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Best Bass for Open Blues Jam

#41
M-Mittlesteadt said:
I'm going to be playing on and off again in a local open mic style blues jam a couple of times a month. Different players and songs at various points through a 3 hour night. I never know who I'll be playing with aside from the drummer and a guitarist. I'll be replacing the "house" bass player to give him a break.

He's got a very small Hartke combo on the floor (and the guitar player uses his combo as the stand for his little amp), so access to tone/volume controls is very limited. I may or may not end up replacing the current bass player on a more permanent basis as he plays with other bands and I don't gig at all right now.

Now I have a very nice Precision (P/J to be more precise), but there are two issues in using that. For one thing, due to some injuries and the lingering effects, sometimes reaching out more towards the nut can be painful to my fretting hand shoulder. Sometimes I have no issue, sometimes I do. It flares up randomly, never knowing when that might be. Secondly, the tone is rather baked in and works well with my amp and controls. I used it on one other limited fill-in gig with a different rig (no time to make amp adjustments) and the tone sucked in a major way.

I also have my 6 string, (active preamp) Ibanez GSR206 that is effectively an even shorter scale than any short scale bass because every note on my 4 string Precision can be found between the 5th and 12th frets on my 6 string. Just because I play a 6 string does not mean I'm playing solo stuff all over as I'm still a very groove oriented pocket player when not writing/recording. I can and will stay mainly between the 5th and 12th frets for the most part anyway. It also has a lot of extremely versatile tone control between the pickup volume controls, the tone control and the PHAT II preamp EQ control. With this I can more easily avoid messing with the Hartke controls.

Granted, I am in no way a blues purist snob, but some surely will be. For me it's more about being in the groove with the drummer and my 6 string will allow me to play without pain no matter what. Having the low B will also allow me to play any song in any key and keep the low end tight and moving along.

I'm pretty sure what the overall response will be on this topic (disregarding a few outliers), but I thought I'd throw it out there. I've been playing both of my basses along with recordings of most of the house band's stock blues tunes and both basses will work, but really only my 6 string guarantees me a nice deep low end groove and the ability to play anything regardless of how I'm feeling physically. I won't be playing all the tunes, all night and some different/new tunes may be played depending on what other singers, keyboard players and guitarists may be on stage with me at any given point.

I can't bring both as at the moment I only have one gig bag so I have to make a choice for the time being. Both, the drummer and guitarist are pretty open-minded as they host the jam.

So, for the heck of it, what's your opinion? 4 string P/J or the 6 string?
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Well...
For you? Whichever bass feels most comfortable for you to play. IMO, nailing the "proper" bass Blues tone, while nice, is not really something that's vital for an open blues jam. Visuals? Well... a funky old, beat up P-Bass would be nice, but again? Open Blues jam... Whether you're comfortable with other people playing your bass, is for you to decide...
Personally? Very few of my 28 basses are not... suitable, tone-wise, for a Blues jam. That said? I'd probably pass on my "set-up like- it's- new" '78 P-Bass. The sound and visuals would be the cat's ass, but my 74 y/o back just can't deal with the weight for more than a song or two, any more. It would probably be a toss-up between 2 of my lined fretless basses. A) the 32" scale, '93 Canadian-made Fury Anthem, with tape wounds. It was built to sound like an upright bass - and Gawd, does it ever... Or, B) my '24 G&L Kiloton lined fretless. With La Bella LTF-4A's, it's awfully bluesy sounding - if I want it to be. As for other people playing my basses? IME, very few right handed players want to deal with a left handed bass, so... ;)
 
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#44
sleddogn said:
is it normal for peeps to go to jam's without their own instrument expecting one to be provided? That seems odd to me, but never have done this type of thing...
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Same!
I was at a blues jam a couple weeks ago and a guy wanted to get up and play but hadn’t brought a bass.

The house bassist had an Alembic Series 1 and I had my Dingwall Z3.

I’m generally happy to let people try out my Dingwall…but IMO student drivers shouldn’t be handed the keys of a Lamborghini or a Rolls Royce.

Fortunately, there was a PJ available - but, to no great surprise, that bass also outmatched the skill level of the player.
 
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#45
Should worry more about the music you make than what piece of gear you bring. If your playing is good, no one will care. If it isn't, it won't be because of what instrument you chose to bring.
Don't overthink it (although it seems you're already going down that rabbit hole). It should always be about what will allow you to create the best music.

Also, as far as jam etiquette goes, you should bring whatever bass you want, even if you become the house bassist, because anyone looking to sit in should have their own axe. If they don't and are that scared of a 6-string and they can't possibly figure it out (it's really not that hard, even if you're a 4-string player), chances are you dodged a bullet not letting them get up on stage anyway.
 
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#47
groovaholic said:
Same!
I was at a blues jam a couple weeks ago and a guy wanted to get up and play but hadn’t brought a bass.

