Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[Bob_Ross]

Speaking of F Bass, I was on their website the other day using the Bass Builder app. I could easily drop >$10k without even delving into exotic wood or custom paint territory.

But then I remembered

My existing basses are really beyond sufficient

and I have to wonder how much of the "Ooh Shiney Thing!" GAS is purely a reaction to TB itself?

Enablers!

 

[lucas303]

Speaking of F Bass, I was on their website the other day using the Bass Builder app. I could easily drop >$10k without even delving into exotic wood or custom paint territory.

But then I remembered

and I have to wonder how much of the "Ooh Shiney Thing!" GAS is purely a reaction to TB itself?

Enablers!

So true. When I think of the great bassists whose playing I most admire, none of them used anything more expensive/exotic than a Ric 4001 (other than Phil Lesh, but even with him I also enjoy his playing in the early days when he wasn't decked out in bespoke Alembic stuff).

Now that I think of it I guess there's Claypool with the Carl Thompsons and Justin Chancellor with the Wals, but I feel confident saying they'd sound at least 99% as good, and play no worse, on a good $1k-$2k bass.

 

[monsterthompson]

and I have to wonder how much of the "Ooh Shiney Thing!" GAS is purely a reaction to TB itself?

Probably to a degree. I enjoy bass and bass accessories, and having an experience with a piece of gear is something that can be shared with the community. I don't have many friends in real life who can really share the excitement of a new bass or effect, so the TB enthusiasm is a bit of a fix and encouragement.

The weird part is the demographics and how they react. There are so many people here of varying ages and backgrounds, and you can tell when you move outside of the norms by the number and types of reactions. I think there's a group (including me) who has reached a stage in life where a luxury bass of $5k could be purchased without breaking the bank and be kept as a playable piece of collectible art. I had a few struggle thoughts over this. I did the whole "car analogy" and thought that folks with a second/luxury car don't pick which car they drive the most based on which they paid the most to buy. Often the lower cost daily driver gets the miles to save the luxury item for special occasions. Why should a bass be different? I think TB gets people feeling like the more money you pay for a thing the more practical value it must have and the more you need to utilize it. However, I think that certain things can be wildly impractical and still bring you joy. But everything comes with some cost, so finding a comfortable balance is the tricky part.

 

[Poobini]

Probably to a degree. I enjoy bass and bass accessories, and having an experience with a piece of gear is something that can be shared with the community. I don't have many friends in real life who can really share the excitement of a new bass or effect, so the TB enthusiasm is a bit of a fix and encouragement.

The weird part is the demographics and how they react. There are so many people here of varying ages and backgrounds, and you can tell when you move outside of the norms by the number and types of reactions. I think there's a group (including me) who has reached a stage in life where a luxury bass of $5k could be purchased without breaking the bank and be kept as a playable piece of collectible art. I had a few struggle thoughts over this. I did the whole "car analogy" and thought that folks with a second/luxury car don't pick which car they drive the most based on which they paid the most to buy. Often the lower cost daily driver gets the miles to save the luxury item for special occasions. Why should a bass be different? I think TB gets people feeling like the more money you pay for a thing the more practical value it must have and the more you need to utilize it. However, I think that certain things can be wildly impractical and still bring you joy.

At the end of the day, they're just things - if one is in a place to comfortably and healthily afford and enjoy said things, what does it matter how often it's used?

 

[JES]

However, I think that certain things can be wildly impractical and still bring you joy. comes with some cost, so finding a comfortable balance is the tricky part.

I feel like 90% of the gear discussed in this thread fits that category. In your case, I think the calculus that one F Bass = a lot of pedals and modular gear is exactly the right one.

 

[steubig]

even though i've had a day job of one form or another for ever (either supplementing gigs or majority of income), i've never done anything that took more of my *focus* than doing music. more hours, yes. but i've also done gigs were i could guerilla the music stuff (film lighting warehouse, used the building for rehearsals; graphics department, used the stuff to make album covers) during downtime. and i come from a middle-class background. so i've been fortunate (though one could say it made me "less hungry" . . .).

being background music, hired help and/or a cog in the entertainment combine became untenable for my beliefs/sensibilities/ego, so i concentrated on "art" . . .

having twins made me redouble my focus ("use it or lose it"). i learned to juggle a lot of stuff (though my kids and wife would say i didn't do a good job at times).

and, though i feel *okay* about my decisions, i also who friends who were probably more serious/studious/talented who have gone on to have real careers, which i *do* envy.

