Basses Affect Your Playing...

[Nick Mc Noise]

I play a bass (+ effects + amp),
the bass (+effects + amp) plays me,
we play with the other musicians,
the other musicians play with me,
we all play with the audience,
the audience plays with us ...

Music is communication, it's all about mutual influences.

So yes, different basses affect my playing differently.
And yes, this is the perfect reason to get yet another bass.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Thanks for the read!

 

[Jack Deth]

My first bass was a BC Rich Warlock back in the 80’s. It embodied my rage as a teenager at the time, and I played it very accordingly. Later in life I succumbed to the 5 string gravitational pull that everyone feels even to this day. I fell in love with both the lower range, and the easier vertical movements it offered, and swallowed it all up asking for more. As time went by I acquired a 6 string and found that there were harmonies hidden inside me that I did not know were there. It’s like the bass presented itself at the time when those needed to surface. Fast forward to today were I have picked up playing again after life took over for some time (or playing picked me back up perhaps), and I now have a 6 string fretless in addition to 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 string fretted basses. In ALL cases something inside drew me towards a specific bass and it fit my current condition, and each still fit when called upon as they seem to build upon one another.

The one exception was a specific 5 string that I picked up because there were no other options at the time. All of my other basses felt (and feel) alive in some primordial way. That bass felt like just dead wood, some processed metal and bits of plastic here and there. I believe as we grow and expand our inner musical universe what looks, feels, and sounds right opens up and we arrive at that age old epiphany: “I get it now”.

Perhaps we unconsciously crave a specific new look, sound, or fundamental style and do not realize it as our inner self guides us to fulfill our true potential. Master chefs bring their creations to life one step at a time until they arrive at a dish that, if worthy, burns a memory into the people that have tasted it. Perhaps we are moving along in our own musical life-recipe adding ingredients along with our own secret sauces to the sustenance until we arrive at our masterpiece. My only hope would be that if that is so, I pray that I see the final product and understand I have completed the cooking portions of my journey. Everything to follow will be the dining experience...

 

[5StringBlues]

The basses I really dislike are those that make me crave anchovies on pizza. I can think of nothing more vile than fish bait on pie, yet there are basses that cause me to crave that very thing when I play them. I suspect it's divine retribution for my attempt to renegotiate the terms of my recent gift of a $2500 USD bass industry stimulus grant. Yes, I know it came from God and I should have just accepted it and given thanks, but how many basses does one really need? and what is the underlying motivation for creating a glut of basses while amp makers struggle?

 

[Ulf Buck]

I can see how that would happen especially with the 8x10.

Are the angled P’s a mod of the factory body?

It's a production MIJ 80s Fender ala Jazz Bass special etc... . E Serial number. Not sure if they ever really sold them here. I have never seen one in the US except in pictures. One popped up on Reverb and I had to have it. Sounds amazing with all pickups on. It also has a phase switch and tbx tone control. P Neck. 34 inch scale painted black neck.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

My first bass was a BC Rich Warlock back in the 80’s. It embodied my rage as a teenager at the time, and I played it very accordingly. Later in life I succumbed to the 5 string gravitational pull that everyone feels even to this day. I fell in love with both the lower range, and the easier vertical movements it offered, and swallowed it all up asking for more. As time went by I acquired a 6 string and found that there were harmonies hidden inside me that I did not know were there. It’s like the bass presented itself at the time when those needed to surface. Fast forward to today were I have picked up playing again after life took over for some time (or playing picked me back up perhaps), and I now have a 6 string fretless in addition to 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 string fretted basses. In ALL cases something inside drew me towards a specific bass and it fit my current condition, and each still fit when called upon as they seem to build upon one another.

The one exception was a specific 5 string that I picked up because there were no other options at the time. All of my other basses felt (and feel) alive in some primordial way. That bass felt like just dead wood, some processed metal and bits of plastic here and there. I believe as we grow and expand our inner musical universe what looks, feels, and sounds right opens up and we arrive at that age old epiphany: “I get it now”.

Perhaps we unconsciously crave a specific new look, sound, or fundamental style and do not realize it as our inner self guides us to fulfill our true potential. Master chefs bring their creations to life one step at a time until they arrive at a dish that, if worthy, burns a memory into the people that have tasted it. Perhaps we are moving along in our own musical life-recipe adding ingredients along with our own secret sauces to the sustenance until we arrive at our masterpiece. My only hope would be that if that is so, I pray that I see the final product and understand I have completed the cooking portions of my journey. Everything to follow will be the dining experience...

Wow, that was deep, very insightful. A portion of what you wrote reminds me of The Alchemist.

 

[DigitalMan]

Yes, you are. You're anthropomorphizing a tool, and while it's charming and sentimental, ultimately the way each bass makes you feel you must play is in your head.

But who am I to tell somebody else how to spend their money?

What the OP describes is not anthropomorphizing.

 

[Koshchei]

What the OP describes is not anthropomorphizing.

He's ascribing personality traits to each of his basses that make him react a certain way to them. Ultimately, he's using this as a self-rationalization to justify the purchase of another bass.

Who am I to disagree with his contorted logic? I just traded two good tools for a slightly better one because of the "feels", so I'm a hypocrite if I do, and an enabler if I don't. You'll find me handing out booze in coke cans at the AA meeting, I guess.

 

[DigitalMan]

He's ascribing personality traits to each of his basses that make him react a certain way to them. Ultimately, he's using this as a self-rationalization to justify the purchase of another bass.

Who am I to disagree with his contorted logic? I just traded two good tools for a slightly better one because of the "feels", so I'm a hypocrite if I do, and an enabler if I don't. You'll find me handing out booze in coke cans at the AA meeting, I guess.

He makes no mention anywhere I can see of the basses having any sort of personality. Cite an example. What I read is that innate characteristics of the basses (fully proper for objects to have objective characteristics such as heavy, light, etc) influence his playing style.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

He's ascribing personality traits to each of his basses that make him react a certain way to them. Ultimately, he's using this as a self-rationalization to justify the purchase of another bass.

Who am I to disagree with his contorted logic? I just traded two good tools for a slightly better one because of the "feels", so I'm a hypocrite if I do, and an enabler if I don't. You'll find me handing out booze in coke cans at the AA meeting, I guess.

Well, if you ARE correct, then I think a vast majority of the TB population is a collection of anthropomorphizing individuals. At least, from what I’ve read here.

I think it’s simpler than that, though. I wouldn’t use a Bird’s Beak to fillet a catfish. It’d work, but it won’t work well, and it will influence how I approach the job. Different basses, with their different characteristics, influence us to approach music differently. It’s really a question of, does the tool influence the artist, or does the artist influence the tool?

I appreciate your counter. Makes you think harder.