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bass vs guitar

#101
If you haven't seen Tommy Emmanuel live, do it. Seriously. It should be a bucket list thing for any musician. Beyond his chops, his sheer joy of playing is totally infectious.

The instrument you're holding is a vehicle. You can drive it in a number of different ways. Just because most people go 35mph in the right lane doesn't mean that is the only way to drive :D
 
#103
I feel like the guitar begets the bass. I started with bass and found that I loved it. Then I tried the guitar and realized that it required quite a bit more than the bass. Don't get me wrong, I thing the bass requires hard practiced technique:) . Its just that one helps the other, if that makes any sense. (this is my opinion of course)
 
#104
Jah Wobble Fan said:
Thread needs more pix.
Here are my number ones. The model is Genesis by Epiphone. Made in '79.
These things are tonal monsters. First one cost $350 in a Portland guitar shop
(no tax, and the sales kid admitted "easily the best guitar on the floor").

I put the guitar through a bass drum at the climax of set at an show at Slabtown (or Calsport?)
around 2003 and broke the headstock.

Found a replacement on Craigslist a few years later for $300 in El Lay and came to appreciate
it so much that I took the broken original to Eric's Guitars in Van Nuys, where Eric did a brilliant repair.

I've bought a few cheap Gibsons for fun 'cause I like P90's,
but this is really all the guitar I could ever need, save an acoustic,
one of which Uncle Keef decrees every guitar should own.


View attachment 722608
Click to expand...
I always listen to Uncle Keef. Always.
 
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#106
Bass vs. Guitar - bass wins!

I play guitar up to a point. It's more fun for me to play the guitar when there's nobody else around. It's pretty common for me to play guitar for a half hour or an hour every few days. I play drums more than guitar, which keeps the IQ at an appropriate low level.
 
#107
nostatic said:
If you haven't seen Tommy Emmanuel live, do it. Seriously. It should be a bucket list thing for any musician. Beyond his chops, his sheer joy of playing is totally infectious.

The instrument you're holding is a vehicle. You can drive it in a number of different ways. Just because most people go 35mph in the right lane doesn't mean that is the only way to drive :D
Click to expand...

You got that right. He is capable of entertaining a crowd for 2 hours and filling up small venues with people who pay $80 per seat. He also sings and tells stories and is an all around entertainer. I think a personality like his is usually drawn to guitar or piano or another 'lead' or solo instrument. I myself am happiest playing bass.
 
#108
nostatic said:
Totally depends on the player and the band/situation.

What role is the guitar playing here?

Click to expand...


Obviously the role is the standard guitar one of "grabbing and holding the audience"!

And I might add one of the finest examples of that I've seen in quite some time!

Can you as a bass player imagine yourself getting up and putting on a display like that with your bass?
See what I mean? Perhaps you could do something like that as a bass solo but hey, isn't a bass solo when everyone starts talking or leaves the room?
Yet when the bass stops the band disintegrates.
 
#109
bassbenj said:
Can you as a bass player imagine yourself getting up and putting on a display like that with your bass?
See what I mean? Perhaps you could do something like that as a bass solo but hey, isn't a bass solo when everyone starts talking or leaves the room?
Yet when the bass stops the band disintegrates.
Click to expand...

*cough* Victor *cough*

Stanley. Jaco. Manring.

Me? I'm certainly not those guys but the current iteration of nostatic is vox/violin/bass/drums. So I'm covering a lot of territory.



And I've done call/response things with drums as well - and the audience digs it if the moment is right.



Nothing wrong with playing root-5 all night. That can totally be what serves the music - the pocket rules:



But it certainly isn't the only way to approach the instrument, or the only type of music to be made.
 
#111
Flaked Beans said:
Yeah, Steely jam!
Click to expand...

Sadly our drummer and bandleader, David Robin, passed away unexpectedly in Oct. We're playing a tribute gig 14Nov with a sub and then figuring out next steps. I've lost friends and family but this is the first time a musician I've been actively playing with has died. Very odd...god speed David.

All the more reason to play whatever you can, while you can - life is short.
 
#112
nostatic said:
Sadly our drummer and bandleader, David Robin, passed away unexpectedly in Oct. We're playing a tribute gig 14Nov with a sub and then figuring out next steps. I've lost friends and family but this is the first time a musician I've been actively playing with has died. Very odd...god speed David.

