Members NeverTheMachine Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 What's your take on these individuals? Is there a place for it in rock based music? Let me clarify: The people who are formerly electric guitarists who take up the bass because of more band opportunities (there are a lot of them) and don't seem to take to it exactly. They continue to think they're playing an electric guitar and don't realize what the purpose of the bass is. Not necessarily saying it's a bad thing, but what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shawnl Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 That's probably the guy playing a 6 or 8 string bass. Well at least the bass will end up drowning out everything for once. Seriously though, I feel that being a good bass player means having some restraint and knowing how not to drown out other players and still not sound boring. I'm sure guitar players have the technical skill, it's just a matter of being aware that certain guitar playing styles like tapping don't always work well on bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 The roles are different.Some guitarists get this when they swap, some don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 The roles are different. Some guitarists get this when they swap, some don't. we call them poseurs...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeverTheMachine Posted October 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 That's probably the guy playing a 6 or 8 string bass. Well at least the bass will end up drowning out everything for once. Seriously though, I feel that being a good bass player means having some restraint and knowing how not to drown out other players and still not sound boring. I'm sure guitar players have the technical skill, it's just a matter of being aware that certain guitar playing styles like tapping don't always work well on bass. You're very right. There's nothing more annoying than tapping bass. I'm an electric guitarist. I don't have much opportunity to play bass, but when I do mess around with it I find it extremely enjoyable in a totally different way than guitar, because of it's use as a tool. Also from a mixing and producing music standpoint few non-bassists realize how important it is to the overall sound dynamic of a studio recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeverTheMachine Posted October 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 I've also noticed that the best recording engineers I've worked at are also excellent bassists. Coincidence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pickinatit Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 The "guitarist" that DOES get bass though is the best kind of bassist IMO. They get that they anchor the rythmn section but they are usually very adept at putting together interesting passing/transition riffs when they're appropriate. Also, in a trio situation they are usually more adept at making the background full when the guitar "drops out" to solo. Guitar skills come in handy then. It's not a coincidence that John Entwhistle was referred to as the "lead bassist". (I don't know whether he played guitar as well as bass or not, but he had the skill set I'm talking about in spades). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 geezer butler is an awesome example of a guitarist that switched to bass and got it IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted October 12, 2011 Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 geezer butler is an awesome example of a guitarist that switched to bass and got it IMHO Geezer fukin rulz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted October 13, 2011 Members Share Posted October 13, 2011 Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Chriss squire of Yes, Jonas Hellborg, and various others use a more guitar like approach to bass and they do bass playing better then most others. So yes its an excellent approach to bass playing imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stangconv Posted October 16, 2011 Members Share Posted October 16, 2011 As a guitar player who just picked up a bass, what tips can you guys give me? Should I make a new thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted October 16, 2011 Members Share Posted October 16, 2011 As a guitar player who just picked up a bass, what tips can you guys give me? Should I make a new thread? * in yoda voice * you must unlearn, what you have learned...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LameAim Posted October 16, 2011 Members Share Posted October 16, 2011 As another recent convert, I'm loving it. I feel like there's a lot more... finesse to it. Find myself worrying less about what I'm playing and more on my timing and rhythm. And figuring out when not to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted October 16, 2011 Members Share Posted October 16, 2011 As another recent convert, I'm loving it. I feel like there's a lot more... finesse to it. Find myself worrying less about what I'm playing and more on my timing and rhythm. And figuring out when not to play. sometimes, the gaps where you don't play seem louder than when you do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LameAim Posted October 17, 2011 Members Share Posted October 17, 2011 Yeah. It's hard to describe but somehow I feel better suited for it, given my guitar playing tendencies. I need to force myself to get some lessons, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted October 17, 2011 Members Share Posted October 17, 2011 Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Chriss squire of Yes, Jonas Hellborg, and various others use a more guitar like approach to bass and they do bass playing better then most others. So yes its an excellent approach to bass playing imo. Certain band's style are built around a more fluid or out-front bass style for sure, the problem is bassists who play that style on every song just to show how many notes they can play. I know several bass players who play that style and never quite fit back in a groove; as if the band is there to support them. Some of these guys are crowd pleasers with a flamboyant style, too. Listen to the other 99% of recorded music and you'll hear the bass and drums locked in like a rhythm section should be. Bass is part of the rhythm section and if people want to continually play lead they should choose another instrument IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shawnl Posted October 17, 2011 