Bass Guitarists Discussion Thread

[MidnightViper88]

There needs to be a generic discussion about bass guitar here; There aren't any, and it's only complimentary after making a guitarist thread...Famous bassists, bass guitar equipment, whatever...Do you play bass? Who's your favorite bassist? Want to learn how to play bass guitar? That can all go here...

Go!

Starting off, I actually do play bass myself; Been playing for years now, but only started picking it back up after a haitus...I play a Kingston bass, which used to be my dad's first bass, the kind you could get out of a Sear's catalog...The neck is still straight and it's perfect, though; Just add some medium gauge GHS strings, a Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker humbucker, and it's a great sounding bass, even through my Peavey Minx 110...I also got around to repainting the bass recently, all flat black, gloss on the body...

[zebra]

I don't play any bass and my knowledge is really limited about it ... thus I don't have anything to contribute to this thread ..... but I simply couldn't leave this unsaid:

Bass players are sexy!

*leaves*
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Most of 'em anyway :P
...it's a great instrument anyway - without it, the sound feels incomplete (in most cases). I also think the bass is too often underrated / goes off unnoticed, since the guitar always shines as the main star and that's a shame

[Sides]

I think i'm going to pick up a bass soon, probably a 5 string one. At the moment have Ernie Ball's Skinny Top Heavy Bottom on my tele, and play rhythm guitar. I find it is much easier to write tracks, if you start off with a bass line and drum beat.

John Entwistle was an awesome bassist and of course Paul Simonon. But there are a lot of great bass player out there, too much to mention, or to recall straight away from my mind.

As for equipment, so far i only had the change to play on some fender bass, (including fretless) fender precision (MIA & MIM), fender jazz (MIA & MIM), fender jaguar, fender mustang and epiphone thunderbird, on serveral Ampeg amps. Really want to try a mesa boogie combo amp. Personally i really like the Fender american deluxe jazz V, but probably will settle for a MIM or even MIC/MIK Squier. The only ones i don't really like are those with short scale.

[holyalexander]

im actually learning bass now.. and its a 4 string one.. i think its more hard to learn bass than acoustic guitar.. or am i doing something wrong?

[MidnightViper88]

Originally Posted by holyalexander

im actually learning bass now.. and its a 4 string one.. i think its more hard to learn bass than acoustic guitar.. or am i doing something wrong?

Well, the typical story goes that if you can play acoustic then you can play electric, and if you can play guitar you can play bass...Of course, that can't always be the case, but acoustic guitar is surprisingly a little more challenging than even electric guitar...Between acoustic and electric, guitar and bass, there are always physical differences that trump musical differences in terms of ease to play, such as the size of the body and strings, and even the size of your hand and your finger dexterity...

I have no problem playing either acoustic or electric bass, but while I can play acoustic or electric guitar, the transition is really different and I'm just more suited for bass...My hands aren't that big, but my fingers aren't also nimble enough for me to play with enough precision on guitar to do anything more than basic chords/power chords, and maybe some well-placed arpeggios...

Are you learning how to play acoustic or electric bass?

[Sides]

Originally Posted by holyalexander

im actually learning bass now.. and its a 4 string one.. i think its more hard to learn bass than acoustic guitar.. or am i doing something wrong?

I really depends how you want to play it. It is pretty much like a guitar you can either play chords or scales or mix both, if you divide the songs/tracks in sections. If you're starting off, i suggest that you look into some scales, like the minor pentatonic scale or blues scale. Once you master the scale you can pretty much jam with other musicians and you'll get the idea how to play the bass with other styles and with chords. If you have friends that play the bass, ask them to show you some stuff. Learning by yourself can be sometimes frustrating, having someone to show you how to play an instrument makes the learning procedure much faster and it is much more fun.
I hope we are talking about bass guitars and not double bass. Fretless basses are hard to start off with, without any help, unless it has marking on it.

[-Kh-]

My 2 favourite bass players are Fieldy from Korn and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There aren't really many solos done by Fieldy but I'll post a few videos I found:

Fieldy 1: duo with Munky during a live show.
Fieldy 2: Got the Life, live. Listen to his intro.

Flea 1: solo, where he even sings.
Flea 2: another great solo.


Unfortunatelly I can't play anything, so I just listen to the music.

[Nukerjsr]

Some of my favorite bass players come from my favorite bands from all time, Geddy Lee and Steve Harris

Geddy Lee is well...Geddy Lee. Is there really anything else left to say? But his bass (well, just about everything) has really made a statement for rock music in general. His playing, his singing and his use of synthesizers really brought progressive into mainstream. And in fact, he was one of the Steve Harris's influences.

And while Harris isn't the most renown bassist, you can't deny his influence with towards heavy metal with his gallops and composing.

[MidnightViper88]

Geddy Lee is my hero...He wasn't my first bass hero, but he sure as hell became a bass hero when I started picking up on Rush...He brings bass to a new level with some of his eccentric (And often complex, I might add) bass lines, but it's not like he does just bass; He plays bass and does vocals at the same time, and when he's not doing bass, he does the synth...Even though Geddy Lee is 1/3rds of Rush, he practically does 3/5ths of the band's work! And he's a great song writer too...

I bought the "Rush in Rio" concert DVD when they were touring in support of "Vapor Trails", and I can't help but be amazed by him...He plays with such dexterity, that I wonder if he actually grows guitar picks for finger nails, because if you're a bassist and you try to imitate Geddy Lee's playing style, it can be painful, whether or not you have callus fingertips or a high tolerance of pain...

