Okay, what was that one remark said by a non bassist that just fried your brain and really got you angry? Ive been told many times that bass is so much easier than the guitar. I hate it! You know, us bassists get no recegnition around here. Bass = superior!

Hmn. Toughie. I think it would have to be: "Yeah, I know you play bass, but there just aren't any known bassists. You know, like Hendrix...only on bass"

About pissed me off.

"Why do you play bass, bass is so boooring, you can't do anything fun with a bass!"

Well, didn't exactly piss me off, I mostly felt sorry for the guy... :rolleyes:

Ignorance is only bliss for the ignorant.

What's a bassist do?

I think that has made me mad a time or two, then I remember that it is a geetarist saying it.....

They let you be a doctor with all that hair?

I get that about twice a day.

why cant you play six strings?
are you only good enough for four?

every time i hear that a fight mysteriously breaks out

i hear hair comments often too. i also get the "4 was good enough for jaco" tripe a lot.

I have recieved all those comments from ONE person (a KoRn fan believe it or not... hardcore korn fan) apart from the hair ones...

ANyway, I just showed him my 4 strings bass and plugged into this real big amp and did some fancy over technicaly shallow playing and he thinks I am the greatest that ever lived :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I'm not the kind of guy who gets pissed off easily, but this remark REALLY made me angry. It was my guitarist's b**ch girlfriend who said:

"Isn't being a bassist just a bad excuse for not being able to play the guitar?"

So I whipped out my spanish guitar and proved her wrong...

~Lox~ (An Englishman in Copenhagen :))

heres some stuff ive been told

"you play bass? is that some sort of type of guitar?"

"you only play ibanez because its a growing fad" (btw after being told that i really told this guy off)

"you play bass? it must suck to be you then, cause i bet you never get any attention on stage" (ok hows this for not any stage attention? i was standing on the center of the stage, banging my head and jumpin around next to the vocalist (now ex-vocalist), while our rhythm guitarist (now ex-rhythm) stood cowering in the corner barely able to play)

Brendan -

The sad fact is that there are no "known" bassists. Ask any adult to name their favorite bass player. Nobody (non-bass player) has a favorite bass player. Most people can't even name a bass player, with the possible exception of Paul McCartney or Sting. You aren't going to get famous playing the electric bass guitar. Get over it.

Originally posted by Munjibunga
Brendan -

The sad fact is that there are no "known" bassists. Ask any adult to name their favorite bass player. Nobody (non-bass player) has a favorite bass player. Most people can't even name a bass player, with the possible exception of Paul McCartney or Sting. You aren't going to get famous playing the electric bass guitar. Get over it.

That's debatable. Most people usually pick some useless bass players (most of the time from their favourite rock bands) as their favourites.

I've often heard the comment that bass players are just frustrated or failed guitar players. On the other hand I have never heard anyone say a guitar player is just a failed or frustrated bass player wannabe.

Jason Oldsted

"Bass ruins the music" - I got pretty mad until he told me he was kidding. It was hard to tell, though, because before he was telling me how bass was boring and how you can't do a lot with it.

Jason: Well, I'm sure alot of the locally popular rock/metal bass players ARE frustrated guitarists. And probably quite a few of the lesser-known nationally-distributed rock bassists, too.

Fieldy's different, though. He's a frustrated drummer. :)

Replying to Furtim...sad, but very true. You are so right about the frustrated guitarists playing bass. I wonder about drummers...are they frustrated guitarists too?

Jason Oldsted

Naw, I think guitarists are frustrated bassists;) Whattsa matter, can't handle the strings? Fine...go to the wimpy tiny short strings...SEE if you can lay down the funk!:D:D

I am no frustrated guitarist, although my busy playing has elicited that remark a few times.

When someone says something like Chris Novelisc (or how ever you spell his name) from Nirvana, or the dude from Blink-182 is a good bass player. Also "Bass would be easier than guitar because you only have 4 strings", makes me laugh also.

At some point in our lives we realize life is to short to become upset over meaningless comments from someone that really does not matter.

Mark

Too right, Mark. Don't get mad; get even. >B)

Well, let's see, there's;

"Hey, isn't that guitar too big?"
"What happened to the other two strings?"
"Yea, I can play bass too." Promptly picks up bass backwards.

And the worst of them all, the one that nearly got me arrested for assault,

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just got a bass machine and DJ?":mad::mad:

Rock on
Eric

i heard "Hey man you screwed up so bad the drummer even knew it"!!

How about, (Guitar Player) don't worry our bass player will let everybody use his amp he don't mind. I hate when band members say that crap and volunteer my rig for all the opening acts.

These are tied for "Piss Off the Most" category for me;

- "I seen yer innernet nayme. Well sir, ah likes bass fishin too. Let's talk bass bait!"

- "So you quit playing guitar because bass is easier. I mean, you know, less strings."

- "That looks like a guitar. Does it sound different?"

- "Play, `With Arms Wide Open' "

- "Oh, you're not union? Well, then I can't pay you."

I've heard many of those already posted before, and they piss me off, but this one was really annoying
This drummer and his guitarist friend get my name from someone, and they hear I'm between gigs/bands, and they ask me if I'd like to jam sometime, so we start talking about music a little bit, and the drummer goes, "can you play fast bass?" What the hell? Play "fast"? What kind of crap is that? Any moron can play fast! They turned out to be punkers, so I guess that explains it, but still... "fast bass"? Gah. Fast is easy. Good is hard. Some people never figure it out...

Something which recently annoyed me was in an interview with the bass player from Travis (A feeble Scottish band who are inexplicably popular in the UK) talking about when he was asked to join the band, even though he couldn't actually play an instrument at the time:

"I wasn't bothered about not being able to play, I mean, it's only the f***ing bass!"

AARRGGHH!!!!! B(

The bass player from one of the biggest bands in Britian (really!) saying something like THAT! What sort of example is that to set to young bassists, I ask you?

Isn't the point that there aren't any young people aspiring to be bass players in the UK any more, but rather they are aspiring to be :

DJs
Programmers/Sample players/Producers
In boy/girl bands where it's only their looks that matter
Famous for something..anything!!

True, Bruce. Sadly...

But the point is that anyone who is interested in playing an instrument but is too lazy to put anything into it will read this, think that the bass is easy, and pick it thinking all you have to do is play the root notes on the top string. This will lead to more of the type of people that you mentioned in the infamous Rosin thread - people who only play bass because it's supposedly easy, who don't have the desire to work at their music, and who are genuinely frustrated guitarists.

It's only the f***ing bass, I ask you. What we need is for JT to pay a visit to our friend in Travis, whip out one of his behemouths, and ask him if that's so bloody simple. Sorry about this, but I really get worked up about this fella...

Have we forgotten the infamous....."FREEBIRD"!!!!!!!

I was doing a gig with my band about two years ago, and we were sharing the bill with a band from Athens, GA., which is something of a musical hotbed (R.E.M., B-52s., etc.) I was wearing this T-shirt I got from "The Onion." The T-shirt says "I am in a promising local band." Very tongue-in-cheek. Well, this girl from the Athens band walks over, reads my t-shirt and says "A little pretentious, don't you think? If you wore that t-shirt in Athens, you'd be run out of town."
She was a girl, so I didn't smack her.

I'm going to record some bass tracks for two of my guitarplaying friends and a drummer.
And they're great friends, but make the worst suggestions:

"Could you play against the rhytm at that point, just like on that "Karma to Burn" album?"
- ungh -

"I'd rather have you play a "C" there, it's a C-chord"
I replied: "Hey, I play the bass, and when I play a G, then it's automatically a G-chord."
Then he's been annoying me for two weeks with theory after theory and I ended up playing a C.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bruce Lindfield
[B]Isn't the point that there aren't any young people aspiring to be bass players in the UK any more, but rather they are aspiring to be :

DJs
Programmers/Sample players/Producers
In boy/girl bands where it's only their looks that matter
Famous for something..anything!!

Bruce and yawnsie - That's really sad, considering that, from my yank point of view, the UK has given us a disproportionately large number of gifted bassists, relative to the population.

Originally posted by Dave Siff
I was doing a gig with my band about two years ago, and we were sharing the bill with a band from Athens, GA., which is something of a musical hotbed (R.E.M., B-52s., etc.) I was wearing this T-shirt I got from "The Onion." The T-shirt says "I am in a promising local band." Very tongue-in-cheek. Well, this girl from the Athens band walks over, reads my t-shirt and says "A little pretentious, don't you think? If you wore that t-shirt in Athens, you'd be run out of town."
She was a girl, so I didn't smack her.

This is one of those typical incidents where you wish you had a suitable "put-down" reply and can think of dozens after the event but not at the time!

Like - pretentious, moi!

or

Well if you ever find me in that godawful place, then feel free to run me out of town your self.

or

Yeah but in my town we understand irony!

