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Great Advice From Marcus Miller
- Thread starter Rockmusician
- Start date
im a jazz player and have 3 jazzes ( one with flats one with rounds and a squier which i mod/experiment with). I really know the neck of a jazz bass. I think Marcus hit the nail on the head in his website about learning his instrument. Even switching from a 70's to a 90 model or say my squier there is a very different touch and a totally different sound. The maple board does sound different and I think I play it different than the rosewoods.
Agree on the preamp (I have tone hammer not sadowsky). I play mostly real book stuff straight ahead jazz with a little fusion but marcus is definitely an influence. His playing is the definition of groove and swing for the electric bass. Thanks for this great quote. Lots of my friends are firing up the high end bass collection and sometimes I feel like a dud for staying with my jazz basses.
wonderful note thank you!
Agree on the preamp (I have tone hammer not sadowsky). I play mostly real book stuff straight ahead jazz with a little fusion but marcus is definitely an influence. His playing is the definition of groove and swing for the electric bass. Thanks for this great quote. Lots of my friends are firing up the high end bass collection and sometimes I feel like a dud for staying with my jazz basses.
wonderful note thank you!
- Aug 5, 2005
- 7,243
- 92
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
Not as cool as finding a comfortable bass with great tone for a lot less.
But alas, we can all dream.
MikeBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 4, 2003
- 11,943
- 3,140
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist- Suhr basses, PedalTrain, GHS, Ultimate Ears
I wholly agree w/Marcus here...but I ordered my 1st custom bass anyway, just because my standard basses(EBMMs) didn't have quite the feel & tone I'm after for my fretted needs. EBMMs will remain my standard for fretless needs tho.
That approach works when you're not a lefty! 
I went through pretty much everything lefty available in Europe: cheap (Ibanez, MIM Fender, Squier, Fernandes) and not-so-cheap (MM Stingray, Warwick Thumb, Spector EURO). Not to put any of these basses down (I adored my Spector), for me the 4 string Lakland US Joe Osborn just killed'em. Between the USJO4 and the 55-94 almost all the styles are covered. Lakland US basses are not cheap. But as a working musician, not having the right bass for almost a decade, then suddenly finding not one but two, I would say is worth the price.
OK, being an endorser I'm not exactly objective here but I only became one AFTER getting a USJO4... now I'm a believer
I went through pretty much everything lefty available in Europe: cheap (Ibanez, MIM Fender, Squier, Fernandes) and not-so-cheap (MM Stingray, Warwick Thumb, Spector EURO). Not to put any of these basses down (I adored my Spector), for me the 4 string Lakland US Joe Osborn just killed'em. Between the USJO4 and the 55-94 almost all the styles are covered. Lakland US basses are not cheap. But as a working musician, not having the right bass for almost a decade, then suddenly finding not one but two, I would say is worth the price.
OK, being an endorser I'm not exactly objective here but I only became one AFTER getting a USJO4... now I'm a believer
Yet again, TB has turned a subject about getting one good bass & shedding to a pile of records into......GEAR & G.A.S.......
I'm really getting tired of this,
I never ends......
I'm really getting tired of this,
I never ends......
So for the most part I agree with him, but its not that cut and dry IMO. There are artists on bass I believe would not have been able to do exactly the same things the same way as they wanted on a thick P bass neck with flats, or with a bass that is cheap or cheaper than $2000 on average.
Victor? Garrison? ERB guys? I mean there is playability and custom neck dimension considerations, pup placements that emphasize different techniques and styles etc.
I'm NOT saying that these players wouldent sound good on a cheap bass..they would sound better than most...or that they need an expensive bass to sound good, I'm saying that Marcus developed his voice on a meat and potatoes bass and incorporated his style into it and not every bassist that has his own voice did that on a cheap or common brand. I think their instrument helped form their style.
Victor? Garrison? ERB guys? I mean there is playability and custom neck dimension considerations, pup placements that emphasize different techniques and styles etc.
I'm NOT saying that these players wouldent sound good on a cheap bass..they would sound better than most...or that they need an expensive bass to sound good, I'm saying that Marcus developed his voice on a meat and potatoes bass and incorporated his style into it and not every bassist that has his own voice did that on a cheap or common brand. I think their instrument helped form their style.
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,233
- 45,120
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Marcus endorses a Fender model. It would be counter to his fiscal interests to say "people need high end basses".
That said, I think that what he is saying is pretty much true. Nobody NEEDS a high end bass to groove hard. Nobody NEEDS 5 or 6 strings to groove hard. But different people *enjoy* different things, and are going for different things.
The bass you play won't make you a better player, but you should play the bass that you enjoy playing so that you can play your best.
That said, I think that what he is saying is pretty much true. Nobody NEEDS a high end bass to groove hard. Nobody NEEDS 5 or 6 strings to groove hard. But different people *enjoy* different things, and are going for different things.
The bass you play won't make you a better player, but you should play the bass that you enjoy playing so that you can play your best.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
Well he was playing a Fender before he got the endorsement/signature bass on the market.
And he does play A modulus and a fodera quite a bit in concert.
And he's pretty much on point.
One of the reasons I've been playing more and more Fenderish basses.
From speaking with Marcus I'm pretty sure he digs a nice bass, even an expensive one just as much as anyone else.
Over the years I've seen a lot of people take that quote from his website as some sort of cut and dried edict. It isn't. It's good basic advice but if you get to the point in your musical journey where something nicer does it better for you, he's not saying to stick with a basic instrument.
Granted nicer gear is no substitute for putting the time in. I know plenty of average bassists who bought very nice basses and became... average bassists with very nice basses. No improvement skillwise.
I agree with him that many expensive basses sound like science projects. So I tend not to gravitate towards those basses.
BTW I need the basses I play to do what I do as easily and consistently as I've become accustomed to doing it. I could ride a bike or push a shopping cart to gigs... I'd get there eventually.
Over the years I've seen a lot of people take that quote from his website as some sort of cut and dried edict. It isn't. It's good basic advice but if you get to the point in your musical journey where something nicer does it better for you, he's not saying to stick with a basic instrument.
Granted nicer gear is no substitute for putting the time in. I know plenty of average bassists who bought very nice basses and became... average bassists with very nice basses. No improvement skillwise.
I agree with him that many expensive basses sound like science projects. So I tend not to gravitate towards those basses.
BTW I need the basses I play to do what I do as easily and consistently as I've become accustomed to doing it. I could ride a bike or push a shopping cart to gigs... I'd get there eventually.
His signature model isn't cheap. You don't need one of them... an SX should do fine by the inferred logic. Yet Marcus doesn't gig with one.
General comments are great. In the end, the bass line is played by an individual (me), so general comments may or may not apply.
I like his hat though - I gots one just like it
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I like his hat though - I gots one just like it
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
What I got from that:
Find BALANCE! Find a bass that sounds good and you are comfortable on. You don't have to spend major money to get it, but you can't buy the cheapest thing and expect it to be reliable.
Balance is a good thing folks.
Find BALANCE! Find a bass that sounds good and you are comfortable on. You don't have to spend major money to get it, but you can't buy the cheapest thing and expect it to be reliable.
Balance is a good thing folks.
I so respect the man. Yet two things.
One: A bass feels nice to You because it does. Price doesn't make a bass feel nice.
Two: Who listens to drummers?
One: A bass feels nice to You because it does. Price doesn't make a bass feel nice.
Two: Who listens to drummers?
