when your lead guitarist says to you....
"I can play the bass too, its just a guitar with 4 strings"
you then say....
"hey man, you know that one Primus song "My Name Is Mud", the lead instrument is a bass...and after all, playing guitar makes you a bass expert as well....go for it."

when some idiot says...
"the bass must be easier than the guitar it only has 4 strings"
you then say...
"so does a violin, I hear they're pretty easy too"

etc.

I have a whole list of replies to such IGNORANT remarks.

Unfortunately, this is a PG-13 board and I don't think Paul would be very happy if I listed them here!!!!!:D

Originally posted by JWC
when some idiot says...
"the bass must be easier than the guitar it only has 4 strings"
you then say...
"so does a violin, I hear they're pretty easy too"


This one's my favorite. I love it!

I usually just agree with them.

"Yup, it's really easy....and since you CAN'T play it, that doesn't speak well for you, does it?" :p

I don't have to deal with the "only 4 strings" remarks though, I usually get the "Gee, I've never seen a guitar that big before" comments. :D

I get the "Are you to st-st-stupid [they stutter] to play guitar?" remarks, then i do a solo then it's the "Holy Shikes, That sounded cool" also i get "Why can't you just play a wind instrument" my response "cause i'm smarter than that". ok that's all

"Well shucks! That's a long geeetar! :::whispers::: But, hey buddy, you're missing two strings..."

:::T.J. winds up and smacks 'em:::

I fixed that one... I only gig with 6's.

Originally posted by Eli
I fixed that one... I only gig with 6's.



But then you get a lot of..."why is it so BIG?" And that's NOT the groupies talkin' to ya! :D

Yeah, well, the groupies never asked me that question either... :(

my favorite reply is
did you know that Sid Vicious chose bass over guitar because he felt he could kick major arse with the extra weight

What can you say to bass ignorant people?

Nothing. You can't reform an idiot, so there's no point in saying anything. ;)

I was out of town when my choir had to perform a concert. When I got back, someone came up to me and said, "I now know what the bass guitar does. There was something missing, and I couldn't quite figure out what it was. Then I realized there was no bass, and it became clear to me what it does for the music."

That made me smile for days.

Later.

Perhaps we should have a "National Bass Players Strike Day". Maybe then...people would "get it". :D

Re: What to Say to Bass Ignorant People.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am the lead guitarist. Wanna...?"

THe most common phrase I use to bass ignorant people is
"It's supposed to be low Mr Soundman!"

when guitarists say "Bass is easier because it has only 4 strings" say "yeah, but you guitarists have 6 strings to play on, we have to cram all of our phat bass lines into only 4 strings! That's hard!":D

If you have a 6+ string bass that doesn't work.

when people call it a guitar, pick it up, put the bass knob all the way up, turn the volume all the way up, tune the E-string (or B string if u have a fiver- even better) down to some unheard of note and then pluck it - <b><i>HARD.</i></b> "DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A GUITAR?!?!" you laugh maniacally as the sound resonates through the neighborhood and the windows rattle. Usually the frightened soul will <ul>RUN</ul> out of that place as fast as they can. It's sooo FUNNY!! :p

Simply state that Paul McCartney played bass. EVERYONE knows who Paul is. And virtually none know he was a bassist. Except other bassers.

Rock on
Eric

very true. speaking of Paul Mc, he is one of my favorite bassists of all time. I read though that when the Beatles first got together (as the Quarrymen I believe) Paul had to play the bass because no one else did. He played by default. Paul had stated in the same article that he thought bass was just what the least talented guitarist had to relegate to doing. Also Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys ended up playing bass by default as well. But thats ok, Brian probably doesn't even remember anymore what he played, jk.

The worst case of Non Bass-player Ignorance occured when a Non-bass player soundchecked my gear at a recent gig.

The gig was 70 miles from home; the sax player and I had a happy hour gig at a local Restaraunt. So we had the roadies soundcheck for us and we arrived at the gig 10 mins before showtime. So I never even touched my bass before the we went on.

I get up on stage and played through the first tune. I swear I spent the rest of the set trying to get my EQ and effects to sound right again. It was so high and tinty, I couldn't get any Bottom or kick out of it at all. (I felt very small)

So when we took our set break, I went back to the dressing room and began chewing out the guy when screwed up my sound and the guy looks me in the eye and says...

It sounded to Bassy....Man

.....What the F**K!!!

Am I the only one who's curious as to what happenned next?:)

Will C.:cool:

Certainly not, Big Wheel. Story time! =)

Okay, I'd really like to finish my story, even though the point was already made. But I think it would be fun If you told me how YOU think, the story ends. :D

(but I have to add, that I am a pretty laid back guy so it's probably not as bad as one would think.)

if bass is so easy for gutiarists to play then why does Satriani bother with Stu Hamm most of the time? ;)

guitarists cant slap like that :Q

My end of story guess...

Mr. Soundman got to examine the inner workings of his speaker cabinets more closely than he'd normally like to. =)

He kicked major arse, of course!


The voices....stop the voices!:eek:

I've heard on more than two seperate occasions people who don't even play guitar say this:

'Hey man! Anybody can play bass, I picked one up once - its easy!'

try restraining yourself (and yes I did)

Ahh.. don't even bother, I sometimes wonder whether people who don't play instruments or care about bass can actually hear the difference between the notes you're playing.