I guess I must be getting old, because I just don't give a rip about the inane comments made by boneheads who don't
"get" bass. I've been playing for more than 20 years now, and my MOM still doesn't know the difference between a guitar and a bass -- if SHE can't get it straight, I hold out little hope for the general population.

I actually turned the tables on a knucklehead about a year ago though. I was subbing for a buddy of mine with his R&B band at a showcase with a bunch of other bands. There was this one woman (don't know who she was or why she was anywhere near me) pontificating at length about bass -- and displaying her total ignorance of the subject in the process.

When she got to the part about five-strings being "better" than four-strings (and believe, that was about as "deep" as any of her insights went), I looked at her deadpan and said "Five-string basses are for morons."

I then strapped on my Carvin 5, walked over to to the bandstand, and we proceeded to tear the house down with our set.

When I walked past her afterward, she just kind of looked at me, mouth hanging open, with that "Wut thuh...?" look on her face.

Hee hee, still laugh about that one.

The comment that pissed me off the most was "are you a Bass player or a lazy guitarist?" The next time this dude came to my class I had my Bass and amp. I played him a Suart Hamm like rendition of the star spangled banner...He now plays the Bass!

Originally posted by Bruce Lindfield

Yeah but in my town we understand irony! [/B]

LMAO!!
Bruce, that's perfect! Wish I'd thought of it!

Originally posted by yawnsie
Something which recently annoyed me was in an interview with the bass player from Travis (A feeble Scottish band who are inexplicably popular in the UK) talking about when he was asked to join the band, even though he couldn't actually play an instrument at the time:

"I wasn't bothered about not being able to play, I mean, it's only the f***ing bass!"

AARRGGHH!!!!! B(

The bass player from one of the biggest bands in Britian (really!) saying something like THAT! What sort of example is that to set to young bassists, I ask you?

And speaking of lame Britpop (or whatever the hell the press
calls it now) bands, I recall the guy from Blur making a
comment like that in BP Magazine a couple of years ago.
A lot of bassists were p.o.'d. What an idiot!

Sombody once asked me if it was a cheap guitar because it had only 4 strings.My reply, don't breed

Originally posted by Rajun Cajun
My reply, don't breed

:eek: Ooh, that one hurts! Hurts baaad! :D

O, this one cuts me up heaps ..
"Duh, you can play anything for bass on guitar but not vice-versa!"
So then it was like ..
"Play the verse slap riff from 'Take The Power Back' on your crappy little instrument.."

I need a good, sarcastic, witty reply to a goober who constantly says "bass is so easy".

Originally posted by hunter585
I need a good, sarcastic, witty reply to a goober who constantly says "bass is so easy".

I think classical thump would be a pretty good comeback.

Whenever someone makes a dumbass comment to me about playing bass, I hand them my bass and say, "Here you go. Let's see what you got."

Not one that pissed me off...quite the opposite, actually...:p
Anyway, I was just fiddling around with some slap/pop stuff, and one guy walked into the common room, looked at me for about 5 seconds, and said "Wah! So yeng?!" Or, in English, "Woah! So cool!"
:D

Hell, just ask the dude in question if they would like a Harley or a Honda... There's the difference right there.

You wanna go zipping around here and there all flash and no substance... guitar.

You want to thunder down the road and have people FEEL your presence... bass.

I liked what some talkbasser said earlier that what people tap their foot/bob their head/dance to is the BASS and DRUM not the guitar.

Regarding bassists being failed guitarist... not me. I play both. But my guitarist, just plays guitar. Guess who has written all of the bass/guitar tracks and lyrics so far in our band? It aint the guitarist!

I guess one of the things that confuse people is that when they hear the bass they confuse the booming lows with the drums and the highs with the guitarist.

"WOW I never knew that a Peavey bass could sound that good"

I considered ramming the bass up their b##t, but since I like to play the bass I spilled coffee on their shoes instead.

Does anyone ever say "Awesome treble and mid on that song."? Or.. "crank up that treble!"? ;)

My dumb Church Band Leader Wich has had NO former musical experience!!

always askes "Please someone play an intro to this song Other than Piano" wich means Mr. Guitar man please play an intro.

Because when i start the into with a sweet melody of the lead line, that brings the band to a halt so as to praise me for my 16 years of jaco, mark king, stu hamn ,james jamerson bass study that reverberate my melodic heavanly sounds through the souls of my listeners.

she replys "Shhhhh were trying to get an intro going"

THAT MY BASSING AMEGOS PISSSSSISSSES me oFfFfdFEA"KLDg;lkgjgh;kljshaj aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

Guitarist in my band one day: 'I don't listen to the bass anyway'.

So, next practice he is having difficulty playing the fiddley intro to a song of ours. I get bored with his pained expression and play it for him so we can crack on. The anti bass humour died a little after that.

He is supposedly the rhythm guitarist but in his case that is a contradiction in terms.

Smoothgroover, I suspect that we might have the same guitarist moonlighting - exactly the same thing happens to me. To be fair, it's not as bad now, as he realises that I can easily have him off on the guitar and tends to keep quiet.

If he can be in Liverpool and Oxford at the same time then you're right Yawnsie! :) As a guitarist I'm pants but I played the intro high up the neck on my bass, which probably made him feel even worse.

you'll never believe this: I was in jazz band at my school, and this kid said to me "Hey Chris, I believe that guitars have FIVE strings" in a real smart-azz kind of tone. i said "Well, to begin with, guitars usually have 6 strings, and this is a bass, not a guitar, or sometimes referred to as BASS GUITAR." This kid isn't just bass ignorant, he's guitar ignorant also!

And this loser who wanted to start a band said in these words: "Why do we need a bass player? Our band doesnt need a bass player!"

Fools. Soon bass players such as us will rule the world...Only now, at the end do they understand! MUHAHAHA!!! (continues evil laughter for about 20 minutes)

Originally posted by fleabass89

Fools. Soon bass players such as us will rule the world...Only now, at the end do they understand! MUHAHAHA!!! (continues evil laughter for about 20 minutes)

It seems to be trendy nowadays to use another talkbassers comments as a signature.. May I use this one? :cool:

Originally posted by smoothergroover
Guitarist in my band one day: 'I don't listen to the bass anyway'.


I know of a few guitar freaks (who are really bad and shallow at playing) who tell me that. They often confuse bass lines and solos for guitar and praise it. I correct them.

I learned my lesson after a few times: You cannot cure someone else's Idiocy/ hypocrism.

I'm real fortunate.Where I live there is a constant shortage of bass players.Soooooo.....the musicians around my area have to be considerate to us!!!Yay!! Woo Hoo!
Unfortunately the local radio stations are another story.
Here is an actual comment that burned my biscuits:" We don't play much local music because there aren't very many good local bands." Puleeeze!!! There are many established acts on the radio that suck toilet water!!! I mean Helloooo!!!! McFly!!! We have some really good bands in Tidewater,VA.It's just that not all of them play the political game with some of the moronic-frustrated-wannabe/dj's who couldn't cut as a real musician-dork wads.There are certain DJ's on the morning show(FM 99-WNOR)who need to be pimp slapped for their horrendous treatment of the local bands that actually get invited to their morning slaughter.My area will never have a viable scene without media support.

It was my first gig as Willie Dizon's drummer. We finished out last set and started packing up. Some dork comes up to me and says, "Why didn't you play that last drum fill in 'Would?' like the original song?"

After a few seconds of thought, I looked at the guy and said, "And just where is YOUR band playing tonite?" :D

As a bass player, I was tooling around on a bass in a local shop. Some dude says, "Man, you gotta learn how to slap and pop to do anything!" My reply, "For what? It is a style of bass playing that will have no value or effect in the type of music that I am playing." He walked off mumbling.

Originally posted by Acacia
It was my first gig as Willie Dizon's drummer. We finished out last set and started packing up. Some dork comes up to me and says, "Why didn't you play that last drum fill in 'Would?' like the original song?"

After a few seconds of thought, I looked at the guy and said, "And just where is YOUR band playing tonite?" :D

As a bass player, I was tooling around on a bass in a local shop. Some dude says, "Man, you gotta learn how to slap and pop to do anything!" My reply, "For what? It is a style of bass playing that will have no value or effect in the type of music that I am playing." He walked off mumbling.
I remember that gig.Oh well,he had to pay to get in that club...we have his money!!!
As far as slpapping and popping goes...Would Phil Lynnot(sp?) give a rat's a**?!

Originally posted by smoothergroover
Guitarist in my band one day: 'I don't listen to the bass anyway'.


there's a band in NY called Burn Guitars. 3 bassists and a drummer. they sound really good.

Originally posted by draken613
Originally posted by smoothergroover
Guitarist in my band one day: 'I don't listen to the bass anyway'.


there's a band in NY called Burn Guitars. 3 bassists and a drummer. they sound really good.

Slughog is like that too...oh wait, 2 bassists, a guitarist and drummer.

Hey, got one just the other day.

