Do you call your bass a guitar?

[Smith357]

its actually a guitar. a bass guitar. the 6 string is called a tenor guitar. just like a bass clarinet or alto clarinet. its the same instrument in a different octave. johnny a.

I thought Tenor Guitars also had just 4 strings and were tuned in 5ths.

 

[Smith357]

Nope, tenor guitar has 4 strings and is tuned GDAE like a mandola, your basic 6 EADGBE guitar is a Baritone.
</geekmode>

Your basic gist was right though, matters not what you call the damn thing.

Long time no post by the way...

I thought Baritone Guitars had 27" scales and were tuned down from the standard guitar tuning.

 

[Biggbass]

I refer to it as a bass. Especially when I'm playing the upright.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

Apparently, this non-issue was, in fact, settled in 1959:

 

[JRA]

i always refer to my ax as a "bass." i use "bass guitar" if i need to clarify. i've never just called it a "guitar" --- i don't play guitar. i started on DB, and i usually referred to it as my "upright." i'm sure some terms are more contextual, some are a function of where we're from, yada yada. i'm good with any of it.

 

[LBS-bass]

i always refer to my ax as a "bass." i use "bass guitar" if i need to clarify. i've never just called it a "guitar" --- i don't play guitar. i started on DB, and i usually referred to it as my "upright." i'm sure some terms are more contextual, some are a function of where we're from, yada yada. i'm good with any of it.

I often call mine a "guitar" casually, because if I ask someone to hand me my "guitar," they might be more likely to have half a clue what I'm asking them for.

I don't take any special notice of it being a "bass" any more than someone playing sax might say "hand me my tenor." Unless they have more than one sax in front of them, they're going to ask for their sax.

I can see where there's crossover in our particular world between upright (properly known as bass viol) and this electrified thing we play on this TB side, but I find it peculiarly odd that someone might actually take offense at it being called what it is.

But, having said that, I realize that (as I mentioned) I got pretty good music education as a kid, and not everyone did. It's an opportunity to inform. But I'd just as soon this topic go away

 

[Astronaut]

It’s not a bassoon.

 

[ThingsAbove]

Leo referred to it as a solid body bass

YMMV

 

[gln1955]

I usually don't care but a couple weeks ago a new singer at church comes up after and says "You're a pretty good guitar player". I'd usually take that undeserved compliment and move on, but instead I said "No, I'ma a crappy guitar player but I'm OK on bass".

I've found that most people beyond the age of 12 are aware of the existence of bass guitars. The deprecating memes help.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

Leo referred to it as a solid body bass

YMMV

He referred to it as a bass guitar and simply as a guitar in his patent application. See post #84.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

But I'd just as soon this topic go away

Indeed. Of all the things to get bent out of shape over, this has got to be one of the most trivial and silly IMO.

 

[LBS-bass]

Indeed. Of all the things to get bent out of shape over, this has got to be one of the most trivial and silly IMO.

It also reveals a bit more about people than I care to know. OK, you didn't learn these things in school. You have an opportunity to either learn something or double-down on remaining uninformed. I'm always surprised at how many folks defiantly choose the second option.

I don't personally care what you want to call it; sometimes I say "bass," sometimes "guitar," they both mean the same thing to me when I'm pointing at a bass guitar. It's ok if you only want to use one label but don't insist that those using a different, proper label are hurling some silly insult at you

 

[gln1955]

He referred to it as a bass guitar and simply as a guitar in his patent application. See post #84.

All three of Leo's companies now call those things basses. That's how it gone, so wanting to call them that is hardly a sign of ignorance.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

All three of Leo's companies now call those things basses. That's how it gone, so wanting to call them that is hardly a sign of ignorance.

Wanting to call them basses is not a sign of ignorance, and I don't believe anyone claimed it was. However, insisting that that's the only proper name for them is.

 

[LBS-bass]

Wanting to call them basses is not a sign of ignorance, and I don't believe anyone claimed it was. However, insisting that that's the only proper name for them is.

Yep, that's all I was saying. I call mine a bass all the time. I also sometimes call it a guitar, and less often (usually when someone asks me what instrument I play) I say "bass guitar," just to make it clear I do not play upright, because that's always the next question if I'm not specific. All of those names are correct.

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

I always refer to my bass, as "bass".

 

[rufus.K]

I say "bass guitar"

Doesnt bother me what nomenclature others use

 

[Chris_will_do]

I play bass. Period.

 

[LBS-bass]

I play bass. Period.

Bass? Ok, so this:

Or maybe this:

Or do you play one of these?

See, the problem with your statement is the "period" part because you think that just saying "bass" is a complete description.

We all know what you mean because we're all players of bass guitars. But the average person doesn't have enough information to know what you mean when you just say "bass."

Bass is just a sonic register. It's a word that describes the sort of sound all these instruments make. It's not an instrument. It can be used to describe lots of different instruments.

You can call it that for shorthand, I do it all the time, but don't get mad at me if I suggest that there's a more precise label for it

 

[SLO Surfer]

I'm just curious how many people say for instance "I need to fix my guitar" as opposed to "I need to fix my bass". Anytime I say guitar instead of bass my drummer usually points it out right away and I'm like 'Same ****' but I'm curious if anyone else does it lol

Nope. I just call it a bass. Not guitar.

Anyone calling it, “guitar,” is a, “fake bassist.”