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bass vs guitar

#61
Good thread. Ive been playing guitar nearly 40 years! still suck! haha! About 4 years ago I bought my first Bass..a Beatle bass..and had loads of fun. I was covering not only Beatles but funk, reggae,etc. I then got a gig as a guitar player...so the few years, I hardly picked it up. Then, I was going to a concert of guitar legend, DICKEY BETTS from the Allman Brothers. They had an opening band, I had never heard off, and the Bass player was right in front of me...a foot away, just wailing on this beat up Fender Precision Bass. I was blow away. I knew then...this is it! I headed to GC next day and bought a black sterling sub.
THIS is a mans guitar. Feels like a weapon compared to some guitars ive had. The long neck, the thick strings,,,You feel ready for war.
Other day, a guy at GC tried to sell me a used Jackson Randy Rhoads RR3 model guitar. Now, I love metal and those heavy guitar riffs. I slung on the guitar...and thought...*** is this? Was a toy. Half the guitar is already cut out...the neck is super thin, a kids axe. I wanted my BASS back.
 
#62
I started playing guitar and bass at the same time, when I was 13. I played bass in my little band and learned guitar just for fun. I have had a few years where I played guitar more (always acoustic) but I will say the only times I have grown as a bass player is when I logged the hours practicing bass. And then when I got into upright bass it further helped my skills but only up to a point. The approach is so different you need to spend time with both. Although I will say your hands get so strong playing upright bass that you will reap many dividends on electric.
 
#63
Stardust Productions said:
Playing one makes you better at the other imo.

I've played guitar for about 11 years. Got my first bass 4 years ago, but only really started playing 6 months ago. I don't know why exactly, but I really love the bass, probably more so than guitar. It's funny to me that most people would rather play guitar in a band setting when bass is so much more groovin.
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I think its a spotlight thing.
 
#64
Rich Emme said:
As a bass player, I love playing live in a band context. However, I get very little enjoyment practicing my bass at home. I recently picked up a couple of nice guitars, and I've been enjoying practicing guitar at home like I hadn't in years.
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Exactly. Practicing bass at home drives my fam nuts even when using headphones. The acoustic they can tolerate. learning acoustic did take me from essentially just knowing scales to understanding how they fit in chords. Really helped.

I am a bass player, guitars always feel too small even tho I have found a couple with huge necks! Playing that groove is what makes me happy.
 
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#65
I don't think playing guitar makes me a better (or worse) bass player.

It's two very different sets of physics, and different mindsets. The only real benefit (to me) is that it makes my understanding of the guitarist's job in the music more complete.

I can play both, but I only really FEEL the music through the bass.
 
#66
I've always been drawn to playing bass, ever since I was little, I would listen to a song and pay more attention to the bass line than a guitar solo. When I first went to take lessons the teacher asked me which instrument I'd like to learn and why, so I explained to him what the bass made me feel and how much it attacted me. He heard my reasons, looked at my mum and told her I had to be without any doubt a bass player.

My older brother ( who I also share the band with ) started playing guitar some time afterwards. So I have guitars both at home and my rehearsal room. From times to times I grab one to play a little, but can't afford playing more than 10 or 15 minutes tops. It's just not my thing, even though I recognize I'd like to learn some more to be able to use a guitar in the composition process.

It doesn't really matter whether it is a guitar, the drums, a keyboard, or any other instrument. IMO playing another instrument besides yours always helps you widen your perspective and provides you new resources that can be useful to aplly in the future; or maybe not, but at least it will help you communicate better with your fellow band members and understand what they are playing as well. Plus, learning music is always welcomed ! :D
 
#67
I started on piano as a kid and moved to drums in my early teens. I eventually got a guitar and played it a fair bit in my room, but once I got a bass I never really played guitar much any longer. That said, I play more now, but I don't feel it helps bass at all. Any instrument helps you learn about music / theory, but the technique is so different the only way guitar helps bass IMHO is for learning where notes are on your neck (but you could argue that's a theory thing anyway, just fretted stringed instrument theory as opposed to musical theory in general).
 
#69
As a kid, I went from piano to cello, then to guitar at age 13. I didn't start bass until a few years later, but immediately felt more comfortable and proficient on bass than I did on guitar, and thus in bands and musicals I've played bass almost exclusively for the past 30+ years (with many years off scattered throughout). In bands, I strongly prefer playing bass.

But unless I need to intensify my bass practice for a project, I actually spend more time at home on guitar. After getting back into playing about 13 years ago, I started creating more of my own music, and most of that is done on guitar. My musicianship has grown mostly from working with bass, but I do find some of that translates onto guitar, especially rhythmic ideas. And hey, when you have a great Strat and a Fender amp with reverb and vibrato, how can you resist all that twangy, trembling goodness? I'll never be as good on guitar as I am on bass, but I enjoy it immensely.