Subordinate (in SO many ways): "Oh, you have a Carvin? How many strings?"

Me: "Four."

Him: "Just four?"

Me: "No, not 'just four.' Four."

:mad:

I played at the evening service at my church last night, and the pastor came up to me afterward and said, "You know, having a bass player is so important... it adds a wonderful texture to the sound and really fills the room up."

He didn't say that about the missing guitarist.

As for the "frustrated guitarist" stuff, nobody I've ever met who knows and loves music has ever talked like that. I've known some really great guitarists and drummers, and they had a real respect and admiration for a good bassist. So who cares what the others think? If your peers dig you, and you love what you do, the rest of the stuff doesn't matter at all.

Bass I don't it's just a band to me! - My sister
Bass! Oh so your a DJ, cool! - some little brat


P.s. my drummer is not dumb and my guitarist is not a git it's just what we call each other. It's good that the word bass is hard to stuff around with.

uhmmmm anyone else ever notice that the word "ass" is in bass? stupid guitarists think they're sooOOOoooO clever with that one, i tells ya ..

Originally posted by *ToNeS*
uhmmmm anyone else ever notice that the word "ass" is in bass? stupid guitarists think they're sooOOOoooO clever with that one, i tells ya .. Yes, but then you can always remind them that 'bass' pronounced like 'ass' with a 'b' in front of it is a fish, and 'bass' pronounced 'base' is more important than the guitars...:D

I said I played Bass and the person said oh, you play guitar and I said no bass, they said what's the difference, I said I know how to count!

Hmm...
I just remembered this one. This came courtesy of my brother, when I bought my first (and way-too-expensive-for-a-beginnier) bass.
"What's the point? You're just gonna use it once, and you're never even gonna touch it again."
Well, as it turns out, I ended up playing (and still playing) my bass(es) more than my brother used his cameras, which cost an ass-load more than my basses. I also bought one of my basses myself, with my OWN money. Then again, he DID get a HK$10,000 camera with his own money...or $9,000 of his own, and $1,000 borrowed off me. :p
Oh well. I keep trying to remind my mom & dad that they bought all that stuff for him, and how little I've gotten from them in comparison to what they got him.
But then again, I haven't said that to them in a while...maybe if I don't get that 1400 on my SAT, I can still remind my dad about all the camera gear he got my brother... :D

Originally posted by *ToNeS*
uhmmmm anyone else ever notice that the word "ass" is in bass? stupid guitarists think they're sooOOOoooO clever with that one, i tells ya ..


I believe it was Funkadelic who said 'Free You Mind and Your Ass Will Follow....

Originally posted by gbrooks
Hell, just ask the dude in question if they would like a Harley or a Honda... There's the difference right there.

I don't think I agree with comparison . . .if the bass was like a Harley, none of us would get any practicing done, since our intruments would either constatnly be in the shop or under a dust tarp in order to protect our, "investments". ;):D

Originally posted by Deeter


I don't think I agree with comparison . . .if the bass was like a Harley, none of us would get any practicing done, since our intruments would either constatnly be in the shop or under a dust tarp in order to protect our, "investments". ;):D

And we would spend all our time reading catalogues.. "oh yeah, that strap.. and that bridge.. chromed knobs, yea must have those.. ooh, custom paint job.." :)

Originally posted by Tsal


And we would spend all our time reading catalogues.. "oh yeah, that strap.. and that bridge.. chromed knobs, yea must have those.. ooh, custom paint job.." :)

LOL :D

and then we put a convention... everybody with custom basses and display on platforms with cool light...so everybody watch...

me with a clean cloth in my hand> "Hey! don´t touch that!! there comes the judges!"

Originally posted by Tsal


And we would spend all our time reading catalogues.. "oh yeah, that strap.. and that bridge.. chromed knobs, yea must have those.. ooh, custom paint job.." :)

<LOL> Yeah, and then we can all sit around the the local bar talking about how crappy all them furrin'-made basses are and how everyone should play good ole' MIA Fender P & J basses, completely ignoring the fact that, although the Fender is assembled stateside, the bridge comes from Japanese company X, the tuning machines come from Japanese company Z, the fret's are machined by Japanese company Y, and strangely enough, all those Japanese companies are owned by the Honda Corporation. ;):D

O.K. lay off the Harley's......They just so happen to be the best machine ever built.....There is no reason to argue with me on this point, because as open minded that I am, when it comes to this topic, I am as thick in the head as a bull is in the ass....... nuff said.........

one of two,"oh bassists, they not important, but they just stand at the back with their bass round their knees swaying"

that came from a guy who thinks everyone kisses his a$$

i'll kiss it with a hard directed extension of the righter

or one i heard on here,,
please note ( say it in a stupid, unaware, rich boy voice)
" i've got a professional amp (4x10, 1x15 et) and i'l spend £100 on stuff ,, whyy can t i slap even when i have all this stuff without any talent"


L8

stu

Originally posted by christos
O.K. lay off the Harley's......They just so happen to be the best machine ever built.....There is no reason to argue with me on this point, because as open minded that I am, when it comes to this topic, I am as thick in the head as a bull is in the ass....... nuff said.........

Nuff said? Not even close! :D If Harley had as many engineers as they did Marketing Execs., I might agree with you. Most recognizable name in Motorcycling? Yes. An American Icon? Yes. Highly-appealing works of two-wheeled art? Yes. But best machine ever built? Sorry, Charlie.

I will qualify and say that the verdict is still out on the TC88b mill. For all indications, it is definitely the best engine (at least from a engineering POV) HD has ever produced. Since the engine is only 2 1/2 years old, remarks can't be made about its longevity for some time to come. But with their high power-output, low failure-rate, and great techno-enhancements like EFI, counterbalancing, and onboard diagnostic software, things are definitely looking good for it and HD's rep as a maker of 21st century motorcycles.

But Harley's 20th century engines, like the EVO and Shovelhead, aren't as well built. With low power-output, needing to be rebuilt every 35k-40k miles, leaking oil like an SOB, overheating at the drop of a hat, these were all common traits of those mills. Let's be real, HDs are a lot of things, but best machine ever built? Come on!

There are late 80's model Viragos out there that are STILL running, with 200k on the odo with the original jugs and pistons intact. Yes, they're ugly motherscratchers, but they are exceedingly well-built machines that outperform and outlast their HD competitors of that era.

Don't get me wrong, I really do like Harleys; I'd love to have an FXDWG in my garage, parked next to my Road Star, to use as a springboard for building a radical-custom, show-bike. They are very appealing machines with a weath of aftermarket items you can buy to hot them up and trick them out. But I don't, for a second, buy into that knee-jerk, "buy American" (newer HDs aren't any more American than Hondas or Kawasakis), and the, "There is no motorcycle but Harley," jingoistic crap.

Anyway, when it comes down to it, all that really matters is THAT you ride. That dead horse aside . . . do you ride, and if so, what?

I had to sell my 1986 FXLR because at the time I could not afford it, and I have not bought anything since.....I had a 106 cubes, with double nitrous tanks, wide glide front end and enough chrome to make you sick.....I helped my uncle rebuild a 1950 Flathead not too long ago, and I am considering getting a Moto Guzzi this year, but once again with getting married in Aug. I may not be able to afford it....

P.S.

Maybe best machine ever built is a little pushing it.....

Originally posted by christos
I had to sell my 1986 FXLR because at the time I could not afford it, and I have not bought anything since.....I had a 106 cubes, with double nitrous tanks, wide glide front end and enough chrome to make you sick.....I helped my uncle rebuild a 1950 Flathead not too long ago, and I am considering getting a Moto Guzzi this year, but once again with getting married in Aug. I may not be able to afford it....

P.S.

Maybe best machine ever built is a little pushing it.....

Man, my condolences on having to sell the FXLR . . . the Low Rider is a sweet bike! But once you get it in your blood, you can never get rid of it . . . you'll be back on two in no time!

The Guzzies are great bikes and their Quality Control should be even better than never now that they've been bought-out by Aprillia; no more dodgy electrics. I've also heard that the head guy from Ducati is quitting to go to work for Aprillia as their new Guzzi Director . . . so they should be doing some exciting stuff in the next few years.

I'm thinking about putting a 108ci kit on my Road Star, but that will continue to sit on the back burner for a while as it comes with a $2,000 price tag and there are other things demanding my money right now . . . I'm about to get married, myself. 2k for a big-bore kit is a difficult think to justify to the wife-to-be . . . but she's a musician too, so GAS passes much more easily than bike stuff. ;)

The one thing that made me angry was right after I started playing bass. My friends were like, "hey man, why don't you play something cool instead of that rythym." I might add that man got lessons in flying, about 2 stories worth.

2 incidents

First one was years ago, my old band had just done the best gig in ages. Some bloke came up to us and said to the drummer, "You're great mate, fantastic, you don't really need the others at all". Our drummer then pointed out, without the rest of us, there would be no band.

