Bass Guitarists Discussion Thread

[vedicardi]

Then go buy one! They are very fun to play XD

[Vexx]

I played bass a bit in my teens and always regretted drifting away from it. I have to admit Mio (K-on!) kind of reactivated my interest in the art and plus both my sons are playing/learning guitar and I'd like to join in with something complementary.

Currently on the hunt for a good used beginner bass in my locale...

[~A~]

ehhh my favourite bassist is Ni~Ya from Nightomea errr i have a Schector Hellraiser-4 and a ESP Forest-STD ehh i play with a pick not much very special but i have to so ni~ya can do pretty hard rifts

[Le Zeep]

I've been playing bass for 3 and a half years now for my school orchestra(before that was cello) and I love my bass :3 I play mostly electric when I'm out of school but switch to upright when school starts.

Is there anyone else who has trouble playing due to tiny baby hands? I have small hands and it gets pretty hard to shift around the finger board as fast as my fellow bassists. Share your pain T-T

I idolize John Entwistle, Giovanni Bottesini, and Lee Rocker as well as others.

Have you guys heard of an Octobass? It's like another meter taller than a regular bass and requires two musicians to play it. Crazy stuff.

[jawang]

I've been playing guitar for quite a few years and I am thinking about learning to play electric bass on the side

Do you guys know any websites that explain bass fundamentals in good detail? I've had a pretty easy time with fretting due to my guitar background, but I'm still a bit confused about proper picking form for bass.

Tips/advice/links would all be greatly appreciated

[radioIzzy]

Originally Posted by jawang

I've been playing guitar for quite a few years and I am thinking about learning to play electric bass on the side

Do you guys know any websites that explain bass fundamentals in good detail? I've had a pretty easy time with fretting due to my guitar background, but I'm still a bit confused about proper picking form for bass.

Tips/advice/links would all be greatly appreciated

The bass. The instrument that no one really credits.

In my honest opinion; get a book. It's definately easier I found to learn from a hard copy rather than a website. Websites are great for moments when you want more elaboration on a subject, such as maybe "What type of music is the Dorian scale used for?"
But when websites explain stuff, they don't give enough practice example.
For music, practicing helps set in stuff way faster than just reading and memorizing.

Go to your local music store and ask them for a beginner's guide to the bass guitar.

My tidbit when you're starting bass is, this regards finger-style btw, is always start with your middle finger first when playing. It's most natural this way for most people.

[Le Zeep]

I agree learning of the interwebz is not as easy as learning from books and examples.

[MidnightViper88]

Well, there's nothing wrong with proper music theory, but I personally can't do that kind of stuff...If you can go down that road yourself, then I would assume that you've already picked up on some theories from guitar, and so you'll generally find bass to be much the same on smaller doses...

I'll tell you one thing of personal advice that's got me going through 5+ years of bass guitar: Interact with a real life bassist...Go to a music shop, and if there are any bassists trying out the bass guitars there, watch them play...Befriend a bassist and jam with them...If you can't get a hold of a bassist in real life, the next best thing is to watch a video of a bassist and pay attention to the kind of things that they do...I suppose the visual aspect of this may seem entirely simplistic, but it's effective if you already have a formal idea of what you're doing, and even then, it still informally works by picking up on someone else's habits and adapting it to your own, no different than when learning to speak...

Leniency is something that's gifted more for bassists than guitarists, though...Really, there is no "proper" bass picking technique...You can play traditionally like a guitarist by playing with a pick, you can just pluck with one or two fingers like the pointer and middle finger(s), you can play with all of your fingers like Cliff Burton does, or you can even at times utilize your fingernails like a guitar pick like Geddy Lee often does...Universal as with most other things and especially universal with this, there is no "right or wrong" way to pick a bass; It just depends on what you're playing, what tone you want to get out of your sound, and what you feel comfortable doing...

Proper music theory is fine and all, but don't forget to have fun and play with emotions and feelings while you're at it...Humans are people, not machines, and it especially applies to musicians...

[Le Zeep]

I actually had alot of trouble plucking on bass until I took mariachi in 7th grade(which was a TERRIBLE class) I geuss I got to used to bowing ha!

[rockmanxpr]

OK I'm love now

[qwertyuiopz]

i heard the bassist for you oughta know is from red hot chilli peppers ;D
the bass is my highlight of the song

[Kazu]

Originally Posted by qwertyuiopz

i heard the bassist for you oughta know is from red hot chilli peppers ;D
]

Thats Flea who has been mentioned before
I don't really know much about bass players, but besides flea, I think Cliff Burton, John Paul Jones, Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten are amazing.

