in that other thread LOL!!! any more and I would have to pay him more......... and you KNOW that's not going to happen!!

[rickygclef]

 

I don't know why the Bass Forum has to denigrate guitarists, or why they seem to have some kind of down on them.

 

However, that's how it is over there, and that's NOT how it is over here.

 

We, generally speaking, value the many bassists (it's guitarist, so why not bassist?) who visit here, and those who do frequently appreciate it.

 

Geoff. <>

 

It's just jealousy, perhaps guitar envy if you will?

How else do you explain a 6 string bass?

 

Oh I guess that was a joke? Not really, I would never put down a bass player. Now a drummer....

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Not really, I would never put down a bass player.

 

But wouldn't your arms get tired?

[rickygclef]

Quick!! Now that's a good joke!

[theTragicRich]

Started on guitar back in 1993 or so, dabbled on drums for a few years here and there, and took up the bass in 2004. Mainly because as some have probably mentioned, the bands I've been in have trouble finding bass players, let alone reliable ones. Plus it was bound to happen as I was starting to write material for a 'solo' project and figured I should get a bass and learn it, so I wouldn't have to sequence bass tracks.

[picker]

Started out on guitar, but heard a guy playing who was so much better than me I figured I'd never catch up, so I took up bass. Six weeks later, I saw my guitar leaning up against the wall, and thought "maybe I'll never get as good as tha guy, but I want to play it anyway". Six weeks later, I saw my bass leaning up against the wall, and thought "well, I miss playing that thing now." That was 1970, and I still can't make up my mind which I like better. I guess that's when I went schizoid.

[The Geoff]

Started out on guitar, but heard a guy playing who was so much better than me I figured I'd never catch up, so I took up bass. Six weeks later, I saw my guitar leaning up against the wall, and thought "maybe I'll never get as good as tha guy, but I want to play it anyway". Six weeks later, I saw my bass leaning up against the wall, and thought "well, I miss playing that thing now." That was 1970, and I still can't make up my mind which I like better. I guess that's when I went schizoid.

 

You too, Huh?

 

 

G.

[Eric Iverson]

Ain't nothing wrong with enjoying playing more than one instrument! And there's the cross-fertilization... no sexual innuendos, please!

[smirk]

I have always played both, mostly guitar though. When I got hired to teach guitar a few years back I figured the only thing keeping me from doing bass lessons too was owning one, so now I have three.

 

I also needed to learn bass clef, and how to do slap style better so I worked on that stuff too.

 

I have played bass in a band briefly but guitar is my first love still. Studying jazz bass lines is great stuff to apply to lead guitar playing trying to get out of the scale/mode rut. It is a whole nother level of difficulty though.

 

I really do believe playing both makes you better at both. Even just from the physical standpoint. I mean if you practice scales on a bass then go to guitar it will seem easier cause the strings are much smaller but also just understanding of music in general.

 

I think a good bassist, certainly a studio bassist, should be able to do pick, finger or slap style but fingerstyle is the main thing to me. Some of my favorite bassists play with a pick though, Phil Lesh, Chris Squire and Justin Chancellor.

 

Probably the toughest things I have learned on bass were Freddie Freeloader and Sir Duke. Sir Duke is a blast.

[Eric Iverson]

I love Sir Duke, but never learned to play it. Something to add to my New Year's resolutions!

 

Who else plays bass with a pick? I think Jack Casady (formerly of the Jefferson Airplane) does, and Carol Kaye who used to do a lot of Motown sessions. (She did a great column on the subject many years ago.) Most good bassists seem to primarily play fingerstyle however.