The other incident was when my duo was playing somewhere. We use backing tracks for drums, keys, strings etc, and play bass and guitar live. Some one came up my brother (guitar) and said, "you're not really playing at all, you're just pressing all those buttons", as he pointed to his pedal board.
My brother promptly took of his guitar, gave it to the bloke, and said, "go on then, press a few buttons and play me a tune" The guy then complained the my brother had turned it all off when nothing happened, until it was pointed out that the little LED's were all on. He quickly shut-up, and gave us a big clap a the end of our set.

Originally posted by ~Loxley~
I'm not the kind of guy who gets pissed off easily, but this remark REALLY made me angry. It was my guitarist's b**ch girlfriend who said:

"Isn't being a bassist just a bad excuse for not being able to play the guitar?"

So I whipped out my spanish guitar and proved her wrong...

~Lox~ (An Englishman in Copenhagen :)) I would of whipped out a gun & shot her!!!

"4 strings are easier and anyone can play bass because of that" -Yeah, kinda lika a cello or a violin you mean?

but really.. the most insulting thing i've ever heard was back in the 6-string days after a song that had a little slap bass solo in it "What effect did you use with your guitar in that solo -it sounded wicked." I mean thanks a lot. There's nothing bad with being called a big ugly, non-musical idiot who can barely master the root notes, but being mistaken for a guitar player is just too damn insulting :)

Me: "I play bass."
Stupid Friend: "Really? I played the bass drum in elementary."

I've gotten a couple of stupid statements thrust apon me.There are two I remember with great interest. One them happened in the drive-thru for Taco Bell at about 2:30 in the morning after a crazy gig in LA. The person at the wondow sees my gear and says "Oh, you play guitar?", to which I retort "No, I play bass." She gets a blank look in her face, and adds "Oh...why? Because it's only got 4 strings and it's easier?" The other took place at a church Fat Tuesday celebration. I'm playing my upright when this 20 year old wastoid looks at me and says "Is that a cello?" "No, it's an upright bass", I reply. He takes a minuet, then says, "A what?"

Playing a set.
Walking up to the bar.
Ordering a beer.
The bartender looks at Me and says..."Ummm....Are You with the band?"

I always hate it when my "friends" say that a bass is a guitar. I was arguing with one of them once about the quality of domestic and imported electronics, I forget why, and I was saying that American basses are better than Japanese basses. So he said that guitars don't count as electronics, I mean, first of all discounting the importance of electronics in a bass, but the fact that he said guitars and basses were the same thing was the worst.

As for the whole Japan/U.S. thing, I could just think of more American bass companies than Japanese ones, and I was trying to defend American electronics. I'm not trying to spark a debate here or anything. I love my Yamaha very much.

Originally posted by Ulyanov
I always hate it when my "friends" say that a bass is a guitar.
A bass IS a guitar - a BASS guitar. :)

I am pretty sure that this little scenario happened:

"Hey dylan, you get that new awesome bassline I sent you?"

"I sure did eric, let's go play at the talent show"

*the next day*

"Eric, that was such an awesome show they loved us, finalyl we'll be popular!"

"I know, dylan, let's go see what they think"

"You guys sounded great, but you got ripped off dudes, think how good you'll sound once you get the rest of the strings put on your guitar...and get some picks too"

CNN: Today america is saddened as a tragic act.....

After a rockin gig where we blew the roof off the sucker...press photographer lines the band up for some shots...except me..

Me.."errrm I'm the bass player"
Photographer.(vacant stare) o....k...

He then turns back to the rest of the band ignores me and takes the picture anyway, wouldnt have minded much except the review of the gig sang the praises of the "exceptional guitar solo during Mr. Pink..!!!!???????"

IT WAS A GODDAMN BASS YOU PLEBS!!.


Scenario 2:
Frustrated composer and trombone player: "that bassist is crap he's not even playing whats written in the score..."

Musical Director:"errrr well actually he's playing the bass parts and the cello parts, cos we dont have a cellist".

(Bear in mind this trombone player is the same guy who during "light of the world" from Godspel was arguing that the bass is root fifth root fifth etc.....tsk..moron).

scenario3:
The sound engineer in the recording studio who stops the tape everytime the bassist moves away from the first 5 frets and plays higher up the neck...."NO!..NO!..NO! The Bass has to play boom..boom.boom".....yes this really happened.

When I told some guy I play bass and he said "Oh, is that all?"...that pissed me off.

"Sure you can't even play chords on a bass, you can only play one note at a time."

Some peice of dog turd said this to me when I was in Toronto at the Horseshoe.

scenario3:
The sound engineer in the recording studio who stops the tape everytime the bassist moves away from the first 5 frets and plays higher up the neck...."NO!..NO!..NO! The Bass has to play boom..boom.boom".....yes this really happened. [/B][/QUOTE]


Holy s**t!!!! That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time.

My only contribution would be a few months ago, I joined the band I am in now. At the first full band rehersal after a couple of weeks of learning tunes off of soundboard tapes, I set up my rig and pull out my Ibanez 6 string. The guitarist turned around, looked at me, and said "How do you play that thing? It has too many strings!"

I laughed for weeks.

my boyfriends a singer in a band and he said he will teach me to play bass too! oh why do you use 5 strings?

Why do we play 5 strings or more? It is purely a phallic thing. We can not afford fast sports cars, so we buy basses with really thick necks and alot of strings so we have bigger equipment. We don't actually PLAY those extra strings, they just make us feel better about ourselves.
*Wink*

Comment that pisses me off- "What's the bass?"
For anyone that gets pissed off by the lack of respect for the keeper of the low end- check out my site- www.uglybassplayer.com-

A girl was trying to hit on me after a gig about 2 years ago...she blew it BIGTIME by saying:

"You are an awesome bassplayer, because noone notices or hears you!"

Ha ha...getouttahere...

There´s the "average Joes" oppinion to the bass´s part of a band.

funny .. that's what most people think of John Frusciante from the chili peppers ..

the thing I hear regularly that ticks me off the most is from techs--"Oh that's ok. we don't reall need to soundcheck you, I mean after levels, bassists all pretty much sound the same, right?" come on! after checking drums and guitars for 2 hours, I DEMAND my 30 seconds! Most people seem to think that we never spend time or money on our tone or our sound-the dolts. As a bassist who also mixes, I often get the biggest warm fuzzies from the bassist that I spent 15 minutes working on, so I could ACCURATELY reproduce that cool tone he spent 10 years discovering. I also despise guitar players that say"Man how do you play that ton-of-bricks?" My Ergodyne is heavy?!?!???? pick up a Les Paul someday!

Yeah, ergobiff, I hate that too. Usually, I'm just grateful if my band gets a soundcheck, but when we do, it's normally half an hour of carefully EQing the high hats, and setting up the monitors so guitarists can have all traces of anything else removed. While I'm on the subject, another thing that annoys me about soundchecks is when a band decides to play virtually their entire set - "just one more, please, I think the floor tom's got a bit too much top on it"...

As for puny guitarists complaining about the weight of a bass, I like that. Another chance to make the guitarist feel puny and rattle their egos a little... ;)

Originally posted by draken613


there's a band in NY called Burn Guitars. 3 bassists and a drummer. they sound really good.

that is awesome, my band ,aka the guys I jam with, include 2 bassists and a geetar player, talk about role reversal!


also remark that pissed me off
"so your playing bass cuz you want to play in a band?"
like you couldn't do anything else w/ a bass

I'm so thick-skinned, it would be hard to piss me off with a smartass remark. My philosophy... don't get mad, get even!

Originally posted by *ToNeS*
uhmmmm anyone else ever notice that the word "ass" is in bass? stupid guitarists think they're sooOOOoooO clever with that one, i tells ya ..

Simple response -

Ever notice that the word "tar" is in guitar? Probably explains why you play so shi**y. You must have yours smeared all over your fingerboard. ;)

A kid once told me-

"Well of couse you can do that, all you have to do is put your finger on the string and play, thats soooo easy."

I all the sudden had this urge to beat him with my Bass, then I realized my Bass is too valuable for that. I need only ask him one question.
"You wanna try it?"

A heavy metal listening co-worker told me the other day 'Bass is useless - you can't even hear it - they may as well get rid of all the bass players!'

I told him how sorry I was to learn of his hearing problem... That or his bad stereo problem!

Originally posted by Country Boy
A heavy metal listening co-worker told me the other day 'Bass is useless - you can't even hear it - they may as well get rid of all the bass players!'

I told him how sorry I was to learn of his hearing problem!

LMOA!!!:D:D Good one! I'm gonna have to steal that one from you for future use...

When people have said, bass is easier than guitar to me, I pull out the seven string Conklin and and play slap triplets as fast as I can, (ignore cheese factor) up and down three octaves, that always shuts them up. People are lemmings.

One little thing, a lot of people that make comments about bass are usually trying to get a rise out of you so if they don't it usually pisses them off. It is funny to see them get upset because they can't do the same to you. If this doesn't work I jump into the same boat as XavierG I don't get mad I get even.

