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Bandmates and your basses
- Thread starter db59
- Start date
Our singer/guitarist/songwriter is always encouraging me to play (i.e. buy) basses he thinks look cool or weird. Years ago he actually bought an old Vox semi-acoustic bass – with a built in distortion unit - just so I’d play it in our band. It had major neck-dive, was uncomfortable to play and sounded terrible. However, he admits that my two P-Basses actually sound the best in our mix (hard-rock quartette) despite their mostly pedestrian looks. Luckily, we’ve known each other for 30 years, and I love him like brother, so at this point there’s no pretending we’ll ever agree about everything. 
One of my band mates criticized one of my basses once.
JUST once . . . . . .
JUST once . . . . . .
Heh, sounds about like my last band. It's a six-piece rock band, with 2 guitars and horns, so the sound is a bit dense, to say the least. The guitarists don't care much about gear, or even which guitar they use at any particular time, as long as it works, and pretty much no one but the drummer listens to the bass.
They mostly don't even notice when i switch between fretless and fretted, except that i tend to play fretted on more of the louder/more-rocking songs, with more distortion, so they notice THAT.Starting up a new 'classic rock' cover band now, and my goal is to bring a different bass to each practice & gig, until (1) i run out of basses (i have about 30), (2) we stop practicing, or (3) we run out of gigs. I predict those will occur in reverse order, but we'll see.
I play electric bass in small restaurants, summertime outdoor venues, and houses of worship. I mainly play jazz, Latin, some blues, religious, and show music. My go-to basses are 5-string with active electronics, 4-string fretless (active/chambered/drop D tuner), and a good old Fender Jazz with ribbon-wound strings (passive). The choice is always mine but the bandmates always respond musically to what I bring. As Ron Carter once told me, "The bassist's job is to make the band sound good." When in doubt, I bring the 5 and a Gruv gear "fretwrap" for muting. When it's strictly jazz or Broadway-style, and usually for religious settings, I bring the fretless. When it's just a rehearsal, the Fender is like comfort food and easy for the band to work around. So choose wisely and see how the band responds. Take notes for future reference.
I'm in a band that plays about 50% country stuff, and they always like my orange Gretsch. I don't blame them!
But they also like my Squier Bronco with the TV Jones pickup:
And every now and then I bring my Gretsch Thunderjet, which may not look fancy but sounds great!
But they also like my Squier Bronco with the TV Jones pickup:
And every now and then I bring my Gretsch Thunderjet, which may not look fancy but sounds great!
Audiences "hear" with their eyes - but evidently some musicians do, too!
When I’m chugging with my boys in Grunge Tree, they seem to love both my Stingray basses. No opinions on the Frankenstein Road Star II or the Aria Elite II bass. The guitarist owns a sweet G&L 5, the music man / g&l connection could be playing into that.
Squier Classic Vibe 50's Precision Bass
- mine has some mods, such as flatwound strings, a 50's -style two-saddle bridge with the strings through body, and the covers for pickup and bridge.... my oldies band (especially the drummer) prefers the muscly clarity of this bass over my others, which include a MIM fretless Fender Jazz, a Hofner-type "Beatle bass", a couple of P Basses, and a 1967 Ampeg fretless scroll bass with the "mystery pickup" and a more normal magnetic pickup on a 3-way switch.
- mine has some mods, such as flatwound strings, a 50's -style two-saddle bridge with the strings through body, and the covers for pickup and bridge.... my oldies band (especially the drummer) prefers the muscly clarity of this bass over my others, which include a MIM fretless Fender Jazz, a Hofner-type "Beatle bass", a couple of P Basses, and a 1967 Ampeg fretless scroll bass with the "mystery pickup" and a more normal magnetic pickup on a 3-way switch.Here's a photo of that bass in action:
I play in a Gospel group, 3 sisters singing. They like the mellow sound of my '66 Hagstrom I use at practice, the guitar player says he can hear my licks better when I play a Jazz, so I split the difference and use a Jaguar. Best of mellow and cutting through. Drummer, piano and B3 guy don't care! hahah
Actually, volume is the issue with about half the people I play with. My theory, if you can't easily hear the difference if I play a note legato or staccato, I'm not loud enough. But I've noticed, the bands that let me play this loud are more successful. Keep people on the dance floor, bar owner has good liquor sales and the band gets invited back. Try explaining this to bands who think I play too loud and make me turn down, good luck. But they don't get return engagements, go figure :.)
Usually no comment, i'll bring the oddball bass once in a while - only to see how it sounds within the context. Usually get good comments from my bandmates about my basses, no particular preference on their part, but my Squier P bass special i refinished in Orange/black got the better looks compliment. Terms of sound/tone, all my gear sounds good, There are some i use exclusively for studio work - cause they have that certain charm, & it's cause my main bass is punchier/torqued, compared to my studio gear which are generally warmer. We're a punk band at base, the grind is necessary
