Bass or Bass Guitar?

[BassGuitarNerd]

Me and a friend got into a debate... Is it better to call it a bass guitar or just a bass?

[trog]

A bass guitar... because that's what it is.

A guitar that plays bass notes.

Edit- Though I often refer to it as just a "bass", simply because I'm lazy and can't be bothered with the extra word

[Richard Lindsey]

This is a nonissue.

Either, or both. Or just call it "Bob." It doesn't matter.

It *is* a bass guitar, but that doesn't mean you have to call it one all the time. There is no "better" about it.

I think you and your friend need to get out more. j/k

[Cerb]

I simply call it a bass. The only people who seem to care are the elitists who are somehow offended by adding the word guitar. It really doesn't bother me what you call it as long as I know what you are referring to.

[xshawnxearthx]

i say bass when i am speaking to people who know the difference, if not its the guitar with 4 strings.

[BassGuitarNerd]

I had to re-do the poll to include other... It seems there are a lot of diffrent names for it.

[Matt Till]

I call it Stinky Pete.

[Mike A]

Depends on who's asking the question.

[Nadav]

Originally Posted by Mike A

Depends on who's asking the question.

Indeed. I tend to say bass if I'm talking to friends, but if it's someone older, I try to go with bass guitar, since double bass is the real bass.

[groovit]

If I'm talking to non-musicians, I tend to use bass guitar, because they wouldn't know. If I'm talking to musicians, then I'll use bass.

[Modulator]

"Electric bass" or just "bass." I don't like the term "bass guitar" for some reason, maybe because some people tend to shorten it the wrong way and just say "guitar."

I also prefer the word "bassist" to "bass player." I used to play with Nugent drummer/producer Cliff Davies, and he once mentioned that he thought that the term "bassist" had more of an artistic connotation.

[Basstyra]

Originally Posted by Mike A

Depends on who's asking the question.

The same. If the guy obviously don't know anything about music, I call it bass guitar. It's simply a bass anywhere else.

[Selta]

I just say "bass", cos I'm with thecamp that it came from uprights, so it's a bass... I sometimes add guitar, whatever.

Ray

[Minger]

I don'rt really care as long as they just don't call it a guitar...

[pat1151]

Electric Bass since it came from the Double Bass

[tplyons]

It's a bass. I play bass. If you ask me what kind I'll say both electric bass or bass guitar and double bass or upright bass or bass viol or contrabass or string bass or ...

See? This is why I don't specify.

[James Hart]

Definitions of Bass on the Web:

* the lowest part of the musical range
* the lowest part in polyphonic music
* an adult male singer with the lowest voice
* sea bass: the lean flesh of a saltwater fish of the family Serranidae
* freshwater bass: any of various North American freshwater fish with lean flesh (especially of the genus Micropterus)
* the lowest adult male singing voice
* the member with the lowest range of a family of musical instruments
* nontechnical name for any of numerous edible marine and freshwater spiny-finned fishes
* having or denoting a low vocal or instrumental range; "a deep voice"; "a bass voice is lower than a baritone voice"; "a bass clarinet"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

* The lower frequency range of the audio sound spectrum (drums, explosions, etc.) spanning the frequency range of around 20 Hz to 200 Hz. Primarily reproduced by woofers and subwoofers in audio systems.
http://www.audio-direct.com/question...s_byletter.htm

* The lowest range of the male voice.
lms.thomsonelearning.com/hbcp/glossary/glossary.taf

* The lower frequency range of a sound, usually from about 200 Hz down.
www.rolandus.com/glossary_main.asp

* "Low." 1. The lowest male singing voice, below baritone. 2. The lowest part in a piece of music. 3. The lowest instrument in a musical work. 4. In the violin family, the lowest instrument.
www.musicoutfitters.com/dictionary.htm

* 1) The lower range of audio frequencies up to approximately 250 Hz. 2) Short for Bass Guitar.
recordingeq.com/GlosPubAE.htm