Heres a highly accurate cover (IMO) of John Paul Jones Bass playing in The Lemon Song

Also his Bassline in Were Gonna Groove I find quite amazing

Heres one of Fleas solos

[fict_ticious]

Just changed my first set of strings and the A rattles like a mofo. Messed with the saddles but I'm too paranoid to mess with the truss. I'm guessing it might have something to do with me not giving enough slack (according to my friend, it should kinda slope down) or the nut itself. gonna have to take it to the shop friday for a looksee.

[tyranuus]

Im a bassist as well, my equipment's in my signature (well aside from the Zoom Pedal I have...708? Cant remember...)

I'll be honest, I always get side tracked and lose motivation as most of my friends who play went off to uni and none of the people Ive met since I started work have really show any interest in this side of things, so I usually end up picking up my bass, practicing on and off for a few weeks til I get about competant to play a basic song or write some basics, and then put the guitar down again for another few months, repeat circle ad infinitum.

Without having anyone to play with its a bit of a vicious circle, as I'd love to be able to play with my friends, but I dont exactly live somewhere with a thriving rock/metal scene.

I bought the Schecter a few years back because it just felt right, previously I'd been using a cheap Cruiser Bass, and the Schecter is in a different league. Unfortunately one of my mates borrowed it to make money when he lost his job and hasn't given it back, along with the amp I bought off him...cheeky ****.

Either way, Im happy to play various genres of rock, metal or other, I dont really have a favourite bassist although Ill quite happily admire anyone with a decent level of skill, Im not exactly a technical player either. Due to the virtual death of anything involving real instruments around here, when I was young it was either violin/recorder or forget it, so I was never really introduced to proper tuition, so what I know and the habits I've picked up are just from playing.

Next time I start playing again, what I'd really like to do is work on building up my memory and finger dexterity, because Im all self taught I primarily tend to use 1/2 fingers for fretting and thats about it, fairly basic stuff, so I'd like to build onto being able to my second finger and perhaps a third finger with greater dexterity. I dont unfortunately have big hands or fingers which can make the multi-fretting a bit awkward, although hopefully with practice there'll come a greater increase in dexterity

On the plus side, I've always been a finger picker. Just wish I had people round here too play with, each time I get into a band or see something like K-On, Im reminded of how much I really do love music.

[tyranuus]

Well luck smiled upon me today, sat down with my dad (who's virtually retired now), he's been a guitarist on and off in his spare time for the best part of 35 years, so I figured he might have an idea of what was wrong with my Trace Elliot which I've kept in my garage for about the last year thinking I'd get round to taking it apart rather than just chucking it, long and short of it is that even though we're not sure what we did, now we've taken the amp element of the combi out and cleaned it, remade the earths, checked the fuses, and did whatever we could, it works again

Before when you tried to play it, the sound was barely audible, even with the amp maxed out, originally we thought the pre-amp or transformer might have gone but after an internal clean out and making sure all the connectors inside were on properly, it lives again.

It's got no where near the options or control that my Hartke does, but it does mean if I can clean my Cruiser up, replace the strings and fiddle around with the neck to lower the action sufficently, I've got a working set of kit again (the action is WAY too high right now, but because it's cheap there's no truss rod so Im gonna have to try and wedge the neck at an angle to sort that out), which once you throw in my pedal is at least moderately versatile.

Edit: Sweet, even managed to find the copy of Cubase that came with the pedal...shame if you buy the pedal now it comes with a much better version! (The pedal has a USB output so you can use it as a USB recording interface)

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by rockmanxpr

OK I'm love now

O good gods..... surely there's a clause for polygamy I could invoke.

[tyranuus]

I didnt understand a WORD of that but twas still pretty cool.

And clauses...in most of the western world 'I felt like it...' seems to suffice

[Riot Machine]

I've been playing bass for almost 4 years now. i like to stick to 4 strings but i like 5.
My biggest influences are Cliff Burton (ex metallica) and John Myuung(Dream Theater)

I playing in a metal band called divine vision
http://myspace.com/divinevisionva

i have
spector legend blue


Spector performer cherry
[IMG]http://www.spectorbass.com/images/performance
/Performer4ClassicBlkCherry_.jpg[/IMG]

Spectorcore teal


Paolo Trivium Custom B C Rich 4 string


I play in E/Dropped D and D/Dropped C

[tyranuus]

Nice, this is what my kit looks like:




Sorry not got round to take some actual pictures of all my kit together, so I borrowed these pictures
If I get another bass, I'll likely look for one with a thinner neck, my fingers are relatively short in proportion to my hand, which can make fretting a PITA.

This is the semi-broken Trace I keep as a quick spare:

My crafter is so cheap/cack I can't even find a picture!

[Riot Machine]

I've always wanted to get a big fancy effects pedal but im broke lol