Frustrated with guitar-love bass, can't get into guitar

[HoosierBassist]

I've been playing bass for about 4 and a half years and LOVE it! but, I picked up electric guitar about a year ago, and just don't have the motivation, the drive, or the desire to continue it.

Bass is my passion. I know basics on guitar, but I don't really want to continue it anymore. My Telecaster just sits in the case for weeks at a time.... Should I just stop playing electric guitar and just play bass only? I play bass every single day almost. Guitar, maybe 3-4 times every few weeks. I just don't care. I know it sounds lazy but I don't have fun with it anymore. Sure, it's a nice secondary thing to have, but if electric Bass was a woman, I'd marry her. haha.

I don't see the point of paying for weekly guitar lessons when I just don't practice. I have some slight Cerebral Palsy (very minor IMO) and I think that has something to do with why I don't enjoy the guitar. I can't relax my wrist enough to pick very fast either. I just don't have the time or the desire to continue 6-string anymore.

Bass is fine for me

Your thoughts?

I pay like 15$ a week for a 30-40 minute lesson (same place I go for bass lessons, but I don't really need bass lessons anymore, since I've been playing for 4+ years, and the only thing I haven't really put my time into playing style wise is slap bass) so I think I'd just save $ that way.

[dalkowski]

Originally Posted by HoosierBassist

I picked up electric guitar about a year ago, and just don't have the motivation, the drive, or the desire to continue it.

Then stop. Life's too short.

[bassgod0dmw]

I wish a 30 minute lesson only cost $15. Easily double that around here.

[bobbybass85]

My Strat hangs on the wall and goes a month or two without being touched (unless one of my guitar buddies comes over). I've never taken lessons, and like you don't really have the motivation in learning how to play as much as I do with bass.

Would I keep paying for the guitar lessons? No, I can hack it well enough as is, and I'd rather put that money into bass lessons... or a six-pack...

[Casting Thunder]

drop the guitar.

[bassybill]

I'm a bassist through to my very core - I learned pretty easily and to be honest I never really worked that hard at it. Guitar, otoh, totally different (despite being a semi-competent piano player).

I've tried to get into guitar time and time again over the last 30 years or so and never got anywhere at all. It's just so frustrating being unable to play the thing when I have basses and keyboards around that I can play without the heartbreak. I guess if I really wanted to learn properly I'd try harder, but to my shame, that just isn't in my nature.

[oniman7]

I got a guitar on Christmas. I've played it for about 40 hours since. In ensembles, I like to play the bass. Alone, I get more reward with guitar. To each his own

[zenman]

You seem to have two misconceptions:
1. That as a bass player you also need to play guitar. False
2. That four years of lessons on the bass is enough. False

If I were you, I'd quit the the guitar AND the bass lessons and use that money towards bass lessons with a different instructor. Your current guy is clearly lacking if you think there is nothing left for hime to teach you.

[Timmah]

Originally Posted by zenman

You seem to have two misconceptions:
1. That as a bass player you also need to play guitar. False
2. That four years of lessons on the bass is enough. False

If I were you, I'd quit the the guitar AND the bass lessons and use that money towards bass lessons with a different instructor. Your current guy is clearly lacking if you think there is nothing left for hime to teach you.

+1. There is always something to be learned. I've been playing bass about as long as you and i would say give up the lessons you don't get anything out of. If there isn't another instructor to be had, buy a book, look at YouTube etc. lots of good stuff.

Keep the guitar around even if you don't play it that often. I bought one at a tag sale about a year ago, and sometimes it goes weeks without being touched. Sometimes I play it daily. It's another tool for your bag, IMO.

Take all this with a grain of salt, YMMV etc

[TolerancEJ]

Bass will always be my main instrument but I'd always wanted at least a Les Paul. This past Black Friday in Nov 2012, I finally pulled the trigger when I saw a Gibson Les Paul Studio, in the Fireburst finish for sale at Sweetwater for $599. It's a really sweet guitar. Studio, or not, it's really everything I imagined it to be!

For an amp, I bought a small Orange Micro Terror, full stack, with 2 - 8" speaker cabinets. (Do we still call them cabinets if they're roughly the size of a shoe box? Hehe.) Anyway, the amp at volume #1 is already loud. I have to play it very low, which is fine.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. About 2 weeks into December, Sam Ash sent out a sale email. I normally do not pay attention & just delete these things from my inbox. But the very first thing I saw listed was a Gibson Flying V in classic white for $799. I know they retail around my area for near $1200. I thought about that Sam Ash ad all day long. I even had trouble sleeping that night, with a rapid heartbeat. The next day, I couldn't resist anymore and bought the Flying V.

