Guitar Snobbery, are these guys in bands?

[AxtoOx]

Just curious. This is why I ask. Bass players are usually in short supply. Good ones even shorter. My band tried out a couple before deciding on me. I play guitar also. When I played guitar, bassist were also in short supply, and we cherished a good one. I know a few that played w/ a couple of bands.
My band seems thankful they found me.
It is true I'm as good or better than my guitarist at guitar and have no problem helping him out when he has a block, but I really don't think that has anything to do w/ it. They just seem really happy to have found someone that can do the job.
That leads me to the question, is the guitar snobbery coming from people in bands, or people that have some kind of complex?
Every band I've been in, we were a unit. All of us.

[meev991]

Well, I used to be a guitar snob, and then I switched to bass

My guess, for why I used to that attitude, was because I felt superior, because of my many strings

It was either that, or bass players, generally, chill out, and are asked by other bands to join....that seems to be the case most of the time, so one could assume that you would be treated as a "guest" of sorts.

and that's my 2 cents

[MazeMouse]

I've only encountered one Guitar Snob so far.... he was without a band a week later

[badstonebass]

I too play both and I HATE playing bass in a band where the guitar player/s are inferior. It really irritates me so I personally avoid doing so. In fact they don't have to be better than me, just good enough to play the music right.

It is not snobbery though. I just like good guitar playing. If I am going to be playing B for 10 bars on an AC/DC song then the guitar player better be able to deliver.

[Eilif]

My band (a country group) also expresses gratitude for me. I'm not an amazing player by any stretch, but I think most bands realize that it's hard to find a bass player because the bassist....

-must be willing to learn alot of songs
-often plays necessarily repetative parts
-doesn't get all the "glory"
- must maintaining a good level of musicianship
- has to stay in the pocket and keeping the band grooving.

It takes as much work, and you get less attention (exceptions exist of course), no wonder good bassists are hard to find.

[Crazyeelboy]

I never really had a guitarist snobbery problem in a band (even back in high school). I'm sure it happens, but I've never seen it.

[cowsgomoo]

i've never had any guitarist act snobby to me... the vast majority of guitarists realise that a good bass player is invaluable to them (if only to make them sound better), and usually treat a good one with a lot of respect

[The Crimson Eye]

I'm currently playing with a guitar snob, but I don't particularly care. My primary concern with the group I'm jamming with is to get better, I've only been playing for a year, and the guitarist about 6 months longer then me. I'll put up with crap for now as long as I feel like playing with the group makes me better. 4 months and then I'm out of this town away in college.

The main reason he feels superior is because he has to play chords rather then single notes, and he has many strings. He is the type of guy that will get on a bass and just start hitting random notes at random intervals in the E pentatonic scale and think it's good/matches what is being played. He has voiced his opinion that the guitar is harder then the bass, but unforunately he has no ability to write songs. I'll get on a guitar I'm borrowing and never touch (why fiddle with an Ibanez GAX70 when I have a Rickenbacker to play?) and churn out a simple 3 chord progression and beat him in the ability to create a song.

However most of the other guitarists I know actually approach me and try to find time to jam with me, and are completely civil towards me and not pompus in their assesment of their skills.

[QORC]

I am playing with an amazing guitarist and yet he is so grateful for my abilities as well. It's refereshing.

I've occasionally in the past had problems with inferior guitarists. But I've been lucky to have played with several truly superior ones. And for the most part, they've had good attitudes

[ibnzneksrul]

I've experienced much more lead singer snobbery than guitar snobbery.

[WalterBush]

I'm the guy that fires guitar snobs from bands. I went through a slew of them before I decided to lower myself to playing guitar in a metal band I was in a few years back. We couldn't find a guitarist who would shut up and do what they were told.

I ran into guitar snobs in high school, and haven't put up with it since.

Most bands I've been in, I've been a founding member, or was asked to join because my abilities were already known and respected. Anyone not wanting to work as a unit will experience me as the hatchetman firing them, and telling them why they're getting the boot in no uncertain terms.