Originally posted by ergobiff
the thing I hear regularly that ticks me off the most is from techs--"Oh that's ok. we don't reall need to soundcheck you, I mean after levels, bassists all pretty much sound the same, right?" come on! after checking drums and guitars for 2 hours, I DEMAND my 30 seconds! Most people seem to think that we never spend time or money on our tone or our sound-the dolts. As a bassist who also mixes, I often get the biggest warm fuzzies from the bassist that I spent 15 minutes working on, so I could ACCURATELY reproduce that cool tone he spent 10 years discovering.

I'd shoot myself if it took me 2 hours to put a mix together :D. Yeah, a lot of sound guys do ignore the bass. That rots. Of course, the best engineers are bass players anyway ;).

On another note, I've had all kinds of things said to me about bass, but I've the funniest things (and most irritating) while mixing sound. "jeez, buddy, you're a great keyboard player, why aren't you on stage?" I explained to the guy that I had bad stagefright and that I had to control the lights...we had 4 par cans. Or Q." what happens if I turn this knob?" A. "your nose gets broken." I really love the people who come up to you and say: X is too loud / not loud enough / too bassy/ not bassy enough etc.:rolleyes:. Everyone's a soundman. I ask them where they work, and what they do. Then I tell them " I don't know anything about that, but I'll be in on Monday to tell you how to do your job." They usually scuttle off and leave me alone after that....

I hate it when non-musicians tell me that I am too loud, or that I have bad tone. Or what's even worse is when they say: "Bass players are always too loud". Everyone's scared of volume. "Oh no, the bass player might be heard!!!"

Originally posted by NeoTrotskyist
I hate it when non-musicians tell me that I am too loud, or that I have bad tone. Or what's even worse is when they say: "Bass players are always too loud". Everyone's scared of volume. "Oh no, the bass player might be heard!!!"

I'll second that. I even have a bass playing friend who always complains that I play too loudly. But look at it this way: you never hear people say "crank up the treble!". You can crank the bass without making the audience go deaf. Just try that with a geetar.

Originally posted by LiquidMidnight
When someone says something like Chris Novelisc (or how ever you spell his name) from Nirvana, or the dude from Blink-182 is a good bass player. Also "Bass would be easier than guitar because you only have 4 strings", makes me laugh also.

interestingly enough i find myself angry when people say that krist noveselic ISNT a good bass player. he did what he could with those songs, he filled out the bottom end, and when given some room he played some really good ****.

listen to "lounge act" or "even in his youth" and then try to talk ****.

One that really ticked me off was from my brother when I was showing him my Demo CD that we had just cut-
-him "Why aren't you in this song?"
-me "What are you talking about I am playing the bass the whole song."
-him "See that's why I hate bass, You can never even hear it."
-me "But It was just me and the drums"
-him "Oh, I thought that was just a messed up guitar sound."

Granted that my brother is not in anyway a musician, I still fail to see how you can not pick out a bass line in a song, or mistake it as a "messed up guitar sound."

hmm, probably ''Your not talented enough to get into Berkly(music college)" and "Why do you play bass anyway, you cant play guitar?" OK, for one, not to brag or anything but myself and others consider me as a very good bassist, and for two yes I can play the f****** guitar. But you want to know the funniest thing about these comments? They both came from my grandmother.

here we go again bitching about who has it worst before I play bass I could have seen booth sides of the fuss but then I grew up I dont even let people make me mad with thier stupid crying how would you like having to grow up playing a insterment nobody else plays like a harp or something it makes a good sound but you cant carry it around but does that make it harder or better

<font size=4>. , : ; - ? !</font>

Originally posted by chubby28081us
here we go again bitching about who has it worst before I play bass I could have seen booth sides of the fuss but then I grew up I dont even let people make me mad with thier stupid crying how would you like having to grow up playing a insterment nobody else plays like a harp or something it makes a good sound but you cant carry it around but does that make it harder or better

Okay, calm down. Take a deep breath. Now start again from the beginning. :)

Ok there is one group of idiots that we cant be mad at! They are the guys that think bass would be easy to learn because it only has 4 strings! So they buy it and try to jump into a band! Ok now think about this!~ Were do you get all these used basses at good deals at music stores? Same idiots!

Originally posted by eric atkinson
Ok there is one group of idiots that we cant be mad at! They are the guys that think bass would be easy to learn because it only has 4 strings! So they buy it and try to jump into a band! Ok now think about this!~ Were do you get all these used basses at good deals at music stores? Same idiots!
Good point! Can we still mock them behind their backs?
:D

Originally posted by chubby28081us
here we go again bitching about who has it worst before I play bass I could have seen booth sides of the fuss but then I grew up I dont even let people make me mad with thier stupid crying how would you like having to grow up playing a insterment nobody else plays like a harp or something it makes a good sound but you cant carry it around but does that make it harder or better

Yeah! What he said! :D :p




( :confused: )

shmet oiethgilredn il123 sooooooopppaaaa |MULTIPASS CORBIN DALLAS!!!| iotdljfli.en 78888888 **YWheunowe JJKkkkK !!!!! _--_-_- B00M >?<


*raises eyebrow questioningly at chubby28081us and shrugs*
:D :D :D

I just tell them " hey, screw you !" and kick them in the naughty bits. :eek: :D

Originally posted by Bassr64
kick them in the naughty bits. :eek: :D

YES! That has got to be my favorite way of expressing that particular action...:D

AAAAAHHH
GOD THAT WAS FUNNY

i got this one in class from an ignorant but innocent girl:

"So you play bass? Isnt that the same as guitar??"

wow, if it wasnt against my morals to smack girls she would have felt that one.

Heh heh...hey Beavis, you said smack!...heh heh...

Actually, what irks me more than ignorance (which is bliss...or so they think) it's the people who THINK they know something about bass because they play another intrument (i.e. guitar, drums, saxaphone, ect.)

This one was funny:
While my band and I were tunning up/warming up there were a couple of guys from another band hanging out. Shortly after I turned on they started shouting "The Damn Bass is TOO LOUD!!!".
So I turned UP...
After we finshed the first song they immieadtly said to me "Dude, YOU ROCK!!!". I laughed my ass off. As did everyone else in my band.

This one was funny too:
I was having an argument with my dummer (not mis-spelled) about musical styles. I always make fun of him for not buying a CD made in our millenia (or longer). Anyway, I'm into Funk and Jazz and even Rap-Metal kinda stuff. He proceedes to dog me for it and I call him on his closed-mindedness. The he says to me, and I quote: "Gawd Damnit, I AM NOT CLOSED MINDED!"
And I retort by saying "You just proved my point". Everyone except the dummer had an extremely long laugh after that.

when someone tries to tell me bass is easy, i tell them that their mom is easy. im 16 years old and in a super hyper punk band, people expect some immaturity out of me.

well i'm a fourteen year old [almost fifteen] chick, and i've been playing bass for two years. i told a friend of mine that i play bass and he was like "oh, but isn't bass for guys? and tall people?" pissed me the **** off ha

I play bass in my church, along with some other churches and in a band, and this guy says to me, "You play bass, huh? So how long do you have to play bass before you can play the guitar in your church?", like it's some sort of seniority thing or something. Little do most people know that I'm also the best guitarist in my church but I like the bass because I can control the dynamics more.

Another one is, "Tone? Who cares about your tone? You're just there to fill in the gaps." :scowl: Little do they know.

Being asked why people play bass when it sounds better on a keyboard anyways.

From a male drummer, at our local jam...the guy didn't know me.

"Ooooooh, how cuuuute! They gave a little girl a bass! Very funny guys. Where's the real bassist?"

The other players assured him I could play, but he scoffed and said, "Whatever."

I turned to him, smiled sweetly, and said, in my best Valley Girl imitation, "No, loser. Its 'cha, whatEVERrrrrr!"

And then proceeded to show him how the cow eats the cabbage, and that "little girls" can and do play bass, quite well, thank you very much, jerk. My first two songs weren't, you know, great. But the other six were awsome, and on the last one, I had to lead that loser out of the woods, 'cause he was really, really lost.

BWA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!!!

He's the third idiot I've encountered as a bassist who believes women should fill the roles of groupie, fan, or mama, and stay off the stage. I love sonically slaying idiots.

Cherie :bassist:

"A band doesn't really NEED a bass." - Singer in praise and worship band. I would hang out with my friend, the band's sound guy, during practice and he told me they sucked because they had no bass. I about wanted to say, "Actually a band doesn't NEED an ignorant singer."
and...
"You shouldn't spend money on a good bass because they all sound the SAME."
This stuff drives me crazy.

Holy thread resurrection batman!

"You're a just a guitarist who wishes they could play bass."