I received the Flying V & it played/sounded so cool! With my Sam Ash email/invoice, I replied to the company, noting if they offer the same deal on a Gibson Explorer, I'd jump on it in a second. (But sadly, no reply from Sam Ash. Actually good for me, so I didn't kill my credit card. lol)

I should have included a preamble that I've always had a soft spot for Gibson guitars, as my father owns a Gibson ES-120T and I had always played with it at home since I was a child. That said, I would also like to own a Fender American Standard Stratocaster. I know people love Tele's, but I'm not really a Telecaster guy. My guitar GAS list was MUCH less than my bass list (presently at 137). There had only been 6 guitars on my list: Les Paul (didn't matter if it was Studio / Standard / etc.), Flying V, Explorer, Moderne limited run re-issue, ES-137, and the Fender Strat. Now, I've knocked 2 off that list.

[BayStateBass]

No, I'd say keep playing it (the guitar). I play both, although bass is my preference and I'm better at it. But honestly, sometimes I just like to play my guitar. The more you play each instrument, the better you get at both, actually.

Guitar is a whole different animal, really. If you can't get into it, then maybe it's not for you, but really it just takes time. Just like learning to play bass.

I say stay with it. You'll have fun over time.

[VitalSigns]

I was pretty much in your same situation. Then I got an acoustic guitar.

Holy crap is it fun. It's more percussive and there are some cool songs you can learn to play that sound great with just the acoustic.

Bass will always be my lady but sometimes we need a break

[MarkMgibson]

There's no reason for it to a be choice. I play guitar professionally, but in the last few years I've come to appreciate the bass, and strive to become a better bass player. That being said, I doubt I'll ever play bass professionally, but my home recordings sound a hell of a lot better since I started visiting this site (the bass parts, obviously). We're musicians, so there's no reason to limit yourself to one instrument.

[VitalSigns]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

We're musicians, so there's no reason to limit yourself to one instrument.

Exactly.


Music is inside of you. The instrument is just a tool to express it.

[ShredderMaximus]

Since finding my Jackson guitar in a dumpster a few years ago, I've learned alot from it in terms of song writing and its relationship with the bass that I would consider invaluable. I still suck at guitar, and bass will always be my baby, but learning a little guitar has definitely had an affect on how I now see bass in a band setting and I would consider myself a better musician for it.

That said, nobody is saying you have to learn guitar, and if you don't enjoy it, don't play it. I've found it to be a great tool (and theres something in flipping on the distortion and hitting a simple E power chord and letting it ring out that is just oh so soul pleasing) but ymmv.

[LanEvo]

I started playing bass and guitar in the mid-'80s. I always favored the bass, but I wanted to get good at the guitar too. Hey, it was the '80s ... everyone wanted to play guitar!

What frustrated me about the guitar was that no matter how much a tried, it always sounded like crap to me. I would play a part just like on the record, but it would never sound right. I got frustrated to the point where I basically dropped the guitar and have been a 100% bass player for the last 20 years.

I realized that it was because of gear. If I buy a decent bass, I can plug it into just about any amp and get it to sound good, even through a low-end Peavy amp. With guitar, if you want to capture the sound of what you hear on the records, you need multiple (tube) amps and dozens of effects. Those amps are LOUD; even if you had one, you werent going to get the sound you wanted at reasonable practice volume. So, if you wanted to play Crazy Train, an old Strat and 15w Gorilla practice amp weren't gong to cut it.

But all of that has changed now.

Thanks to Line 6 and Guitar Rig, you can get a huge variety of good guitar tones at low volume for a couple of hundred bucks. Want to play Photograph by Def Leppard? Just pull up the Soldano head and Marshall cab with Greenbacks. Set the mic to pick up 50% room ambience. Add noise gate, Phase 90, and chorus. And you've nailed it. For me, the song suddenly becomes fun to play. It's just a bunch of clunky power cords, but so what? It sounds great.

I've become inspired to play the guitar again thanks to Line 6 and IK Media.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by MarkMgibson

We're musicians, so there's no reason to limit yourself to one instrument.

Agreed. It's actually because of the guitar that I discovered my love for the bass. When I got my first guitar, I enrolled in my highschool's music class. First term was fine. I ended up catching on quicker than I thought. Anyway, second term, we were required to learn a different instrument, specifically one written in a different clef. I chose the bass, loved the sound & feel. Never really looked back, though never forgot where I began.

[charliefreak]

I never understand problems like this to be honest. I use technique by ear on bass and I guess that makes it easier for me to do the same with guitar. I do have a hard time with a pick, but I've found that finger picking on guitar is pretty easy if you know what sound (end product?) you're looking for. IMO (get ready to hate me) it's the same instrument in a different voicing. If you like extended range basses, I don't see any reason why guitar can't be the same thing for you. 6-string acoustic guitar = alto bass guitar?? lol

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by charliefreak

...6-string acoustic guitar = alto bass guitar?? lol

Well, I do have a Warwick-Rockbass Alien 6 on order, for March 2013 delivery. I suppose the upper range will bring me to alto bass guitar territory.