I'm currently in a "bass-intensive" period learning tracks for a new band, so I've only picked up a guitar once in the past couple of months.
 
#71
Playing electric bass and electric bass only has turned me into one of the most successful players in my area. Everyone knows me as the guy to call for bass weather it's live or in the studio and I have so many gigs I barely have time to sleep. And I wouldn't have it any other way!! And again, I agree that learning a different instrument may help your overall musicianship, I don't think it's possible to become a better bass player by playing less bass (and more guitar for example).
 
#72
bass>>>>guitar for me. I started out playing bass and took up guitar later, but it's never really resonated with me. There is just something about the feel, tone and groove I can get out of a bass that makes me happy. That being said, I do love the sound of a good distorted guitar.

Personally, I've not found that playing guitar, or bass, makes me "better" at the other instrument as, I believe, they have different roles. But, as always, YMMV.
 
#73
I play both and I love both.

Started out with a bass, and few years back started with a guitar.

To me it feels like guitar has a much steeper learning curve, but overall it seems like a more complete instrument.
 
#74
I started out on bass and didn't know anything about guitar for years (I could bang out a few chords, but that was about it). After playing bass for 11 years I switched to rhythm guitar exclusively for 5 years (one of my dear friends at the time played bass and I played guitar better than he did, so I switched so we could play in the same band). During most of those 5 years I didn't even own a bass (and rarely noodled around on one). Once I switched back to bass, I never looked back. I do have a Schecter guitar at home for writing, but I sometimes just record bass and (Garageband) drums as I'm too lazy to pick up the guitar. Hmm, maybe if I owned a Gibson Les Paul Gold Top I'd be more inspired to actually lay down some guitar tracks? I guess GAS pains are not limited to bass gear.
 
#75
gjooro said:
To me it feels like guitar has a much steeper learning curve, but overall it seems like a more complete instrument.
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I don't find that the case at all. I have no clue why people think the guitar is "harder" to play. Because of chords? Because it has six strings rather than the typical four? Because we are told it is? Because of the myriad of songs (mostly from the 80's it seems) that had a bass "player" pumping 8th notes throughout*? Either instrument, played correctly, is just as easy to learn, but hard to master.

*a lot of 80's players seem to be a guitarist that drew the short straw and got stuck playing bass in a band, hence the "I'll just play 8th notes, root, fifth, octave, it doesn't really matter, it's just bass" mentality (yes, YMMV, this is my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt, etc).

Guitars are "complete" in that you can sit around a fire and sing songs, I guess, but a guitar alone, in most bands, is like having the icing without the cake.
 
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#77
fuzzychaos said:
I
Guitars are "complete" in that you can sit around a fire and sing songs, I guess, but a guitar alone, in most bands, is like having the icing without the cake.
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I don't like the word complete as it implies bass in incomplete, which is shortsighted. Bass serves a role in the music in most cases. As far as unaccompanied solo work, outside out Michael Manring and maybe one or two others, I would rather listen to a whole record of a guitar genius like Tommy Emmanuel or Leo Kotke than a bass player's record any, and most most of us would agree. That doesn't make bass any less awesome though, its just that's not our job.
 
#78
Playing any other instrument makes you a better musician. I started on Trumpet, then piano and cello. I started playing electric bass when I was 14. I started playing guitar just to play a chordal instrument when I didn't have a piano, mainly to improve my ability to come up with bass lines and hear how my lines sound against a chord progression. I would tape the guitar parts with a Fostex four track played to a click track, then I would try the lines I wrote and give a listen. This was useful.
 
#80
fuzzychaos said:
I don't find that the case at all. I have not clue why people think the guitar is "harder" to play. Because of chords? Because it has six strings rather than the typical four? Because we are told it is? Because of the myriad of songs (mostly from the 80's it seems) that had a bass "player" pumping 8th notes throughout*? Either instrument, played correctly, is just as easy to learn, but hard to master.

*a lot of 80's players seem to be a guitarist that drew the short straw and got stuck playing bass in a band, hence the "I'll just play 8th notes, root, fifth, octave, it doesn't really matter, it's just bass" mentality (yes, YMMV, this is my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt, etc).

Guitars are "complete" in that you can sit around a fire and sing songs, I guess, but a guitar alone, in most bands, is like having the icing without the cake.
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Well, bass is my primary instrument, been playing it for years, and I remember having hard time when I started on guitar. Sure, I was good at some things that translated well from bass , but with some things I felt like a total beginner. All the time I thought how much harder it must be for an absolute beginner without experience with stringed instruments.

Every instrument is hard to master, but I believe guitar has a steeper learning curve at the start. To put it in example: I was able to join a band and play at acceptable level very soon after picking up the bass, but on guitar I still feel like I have a lot of work to do before I would feel comfortable in a band. Maybe my standards are now higher but I still feel that way. Just my opinion.
 

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