Guitar players corner!

[Picton]

I played (and scratchbuilt) many guitars over the twenty years or so before I took up bass. I'm much better on bass; my understanding of my own guitar ceiling was one of the things that got me into four-strings. But I still enjoy my Teles and my Gretsch just as much as my basses. Well, nearly. And I can uncork an occasional guitar part, with aplomb.

I like a 2002-ish Fender MIM Tele with an ashtray bridge (Dremeled away on the treble side), split-shaft tuners, and of course a MOTS PG. I've got one at home and one at work. My Gretsch is set up however it came from the factory. And now, I've got a bunch of good six-strings I can loan out to my bandmates who show up with acoustics.

OP, I have no qualms about running a guitar through a Fender Rumble.

 

[4stringfarley]

I have to keep a guitar around the house to noodle around on. I'm not bad at it, but am not really good either. When the given the option to join bands as a guitarist or bassist I always play bass. My Lead is currently mad at the fact that this thing sounds and plays better than his current go to.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I mainly met my instructor through word of mouth. We used to run in the same circles back when we both lived in Brooklyn, so a few friends recommended him when I said I was looking to take lessons. His name is Charlie Looker and he teaches all skill levels. I think he’s mostly an avant-garde, jazz and metal player. He’s not cheap, but i’m happy to give you his info if you want it. The zoom/facetime lessons can be a little frustrating if your internet connection lags, but overall it’s been a massive help.

(full disclosure, i’ve been unemployed since march due to covid, so i’ve had a ton of time to practice.)

Definitely send his info over!

 

[Steven Ayres]

I started on guitar and took up the electric bass before I really learned to do much with it beyond folk-style strumming. But the styles of music I found myself playing on bass were quite different from how I would play on my own, so I've always kept at it on both. Since the '80s my guitar work is essentially all fingerstyle, and now I feel awkward with a flatpick.

In recent years I've got a lot more into the American songbook, as they say, led to it by gigging on bass, now mostly upright, and that's bent my guitar work in the same direction. Since the gigs dried up I've been working almost exclusively on my old Silvertone jumbo jazzbox, set up as a baritone, substantially expanding my knowledge of how chords work across the fretboard and digging into voicing and higher-order support for melody and flavor.

At the same time I've pushed more deeply into prewar styles, where sometimes you just have to use a banjo. For that stuff I use a guitar-tuned sixer or a short-neck tenor from the '20s.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

I bottomed out at the age of 40 with two babies and a pending divorce. I had a choice of how to handle my emotions - crawl into a bottle or find a more positive outlet. I had played bass back in my high school/college days, but given it up when there was no one else to play with. Pardon my slight here: bass is not a wonderful instrument to play solo day in and day out.

So I bought a cigar box guitar to work through my anger/depression/frustration/grief. After two years of playing 3, 4 and 6 string guitars, I got a call asking if I wanted to try out for a band...as the bass player. So, it was back to bass as my main instrument. It's where I feel at home, but I never stopped playing the guitar. I now write and record guitar, bass and vocals for one original tune per month on average at home as a balance/enrichment to playing bass in a rock cover band.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I played just bass for 20 years before switching to guitar about 2 years ago. I love it!

 

[Hypocrite]

Implying you need a guitar to have six strings

 

[skycruiser]

I mainly play guitar but I don't have anyone else to play with and I like recording guitar music songs. Maybe after COVID I'll reach out nearby for someone to take over that part of the process. I'd rather just play bass.

 

[lfmn16]

I actually played guitar before I played bass and have played far more guitar than bass the last five years. I would say the same thing about guitar as I say about bass - play what you've got. I played a Strat through a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue with three pedals for 10 years. It covered Blues, Classic Rock, Motown, Country, lite jazz, funk, and everything else. Yea, a Tele would have been better for the country, maybe a Les Paul for the harder classic rock, an ES-175 for lite jazz but nobody except me would have know the difference.

 

[TheLowDown33]

Very timely thread. I've been dabbling with guitar for about two years, but I became more serious about it within the last 9 months or so because I wanted to expand my gigging capability. Then once live music shut down, it became apparent that small format (solo, duo, maybe trio) gigs were going to be the only way to play out for a while and when that happens, bass tends to be the first thing on the chopping block.

Thankfully, I've taken to it nicely. It has also helped my understanding of harmony immensely, since I'm not constrained by polyphony or the lower-interval limit. It's also been a rewarding way to play solo and develop some new ideas and break creative ruts. Another plus side is that I don't have to outsource guitar playing on any of my personal demos as I can usually scratch things out well enough myself now. While I'm a bassist through and through, it's nice to take a leave from being the foundation and play in a way that I usually can't or don't with bass.