The man who said that is lucky that I am nice, will inform him politely that his remark has offended me.

would definitely be the time that some drunk bastard demanded that I play My Name Is Mud, and then told me that it was good, but I missed a few notes....... what the hell, I never said I could even play that shite:eyebrow:

the best is the comment anyone can play bass. bass is easy

I get "you're a counselor with tattoos & long hair?"

Was called "fat piece of trash" by an ex.


And some crack head (yes he's a legit crack head) told me that he was going to rape/kill my girlfriend & mom if I violated his probation for testing positive on a urinalysis. That one almost cost me my job.

jeebus this thread is from 2001. I was 11.

my MOM still doesn't know the difference between a guitar and a bass -- if SHE can't get it straight, I hold out little hope for the general population.


My mom still can't tell the difference either, and she bought me both of my basses as xmas presents...BTW, my 2 year old son already can tell the difference :D

And we would spend all our time reading catalogues.. "oh yeah, that strap.. and that bridge.. chromed knobs, yea must have those.. ooh, custom paint job.." :)

you know, some of the people on TB do that...


anyway, a few years ago I was talking with a very respected local singer/noise musician about needing to buy a new set of strings because I had broken my low B string, and he said "why do you need a 5 string anyway? With willie(my ex-guitarist), you only really need the E string." At the time, it pissed me off, but I later realized that he was making fun of willie and not me.

"Dont really need a bass when i turn my bass knobs all the way up on my marshal"


WHAT A KNOB!

"
"You shouldn't spend money on a good bass because they all sound the SAME."
This stuff drives me crazy.

I get that one alot. I dont get how guitarists cant tell that basses sound different. I remember a couple months back when I just bought my p bass. And the guitarist comes up to me saying that it sounded just like my old bass the jazz bass.

Oh here is this one from my guitarst but this is when I quit, "We dont need a bass player, we tune low enough we dont need a bass player."

I swear to god I would have punched this kid in the scrotum.

just tell them that guitar is only in rock, country, blues, and some jazz. When the bass is basically in all music genres.

Thats what i used when a friend said that their aren't very many bassest. I also pointed out that jaco is better then most guitarist

I get that one alot. I dont get how guitarists cant tell that basses sound different. I remember a couple months back when I just bought my p bass. And the guitarist comes up to me saying that it sounded just like my old bass the jazz bass.


The guitards who can't think all basses are the same are almost always the ones who own at least 3 different style guitars too.

You guys must change the music style. In latin music we are the center of attraction next to the piano, and there is no guitar player unless there is Carlos Santana.
If you miss a step, everyone falls behind you, if you do it right, you get prays and chicks.

Oh here is this one from my guitarst but this is when I quit, "We dont need a bass player, we tune low enough we dont need a bass player."

I swear to god I would have punched this kid in the scrotum.

Oh yeah?

"We're going to tune drop C so we don't need a bassist"
"We're getting a keyboardist, not a bassist".

One day he's going to wake up with no hands.

Here's another fave of mine...the guy who wants to tell you how to play, because *he knows someone who plays bass*.

So, I'm playing a gig, and this guy comes up and tells me where I need to play a certain riff, or be more up and down the neck. While I'm playing. And every time I'm on break. He even broke into our conversation during mid-gig break to tell me how much I suck. I ask him if he's a bassist. No, his friend is. I ask if his friend plays in a band. No, he doesn't. He sits in his garage and plays his bass with cd's.

The dude then tells me that I need to take lessons from some chick I have never heard of, who lives nearly three hours away. My bass teacher was sitting right next to me. He is 6'7"...a big, burly black man with a lazy eye who can look real scary when he wants to. (He's a sweet and gentle soul, really, but he looks like a big, bad dude.) So...I asked my little pest whether he'd like to meet my teacher and tell him how badly I suck. He said yes he did, and he was going to tell my teacher how much he sucks, too!

Until I pointed to my teacher. Then the little cockroach turned a whiter shade of pale, and fell over himself trying to buy us drinks.

Too little, too late, worm.

Cherie

Nice one Cherie! That's hilarious! :D

Words...just words. Ignore the ignorant.

When people compare guitar and bass, or question my choice of instrument, I say something along these lines:

"When I pick up a guitar, I simply don't like the way it feels or sounds. However, bass feels good in my hands and in my head. I have respect for great guitar playing, but I have no desire whatsoever to play guitar."

No need to get pissed, or feel inferior, or get defensive :).

OMFG, I have never met anybody described on this board before. I guess thats a blessing. The only comments I have ever got were "you are too loud" and a few other ones like that. It might be though that I am the most intimidating 5' 7" guy i know and am quick to making people feel stupid. Most of my musician friends are really cool too, so no problems in bands. Although I know one guy who frequently mistakes my B-string for the E. I just laugh.

when i was messing up in marching band, the instructor was like "cmon pat, get the damn thing right, you only have 4 strings to deal with, not 6"

[QUOTE]I need a good, sarcastic, witty reply to a goober who constantly says "bass is so easy"./QUOTE]

Why Yes, yes it is!.... Yet, I'm getting paid,have my choice of gigs and will have women buy me drinks at my gigs .... it must suck to work so hard at learning guitar only to have thousands of players better than you.



what the difference between a bassist and a taxi?

Taxi usually only carries 2-3 people;)

The worst one which I had after a gig on friday past was "You're the guitarist right?"

This annoyed me for many reasons, one being, I'm the ****ing bass player. Another being, I'm about 6"3 with hair, and our guitarist is about half the size of me and bald. And another would be that I'm 22 and the other guys are at least twice my age.

ROAR.


Rich

The thing that got me rattled the most was when I first started playing the bass in order to be in a friend's band. I was told by my friend's girlfriend (who has been in so many bands but is too scared to play in public) that I was s####. What annoyed me the most was that she was right. I would like to say that I have improved since then, a lot. Funny but I have never heard her play at all. :rollno:

I toured with a band once that was always on my ass for doing runs on the bass and then when on tour I'd hear MY runs coming out of the guitars and that REALLY pissed me off. Like *** is that, my runs are good but not for my instrument? I guess that's why this started out with "I toured with a band once..."

Okay, what was that one remark said by a non bassist that just fried your brain and really got you angry? Ive been told many times that bass is so much easier than the guitar. I hate it! You know, us bassists get no recegnition around here. Bass = superior!

I generally regard people who make dismissive, negative comments (like the kind you mention) as idiots who have no clue, so I generally don't bother with them- not worth the time/effort.

Best to you.

"You can't spell bass without ass". That pisses me off to no end. Then I tell him it's because you're guaranteed ass when you've got a bass.:p

When people compare guitar and bass, or question my choice of instrument, I say something along these lines:

"When I pick up a guitar, I simply don't like the way it feels or sounds. However, bass feels good in my hands and in my head. I have respect for great guitar playing, but I have no desire whatsoever to play guitar."

No need to get pissed, or feel inferior, or get defensive :).



Best post of the thread. This is exactly what I do because it's exactly how I feel.

Fieldy's different, though. He's a frustrated drummer. :)

I have always said that! Sigged :ninja:

While testing out my new multiFX before practice, the wiseass drummer (who sincerely believes that all bassists should play and sound as much like JPJ as possible at all times) sez, "Got one that sounds like a bass"?

dickface...

when i was messing up in marching band, the instructor was like "cmon pat, get the damn thing right, you only have 4 strings to deal with, not 6"

I have visions now of someone marching with an amp strapped to their back, and someone else hauling a generator.

The guitarist and second-banana songwriter band mate who, with every song he'd bring in would say, "Just play eighth notes like the Ramones." And I mean EVERY SONG.

"play the seinfeld bassline"

got that one last night at a gig..

A bass IS a guitar - a BASS guitar. :)

Uh... I dont like to associate myself with those people...

I call it "The Electric Bass"

I always considered an electric bass to be the electric version of the double bass, but that's just me.

...I really hope that when people in this thread talk about anger and rage and being really really pissed off that it's just extravagant language. ...I mean... does anybody really care when somebody who has never taken an interest in the bass expresses an uninformed opinion on it? Is anybody that insecure? It seems crazy to me.... especially when people talk about countering the accusation of "bass is easy" with whipping out their bass and playing crazy complicated slap licks to shut them up. That seems so insecure and cheesy to me that I think it lowers you to the same moronic level of the feckless idiot that started the conversation :D
I tend to save my anger for things that need it.
I love the bass and the opinion of uninformed twats means nothing to me. I just smile and get back to playing :)
:bassist:
:cool:

...Fieldy's different, though. He's a frustrated drummer. :)

ME TOO! WHOA!!! :eek:

here we go again bitching about who has it worst before I play bass I could have seen booth sides of the fuss but then I grew up I dont even let people make me mad with thier stupid crying how would you like having to grow up playing a insterment nobody else plays like a harp or something it makes a good sound but you cant carry it around but does that make it harder or better

The problem with the spiders from mars is that robert smith looks like a pased over raped crow even with lipstick i mean for the love of spanky pants!
:confused::confused::confused:

Ok more on topic, i get the four stirngs six strings comment alot... but from a guitar hero fanboy so meh i let him be
Besides that i dont really get comments... my friends are quite uhm musical my guitarrist (also best friend) respects me quite alot after all he started playing bass because of steve harris.
My mom and dad keep calling it a guitar tho...