 

[steubig]

So true. When I think of the great bassists whose playing I most admire, none of them used anything more expensive/exotic than a Ric 4001 (other than Phil Lesh, but even with him I also enjoy his playing in the early days when he wasn't decked out in bespoke Alembic stuff).

Now that I think of it I guess there's Claypool with the Carl Thompsons and Justin Chancellor with the Wals, but I feel confident saying they'd sound at least 99% as good, and play no worse, on a good $1k-$2k bass.

interesting. i’m of the age that i remember that a lot of bass heroes had bespoke/customized/modified instruments: lee sklar, jack cassidy, alphonso johnson, berry oakley, doug rauch, stanley clarke, john entwhistle, marcus miller., mike rutherford. i’m sure i’m missing some folks.

and a pretty common bass these days is a pj, but that was completely a custom thing in the 70s. then all the mods we did to put emg pickups and so forth in fender basses.

5-/6-string basses were all bespoke until a certain time. (if fender had made a real 6-string in 84, that’s what i would’ve had.)

 

[scott sinner]

My noise band used to play a drone day celebration for years; unfortunately COVID killed the local scene. It was great fun. Often we'd be set up a small local bar and have us up but also a bunch of spare inputs for anybody else who wanted to show up and join the drone. They could just come up, plug whatever they had in, make some sounds and leave at their leisure.

that sounds fun.

 

[scott sinner]

I found this very interesting, though it may be old news for all of you non-noobs.

Convolution isn't something I've experimented with much in a creative way aside from the occasional lofi use like sending through an old speaker or telephone etc.

But I love it for make a mix sound like the cohesive 'band in a room sound.'

I have a nice sounding home studio (room built purposefully, good dimensions, some absorption and diffusion) and I like to record in there with room mics for real reverb. But I also have a set of impulse responses I made of my room. Using those to blend in where it made sense to close mics things more really does the trick for 'glue' and near-far depth.

 

[scott sinner]

The talk of pursuing a career in music full time reminds me of my music teacher…
He went to university and graduated in another instrument but mainly plays / teaches bass.
Was having to work 3 jobs teaching plus do his ok paying country gigs… so pretty much all week non stop and was earning less than my admin job and not much above poverty line . I decided I’d rather have money to buy a house / raise a family abs have a hobby of music than go hell for leather in it and barely have money for food and bills… unsure how it is in America or other counties but in aus, even well known musicians here barely earn anything unless it’s one of the very few that win the lottery.

Writing from the US, similar for the vast majority. I have no regrets I didn't pursue it full time.

Not trying to unnecessarily brag, but for context....when I was a teen, people thought I was a musical prodigy. Maybe I had some innate talent, but I think equally important, my grandpa was a guitar teacher - I learned to read music the same time as English....I was playing from an early age...I was placing in state upright bass competitions by high school, I was gigging in clubs before I could drive. I have high school studio recordings I still think hold up.

My teachers, orchestra, jazz bass, were trying to talk me into majoring in music. But I had a lot of friends that were 4 or 5 years older...my older sister's boyfriend was/is an amazing musician. I knew these phenomenal musicians, many with music degrees, who couldn't find jobs, or worked multiple jobs. As far as the potential for stardom, most of my favorite bands were not even household names.

So I went to get a psych degree. And I pissed off all the actual music majors because they were doing school recitals through undergrad and I was playing paid gigs. However, many of those paid gigs really cemented I didn't want to change my major. Weddings, boring weekly background jazz gigs, boring old hippie folk gigs. It was better than retail, and I needed to pay tuition...but not much.

 

[lucas303]

interesting. i’m of the age that i remember that a lot of bass heroes had bespoke/customized/modified instruments: lee sklar, jack cassidy, alphonso johnson, berry oakley, doug rauch, stanley clarke, john entwhistle, marcus miller., mike rutherford. i’m sure i’m missing some folks.

and a pretty common bass these days is a pj, but that was completely a custom thing in the 70s. then all the mods we did to put emg pickups and so forth in fender basses.