 

[Ostie]

What’s next? “Lead singers corner?” Wait, I got it—“Lead singers married to the drummer” corner.

 

[Roland GR 88]

Nice thread. I like guitars, tube amps and pedals.
That’s a Swart ST-Stereo and a Schertler beside the Vox for the piezo on the Parker.
I spend my evenings wobbling away in a self induced modulated
fog.

 

[Seashore]

I had a Harmony half-size guitar when I was 4, finally started really playing it when I was 11-ish, and got my first electric (an Aria Pro II) for my 13th birthday... That'll be 28 years ago this coming Thursday. I still remember the joy and excitement like it was a couple months ago.

I'm a metal guy. My main electric for about 21 years was a Gibson "Gothic" Explorer. I retired it to backup status earlier this year when I got a Schecter SLS Elite E-1. I've also got a Steinberger baritone, a Taylor maple jumbo acoustic, a scrappy little Fernandes with a Floyd Rose and a sustainer pickup, and a couple of project guitars in various states of disrepair. Main guitar head is a VHT Pittbull 100CL. It's my favorite amp that I've played, but if I was looking on a lower budget I'd probably get a used Peavey 6505+.

As far as bass vs guitar goes, I can't say which one I "like better" or which one I'm more comfortable playing - I try to split my jamming time evenly and I'm currently playing guitar for one band and bass for another. But I'm much more used to writing complete songs on guitar, and guitar pick technique is the foundation of my bass playing.

Here's a clip of that new Schecter in action. I'm playing one of the lead sections from the EP I recorded this past spring. Nothing super flashy but I really like the part. I kept my guitar tuned in all fourths for the whole recording because I like it so much on bass!

 

[TuneIn]

a real square peg in the round hole huh? just go here Link Removed and leave the Bass players to the Bass players. No one is asking for guitar talk on the talk bass website, I mean....don't you get it?

maybe if you pop this idea, it will dry up and go away...

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I will say that my singing has improved exponentially since picking up guitar. With bass, I could always tune it and let my understanding of theory drive what notes I played. With guitar, you really have to listen to what you’re doing. Theory helps but it won’t tell you if your bend is in tune or not, and guitar strings are more sensitive to how you hold them. You can easily knock those out of tune if you’re using poor technique. Like I said, I have to actively listen much more intently.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I started on bass when I was 13, started dabbling on guitar around 17-18ish. For years I deliberately kept my playing level on the guitar very low. I didn’t want to be better at the guitar than I was on bass, considering myself a bassist and all. BUT, I found that with the guitar I could write songs much easier, and I started to understand chords more and why they progress certain ways. It’s really made me a better bassist. Sadly these days, I don’t have a band to play bass in, only guitar & vocals. Despite the fact that it’s “my band”, I still really long for a place to play bass because that’s what I love to do more. Guitars gear, much to my dismay, I far too easy to acquire and amass! While I’m happy with one good bass amp, for some reason I find myself with 3 guitar amps. Don’t get me started on all the pedals I own and don’t use!!!

 

[Roland GR 88]

a real square peg in the round hole huh? just go here Link Removed and leave the Bass players to the Bass players. No one is asking for guitar talk on the talk bass website, I mean....don't you get it?

maybe if you pop this idea, it will dry up and go away...

Feel free to ignore ......
One of the best things about this site is the wealth of experience available to everyone regarding everything about music.
Guitarists, piano players, horns, woodwinds, techs and even drummers come out of the woodwork when asked and most of us appreciate it.

 

[lfmn16]

Feel free to ignore ......
One of the best things about this site is the wealth of experience available to everyone regarding everything about music.
Guitarists, piano players, horns, woodwinds, techs and even drummers come out of the woodwork when asked and most of us appreciate it.

+1

I've noticed that some of the guitar sites have sections for guitar players that also play bass.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

View attachment 4040038
here’s what gets played most in my house. The Aria Pro II and the BC Rich are in drop C, the Jackson is in E standard, and so far is exclusively for Judas Priest and Megadeth riffs.

I’m currently hunting down a cheap high gain tube head from the 80’s or 90’s, and i’m a little salty with how pricey the tube amp market has gotten these past few years.

Check out Peavey Valvekings. Cheap and high gain.

 

[Komadinic]

I'm a guitar player but i do love playing the bass, i really don't see why you can't have it both since they're the same, and yet so different.

I strive to try and learn new things in life, I'd love to learn how to play piano too. Just make sure you're happy with what you do/play, anyone else can leave their opinions at the voting poles today.