This one is for another topic maybe but this really REALLY got me angry, i live in mexico so the only way to get gear is you go to this street in downtown mexico city where there are like millons of music gear shops all started by foreign companies and run by people who need a job and know NOTHING about what they sell right, so i was asking to test an mxr auto q and the girl handed me a guitar so i said, can you hand me a bass please and he said "noooooo you'll burn it"
I just walked out..

"You mean tuba, right?"

a few years ago I was talking with a very respected local singer/noise musician about needing to buy a new set of strings because I had broken my low B string, and he said "why do you need a 5 string anyway? With willie(my ex-guitarist), you only really need the E string." At the time, it pissed me off, but I later realized that he was making fun of willie and not me.

i get stuff like that all the time when people see me play my sixer, they're always like "but thats a bass, isn't it supposed to have four strings? thats the same as a guitar cuz it has six string, blah blah blah ignorant close-mindedness" one question though...how'd you manage to break the B string?:confused:

Bass = superior!

That kinda pissed me off. Why is it a contest?

I have it lucky. My band knows how important my bass is considering we are only a trio. They know that if I stop playing, they both sound horrible. =D

Holy thread resurrection batman!

Yeah seven years later, that's a fair effort.

...I really hope that when people in this thread talk about anger and rage and being really really pissed off that it's just extravagant language. ...I mean... does anybody really care when somebody who has never taken an interest in the bass expresses an uninformed opinion on it? Is anybody that insecure? It seems crazy to me.... especially when people talk about countering the accusation of "bass is easy" with whipping out their bass and playing crazy complicated slap licks to shut them up. That seems so insecure and cheesy to me that I think it lowers you to the same moronic level of the feckless idiot that started the conversation :D
I tend to save my anger for things that need it.
I love the bass and the opinion of uninformed twats means nothing to me. I just smile and get back to playing :)
:bassist:
:cool:

eh, i'm with most of these people though. It's just really annoying getting comments like them from idiots who probably don't know how to play anything. :D

Some guitarist at my school, one of the metalheads who doesn't have much brain was talking to me in music. He said "you know, I think I might start playing bass, because it's basicly guitar only easier right?"

That ticked me off a bit, and my friend who is also a bass player. But I'm a calm guy I just left him to his 'Dragonforce' riffs. :)

eh, i'm with most of these people though. It's just really annoying getting comments like them from idiots who probably don't know how to play anything. :D

+1 especially as the thread is about things that pissed people off... happens sometimes, no? No murder involved here...

The guitarist and second-banana songwriter band mate who, with every song he'd bring in would say, "Just play eighth notes like the Ramones." And I mean EVERY SONG.
I do that in reverse to my guitarist. I'll write the guitar part, and then bitch when he tries to change it. I'll tell you what I tell him:

"If you wanna play something different, go write your own damn song".


Ironically enough, when he does write a song, it feature the eighth note strumming he was bitching about before...

Nice one Cherie! That's hilarious! :D

Thanks!!! I never have seen my little Mr. Scabbers again. Maybe he's busy listening to his buddy play bass-as-mastubatory-guitar in the garage?

LOL!

Cherie ;) :bassist:

"Damn that's a big guitar!"

i just watched this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-6iBqssn24&feature=related

and then (mistakenly, of course) started reading the comments...
ahh..
youtube users make me SO ANGRY!!!

the playing on the other hand, made me...
impressed at least.

[spunj13]

A while ago when I got my MTD, my mom had told my grandmother that I bought another guitar.

Grandma replied "Oh, I'm so glad he is finially playing the real guitar."

:rollno:

"Damn that's a big guitar!"

XD, not gonna lie, i lol'd:hyper: and i've gotten that comment before too:rollno:

The only thing that seems to grind my gears now is incompetence.

If the topic of what I play comes up, I just say guitar, because it ends that discussion more quickly.

While testing out my new multiFX before practice, the wiseass drummer (who sincerely believes that all bassists should play and sound as much like JPJ as possible at all times) sez, "Got one that sounds like a bass"?

dickface...

lol. Gotta admit that's pretty damn funny.

"Wow that was awesome! Can you beat Through Fire and Flames on Guitar Hero on Expert?"

:scowl:

Yes I can, but... O nevermind.

"Wow that was awesome! Can you beat Through Fire and Flames on Guitar Hero on Expert?"

:scowl:

Yes I can, but... O nevermind.

Don't worry about that kind of crap. Take the compliment, and realize that it's just someone who wishes they could play as well, so they try and equate their GH skills with real guitar/bass playing skills.

The sad thing is that the amount of effort needed to learn to play a lot of those songs on expert is probably not all that different from the amount of effort to actually learn them on a real instrument, but of course, you can't really play guitar hero for a whole crowd of people, so it's kind of wasted effort. It's fun, and if that's the justification, cool, but at some point trying to play on expert becomes more like work/practice, and at that point it makes more sense IMO to put the time into something that will stick with you long after that game is passe.

-Nick

In a thread on another forum somebody linked an article written by a fairly well known guitarist which was basically lecturing bass players about being too loud. I’m sorry but a lecture from a guitarist about being too loud or too busy is as classic a case of the pot calling the kettle as I can think of.

Jason: Well, I'm sure alot of the locally popular rock/metal bass players ARE frustrated guitarists. And probably quite a few of the lesser-known nationally-distributed rock bassists, too.



I beg to differ. I dont know any bassists locally who started out on guitar! and as i work for a company who put on 3 bands a night once a week, i see a lot of bands... I personally started playing bass because i wanted to... if there's any other reason for doing it you really have to question what it is you want from playing...and more importantly why

" dude that set was awesome i loved that little solo one of your guitarists did just before the end of the 3rd song"

that was my solo you inbred a**hole since when does my bass sound like a guitar were you not watching or something? did you miss the bit where i stepped forward and hit the higher frets did your pathetic little brain not put 2 and 2 together to realise that one guitarist was banging the roots while the other was drinkin a pint did you? DID YOU!!!!????

grrr that still winds me up 2 years on i' gonna have a sit down for a bit i think for a cigarette and a bit of a cry :crying:

other than musicians, most people don't even understand what bass guitar or electric bass is. Ask anyone at your work what instrument McCartney played for the Beatles. I bet you get more guitar answers than bass.

my drummer once told me, "your notes are not clear man like the lead guitarists' pierce out!" okay so you keep pounding your double pedal full on and i'd run two octaves higher with some distortion but we dont need that guitard any more in that case

When the guitarist turns around and says, "that's not the right bass part" after he has played at least one wrong chord - loudly - for the previous 8 or 9 songs in a row.

The phrase that pisses me off the most on a gig is it's the end of the night and you're all packed, and the leader says, "Oh, didn't I tell you? You have to wait two weeks for the money."

" dude that set was awesome i loved that little solo one of your guitarists did just before the end of the 3rd song"

that was my solo you inbred a**hole since when does my bass sound like a guitar were you not watching or something? did you miss the bit where i stepped forward and hit the higher frets did your pathetic little brain not put 2 and 2 together to realise that one guitarist was banging the roots while the other was drinkin a pint did you? DID YOU!!!!????

grrr that still winds me up 2 years on i' gonna have a sit down for a bit i think for a cigarette and a bit of a cry :crying:

People can be extremely clueless about what instrument is playing in any given part of a song. In The Knowbodys, our lead guitarist (a tiny little woman) pulled off a truly great lead at a local show. Many people in the audience complimented our singer/rhythm guitarist on the lead. Even when he told them, "No, that wasn't me, it was her." Even though he was playing an *acoustic* guitar.

They really don't know any better. Poor lil puddin'haids. Pity 'em. They don't know any more than what they see on tv or hear at the office watercooler. Danged civilians.

Cherie

" dude that set was awesome i loved that little solo one of your guitarists did just before the end of the 3rd song"

that was my solo you inbred a**hole since when does my bass sound like a guitar were you not watching or something? did you miss the bit where i stepped forward and hit the higher frets did your pathetic little brain not put 2 and 2 together to realise that one guitarist was banging the roots while the other was drinkin a pint did you? DID YOU!!!!????

grrr that still winds me up 2 years on i' gonna have a sit down for a bit i think for a cigarette and a bit of a cry :crying:

haha that made me laugh. that must suck though.

"Your feet stink and you don't love Jesus."

My feet smell like French toast.

"Your feet stink and you don't love Jesus."

My feet smell like French toast.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! Now THATS funny!!!