5-/6-string basses were all bespoke until a certain time. (if fender had made a real 6-string in 84, that’s what i would’ve had.)

To be clear I was just referring to the people that I think of in terms of bass inspirations for myself...I wasn't trying to make a generalization. And of course saying I am more inspired by Cliff Burton than Stanley Clarke (for example) is in no way a knock against Stanley Clarke...different strokes and all.

 

[steubig]

To be clear I was just referring to the people that I think of in terms of bass inspirations for myself...I wasn't trying to make a generalization. And of course saying I am more inspired by Cliff Burton than Stanley Clarke (for example) is in no way a knock against Stanley Clarke...different strokes and all.

right. hence my comment about *my age*.

i think master of puppets is a masterpiece, but don’t count cliff as a hero. his most important contribution may have been keeping lars in line.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I have high school studio recordings I still think hold up.

Wow... Now that I am genuinely envious of!

The recordings I have of myself from pretty much any time before my early 20s all strike me as -- in the most charitable, most forgiving light -- blueprints for potential. Clever ideas whose execution/realization simply exceeded my skills/tools/abilities to pull off.

If I listen to them now they are cringe-worthy, not because I sucked but because I didn't not suck quite enough.

I recently had an album from 1984 resurrected and digitized/archived from the decomposing master tapes, and after the mastering engineer commented favorably on the contents I listened to it for probably the first time in several decades...and it made me think "wow, this is probably the oldest recording I have where I am not even slightly embarassed to play it for other people." I was ~23 years old when I made that record.

 

[scott sinner]

Wow... Now that I am genuinely envious of!

The recordings I have of myself from pretty much any time before my early 20s all strike me as -- in the most charitable, most forgiving light -- blueprints for potential. Clever ideas whose execution/realization simply exceeded my skills/tools/abilities to pull off.

If I listen to them now they are cringe-worthy, not because I sucked but because I didn't not suck quite enough.

I recently had an album from 1984 resurrected and digitized/archived from the decomposing master tapes, and after the mastering engineer commented favorably on the contents I listened to it for probably the first time in several decades...and it made me think "wow, this is probably the oldest recording I have where I am not even slightly embarassed to play it for other people." I was ~23 years old when I made that record.

Well.....come on...let's hear it.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Well.....come on...let's hear it.

I believe this is the only excerpt with an internet presence:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[steubig]

pop!
sounds good.

 

[scott sinner]

I believe this is the only excerpt with an internet presence:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Nice!

This is me, age 16? in 1993 or 4 on bass. The mixing is...ugg...90s...but I still like the song. Also, fun with artificial harmonics.


We had a high school bands reunion in 2016. Was a blast. I had not played with those guys since the 1990s. Also, ha, at the time, I was playing guitar and the other guy had switched to bass. So we swapped rigs. And I think we rocked it for having had 2 hours of practice in decades.

I prefer this live recording. Ehh. well like the old studio recording was also basically live.

 

[lucas303]

We had a high school bands reunion in 2016. Was a blast.

 

[Starthief]

Of all my 80s recordings, there is really only one tape I wish I still had and could remaster.

That one was a lucky accident involving a contact mic stuck to a half-empty bottle of Gatorade through an Alesis Microverb, and one of those TV band radios through a Radio Shack Realistic "Reverb" (the kind that's a BBD delay). It was receiving the intercom or paging system from a hospital (?) and I caught a woman saying "Doctor _____, the echo is ready.... Doctor _____, the echo is ready" and of course, echoing it.

Also I'd love to see the high school jazz band's gig at some honors awards ceremony, where we were all frustrated at playing little 4-bar bumpers between stuff and sitting around bored. We finally played an actual song as people were leaving, and when my solo came I kicked my chair aside (I was on keyboard) and played like I was possessed. I have no idea what I even did or sounded like, I just know almost everyone missed their cue to come back in because they were so stunned at "the quiet one" having an absolute musical freakout.

 

[lordradish]

Now that I think of it I guess there's Claypool with the Carl Thompsons and Justin Chancellor with the Wals, but I feel confident saying they'd sound at least 99% as good, and play no worse, on a good $1k-$2k bass.

I think they'd sound as good but they'd also sound a bit different.
DISCLAIMER: I AM A WAL OWNER AND VERY DEFENSIVE ABOUT IT