Bass Player Pet Peeves

[DannyB]

It can't be said enough..
Being called a guitarist gets my goat every time.

Some others....

"How come your guitar is so much bigger?"

Guitarists who just throw their s**t all over the place (cases/cables/etc) all over your space during setup and then get pissed when you toss it back into their space so that you can do such minor tasks as bringing your rig onstage, setup your own area, or warm up.

Guitarists who get pissed at me because I always tune DGCF out of preference and have a hard time cheating off my fingers when they get lost.

Constant chatter when the leader is giving instructions/mapping out a song... same guys that get all ticked when "nobody told them" where a bridge was fitting in

Drummers that play a song differently during a show than they do in rehearsal.. Sure, it's easy to adjust... after that first verse sounds like poo...

 

[Bass.]

have you ever been asked why your guitar only has four strings? or where the other strings are?

that's one of my most hated.

but then again the general public for the most part hardly knows anything about music...

 

[Bass.]

Drummers that speed up and slow down in a song,go out of time after a fill.
Soundmen that tell you you're too loud

i had to deal with that two days in a row... both things... on consecutive days....
"They'' for some reason always find the bass to loud. i've found myself sitting next to the amp just to hear myself.

 

[gin327]

Well.. heres mine :

I've just gotten off the stage after a satisfying performance. And a noodle haired freak comes up to me saying "hey. I couldnt hear your guitar. Couldnt hear any distortion comin outta it"...
Huh.

Also would love to castrate some neonates who hoot and smirk at the fact that a WOMAN is "attempting" to rock..
Of course. When I slap a few grooves during the sound check, they shut the f up..

Umm. Think I just got a little hyper there..
Heh.

 

[sedan_dad]

I guess I really don't have any pet peeves.I just assume the drummer knows how to play and the guitar player can give ques as to what he's gonna do .If everyone else is having fun then I'm having fun.
Fun is the funnest thing there is.

 

[dain bramage]

have you ever been asked why your guitar only has four strings? or where the other strings are?

that's one of my most hated.

but then again the general public for the most part hardly knows anything about music...

Just tell them you couldn't afford the other two strings.

 

[Bass.]

hahah i wonder what kind of looks that would generate

 

[tlwaps]

Edit: Post removed voilation of TB rules.

Please re-read the rules.

"TALK BASS RULES"

:scowl:

 

[txbasschik]

Well.. heres mine :

I've just gotten off the stage after a satisfying performance. And a noodle haired freak comes up to me saying "hey. I couldnt hear your guitar. Couldnt hear any distortion comin outta it"...
Huh.

Also would love to castrate some neonates who hoot and smirk at the fact that a WOMAN is "attempting" to rock..
Of course. When I slap a few grooves during the sound check, they shut the f up..

Umm. Think I just got a little hyper there..
Heh.

That whole thing where the goobers act ugly because you're female...

A-bloody-MEN!!! With my all-female band, we'd have goobers come to just stare and laugh and point. And when my guitarist and I play with guys, even though it is OBVIOUS that she is playing guitar leads, many male fans *insist* on congratulating the male rhythm guitar on his leads. Even when he tells them that he didn't play them.

When I was playing simultaneously with a male bassist last Friday, everyone congratulated *him* on his performance. Even though we were both playing, and even though we took turns playing on our own...many males insisted that all the basslines were his, and told him, "Hey, it doesn't hurt to have a girl up there for eye-candy, does it?"

Our own bands knew better, and so did the true fans, but there are always some chest-beaters around. Apes are smarter than these goobers.

Cherie

 

[The Owl]

Jazz snobs, especially when I had one come up to me after a jazz cover gig say something to the effect that an electric bass is NOT a real instrument and I should ONLY be playing jazz on an upright. Dumb@$$!!!!!

 

[aesir6]

What the hell... I'll risk getting flamed!


1. Bass players who have the bass hanging so low the pickups can get the vibration off their groins.
2. Bass players who NEVER take their eyes off the fretboard.
3. Bass players who just "stand there".
4. Bass players who always face the drummer.
5. BASS PLAYERS WHO NOODLE BETWEEN SONGS!

DCat

Thats possibly all of mine right there. Especially number 1.

