Paul gilbert picking up a bass live...

[Suckbird]

So i watched a clip when Paul Gilbert was performing the Racer X song Godzilla and in the middle of the song he picks up a bass..

can somebody tell me what the point was?

Bass + Distortion + Higher register + pick.

I mean, he was playing it exactly the same way he would play a guitar, did he try to impress bassists or what? I'm sure half the crowd had no clue it was a bass...

[superbassman2000]

maybe the crowd think it looks cool?

[tplyons]

Different tone. Thicker strings, more mass, more different. That's probably all.