Cliff Burton is also another bass hero of mine...Although I didn't care much for him at first, even though I've been a big Metallica fan for as long as I've been into rock music, but once I started picking up bass, I started to respect him more...His bass solos are so eccentric in their own right that they could be easily mistaken for guitar solos, especially with Cliff Burton's use of scales and bass distortion..."Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)" is the "Eruption" of bass solos, and in the "Cliff 'Em All" DVD, watching him play it is also like watching a masterpiece be created...It's really such a shame he had to die so young in such a tragic accident... I could only imagine what Metallica would be like if he were still around...

[Kazu]

I'm a fan of flea and victor wooten,I play guitar though

Flea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPGlB...271A9C&index=0
Victor Wooten
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdJvHE8qxA

[B A I T]

Im considering takeing up the bass
I owned a acoustic guitar many years ago had about 5 lessons and had to stop
I couldnt remember any of the chords except G because of its weird look
I really want to start learning this ASAP any tips?

[vedicardi]

Google "learn bass guitar" and that will get you started XD

My bass hero is Klaus of the Dead Kennedys. He was my first one for sure. I can recognize that there are much better players and all that blah blah blah, but Klaus will always be and is my bass god.

His jazz/lounge bassline in this song is perfect, and it goes great into the California Uber Alles section.

Then you have Riot, which is amazing as well

I could go on.

[wOoOzZy]

Originally Posted by zebra

I also think the bass is too often underrated / goes off unnoticed, since the guitar always shines as the main star and that's a shame

So true so true. A great bassist joke goes, "Bass is like peeing in the pool. Nobody knows it's there but it makes you feel all warm."

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I've been playing for 8-9 years and I've gone through a cheap Epiphone, an Ibanez SoundGear (which I must've been high to think it sounded good), and my current bass is a great sounding Cort B4. All four strings.

For amps, I've gone through a used Peavey Sheffield combo, and an Ampeg BA112 combo. I currently have a Fender Bassman150 combo for gigging and at home I have an Ampeg B-500DR head going to an Ampeg 4-10HE.

I have a ton of influences from different styles but the main ones are from funk and soul music. It's tough to narrow it down but I'll take it down to 5 names.

Marcus Miller (more of a percussive bassist, grooves harder than anybody)

Bootsy Collins (another pioneer of bass, bassist for Parliament Funkadelic, I would've put Flea but Bootsy is his biggest influence and it shows)

James Jamerson (a pioneer of bass, performed on 90% of all Motown records, and has played on more #1 hits than anyone in history)

Paul Turner (current bassist for Jamiroquai, has extremely solid rhythm and has great taste with fills)

Stuart Zender (original bassist of Jamiroquai, one of the best all around bassist, has great rhythm, taste with fills, and made some amazing basslines. my current favorite bass player)

[Poey]

Hey all (this is actually my first post here, and it's pretty relevant haha).

I'm a bass player and music student from California. I play electric and upright. With the electric I play rock/metal/misc. stuff, and on the upright I play jazz and classical.

It's true bassists don't get enough recognition, which is somewhat ironic because being a bass players are always incredibly in demand as there aren't many of them compared to other instruments AND bass is used in many many different genres. It's a great choice if you want to make sure you're not out of a job, so to speak.

My main electric bass is a Warwick Corvette 5-string. I prefer 5 strings on electric, I like that extra low support even if I don't really use it most of the time. It can definitely come in handy.

Woo0o0o0oo0o0zy named some great players!

[Appurukami]

Hey, so I've been playing for about 5-6 years, already onto my second bass its a Vintage 5 string VB 1005 (or something like that).
I tune my 5th string up so I can easily reach higher registers rather then taking the lower option, aka my strings go E,A,D,G,C.

heres a pic of it (well mines in black )

Spoiler for my sexah bass:

Dont get much chance to play these days as im waaaay too sidetracked with guitar.


Oh, and a question for everyone, Fingerstyle or Pick?
Do you do both or just one?
I for one play mostly fingerstyle but will use a pick for metal/punk riffs or anything else that involves a strong attack to it.

[MidnightViper88]

It depends on the kind of tone I want, and what I'm playing...If I want a good ol' deep bass tone, I'll play with my fingers, but if I want a mid-range tone to what I'm playing, I'll use a pick...Either way, I can't play fast stuff with my fingers; That stuff I'm pick exclusive...

[wOoOzZy]

I play with my fingers about 95% of the time. I only use a pick when it's style appropriate. I recently started using a thumb pick sense I'm better at slapping than I am with a pick so it kind of blends the two aspects. It gives a more aggressive tone than a regular pick.

[Poey]

Yep, I use my fingers unless something REALLY requires a pick. It's more... I dunno... natural to me, and more versatile.

[vedicardi]

I play with fingers just so I can feel like Cliff Burton XD

Thread needs more Primus

[Quzor]

I still mess around with my friend's bass from time to time. I never was able to afford one of my own, but I spent enough time at his house, and with his band members, that I was able to pick up on bass relatively easily. Somehow I was never able to pick up on guitar, but from the first time I held a bass, it seemed to be natural.

As far as my favorite bassist is concerned, I've gotta say Les Claypool is the man. I can't take anything away from any of the great bassists out there, but when I see Claypool live (or on video), his hands just blow me away. Even when I see him live, his left hand seems like a blur as it moves across the strings. He can play any bass he puts in his hands, and it's absolutely amazing to watch him work. Truly a master of his craft. PRIMUS SUCKS!