Bass soloing..do you or do you not?

[jaywa]

Only if forced to, and then not very well.

Let's see... a) play 10 minutes slammin' a groove with the drums while a bunch of hotties shake it in front of me on the dance floor OR b) wank solo for 1 minute and watch everyone leave to go to the bar or the can. Feels like a no-brainer to me.

 

[Pacman]

I wonder how people would answer this question over on the double bass forum.

 

[the evil]

Only if forced to, and then not very well.

Let's see... a) play 10 minutes slammin' a groove with the drums while a bunch of hotties shake it in front of me on the dance floor OR b) wank solo for 1 minute and watch everyone leave to go to the bar or the can. Feels like a no-brainer to me.

could not have said it better myself.

why is this though? i REALLY think if we could get the bass i nice heavy shreddy sound people would ind themselves more interested in the solo'ing aspects. not to mention there would need to be more bass players with a ambitious attitude over the "sit in the back quietly" one.

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

I haven't read all the posts but.....

A scientific expedition disembarks from its plane at the final outpost of civilisation in the deepest Amazon rain forest. They immediately notice the ceaseless thrumming of native drums. As they venture further into the bush, the drums never stop, day or night, for weeks. The lead scientist asks one of the natives about this, and the native's only reply is "Drums good. Drums never stop. Very bad if drums stop." The drumming continues, night and day, until one night, six weeks into the trip, when the jungle is suddenly silent. Immediately the natives run screaming from their huts, covering their ears. The scientists grab one boy and demand "What is it? The drums have stopped!" The terror-stricken youth replies "Yes! Drums stop! Very bad!" The scientists ask "Why? Why? What will happen?" Wide-eyed, the boy responds, " . . . BASS SOLO"

 

[PBass101]

OR b) wank solo for 1 minute and watch everyone leave to go to the bar or the can.

Maybe this says more about your playing in particular than it does bass guitar solos in general.

 

[HassBacker]

I'll never ask to take one and will only do so reluctantly if put on the spot.
I find that in most cases, a bass solo will absolutely derail a tune unless, as was mentioned previously, the tune incorporates one or is built around one. The technique, melodicism, effects/tone, etc., might be mind blowing but generally, when the rest of the band drops out, the song dies.
Let's face it, other instrumental solos only sound good because we're doing our thing.

 

[xgator4u]

We are playing a new song in the church band and there's a bass solo in the original recording that the worship leader wants me to play.

To the O.P. man I gotta know what song you are playing in church, with a bass solo?

Me, I WILL solo as the song allows. I concur that solos can get boring quickly, and I refuse to " slap and pop/whank off", but I will run fills and/or a solo if it fits. Just keep it short and sweet.

 

[The Owl]

Earlier on I used to love soloing, but as my musicianship deepened and grew, I found myselrf tending to do less and less of it.

In part, I think reading an interview with Anthony Jackson set off a lightbulb for me, and what he spoke out against was essentially "gratuitous soloing". I more times than not will flat out refuse solos unles the music really, genuinely calls for a "bass solo". I've heard great bass solos that really made a song, and heard just as many that should've been left out altogether, either because of "wankery" or just plain disrupting the momentum of a piece of music or having little to nothing to do with the greater context.

Some would think my views odd considering that I play in a band that does nearly 100% improvised music. But here's the thing, soloing and improvising are NOT one and the same, and iI think some people are sadly unaware of the difference. What i LOVE doing is being part of an ever changing/morphing musical dialogue that grooves, swings and takes abrupt left turns @ Albuquerque and creates textures, improvising WITHOUT soloing, spontaneous creativity that helps pain the greater picture if you will.

The key over all is listening and digesting what's going on around you, interacting with it or pulling and pushing it somewhere else altogether.

But as for me, I will occasionally solo, but only when ABSOLUTELY necessary or called for.