When someone says something like Chris Novelisc (or how ever you spell his name) from Nirvana, or the dude from Blink-182 is a good bass player.

i think the jokes on you here idiot.i will agree on mark hoppus from blink 182,but not krist novoselic.cause appearently you havent listened to any bassline from nirvana except one from like "in bloom" or "smells like teen spirit".but if you actually took a look into the underground of nirvana and their unpopular songs, you will find extrodinary basslines that differ from the mainstream stuff.and if you think he's bad, than why dont you take a look at almost everybass player from an alternative rock band from today that only plays 5 strings and are never heard.so appearently you arent a fan of good rock at all stupid.or have any taste in music,so go ahead, keep praising your little jaco.

interestingly enough i find myself angry when people say that krist noveselic ISNT a good bass player. he did what he could with those songs, he filled out the bottom end, and when given some room he played some really good ****.

listen to "lounge act" or "even in his youth" and then try to talk ****.

thank you. you are AWSOME!! that guy is such an idiot.
like he's trying to compare cheesy poprock basslines to nirvana. its like shut up. he probly isnt even really a fan anyway. and he probably only listens to anything thats extremely popular by them. thats why he's copping that out..ridiculous..sry to throw a fit but seriously he has no idea. i know it

yeah so i apologize if i offended anybody in the last few bullitins. but i only meant to offend him. so please dont take it personal.and im not insulting jaco or anyone under his influence


but anyways,one thing that pisses me off, is when you play on of the guitar hero games,before you play a song,once in a while a caption will come up and say "be sure to bring a mini fridge on tour with you,its more useful than a bass player"
so im kinda of like. are you serious?? people who made a video game about playing guitar..and NOT EVEN REAL GUITAR are saying that theres no use for a bassist. and its like. what the hell would they know??! they sit around and make videogames!!! they dont even play guitar! they have no idea!!! any real musician would agree that a bass player makes a band complete. its not a band without bass. everyone on here knows that..its like please.they sit at a computer and come up with guitar line buttons that stand for a chord all day.yeah. itd be nice to smack some sense into them.

yeah so i apologize if i offended anybody in the last few bullitins. but i only meant to offend him. so please dont take it personal.and im not insulting jaco or anyone under his influence


but anyways,one thing that pisses me off, is when you play on of the guitar hero games,before you play a song,once in a while a caption will come up and say "be sure to bring a mini fridge on tour with you,its more useful than a bass player"
so im kinda of like. are you serious?? people who made a video game about playing guitar..and NOT EVEN REAL GUITAR are saying that theres no use for a bassist. and its like. what the hell would they know??! they sit around and make videogames!!! they dont even play guitar! they have no idea!!! any real musician would agree that a bass player makes a band complete. its not a band without bass. everyone on here knows that..its like please.they sit at a computer and come up with guitar line buttons that stand for a chord all day.yeah. itd be nice to smack some sense into them.

First of all, you shouldn't be trying to offend anyone on here. The fact that it's targeted at a specific person doesn't make it okay.

Secondly I think that the GH load screens were kind of tongue in cheek. They work with some real musicians there, so it's not like they're totally clueless.

Can you honestly say you've never poked fun at your drummer? Told him he could be replaced with a little box with blinking lights, etc?

And, so the guy isn't impressed by the bassist from Nirvana, who cares? You can politely disagree, rather than calling him names.

-Nick

my apologies man.i didnt know what to say.you know? some times you in a weird mood and you get mad easy and dont think.idc about it now. but its just like, he really has no idea. so ill just leave it at that. and forget the whole guitar hero thing..

One thing that hurt: our singer/songwriter/frontman, a creative, dynamic guy, but not what you'd call a competent musician, once told us: "Anybody could've played in this band. I don't particularly need any of you."

This after all of us more or less dedicated 15 years of our lives to making real music out of his crude home demos and making him sound good. I don't believe just "anybody" could have made a better job of it. The way he sees it is that his songs are perfect from the start and all equally good. But without such a loyal band to take endless care in arranging and pre-producing the stuff I suspect he wouldn't be nearly as well-regarded an artist. I had to cry a little, out of frustration.

Ignorance is only bliss for the ignorant.

:cool
+1
Well said.
If anyone makes "bad bass" comments.
I just laugh.

Bass-wise, my most piss-offing remark was probably being told I'm not a real musician because of someone's creative differences....

years later, with many bands and gigs under my belt, it strikes me as an empty insult ....

while struggling to compose a song my flat mate asks me whats wrong with it, so i start explaining that the frist aproach weits pretty "typical" and i wanted something more challenging to the ears, to express what we wanted and how i tough i could acomplish some self-imposed goals and so on....

he´s not musically trained, yet i tried to explain everything from a personal/emotional way so he could relate, since i respected his music taste and such...

so the guy listents to all my rambling very carefully to answer:

"why do you bother thinking all that, you´re just playing the bass"
he then proceded to make some "dum-dum" walking bass sounds and said...
"you can only play along, but not actually MAKE the music"

:eek:

i was speechless.

BASS RELATED: Any variation of the old "Electric Bass Isn't A Real Instrument" tripe. Got that at least once or twice when I used to do jazz gigs. Dumba$$es! :spit:

And the inevitable "Why don't you play a Fender, maannnnn?" I just seethe with disgust anytime I hear that bit of cretinous stupidity!


GENERALLY MUSIC RELATED:

Played a gig in Weymouth MA once at a rather unique venue (used to be a firehouse and a Masonic lodge at different times, 2 floors and even had the firepole still), well anyway, I liked the owner of the place until he opened his big freakin' trap onstage while introduucing us, and he just RAMBLED on and on showing his lack of knowledge about the band and even saying stupid crap about us borrowing and stealing from other good sources of music (exact words escape me right now it was about 8 years ago). We played our asses off that night and I think the audience (amazingly large considering it was dead of winter and 10 degrees outside) forgot that bit of verbal buffoonery pretty quickly. Some people should just not be allowed near a mic!

my apologies man.i didnt know what to say.you know? some times you in a weird mood and you get mad easy and dont think.idc about it now. but its just like, he really has no idea. so ill just leave it at that. and forget the whole guitar hero thing..

Yeah, no worries. I know where you're coming from. I've had people trash on music that I like, and sometimes kind of think *** is this person talking about. Really I think people just hear really different things when they listen to music :)

And I actually kind of agree with you. I'm not a big fan of Nirvana or anything, but I've never noticed anything wrong with the bassist.

I also wonder why Mark Hoppus is always the example that people use of an overrated bassist.

I'm not going to argue that he's great, but I haven't heard anyone explicitly point him out as "a good bass player", and it certainly wouldn't be the "Remark that has pissed me off the most"

He seems to be a pretty solid player, even if his lines are very simple.



"why do you bother thinking all that, you´re just playing the bass"
he then proceded to make some "dum-dum" walking bass sounds and said...
"you can only play along, but not actually MAKE the music"

:eek:

i was speechless.

Yep, that's why he'll never be a bassist. ;) It's pretty common. A lot of people don't really notice or appreciate the bass.

to me it was when the guitarist in my band who I have played with for 7 years had talked about getting another guitarist for the band and we have had one before and for alot of stuff it helps. But he would keep saying his a really good bass player over and over. Its like I get it, Im a decent bass player I think but his playing guitar not bass and if you think he is such a good bass player just have him play bass. He finally relaized how pissed it had gotten me. Its all good now but at one point I was ready to quit the band because out it. But the guy is a decent guitar player all things considered. The only problem is even with his bas tone its tons of highs, and on guitar it just hurts my ears to much high end is not a good thing.

The worst was at our last practise. Now I can take constructive critisicm, but when the drummer stops you in the middle of the song and tells you to stop "w*nking" about and to play everything low, cos it sounds "sh*t" really pissed me off. This guy fancies himself as a bit of a Jaco, he more or less thinks he can play every ones instrument better than them. Drummers.....

Comments that piss me off the most, is when a guitard thinks that his instrument is the most important in the band, and that bassists just kinda play whatever they want to fill in the background.

But it always makes it better when one of my drummer friends is around. because we both laugh and destroy the guitarist about how drummers and bassists are what keeps it all together. its funny how you can tell who's a real drummer that knows how to do their job just by listening to how they see other instruments, eh?

why cant you play six strings?
are you only good enough for four?

I answered that one cold one day, paraphrasing Scaramanga in the film "The Man With The Golden Gun":

Guitard : "Don't mind him, he's only got 4 strings."
Me : "I only need four."

:D

GT

what gets me, as i also play upright is when the older women come up to me and say "i knew you played guitar, but i didnt know you played cello!"

Sometimes when people see me reading music, they'll ask if I play and I say yes. Then they ask (with anticipation) what instrument I play, I tell them the bass, and they look like I've just destroyed every hope they've ever had in the world....then I meet the people who actually know something about music and upon hearing I play bass, we go on to have a great conversation about it, influences and what not.

It's yesterday when a long time bassist that i met in Archambault said ' If you want REAL slap, don't listen to Primus, Listen to red hot chili pepers'

I was just angry ( he really enphased on the REAL)