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Advice for Blues trio bass please!
- Thread starter Dr Improbable
- Start date
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I think that was more of a position thing probably because he looks like a converted guitar player. I love Son House but man the guy was looking drunk or high or something. Then it gets even weirder in the second part when Howlin' Wolf starts licking the neck of his firebird. Solid blues playing despite whatever was getting consumed.
+1 for a Made in America Peavey Fury (which is a P bass). They're easy to find for $200 or less and I would take one over a MIM Fender every day of the week.
I play a Pedulla ThunderBass 6 through a TC RH450 with the TubeTone at about 10 o'clock and with it rolled to to the neck pickup, I can conjure up a pretty convincing P bass tone if I stay in the middle of the neck. If I stay in the middle of the neck. If I stay, ok I can't. But the tone is there. You just got to find it. It's about EQ and your fingers.
i found that in a trio less is often more, concerning effects and stuff to 'enhance' yout tone. Especially when the guitar starts soloing and thus leaves the entire lower frequency spectrum to the bass, you're free to do as you please, as long as you keep the harmonics, feed the groove and keep the song rolling.
I tend to walk the bass more and try to adapt to whatever mood the solo sounds like, sometimes minimalistic, sometimes agressive - and no matter what bass i use at the time, i adapt my playing to wherever that bass is strong or i like it best. My fretless P with tapewounds is suited best for blues, but i also like my boutique 5 string or even my washburn paddle with the gain so high i reach a overdriven sound on the hard plucked notes with my tonehammer head.
I tend to walk the bass more and try to adapt to whatever mood the solo sounds like, sometimes minimalistic, sometimes agressive - and no matter what bass i use at the time, i adapt my playing to wherever that bass is strong or i like it best. My fretless P with tapewounds is suited best for blues, but i also like my boutique 5 string or even my washburn paddle with the gain so high i reach a overdriven sound on the hard plucked notes with my tonehammer head.
I'm working on this problem since about seven years... But I guess that I'm lucky, having a guitarist who is somewhat our 'musical director', and who is very very experienced and has very good ears.
Here's what I learned so far:
Tone is important - but only to a limited extend. It helps to use my Tech21 stompbox, it helps to have a 1x15 under my 2x10, it helps to use flatwound strings. But that is, IMHE, the minor part of the equation.
When the guitar player starts to solo, I found it most helpful to really really listen to his playing, and to change my attitude and level of concentration. It is not so much about playing other, busier lines, but about the way you release the notes from your fingers, or press them out of the instrument, let them drip off the fretboard or shoot them into the song. Sometimes, even the posture I assume seems to influence the tone and the way my playing works into the musical texture.
It may sound esoteric, but our playing is the best when we achieve a kind of attitude of listening to each other and to our own playing. You also see that kind of thing when looking at really good or not so good drummers - you almost see, without listening, if the drummer is playing tight and accentuated instead of sloppy and weak. It's to some extend a matter of posture, attitude and concentration. If the focus is right, the tone follows.
Here's what I learned so far:
Tone is important - but only to a limited extend. It helps to use my Tech21 stompbox, it helps to have a 1x15 under my 2x10, it helps to use flatwound strings. But that is, IMHE, the minor part of the equation.
When the guitar player starts to solo, I found it most helpful to really really listen to his playing, and to change my attitude and level of concentration. It is not so much about playing other, busier lines, but about the way you release the notes from your fingers, or press them out of the instrument, let them drip off the fretboard or shoot them into the song. Sometimes, even the posture I assume seems to influence the tone and the way my playing works into the musical texture.
It may sound esoteric, but our playing is the best when we achieve a kind of attitude of listening to each other and to our own playing. You also see that kind of thing when looking at really good or not so good drummers - you almost see, without listening, if the drummer is playing tight and accentuated instead of sloppy and weak. It's to some extend a matter of posture, attitude and concentration. If the focus is right, the tone follows.
Chef
In Memoriam
I have found in our trio and a 6 piece blues band i was in once, that my 5 string PJ with flats has been the answer. You can thump that old school P sound and then dial in some bite when needed. I haven't felt the need to use any effects with most blues stuff as often it doesn't sound natural. A 2x15 is a great blues rig IMHO.
Congrats on getting the gig. I'd go for the Gretsch just to be different, but that's me. I think it would be totally appropriate and not out of place in the blues context. I think it was Howling Wolf's bass player who at one point used a Kay Pro bass guitar. So, there are alternative gear options to the "norm" out there.
Ultimately, play your butt off. Add in some double-stops where appropriate, a chord or harmonic accent sparingly & my favourite for thickening the sound up Octaves . Leave space open or fill it up as per what's needed in the moment.
I'm in a drummerless Delta blues trio guitar, fiddle and me on upright. We become a duo whenever the fiddler fuc... flies off for the summer and space in the music is not a problem. Space on the 'bandstand' however ... is always at a premium here, even with a duo.
This worked:
I'm really concerned about your guit. A grown man should not wear skinny jeans and a duster.
To the OP:
You are getting a lot of great suggestions on how to get a traditional blues sound. What you originally asked for was how to fill up more sonic space.
Be aware that that those are two different things.
A P-bass fills out LESS sonic space than a MM. It does not extend as high in the highs or as low in the lows, and that is the main strength of the P. Put flats on the P and and you get an even "narrower" sound with even more focus.
I think you should reconsider if filling out more sonic space is actually what you want, because it isn't necessarily right for a traditional blues trio.
Then again your trio may not be that traditional. To really fill out sonic space I would be looking into basses with octave courses (8-strings, 10-strings) or perhaps a sixer to facilitate playing chords and bass parts simultaneously. Also effects like octavers, overdrives, fuzzes and choruses.
Then of course there's the playing approach as has already been mentioned.
You are getting a lot of great suggestions on how to get a traditional blues sound. What you originally asked for was how to fill up more sonic space.
Be aware that that those are two different things.
A P-bass fills out LESS sonic space than a MM. It does not extend as high in the highs or as low in the lows, and that is the main strength of the P. Put flats on the P and and you get an even "narrower" sound with even more focus.
I think you should reconsider if filling out more sonic space is actually what you want, because it isn't necessarily right for a traditional blues trio.
Then again your trio may not be that traditional. To really fill out sonic space I would be looking into basses with octave courses (8-strings, 10-strings) or perhaps a sixer to facilitate playing chords and bass parts simultaneously. Also effects like octavers, overdrives, fuzzes and choruses.
Then of course there's the playing approach as has already been mentioned.
Yes! Good point. One thing I really like about the P (I'm a recent convert), especially with flats, and even more when muting - because it is so focused, you can turn up pretty loud and still not get in the way of any other instruments. This gives you the ability to have a very audible and defined attack, while the shorter sustain gets out of the way of the guitars and vocals.
RIC 4003 all the way. I gig with a Blues band when they need me(C.C. Coates band) and they request the RIC Everytime. Here's a link with bass Solo @ 5:40.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGgEyQXkSkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGgEyQXkSkk
I think it is more about how and what you and your drummer play than which bass or EQ you're using. Maybe you both need to play a bit more, add some ride cymbal, add some chords or doublestops on the bass, just to up the intensity a bit.
Or, maybe it is really not a problem, people seem very afraid of silence and space in music. Record yourselves if you haven't already, and check how much sound is really missing.
Or, maybe it is really not a problem, people seem very afraid of silence and space in music. Record yourselves if you haven't already, and check how much sound is really missing.
