Confession time: I like bass and I cannot lie

fretmeister

Playing bass will always make a person a better guitarist.

Playing piano will make a person a better bassist.

As Marcus Miller noted, the best session bassists are always excellent piano players too.

stickyfiddle

fretmeister said:

Playing bass will always make a person a better guitarist.

Playing piano will make a person a better bassist.

As Marcus Miller noted, the best session bassists are always excellent piano players too.

Yeah. I am a WAY better guitarist as a result of learning bass & drums. It also makes me a massively better bandmate because I can understand where things aren't quite right between the various instruments and communicate effectively about potential changes to make parts & performances better. 

As opposed to singers who usually just make lots of mouth-noises in the hope that the rest of us can possibly interpret...! 

Funkfingers

Bork said:

And finger muscles. 

Wot finger muscles? There is muscle attached to the thumb. Fingers are operated by ligaments, attached to muscles in the palm.

I am currently being made very aware of this anatomical arrangement by a nodule on one of them thar ligaments. (Trigger finger.)

Schnozz

In order of appeal...

1. Peerless Smoked Bass Custom (EB2-D Bass)
2. Carvin SB5000 (Fretless Jazz Bass)
3. Carvin Icon (Modern Soapbar Bass)
4. Dean Paramount (Precision Bass)

I just think the EB2-D is the ultimate in tone and I always enjoy fretless, but unless a Jazz is active, I find them the most uninspiring to play.

I can do everything on the Icon and Paramount alone (80% just on the Paramount), but the Smoked and SB are luxuries that bring a smile to my face.

I've had over 100 basses - only the Marleaux Consat Custom 5 Fretless I had could do it all (vintage, modern, slap, tap etc). It was like a faux Rickenbacker 4001, so it still had that fun factor too.

Heavy British Trace Elliots and lightweight Genz Benz amps are wonderful with everything.

Enjoy!

Teyeplayer

Schnozz said:

I can do everything on the Icon and Paramount alone (80% just on the Paramount), but the Smoked and SB are luxuries that bring a smile to my face.

That is the beauty of a p-bass in any form, it just does the job perfectly. I am in the position of having that covered by a lovely p-bass, with the hofner doing the short scale hollow body thing. Of course what I’ve seen and currently lust after completely duplicates the latter, so I definitely don’t need it, but man it looks great!  Then there’s the factor that I’m not a bassist and won’t be playing bass in a band any time soon, so three basses is overkill… but I want it, and an sg bass and a rick bass… oh and maybe a jazz too. Madness!

hollywoodrox

Bass and drums or percussion are what give most music its sense of movement 
  You’re laughing if you can play either as good ones who are steady and reliable are always in demand it seems . Bass drums & percussion in my opinion are some of the difficult things to get into , it’s that rhythm & ability to express it .

the myth of playing all root 5ths & octaves  isn’t  as simple as people make out  sometimes the bass player is laying out a melody alternately to the the guitar & vocals while keeping time & having a feel for the rhythm & wether to lay back or any other manner of peculiarities of staying in the pocket 

Teyeplayer

Completely agree, I think that’s what makes bass interesting @hollywoodrox, as good bass playing is doing so much more than is immediately noticeable.

Funkfingers

hollywoodrox said:

Bass and drums or percussion are what give most music its sense of movement.

STUCK RECORD TIME AGAIN

Bass is what the audience wiggles its hips to. 

Jfingers

I have multiple guitars plus several other stringed instruments and one bass.

I mainly record alone and play all the parts, Alesis SR16 for drums.

I bought my bass on a whim whilst drunk secondhand from the bay.

I can't remember the brand without going to look at it. It's vaguely 'heavy metal' in headstock shape and it's black.

It's an acoustic fretless four string which plays really nicely. It has a pick up and a three band EQ, I've rarely played it but I enjoy it when I do despite never yet having plugged it in.

I am mainly a guitar player but dabble in multiple other instruments for added dynamics to my recordings. I treat that bass

as if it was being used on 'The Firstborn Is Dead' by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and it works for me.

I'm still looking at the recommendations for short scale electric basses that I got from here, just waiting for the right time to pounce.

Teyeplayer

Well, my current gas has just been satiated by a reverb offer I couldn’t refuse! If only I had will power!  