The house bassist had an Alembic Series 1 and I had my Dingwall Z3.

I’m generally happy to let people try out my Dingwall…but IMO student drivers shouldn’t be handed the keys of a Lamborghini or a Rolls Royce.

Fortunately, there was a PJ available - but, to no great surprise, that bass also outmatched the skill level of the player.
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I still remember handing my '72 Rick 4001 to a guy who turned out to be a better player than me at a jam, and I didn't get the bass back for the rest of the jam. When he returned it to me I found he had added some belt rash. I'm still mad, over 50 years later.
 
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#48
Late to the party here.

I hosted at a blues jam for over 20 years. The bass you use doesn't matter at all. I played Ps with flats, Ps with rounds, Js, Steinberger, Kalamazoo, Silvertone and three different uprights. Just pick which one you like the best for playing blues.

M-Mittlestedt isn’t providing the house amp, but that is what I think is important at a jam…not the instrument. I found some players can’t deal with lots of knobs and switches. At the end of my hosting career I provided a TC BH250 head because it's just volume, bass, mid and treble and the Tone Boost preset is a one-knob compressor. Pretty hard for anybody to get lost with that control panel. No contours, boosts, drive, sweeping EQ, etc. I provided a single cab EAW, Epifani or Bergantino cabinet, whatever I was gigging with at the time. I left out a tuner for jammers to use until I got the TC which has one onboard.

sleddogn said:
is it normal for peeps to go to jam's without their own instrument expecting one to be provided? That seems odd to me, but never have done this type of thing...
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Not in my experience. The expectation is that the drums are provided, amps and PA are provided. While jazz jams usually have a piano there, few blues jams do.
 
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#51
Who shows up to an open stage without an instrument? That does not make sense. Maybe the ONLY time I've seen people without instruments show up to an open mic was at an open mic--not at a "jam." In that scenario, the host had an acoustic guitar on the PA, and in a full house an un-amplified acoustic would be inaudible. So they ran with the host's guitar for just about everybody. I think he let someone that he knew plug in their own guitar (maybe an instrument they'd amplified before and knew it would work?)

But otherwise? BYOB. (Bring Your Own Bass.)
 
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#54
To be clear...

I am not a member of the "house" band. I'm only going to play on a few tunes (for now anyway). I do know the bass player plays in a couple other area bands so I'm not quite sure how entrenched he is with this jam band.

I've played with the drummer before and I know the guitar player.

I've been playing for over 45 years...so this really ain't my first rodeo. Typically, with most jams like this the backline is provided as there really isn't time/space for anyone to setup their own gear (amps and such).

I have never showed up to an open jam expecting to "borrow" the house bass player's bass (or anyone else's for that matter). I don't feel comfortable playing other's instruments (whether they are cool with it or not). It's kind of like borrowing someone's wife. :laugh: Besides, I'm very picky about setups and it's been my experience that most players do not setup their bass with low action (if it's set up at all).

No one will be borrowing my bass. I did kind of post this thread already knowing which one I'd most likely be using, but I wanted to give others something to think about.

I feel very comfortable playing my 6 string. Yesterday I had a day off from work and played both basses on some of the tunes I know for sure they'll be playing. No contest...the 6 string is the better bass in every way.
 
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#55
Jeff Hughes said:
PJ: the blues is about pain.

Maybe you don’t care, I wouldn’t, but every gear stalker out there is going to say “look at the guy playing the 6 string bass for an open jam.”
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I’ve seen players show up at a blues jam with a Fodera 5-string and a 6-string bass. If they can play- and those guys certainly could- that’s usually enough to silence the blues purists.
 
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#56
Petethebassman said:
I’ve seen players show up at a blues jam with a Fodera 5-string and a 6-string bass. If they can play- and those guys certainly could- that’s usually enough to silence the blues purists.
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If I didn't know any of the guys, just for fun, I'd be tempted to ask (feigning ignorance) the bass player what kind of bass he's playing (stock Fender Jazz) and then go on to say that I've never seen a bass with only 4 strings. :laugh:
 
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#57
groovaholic said:
I would be too - an experienced player should know better!
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Yes. I was only 19, had only played for about a year, could barely play back then. I thought, well, it's a jam, and why not let someone else try out my bass? After lugging a beast of an amp (Road440 plus 18" cab), plus the Rick, I only got to play for about 10 minutes in what turned out to be a 2 hour jam. Many of the players were from our college's music school's jazz band and I was in way over my head. My level - - I was in a crappy rock band and could barely follow what the jazz guys were doing, and the guy who took over on my Rick wasn't all that much better, but he was at least an intermediate, and he could follow their changes. So yeah, I learned something.

These days, I would never hand my bass over to anyone I did not personally know and I'd make sure their belt came off first, and terms of the arrangement were clear up front.
 
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