All the more reason to play whatever you can, while you can - life is short.
Click to expand...
Sorry for your loss. Your band sounds awesome!
 
#113
The rest stroke practiced on bass is the same as classical guitar technique. The bass is also played with a guitar pick. Sometimes with fuzz, wah, and other effects. We get major ***** and giggles playing it through a giant stack of speakers. Know the signs. This 4 string thing may in fact be a guitar.

The "play bass like a bass" mantra is important, and has different facets, but is also misunderstood. It generally just means don't lose the dance floor, if that's important to you, and don't play too many notes within context. But then it also becomes a mental straightjacket. Any and all guitar techniques are fair game on the bass one, not to mention techniques and sounds from other actual instruments like horns, banjos, whatever.
 
#114
My favorite players blur the line of the traditional bass role, like Geddy Lee or Flea or JPJ for that matter. I like to see the bass as part of an ensemble with its own melodic voice (comes from playing upright in orchestra) The best players support the rhythm while playing melody, harmony and countermelody (again, Geddy lee) The ultimate example carried out to the highest point is Scott Lafaro with Bill Evans. Sure this is subtle jazz but I can't think of any better interplay between drummer bass and piano.
 
#117
I started out with a guitar, then got a bass thinking it would help me get acclimated to fretting & strumming while I got over my fumbling with trying to make chord shapes.

It's been a couple of years & I can make chords shapes now, even barre chords, but I am bad at changing chords, unless they're a simple slide like a G barre to a A barre.

I still won't give up though, and will keep trying.
 
#118
brian1e said:
Very similar to my situation. The main issue I have is when changing from one to the other is the difference in scale length. I have to use more visual reference for a couple of minutes until my body adapts.
Click to expand...

My first bass was the Jag short scale, then I got my Godin full scale and I can swap from those to guitar with only a couple of seconds of getting used to the change now.

engedi1 said:
Evidence
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Love Tommy Emmanuel. He is one of the greatest Australian guitarists ever and plays what is possibly one of the best acoustic guitars for live work, Maton guitars made here in Oz. In saying that, while i appreciate what he does I do find that I prefer to see him playing with a full band.

A very good friend of mine is Julz Parker. She is a good friend of Tommy and he has said that she is the best female acoustic guitarist in Australia. As per everything musical that could be argued but she is brilliant. My kids are extremely lucky that they get to regularly play with Julz's band and only a couple of months ago I got to do around 6 or 7 songs playing bass for her band which was the highlight of my playing ever.

Here's a video of Julz when she was only around 18 (bad video quality) with Tommy and his brother Phil.


And here's a video (pretty bad sound quality) of my two kids on stage with Julz's band "The Hussy Hicks" (my eldest is on Lead vox/guitar and the youngest singing backing vox....they were 11 and 14 years old at this gig) Check out my girls solo at 1:50 and Julz's solo at 3:30

 
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#119
Back when I was in my late teens I struggled to improvise playing rhythm guitar. I could not for the life of me figure out the appropriate chord progressions and shapes to produce the "riffs" I heard in my head. It was a lot of frustration.


I bought a peavey tube amp, I bought all the instructional courses, I really got nowhere with the guitar, even after spending hundreds of hours practicing. I was just doing barre chords and power chords.
ugh.

I bought a $200 acoustic guitar last year, I got rid of it a month later. Gave it away for free
 
#120
nostatic said:
*cough* Victor *cough*

Stanley. Jaco. Manring.

Me? I'm certainly not those guys but the current iteration of nostatic is vox/violin/bass/drums. So I'm covering a lot of territory.

And I've done call/response things with drums as well - and the audience digs it if the moment is right.

Nothing wrong with playing root-5 all night. That can totally be what serves the music - the pocket rules:

But it certainly isn't the only way to approach the instrument, or the only type of music to be made.
Click to expand...

Victor...er exception proves the rule, right? Though typically Victor does extreme stuff as a solo while the...er...um...banjo...<shudder> player takes the lead... (sadly I do also play banjo though not for some years now...)

I love call/response. But then I do percussion as well as drums so... I loved the call-response between bass and bongos. Need more of that! And I actually saw Victor do this at a drum clinic (was between bass and drumset) So intense he broke a string on his bass! Hey, Victor plays a bass just like the one you have too! :)

Sure it's music, art. So there are rules of thumb, but in reality there are no rules.
 

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