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Cant decide bass or guitar

M

marlone

Feb 12, 2012
3
0
#1
Hello everyone I am new to the forums a friend sent me here.

I want to learn a stringed instrument and have little experience in guitar.

Guitar

what I love
- (acoustic) the ability to just take it anywhere and just strum even though im not very good.

-The warmth

-(electric)

-the endless sounds and the way you can make it sing

What i hate

-(electric)the high strings those last ones they just kind of make me shiver.




Bass

what i love

-That deep thump that shakes the books on the shelves.

- pleasure playing bass seems to triple when you jam with a group.

- always listened for the bass lines in songs

what i hate

-dont really have anything I thought they sounded dull but i was wrong.


I dont know what to choose if i choose the guitar I wouldnt want to be up front with full lights on me apart from the occasional solo but i would rather be playing rhythm with heavy chugs in the mix.
Im the type a guy that hates anything bright colored or obnoxious. Whenever I hear a good bass in a song my foot just starts tapping.

With the guitar I always found myself playing just three strings but I love the bright sound of guitars sometimes just not all the time.
Even at times i would get bored because it sounds like something i have heard over and over

Maybe im leaning to bass but i dont feel i fully appreciate the bass as an instrument or maybe i need to look at it another way.

There are few bassists where i live so know one near me to look up for advice.

If i do choose bass I know for a fact that alot of churches are going to call me...
 
#4
You can get a baritone guitar or "Bass VI", essentially six strings tuned much lower than a regular guitar, between 27" and 30" scale length. They have some very cheap ones at Rondo, or you could get the Schecter Hellcat for around $600. There are also baritone acoustic guitars for your campfire strumming, though they usually can't be tuned quite as low.
 
#5
marlone said:
if i choose the guitar I wouldnt want to be up front with full lights on me apart from the occasional solo but i would rather be playing rhythm with heavy chugs in the mix.

If i do choose bass I know for a fact that alot of churches are going to call me...
Click to expand...

Welcome to TB. I think you may be getting a bit ahead of yourself here. ^^

I've had people ask me before why I didnt choose guitar. And I can honestly say that I've never had any desire to play guitar personally. Bass is what speaks to me. I love the sound the groove and the role that the bass plays. The bass is what I hear and feel when I listen to a song. It sounds like you may be the same way. But no one can tell you that.

You just have to find the instrument that speaks to You
 
#7
Ask a question like this on a bass site and it won't be a surprise which way the advice goes. My experience: I took up the bass originally because I liked the look of the instrument! Trivial, eh? But I soon found that I'd been listening to bass lines in my favourite songs all my life, and learned how much any music leans on the bottom end.
 
#9
Anyway you can also change your mind later. Also if you fall in love with a instrument you will play on and on. I had love for guitars and all I wanted as a kid was a electric guitar. I was playing acoustic but it just wasn't the same. My dad bought me a bass (he always wanted to play one) but I hated it. Now it's my favourite instrument :D
 
#12
If you listen to some jazz lines (specifically double bass, but electric can be cool too) there's quite a lot of high notes being played. A bass is tuned 1 octave lower than a guitar so if you play in the upper-section of the neck you get the same notes as a guitar, but they'll sound warmer. To me, bass has a better range, guitar is purely treble, but bass gets the best of treble and (funnily enough) bass.
Also, why not try double bass? You can pickup an EUB for £250, and with an EUB you can adjust the tone to get either a double-bassy sound or bass guitar sound.
Have a serious think about it, don't list pros and cons, go with the one that speaks most to you :')
 
#15
I have to agree with over the moon, play both. I started on guitar then started playing bass . Played bass in bands for 38 years now but still play guitar ,mainly for me, but sometimes we swap instruments in the band I'm in now, for part of a set and thats fun too.Anyhow,Welcome to TB and which ever one you decide on or both just play.
 
#17
marlone said:
There are few bassists where i live so know one near me to look up for advice.

...
Click to expand...

Good thing you can be the man in your area.I have a guitar too.
Les Paul Studio I can play some metal on it power chords you
know with lots of distortion on it.
They make acoustic basses just like 6 string ones.
They are easier to just pick up and play like you said.
If you listen to bass lines in the music i think thats telling you something.
 
#20
over_the_moon said:
Why not play both? It doesn't need to be an either/or decision.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. It'll be slow going at first trying to learn two, but the knowledge you'll have from learning the two will be better in the long run by far.

Dubista said:
You're on TalkBASS, of course most people will recommend BASS.
Click to expand...

THIS totally crossed my mind when I read the title :D
 

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