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Double Bass Going back to primarily electric playing.
- Thread starter nathanmcnathan
- Start date
Ok. I'm bored. I'll argue.
All this talk of "the sound is in your hands" etc is great but the bass, strings, and setup DO matter and DOES make the the bass sound better. If not we'd all be playing $300 ebay basses with weedwackers and do our own work with a hammer, ducktape, and 20 grit sandpaper.
The Rabbath video is great. Thanks for posting that.
All this talk of "the sound is in your hands" etc is great but the bass, strings, and setup DO matter and DOES make the the bass sound better. If not we'd all be playing $300 ebay basses with weedwackers and do our own work with a hammer, ducktape, and 20 grit sandpaper.
The Rabbath video is great. Thanks for posting that.
A crappy bass and/or bad set up can easily prompt a post like the one that started this thread.
My bass has always sounded great but my recent set-up has done wonders for my interest and motivation.
At this point I can get something out of most basses, but I sound best on a great bass. I feel like we are co-operating with the instrument rather than being the master of it.
My bass has always sounded great but my recent set-up has done wonders for my interest and motivation.
At this point I can get something out of most basses, but I sound best on a great bass. I feel like we are co-operating with the instrument rather than being the master of it.
My interpretation is that good gear/setup simply gets the equipment out of the way so that you can get to your "core" sound easier. It doesn't mean your core sound is any good. 
We practice to develop the core sound and marginally to make the bass sound better.
We practice to develop the core sound and marginally to make the bass sound better.
This reminds me of what Ray Brown said in those instructional videos on YouTube. He was working one-on-one with a student who was using an amp. Ray basically said something very similar: (paraphrasing) "you practice without an amp many hours a day to create your unique voice. Make sure that when you amp it, what your doing is supporting your voice, not changing it drastically"
In other words, the "marginals", should serve the "core sound" and not vice versa.
+1 pretty much although it might be more subtle than that. Plenty of pros travel without their bass and rent on the road and their personality comes through. Ron Carter sounds like Ron Carter even if he's playing through a Crate. Eddie Gomez used to rent basses on the road and he sounded like Eddie Gomez regardless of the bass/strings/amp. He sounded like Eddie when he played gut strings and no amp in the '60's as evidenced on the Youtube videos with Bill Evans from pre-1970. As a cautionary addendum to this: in the Gage instructional video he did, he indicated that he messed his hands up pretty badly trying to play like Eddie Gomez on some poorly set up basses and he does seem to have lost some prowess in his more recent recordings as compared to his older ones.
The great Paul Thompson (on TB as PDBass) played a gig once where a number of great bassists sat in using his bass and amp (I don't remember who but it was guys like Ray Brown and Ron Carter and few others in that rarified category) and he said it was amazing but each sounded exactly like themselves despite playing on his bass and amp. We should get him to relate the story with the correct details.
I think the stuff that makes you "you" will come out regardless if you are playing on a $300 bass with weedwackers or a $50,000 pedigreed Italian bass (or anything in between). However, if you are using a good quality bass set up to your personal specifications with strings that allow you to easily sound the way you hear your sound in your head, you are going to play a whole lot better than otherwise. You'll be fighting the instrument less and be much more relaxed which will allow you to focus on playing music as opposed to focussing on forcing the instrument to do what you want it to do. In addition, I find a good quality, well set up instrument inspiring and motivational to play on so I end up practicing a lot more.
mark
I agree with all of the above though I've borrowed/rented some basses that made me wish I was having dental work instead.
Also, even if a bass is a good one, it can be hard to play 'cause of the setup. I recall one bass I used (some sort of German carved thingy) had the strings so low that I couldn't play.
Damon is right on though. I think a poorly setup (or just plain crappy bass) was what started this whole thread. The bottom line is having an instrument that makes you WANT to practice.
Also, even if a bass is a good one, it can be hard to play 'cause of the setup. I recall one bass I used (some sort of German carved thingy) had the strings so low that I couldn't play.
Damon is right on though. I think a poorly setup (or just plain crappy bass) was what started this whole thread. The bottom line is having an instrument that makes you WANT to practice.
