Can you tell if you're recognized as "the first who..."?

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Hi everybody.

Just curious after a conversation I had with some friends. This question may be hard to answer for those of you who live in large cities where you can find lots of players, but I think it's easy for you guys/gals who (like me) live in small places where the musicians' roster is easily recognizable.

The question is: Can you tell if there's something in your playing that makes you easily recognizable to musicians and public in general from your city/area? So recognizable that you're the only one associated with that thing in your playing and anybody else who tries to do it is considered an imitator or "influenced by you"?

In my case, I've been told so many times that I fit into that (please notice that I'm not self-praising since I didn't invent any of those things and there's nothing special about them) because:

1- Nobody else wore the bass that high before:



(Which still looks weird to many people here)

2- This. One of my students, who has a kid, brought him once to the university and he said: "Look Ma! The guy who moves his guitar like this!" (While imitating the movement). Then asked me: "Why do you move your guitar like that?" I told him: "Because it has water inside and I'm just draining it".

3- This. Simply put, everybody thinks that the instrument may be damaged. After 14 years, none of my instruments have shown any problems because of that.

Again, there's nothing extraordinaire about wearing the bass like that, shaking it or whacking it. I didn't invent any of those techniques or tricks and that "recognition" is due to under-exposure to different players from people in my city, for sure. Just curious to know if any of you have similar experiences to share. Thank you in advance!

[jeff_bass28]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

2- This. One of my students, who has a kid, brought him once to the university and he said: "Look Ma! The guy who moves his guitar like this!" (While imitating the movement). Then asked me: "Why do you move your guitar like that?" I told him: "Because it has water inside and I'm just draining it".

Next time, say you're emptying the spit valve!

[The Golden Boy]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

1- Nobody else wore the bass that high before:


(Which still looks weird to many people here)

The only reason it looks weird is beacause you're wearing an AC/DC shirt while wearing the bass that high.

[Spencer!]

Who knows, maybe high will become the new low, and all the punk rockers will wear the insturments up to there chin...you could be starting a trend.

[steve21]

I'm probably the only bassist in my school who rocks the 6 string.

By the end of the summer I'll probably be the only one who rocks a large effects rig (Wah, Whammy, Distortion, Delay)

[tplyons]

1. I've been caught doing the neck bend a la Billy Sheehan to hit the low B or C on my four string (with a Hipshot)

2. Artificial and natural harmonics. We've got plenty of bassists, but nobody goes above and beyond what frets there are.

3. Large effects rig.

[SnakeAnthony]

Ummm, being the bassist

There's maybe 3 or 4 other real bassists around here anywhere near my age group. A few guys who are the 'bassist' in a 'band,' and he's never touched a bass and the bands never practiced, and then a few guys who own basses, but cant do anything more than Smoke On The Water (in the wrong key). Most of them pretty good, but all somewhat boring. They all just play what the song calls for, and I tend to go with a bit more than I absolutley have to, but not so much that its crowded in the boat (it helps that I'm in a Trio). I'm one of the only slappers, too. Most of the guys play with picks.

[Edwcdc]

Back in the 80's I banged all but one of the waitresses at Manny's in Rockville. She was too skanky so I had to leave it alone.


Does that coun't?

[thekyle]

The size of my cab is the main one. You would think no one had ever seen a fridge before up here. I tend to scare sound guys.

[mjolnir]

Several things in my immediate area:

I'm the only bassist with a sixer.

I'm the only bassist who knows the names Michael Manring, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Jaco Pastorius, etc. (Some of you might not put Les in that list. That's great, but he's my favorite one, so there.)

I'm the only bassist who incorporates Funk and Blues into the hard rock gigs I do.

I'm the only bassist who can manage to slap fairly well with the bass hung around my balls.

[The Golden Boy]

Originally Posted by Edwcdc

Back in the 80's I banged all but one of the waitresses at Manny's in Rockville. She was too skanky so I had to leave it alone.


Does that coun't?

So you're "the first" not to bang her?

[Edwcdc]

Originally Posted by The Golden Boy

So you're "the first" not to bang her?

I'm pretty sure. I think our guitar player hit it.

[Bard2dbone]

I got some tapping ideas from Stu Hamm and discovered that nobody else was doing that around here at the time. But it my case it was "Hey. Aren't you that bass player that does the Van Halen thing?"

So the short answer is 'No.'

[JimK]

Originally Posted by The Golden Boy

The only reason it looks weird is beacause you're wearing an AC/DC shirt while wearing the bass that high.

That's rich.

In the '70s, Stanley Clarke wore his electric bass even higher...I guess that became the model for a lotta '80s Fusioneers, at least around here in Bum**** Virginia. I guess that 'look' never crept below the Equator?

Keith Horne used to have his up around his neck. What made Horne 'different' was the upside-down tuning (playing a right-handed bass Lefty-style).
Another local guy that stood out with his palying technique was Quentin Berry...the guy that holds his bass almost like a vioiln.

[Akami]

I was booked two summers as the guy who never takes a break and people would walk in telling their friends, "See, I told you he doesn't wear shoes either!"

[Papersen]

Originally Posted by JimK

Another local guy that stood out with his palying technique was Quentin Berry...the guy that holds his bass almost like a vioiln.

I´ve never heard or seen something like that. It´s gotta be real hard for his left arm / fingers.

[zac2944]

It is pretty hard to stand out in Boston.

I make it a point to not stand out. I see myself as part of a band, not a shining star. I'm perfedtly capable of slapping, tapping, wanking, spanking, and all that, but I know better than to pull that $hit on a gig. So I guess not standing out is how I stand out? Still, in Boston I'm a nobody. There are a lot of great players here.