CaseOfAce

I've just bought my first bass (a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Precision bass) - and - mind blown. This is fun. Why didn't I do this years ago? As a guitarist you're sort of already half there with plectrum technique and knowing arpeggios.

Fingerstyle is taking some work but determined to get those rest strokes and thumb movement sorted.

By the end of today the whole household are going to be sick of the riff from Groove Is In The Heart. 

Weirdly it had never crossed my mind but 2 vids inspired me - seeing Sheryl Crow playing that gorgeous Guild bass on Soak Up The Sun (live) and seeing Tom Bukovac (session guitarist extraordinaire) playing bass here... and I thought.. as a guitarist musician I really should be able to do this...

Vince Gill soundcheck (youtube.com)

LionAquaLooper

I love both guitar and bass, and I disagree that one is a distraction to the other.  There are things that bass playing has added to my guitar playing, and vice versa.  

Playing bass for me is also brings a sense of relief.  Where I'd have a big pedalboard as a guitarist, as a bassist I just go straight to amp (or maybe one pedal) and job done.  Very refreshing.  

Agree with the OP about all the varieties of bass guitars though.. So much more creative body designs, wood vartietals, electronics (e.g. onboard preamps etc).  I'm glad guitar designs aren't so varied because otherwise my collection would double or triple.  

stickyfiddle

I love playing bass. Guitar will always be my main instrument but they’re actually quite different when you get into it, both in terms of the physical playing experience and also the role they play within an arrangement (at least when things are working well..)

Ive switched back from bass to guitar in my main band but I really miss playing all of those old Motown lines m… 

LionAquaLooper

Funkfingers said:

Bork said:

And finger muscles. 

Wot finger muscles? There is muscle attached to the thumb. Fingers are operated by ligaments, attached to muscles in the palm.

I am currently being made very aware of this anatomical arrangement by a nodule on one of them thar ligaments. (Trigger finger.)

What a coincidence.  I've just been diagnosed with a "trigger finger" (left ring finger) by my GP.  Though I'm second guessing him because although it's painful and he says he can feel a node, my finger doesn't get stuck and pop straight like a trigger.  

But we digress....

Another refreshing thing about playing bass for me is I don't have to be show off, which when I'm a lead guitarist I often have to be.  On bass as long as my right hand is locked in, my left hand can just be on root notes my band mates are happy and can carry on with their jobs.  Not even gonna list down the songs where legendary bass players are just playing simple lines because there are so many.  For me there's nothing worse than a bassist or drummer who over complicates things because they want to be in the limelight.  

CaseOfAce

LionAquaLooper said:

Another refreshing thing about playing bass for me is I don't have to be show off, which when I'm a lead guitarist I often have to be.  On bass as long as my right hand is locked in, my left hand can just be on root notes my band mates are happy and can carry on with their jobs.  Not even gonna list down the songs where legendary bass players are just playing simple lines because there are so many.  For me there's nothing worse than a bassist or drummer who over complicates things because they want to be in the limelight.  

there's a fantastic bit in the James Blunt documentary on Netflix right now where his bassist talks about his role in Blunt's band and says if anybody comes away from a James Blunt concert thinking wow the bass player was fantastic then he hasn't been doing his job properly.

and yes - I well know the feeling of battling against a bassist or drummer who wants star billing.

Generally easily solved by sticking a mic stand in front of the bassist and saying you want your ego stroked do that as well.

Band hierarchy:
Bass player who sings >>> guitar player in a band. 

It usually sorts out the lead bass nonsense.

Funkfingers

LionAquaLooper said:

I've just been diagnosed with a "trigger finger" (left ring finger) by my GP.  Though I'm second guessing him because although it's painful, and he says he can feel a node, my finger doesn't get stuck and pop straight like a trigger.   

Pursue treatment. 

Six months elapsed between me first making a GP surgery appointment and finally receiving a steroid injection at a musculo-skeletal department. 

In my health authority area, the NHS queue for surgery would have been two years - conditional to having tried the injection first.

It is the inflammation rather than the node that is the problem.

ICBM

CaseOfAce said:

there's a fantastic bit in the James Blunt documentary on Netflix right now where his bassist talks about his role in Blunt's band and says if anybody comes away from a James Blunt concert thinking wow the bass player was fantastic then he hasn't been doing his job properly.

Actually not quite true, I think you can appreciate the quality of the musicianship even in a song-focused context, and listen to the bass as well. (I do!) But I know what he means.