I've played other people's basses... much better basses. I've sounded WAY better on them. My bass is okay for practising, but it doesn't have the SOUND. I can get a bit of a good sound out of it, but when I play a better bass, I sound 10 times better. I can get my tone from most basses. When I first started, my bass was good enough for me. Now that I'm better, I'm finding that it's holding me back from doing what I want with it.
for myself, I can say I would not have developed the technique I have to not make the bass matter as much because I have had good bass I have been excited to play for the last 15 years. A poor set up and/or bass is just going to be a downer at some point.
Nathan, I would at least try getting some new strings and a set up.
Nathan, I would at least try getting some new strings and a set up.
Oh fer chrissakes. Some kid from the frozen tundra (yes, I've been to Barrie) has one DB gig on the books, unpaid, in February '09, decides to bail on the instrument, and we're still talking about it?!
I said it before, early in this thread.... Ta-ta. Don't let the doorknob tap ya where the doctor slapped ya.
I said it before, early in this thread.... Ta-ta. Don't let the doorknob tap ya where the doctor slapped ya.
It's also a good example of a conversation that wouldn't take place away from the shadowy confines of talkbass.
Good talkbass threads more often than not have little to do with the original post. There is some good discussion here, I don't think some of the reality checks are out of line, but Nathan didn't just wander in from the BG side, he has regularly posted here for around a year or so and has been clearly serious about the instrument.
Sometimes it is a little tough when you feel like you are juggling too many instruments and it can feel like you need to pick one, and sometimes you do.
Sometimes it is a little tough when you feel like you are juggling too many instruments and it can feel like you need to pick one, and sometimes you do.
For me, YES. Profanity, in my life, sometimes relieves the emotional pressure of dealing with ****** like you.
For me, YES. I'm mature...66 years so. Experienced? YES. Check my profile.
Actually, I think I'm the most experienced jazz bassist on the board.
This one's a bit sticky....This is kinda like a family over here. Nathan is one of our family members. You ain't. I wouldn't walk into your living room and start telling you and your family how to handle their demeanor.
O.T. and SELFCENTERED. WARNING!
I've recieved two PM's that have alluded to my penchant for for doing BOTH of the above. Both by bass guitarists. Also on a thread here..again by a bass guitarist...accusing me of having a chip on my shoulder and having a bad attitude.
I took some time off to check my shoulder, and my attitude...
Both were just fine....Maybe a bit edgy and crusty....But just fine.
Love, PW....And My God, ****, **** , AND ************!
Oh, by the way...This Thread is under the JAZZ TECHNIQUE forum heading. In your profile you mention every musical genre that you like....there is one that you don't mention....jazz.
In my family we use dumb-ass as a term of endearment.
So here goes.
Don't quit the DB dumb-ass.
xoxo
So here goes.
Don't quit the DB dumb-ass.
xoxo
I guess I got all Mr. Cranky in my last post. When I was a kid, I'd **** up on the trumpet, and then blame the horn. My folks would bust my balls for trying to blame the conduit. So I guess I was just channeling them. Sorry for that.
I started out on the crappiest fiberglass double bass you've ever seen. That's what I learned on, and yeah, I would have preferred something better. Too bad for me.... but it never even occurred to me to stop playing. I went back to my old high school a couple of years ago, and that bass is still there. I played it for quite awhile, and I sounded fine... just like myself, as a matter of fact. Believe, me... spend some time playing rentals on the road, and you learn to adapt to some very iffy basses very quickly.
If you hear the slab in your head and in your heart, play it. Any other reason doesn't work for me.
I started out on the crappiest fiberglass double bass you've ever seen. That's what I learned on, and yeah, I would have preferred something better. Too bad for me.... but it never even occurred to me to stop playing. I went back to my old high school a couple of years ago, and that bass is still there. I played it for quite awhile, and I sounded fine... just like myself, as a matter of fact. Believe, me... spend some time playing rentals on the road, and you learn to adapt to some very iffy basses very quickly.
If you hear the slab in your head and in your heart, play it. Any other reason doesn't work for me.