And with the poor bass response of your average family stereo sound system we're likely to continue to be the 'phantom' bandmembers.. heard by some but not by many and respected by even fewer.

I've heard some pretty ignorant comments like, "whats wrong with your guitar, it only has four strings" and the best one yet "whats the point of the bass? you cant hear anyways.

what i forgot what i was going to say

I just point out that, since basses are larger and stronger than guitars, you can hit idiots over the head with it twice as often without breaking it!

Once, after a gig, a fella came up to me and asked if I was the roadie. (I had to pack the gear away because the REAL roadie was with the rest of the band getting chatted up by some girls) Another time, in practice I stopped playing about ten bars into a song and stood there the whole way through, nobody noticing.

I got my revenge though. Bought a bigger amp, turned everything up to 10, and now I certainly don't get "You can't even hear the bass anyway" anymore. AHAHAHAHA!!!! (Imagine suitably evil laugh)

I find that a big, noisy, evil, low note is a very effective way of shutting up anti-bass people. (Unless they can shout above it)

Why bother buying a whole new amp when you can just modify your old one to go up to eleven? :cool:

(ignorant punk-a$$ guitarist) "bass is easy - it's only 4 strings - guitar is 6"

(me) "oh, yeah, ok, here, play this..."

http://lordonly.net/Images/John/jt2xsmbrep4.jpg


"no? too many necks? how bout this one, but try to play in tune..."

http://lordonly.net/Images/John/8strfless1.jpg

"no? then here, pick one..."

http://lordonly.net/Images/John/jtfamily1.jpg

"still no? god, you're a wussy."

:D

AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

... help ... me ...

LMFAO @ JT! that was awesome =D

At least my guitarists KNOW they can't play bass =D I piss em off and go to their guitars and start playing little Metallica solos I know =) (they don't know any) and then I go back to my bass and play and they say I'm awesome when.. I actually suck.. at least compared to ppl like Victor Wooten and JT and Billy Sheehan =D

-Willzzzzzz

yikes! between vic and billy. :eek: thanks anyway, but i suck compared to them too. :D

I don't know about you all, but when I saw the pictures John
Turner enclosed, my tongue got a woody, stuck out past my eye-teeth, and I couldn't see what I was saying.
Are all those Conklins custom-made? nice studio too, of course, to me ANY studio is nice.

I've actually have something positive to post about non bassists asking Q's.

I was jamming away on my bass the other week in my dorm room and one of my suitemates (who just started playing guitar) looked at me and said "Did you start out on bass? Man, I don't think I have the balls to start out on an instrument like that!"

Well, unfortunately, I started out on guitar but he didn't have to know.

Originally posted by bassics
I don't know about you all, but when I saw the pictures John
Turner enclosed, my tongue got a woody, stuck out past my eye-teeth, and I couldn't see what I was saying.
Are all those Conklins custom-made?

yep!, thanks for asking. i've been playing conklins since '93. i have some info on my home page about how i got them made, check it out...

http://lordonly.net/lobndjt1.htm

i have a lot more pics of them, plus some cool ones about how my doubleneck was made...

http://lordonly.net/lojtbas32.htm


nice studio too, of course, to me ANY studio is nice.

yeah, i like it. actually, the pic is a bit dated, since this was taken we've gotten a joe meek vcq-1 vocal preamp and an avalon vt737 tube preamp. ah...gear! :D

USUALLY I GET THE JERK WHO "THINKS" HE IS EDDIE VAN HALEN AND SAYS:

"ANYONE CAN PLAY BASS!"

"SO WHAT NOTE AM I PLAYING?"

Oh God, John. I love it when you do that.

*struggles not to think impure thoughts about John and his Many Strings...*

:eek:

:D

The only soundman i trust is myself.

I've been at shows where the drums are too loud so you can't hear anything else. Then the soundman says "Nice drum sound, eh"

i know man

my music teacher @ school is such a bi*ch!!!1
she always tells me to turn down the volume in class and even if i'm jamming with my friend at lunch or after school!
i hate her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is that a double 7-string? well, i learned something new today.

Originally posted by Lakini's Juice
is that a double 7-string? well, i learned something new today.

yep.

i had it built for me a few years ago. fretted 7 and fretless 7.

is it a little weird to play, and heavy? i have not even seen one befor

Originally posted by Lakini's Juice
is it a little weird to play, and heavy? i have not even seen one befor

:D yeah it's a bit weird sometimes - the biggest weird thing about it is that i prefer the height of my bass when i'm playing to be right in between where i have this one set, so the fretted (top) neck is a bit high and the fretless (bottom) neck is a bit low, but there is no escaping that.

it's a bit heavy - about 25-27 pounds. keeps me honest - when i can't play it for ~1 -2 hours then it's time to hit the gym :D.

as for seeing one before, well you probably won't. to the best of my knowledge there aren't any other doubleneck 7 string basses. i know there are none like mine - i drew it and designed it and bill's never built another.

hay john, do you have a cd out or something i could get? or some mp3s? i would love to hear that double 7-string man!