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by badstonebass

I too play both and I HATE playing bass in a band where the guitar player/s are inferior. It really irritates me so I personally avoid doing so. In fact they don't have to be better than me, just good enough to play the music right.

It is not snobbery though. I just like good guitar playing. If I am going to be playing B for 10 bars on an AC/DC song then the guitar player better be able to deliver.

lol screw B for 10, try all 24 notes ONE EACH!

[lpdeluxe]

Personally, in every band I've been it, the bassist has been an integral part of the group, not only in providing the groove but in determining the direction of the band. I think any other arrangement will lead to problems.

I was the lead g**tar player for many years, until a year ago when I became the full-time bassist in a working band. The lead player is a good bass player, and I can play lead, so we get along quite well.

Having been out of the band scene for a few years, what is amazing to me, now that I'm out and listening to bands again, is how many lame bass players there are who are working! Some of these guys just seem to be playing notes more or less at random where they perceive the beat to be...is there something I'm missing?

[QORC]

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

Having been out of the band scene for a few years, what is amazing to me, now that I'm out and listening to bands again, is how many lame bass players there are who are working! Some of these guys just seem to be playing notes more or less at random where they perceive the beat to be...is there something I'm missing?

sounds like "original band syndrome" (OBS). A psychiatric disorder closely associated with narcissism, paranoid personality disorder, and a wide gradient of self-delusion.

don't you know that they are ARTISTS?? Expressing themselves through their basslines in a way that us WASH-UP SELL-OUT HUMAN JUKEBOX COVER BAND BASSISTS can never hope to either accomplish, understand or even imagine??

*smirk*

[PocketGroove82]

I'm pretty sure guitar players who talk trash about bassists and the bass are only found in high school cafeterias, hometown "music" (ie. guitar) stores, and internet forums.

I've also noticed that when these same type individuals get out of there small town music scene and try to study guitar in a large city at a school such as berklee, they usually tend to realize how ignorant and suckie they really are...their illusions crash all around them, and they retreat back to their small town to work at a starbucks.

[lamarjones]

what kind of snobbery do you guys usually experience? I think I have always been able to deal well with my instrument, but my first band the guitarist was ok and I picked up quickly, and the second the guitarist was pretty well informed and helped me out with theory a lot. We were in band together as well (he was a good sax player, I was a good trombone player), so not sure if I bypassed this somehow...

Singer DRAMA is what I experience the most.

[AHbassist]

Every guitar player I've ever been in a band with has to do their "endless solo" at the end of every song for sum reason, regardless of how good it sounds. Really stupid cuz if I pulled sum slappin and poppin at the end of the song I get told to "shut up, because nobody wants to hear that." Personally I don't really wanna hear Jimi Jerkmeoff push on his whammy and play all of about 3 notes over and over again with distortion out the @$$. Playing bass you have nothing(unless you actually play w/stolen guitar effects), so I get sick of people saying it's an "easy instrument" to play when it all depends on how you play it. Speed is usually their argument, which I don't agree with, cuz you can be fast as h3ll without being able to keep the groove.

[meev991]

[quote=AHbassist;4195418]so I get sick of people saying it's an "easy instrument" to play when it all depends on how you play it. QUOTE]

I ran into this remark the other day

boy, did it get ugly.

[lamarjones]

[quote=meev991;4195889]

Originally Posted by AHbassist

so I get sick of people saying it's an "easy instrument" to play when it all depends on how you play it. QUOTE]

I ran into this remark the other day

boy, did it get ugly.

actually, it is a relatively easy instrument. hold down the g on the e string, and you could probably get away with certain songs without much movement. Ever played a freakin oboe? Just getting a sound out of that that doesn't make me want to kill something is tough work.

As with anything, doing it very well is a complete art form that is no less than the discipline required for any other instrument.

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by WalterBush

...We couldn't find a guitarist who would shut up and do what they were told...

(snip)

...Anyone not wanting to work as a unit will experience me as the hatchetman firing them...

Oh...

A 'shut up and do what your told' kind of "unit".

Joe