 

[The Owl]

Being told I took up playing Bass because:

A) It was easier than guitar or..

B) I only started playing to meet girls.

George

Oh man, that first one I've heard before and it THOROUGHLY ticks me off! I always say from the depths of my heart that "BASS IS NOT EASIER TO PLAY, IT'S JUST DIFFERENT!!!

 

[crkempton]

1. Bassists with the "holier than thou" attitude

2. Bassists who bash other bassists technique to make themselves feel better

3. TB-ers who, instead of answering a simple question, tell the person asking the question to "do a search"

 

[stanknuckle]

My peeves..
1. Musical instrument sales people handing me a bass and saying "here, you'll love this", because all they sell is the "flavour of the month" type bass.
2. That bassist in Melbourne who really believes he's Jaco and Anthony Jackson rolled into one and takes the sitting down at gigs too far. On occasions, he would bring in a club/lounge chair and a reading lamp and sit with the light on like the stage is his own lounge room.
3. Generally muso's who imitate their idols. I was saw a guitarist in some dingy hotel in Melbourne and I couldn't stop staring at him. It was "Eric Clapton". He had the Strat, the glasses and that beard, the hair colour. It was pathetic. He caught me staring at him and I think he could read me thoughts. Never saw him again.
4. Muso's who believe they are (insert superstar here)..... and aren't prepared to go and find out who they are themselves on their given instrument.
5. Band mates that get drunk before the show starts.
6. Tamborines..... don't start me on this one.

 

[Rattman]

"..People that assume I can't be that good at bass because I'm sixteen years old . . . but I can honestly say I have never met a bassist who is better than me.

Whew, that was fun.

P.S. - I'm not trying to sound arrogant here, I just sound that way..."

Well, its good you've said these things, its better you make your mistakes while you are young & think you have the world by the tail.. But this is how it really works: there is always someone that can 'cut' you, no matter how good you say or feel you are, so expect it to happen and happen often, especially when you feel the need to boast about your playing prowness.

And another thing..some of the players here will bite you pretty hard when you talk too proudly about 4-strings over ERB's. Learn some humility about that at least.

 

[reptilia]

guitarists that put there amp all the way up, while complaining that they cant hear themselves play because my bass has too much "bass"

 

[FLEMMERAN]

BAD DRUMMERS

edit:
and bands who think they can have a drummer without a bassist or vice versa

 

[stanknuckle]

People who believe that their ancestors were apes (evolutionists). Maybe all those who strictly play piano accordian are direct decendant's from homo erectus.

 

[6stringnewbie]

Musicians that play with no taste (i.e. extremely fast pentatonic/blues scales).

Drummers that simply cannot keep a groove.

Guitarists with that extremely high, cutting, metallic tone . . . I'm sure you've all seen them at Guitar Center or Sam Ash.

People that assume I can't be that good at bass because I'm sixteen years old . . . but I can honestly say I have never met a bassist who is better than me.

+1 for all of that.

My brother is so number one, i tell him to play it at regular speed and he always says:" What?" But he's like 8 so it doesn't matter yet. He'll learn.

My friend can't keep a beat to save his life. I was at his house and I was changing speeds to make him look good in front of his parents.

Heard this at Russo's, my local GC. Also in a band with this one kid that does it and tries to show up in front of the rhythm guitarist. The rhythm guitarist is excellent. The lead is positively horrid.

I'm 13, I've experienced plenty of that, oh he can't be good. He's only 13! That and I'm short so when I shave (Yes I have 5 o'clock shadow) I look like I'm 11! I get weird looks all over. Especially after I play.


Sorry that was a ways back. I like to read all this stuff and just decided to make a couple comments.

 

[6stringnewbie]

Oh and GC salesmen whodon't know what they have. I asked the guy "Do you have any Epiphone Thunderbird Iv's here that I can play?" He sais 'no' I turn around to go over the the 5 strings and some kid has a T-bird and is siting down to play it! Explain that one to me.

Maybe he was the guitar specialist? At my local Guitar Center(It's called Russo's.) they have like one guy that knows anything about bass. The others when I tried to tell them something about the action on a bass(It was way too low) they just replied with an "Okay." or a "Some people like it that way."