Members Share Posted October 17, 2011 Reminds me of an article I once read in Bass Player magazine about Peter Hook from New Order. Part of the trademark sound they started had something to do with the fact that guitar player, Bernard Sumner, wasn't particularly great and he found myself having to play in higher registers to drown out some of the sloppiness. However, with Peter Hook playing more in the mid and upper end, some of the low end fullness was either sacrificed or replaced with synthesizers. I certainly like the way it sounds but from a technical sense I would think that Peter Hook wasn't really playing bass. He was using a bass to play a guitar part which makes me think why not just play the guitar to begin with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted October 17, 2011 Members Share Posted October 17, 2011 sometimes, the gaps where you don't play seem louder than when you do.... Yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted October 17, 2011 Members Share Posted October 17, 2011 There was this one guy who sat in a couple times, bassist that the guitarist knew, and I could tell right off he was a guitarist first. He Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Narcosynthesis Posted October 19, 2011 Members Share Posted October 19, 2011 For me the moment it clicked was when I realised that despite being technically similar instruments to play, they are completely different instruments, and should be treated as such... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yanktar Posted October 19, 2011 Members Share Posted October 19, 2011 Seems to me, a neophyte, that bass playing isn't a binary exercise, where you either play it to be part of the furniture, or play it like a lead instrument. To me, it's another "voice" in the choir, with the lead as the Tenor/Soprano and the singer as the Soprano/Tenor, and the rhythm as contralto. Sometimes each voice can be emphasized, sometimes any of the voices can dominate the piece.There's a brass band made up of nothing but tubas, from bass to soprano. Stanley Clarke is the quintessential bass-player as lead. We were on a cruise about a year ago, and they had the requisite "Caribbean" band as one of the bands, with all the guys from the Islands. Most of these bands are usually OK, better than the ones from the Philippines, but this band was off-balance. The singer was very good, the keyboard and drummers were mediocre, but the bass player...WOW!! Everything they did that would have been dull was just great. He was just wonderful on a 6-string Yamaha. It was like an OK picture, but instead of a boring OK frame, it had an interesting and exciting frame that made the whole thing more interesting. I've only seen one other bass player on a ship who could play like that, and we've been on a lot of cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators BATCAT Posted October 19, 2011 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2011 People on this forum use terms like "playing bass like a guitarist" a lot, and I never understand what exactly they mean. Are they saying the player is doing full chords? Are they playing solos? What does this mean? Does it mean they're playing the bass in a manner which fits more like a guitar into the band context? Does it mean they sound like a guitarist who is trying to play bass with a good feel but failing? Honestly, it's confusing as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators BATCAT Posted October 19, 2011 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2011 Reminds me of an article I once read in Bass Player magazine about Peter Hook from New Order. Part of the trademark sound they started had something to do with the fact that guitar player, Bernard Sumner, wasn't particularly great and he found myself having to play in higher registers to drown out some of the sloppiness. However, with Peter Hook playing more in the mid and upper end, some of the low end fullness was either sacrificed or replaced with synthesizers. I certainly like the way it sounds but from a technical sense I would think that Peter Hook wasn't really playing bass. He was using a bass to play a guitar part which makes me think why not just play the guitar to begin with? Actually, IIRC, it isn't that Sumner was especially sloopy, it's that the band was loud and Hook's earlier gear couldn't keep up. (this is the Joy Division era) He found he could cut through better by playing higher up, and the rest of the band liked the way it sounded, so it became his trademark thing. Although Hook certainly played convention bass parts at times in New Order, I think you're right that at times his bass played a very guitar-like role. I would guess the answers to your question would be:a)Because a bass played high up sounds pretty distinctiveb)He could switch to a conventional bass part without changing instruments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3shiftgtr Posted October 20, 2011 Members Share Posted October 20, 2011 The main difference for me is in how the groove is approached. When playing bass, you are CREATING time and how it feels with the drummer. You create and command the pocket for the rest of the band to deal with. When pushing and/or pulling to make the pocket sit right, the WHOLE SHEBANG moves. When you play guitar, you play INSIDE the time the rhythm section lays down. If you push or pull, nothing should move. You just are creating tension/energy (push) or a a laid back feel (pull). Everyone knows me as a guitarist but I do get calls to play bass. And I HATE playing guitar at bass gigs. It is about keeping that GROOVE mindset. Time, time, time..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted October 20, 2011 Members Share Posted October 20, 2011 The main difference for me is in how the groove is approached. When playing bass, you are CREATING time and how it feels with the drummer. You create and command the pocket for the rest of the band to deal with. When pushing and/or pulling to make the pocket sit right, the WHOLE SHEBANG moves. When you play guitar, you play INSIDE the time the rhythm section lays down. If you push or pull, nothing should move. You just are creating tension/energy (push) or a a laid back feel (pull). Everyone knows me as a guitarist but I do get calls to play bass. And I HATE playing guitar at bass gigs. It is about keeping that GROOVE mindset. Time, time, time..... Thats pretty damned well put...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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