Coolest compliment I've gotten.

**IvanMike** · #1 04-26-2005, 08:23 PM

yeah, every show i get the "great playing man!" thing. say "thanks" and really appreciate it.

anyhow, this last friday i gig with my regular band and the members of one of my new bands come to check us out. the GP brings his bass playing buddy from an old band of his to check us out as well.

after the 1st set the GP from the new band and i are chatting. he says he likes my playing and his buddy's playing but we're very different. he says "you're much more of a solid 'in the pocket' type of player and he's more of a 'doodely doodely doo' (pantomimes upper register wanking) kinda guy"

as a reformed (almost) "overplayer" that was the coolest compliment i think i've ever gotten.

Trevorus · #2 04-26-2005, 08:25 PM

that's awesome. Especially for a guitar player to know what "the pocket" is!

**MAJOR METAL** · #3 04-26-2005, 08:41 PM

Thats great !

James Hart · #4 04-26-2005, 08:48 PM

Kickin! Congrats!

best I got was Summer 1994. I spent it subbing on geetar in a classic / radio rock band. A Weezerish band was hanging in the club drinking and by the 2nd song they moved to the table off my side of the stage (wasn't very busy till second set). I was a bit unnerved by 4 scruffy geek "guys" with all eyes on me all set. They bee lined to me at the set break saying how great it was to hear a guitarist that actually played 'for the song' and 'with dynamics'... also how they'd been hunting for someone 1/2 as good as me for their original gig.

I said "Good Luck with that... we all play bass"

FYI: I was playing my 64 Guild Starfire and 61 Fender Jazzmaster through my AMP BH-260 + Bag End S12 & S15 bass rig

Peter Squire · #5 04-26-2005, 09:36 PM

yep, best compliment i ever got was that i had a "keen ear".

Bard2dbone · #6 04-27-2005, 03:01 AM

I have lost a lot of the chops that I had in the '60's and '90's. I quit playing as much as I used to. I spent most of my playing time on my 12-string. After a year or two of that, then I get an opportunity to go back to playing bass. Scariness ensues.

After only a couple of jam sessions, I realized just how much I had lost chops-wise. Then while we are practicing, one time, several friends of the drummer just 'appeared' and a party sort of 'happened.'

So I'm over here feeling horribly inadequate, until between songstwo women came up and said "You're awesome. Is it hard to sing and play bass and the same time? that's so cool."

I felt better then.

remo · #7 04-27-2005, 04:01 AM

my best compliment..

drunk hot blonde cutie after the gig: "you're so good at that guitar thing"

awww shucks...

bassicinstinct · #8 04-27-2005, 04:24 AM

Great compliments!

I think the one I appreciated most was when, during the usual band intro section of the show, the guitar player introduced me as "The King of Economy - only the right notes in only the right places."

I was truly flattered.

ZonPlyr · #9 04-27-2005, 07:01 AM

Those are all fantastic. Probably the best one I have gotten was when i subbed in a pretty big name band recently. I was sweating through the entire gig trying to make my pocket as fat as i could and keeping things going. At the end of the night the lead singer (who can be really abrasive and not nice to bass players) came up and told me i did such a good job he didn't even notice I was there. I guess that's a good thing.

Passinwind · #10 04-27-2005, 11:16 AM

I was sitting in with my buddies' surf band last weekend. The lead guitar player's wife is there, looking pretty hot as usual. I see her at lots of gigs, and this time she mentions that she feels like a groupie. Then she says: "only, I'm into you". We're good enough friends to fool around (ermm...

) like that, but it was still one of those things that makes you do a double take.

I-M, I keep getting asked to overplay and wank, and the surf band always leaves me up there with just the drummer for 5-10 minutes in the middle of the set. I've been working hard on reforming myself, and generally I think I'm getting there, but a little backsliding can be fun, no? I guess my greatest compliment was getting asked to sub in the hottest jazz band out here for several gigs this summer. I just hope I'm up to the challenge.

dryheatbob · #11 04-27-2005, 01:20 PM

Don't know if it qualifies as a compliment, but here goes:

I'm in the living room, practicing some R&B and blues stuff- nothing spectacular, just working out a few kinks.

My 6 year old daughter and her friend come into the room to ask something and my daughter's friend says," I didn't know your dad plays guitar."

My daughter shoots back without missing a beat," He doesn't play guitar, he's a bass player!"

God bless her.

Bob

Brendan · #12 04-27-2005, 01:27 PM

My name/face being remembered four years after I quit the scene was pretty good for me. I've walked through the local swill house and been stopped several times, "Hey, didn't you play bass for?" "Yeah." "Man, you guys were tight."

Four years of absence, and having never met these people before, I'd say that about as good as it gets.

Mo'Phat · #13 04-27-2005, 03:25 PM

Just last weekend I had a pretty good compliment. We were playing this really small place with no stage and the 'well' bar was about eight feet to my left, so people were passing by me all night.

During one song, I've got a pretty intricate bassline (if I do say so myself) and these two girls were walking to the bar...one stops the other, points to my hands, they look at each other and start giggle/blushing...but they kept looking at my hands and dancing together until the song was over. I was staring at them for about the last minute of the song, and when it was over and they realized I was staring at them, they ran off, totally embarassed...They looked back, though.

I almost enjoy the non-verbal appreciation of what I do more than the person who comes up and gives me a compliment.

xshawnxearthx · #14 04-27-2005, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brendan

My name/face being remembered four years after I quit the scene was pretty good for me. I've walked through the local swill house and been stopped several times, "Hey, didn't you play bass for?" "Yeah." "Man, you guys were tight."

Four years of absence, and having never met these people before, I'd say that about as good as it gets.

i defintely love hearing that. my first band was pretty established, signed, touring, and what not. had x members of a pretty big old school hc band still around today.

every now and again ill here "hey man, werent you in that band?"

Passinwind · #15 04-27-2005, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mo'Phat

During one song, I've got a pretty intricate bassline (if I do say so myself) and these two girls were walking to the bar...one stops the other, points to my hands, they look at each other and start giggle/blushing...but they kept looking at my hands and dancing together until the song was over.

This is Talkbass, where are the pictures?

**MAJOR METAL** · #16 04-27-2005, 05:22 PM

After i finished up playing one night a guy come over to me and said " Your a wicked good bass player" i said thanks and i just took a good guess where he was from

Steve · #17 04-27-2005, 05:27 PM

Best compliment I ever got?

"You play black"

I'm white. The guy that said it was black.

xshawnxearthx · #18 04-27-2005, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

After i finished up playing one night a guy come over to me and said " Your a wicked good bass player" i said thanks and i just took a good guess where he was from

MASS?

BurningSkies · #19 04-27-2005, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikertrash82

Best compliment I ever got?

"You play black"

I'm white. The guy that said it was black.

I've gotten that one too. Not too bad since I play reggae...

I've also gotten "I just love to watch how you move your hands, it really turns me on"

My favorite was a few weeks ago "I was having the worst week and the worst day ever...until you started playing".

Yes, aimed at the whole band, but they guy was a bar back and has to hear bands 7 nites a week.

pklima · #20 04-27-2005, 06:28 PM

The oddest unintended compliment I've ever gotten was from the guitarist in one of my bands. He was tuning up and asked for a G. I plucked the open G on my DB and he asked "Is that thing hooked up to an amplifier?" Of course it wasn't! But it's a pretty loud bass and I spend a lot of effort practicing projection so I took it as a compliment.