A strange phenomenon I'm experiencing

[stratovani]

I've been playing bass for over a year now, after playing guitar for over 35 years, and I'm beginning to notice a strange phenomenon, which I'm hoping other guitarists who switched to bass are noticing. When I played guitar it seemed to me that the bass was a rather large instrument, but now that I play bass my perception is it seems to have shrunk, and the guitar is becoming tiny. I really noticed it when I was watching Rush's Snakes And Arrow Live yesterday. During A Passage To Bangkok Geddy played his old black Ric and Alex had his Gibson ES-355. To me the Ric seemed normal-sized whereas it took a guitar as big as the ES-355 to look anywhere normal. When Alex played his Les Pauls they seemed tiny to me. I know it's all perception, but I'm wondering if anyone else noticed this.

[IvanMike]

lol

wait till you play a 5 or 6 string extended range bass or an 8 or 12 string bass (the ones with the octave strings)

then the 4 string will seem tiny and you won't be able to tell the guitar from it's plastic "guitar hero" counterpart.

[lancimouspitt]

LOL.

I've thought the same thing.
Stretching your fingers over a guitar fretboard almost seems funny after playing a 5 string for a few years.

[Marcus Johnson]

Try playing double bass for awhile. Your biggest ERB will feel like a ping pong paddle.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by lancimouspitt

LOL.

I've thought the same thing.
Stretching your fingers over a guitar fretboard almost seems funny after playing a 5 string for a few years.

I have noticed that. I know a bunch of guitar players with much bigger hands than I have and none of them can do the same stretches that I can on a guitar. They all ask how I do it and tell them to do a walking bassline with the one finger per fret technique in first position.

lowsound

[EagleMoon]

It doesn't help matters that people have gained weight over the years either.

[CrazyArcher]

Yep, guitars are tiny. When I pick one I get a feeling that it's a toy and I might break something.

[Munjibunga]

As an aside, I want to congratulate you on the correct usage of "phenomenon" in the singular. That's so rare these days. OK, now back to what you were doing.

[Pilgrim]

I started on upright bass in orchestra. The electrics are ALL much smaller and more portable.

Ditto on "phenomenon". For extra points, correctly distinguish between "criteria" and "criterion".

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

As an aside, I want to congratulate you on the correct usage of "phenomenon" in the singular. That's so rare these days. OK, now back to what you were doing.

As The King would say, thankyouverymuch! Not to blow my own horn, but I do take a bit of pride in my English.

[Fnord Explorer]

Try switching between five-string bass and mandolin. It's like I have to completely re-engineer my hands.

[23035002509452]

well my first bass was a short scale so it made the transition a bit easier

[Hoover]

I know several people who play both standup bass and mandolin. Whaddya think goes through their heads?

[5ivestringfiend]

I used to have a little red Squier Stratocaster before I switched to bass,but I gave the strat to my dad and when I went to see him after playing bass about a year,I picked up the strat and it felt like it was going to snap in half in my hands.