* The part of the frequency range made up of the low frequencies. Bass is generally agreed to be those frequencies between 20 Hz and 400 Hz.4
www.streetdreams.com/glossary/indexb.html

* The low end of the audio frequency spectrum. There is no real frequencies where bass is catagoriezed, but it ranges from approximately below 20 Hz up to 400 Hz or so.
www.caraudio.la/glossary.htm

* – Low frequencies, such as those produced by a bass guitar of lower register of a piano.
home.earthlink.net/~cyberses/glossary/glossary.html

* The low-frequency portion of the audible spectrum.
www.stereosoundbook.com/glossary.html

* The lower end of the audio frequency spectrum, approximately 20 Hz to about 1000 Hz.
www.caraudioplus.co.uk/Glossary.htm

* The lower end of the frequency range, from about 20 Hz to about 300 Hz.
www.stirlingaudioservices.com/gloss.htm

* Low frequency end of the audio spectrum. Also, a musical instrument. Also, a fish.
kootenaycoopradio.com/glossary.htm

* The lowest range male voice.
www.ket.org/trips/opera/glossary.htm

* A speaker that is used for low frequencies. Also a type of guitar and a type of fish.
www.cpinternet.com/~dkrantz/glossary.html

* The low audio frequency range, normally considered to be below 500 Hz.
www.xtant.com/html/techSupport/glossary.cfm

* the lowest male voice
http://www.melbournecityopera.com.au...y/glossary.htm

* The lowest part of the audio spectrum, from 20 Hz to 150 or 200 Hz. The lower limit of human hearing is said to be about 20 Hz. Frequencies below 20 Hz are said to be subsonic, and are technically felt instead of heard.
www.3dzaudio.com/speakers_glossary.html

* "Low." 1. The lowest male singing voice, below baritone. 2. The lowest part in a piece of music. 3. The lowest instrument in a musical work. 4. In the Violin family, the lowest instrument.
www.classicalandjazz.co.uk/Dictionary/B.htm

* The original codename for TrueType, internal to Apple, preceding *RoyalT. According to an insider, its derivation was down to the fact that a bass (fish) is scale-able... Some TrueType editing programs still refer to "Bass files".
www.truetype.demon.co.uk/ttglossb.htm

* The low notes; the role of any instrument that typically plays low notes. The term often refers specifically to the acoustic bass
http://www.outsideshore.com/school/a...html/glossary/

* The lowest choral voice, invariably sung by males, the lowest of which is known as the Basso Profundo, and the higher as Baritone.
www.lanejustuschorale.org/glossary.htm

* Low frequency sound produced by a sub-woofer and by the large bass drivers found on other speakers.
www.home-cinema-guide.co.uk/glosb.htm

* deep or low in sound, as in: You sing the high notes, and I'll sing the bass.
www.business-words.com/dictionary/B.html

* a low male voice
basicmusic.net/glossary.htm

* 1. See 'Double bass'2. The lowest pitched instrument in a family of instruments such as the bass recorder, double bass, bass clarinet, tuba, etc.Search Google.com for Bass
www.newtojazz.com/dictionary.asp

[Against Will]

I call it Bob.

Guitars are Stinky Petes.

Drums are Loose Lils.

[retitled]

oh what i love is when people who dont play anything calling anything electric a bass and anything acoustic a clasical guitar

but i jsut refer to it as a bass and if people assume im refering to an upright i will then specify a bass guitar

[Matt Till]

I actually say bass guitar, so when people call it a guitar, I don't turn into a huffy little brat and say: "Uh, you're an idiot, it's a bass... duh!" As many of these threads seem to suggest.

Face the facts ladies and gents. Take a guitar, rip off a few strings, drop the octave, change the role in the band. Bam, you've got a bass.

Do Baritone Sax players get pissed when someone calls their "Bari" a "Sax?"