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Guitar players corner!
- Thread starter danbones
- Start date
I'm a guitarist turned bassist. I just like the simplicity and lack of limelight. Sometimes you just want to play without the posturing or competition. As a bass player your main job is to show up on time and in tune....everything else is just gravy. Guitarists need a whole shtick to stand out (because for a guitarist standing out is your metric for success).
Gorgeous guitar! There’s a good amount of inexpensive tube guitar amps these days, if you’re into tubes. Loads of ss options too. The modding amp world is getting scary sophisticated, and getting a very versatile Guitar amp has never been more affordable. Wish I could say the same for bass amps, though I like the promising direction the Rumble 800 is going with being a modeling bass amp. My dream amp would be one that’s both a bass and guitar amp, and sounds really good with both.
Skinny strings deserve the love too! I have a cool guitar selection. I have had the fortune to play guitar for stints and have had several custom guitars and tube guitar amplifiers made for me here at the studio. It always compliment my bass playing as a musician. Still, regardless of how many gigs I have done on guitar, I feel like a bass player working my side hustle... 
It’s a great time to become a guitar player. I always swore by tube amps, but I haven’t used one at a gig in a couple of years. I went the modeling route, and nobody has said anything but good things about the way my rig sounds, including old-school guys. Definitely consider a modeler as an option....I’m not going back.
I started out on guitar with a year of lessons around 1966 or so. I bought a used bass around 1980 and got with other musicians and everybody played guitar so I played bass. I played bass in bands since 1980 and rarely played any guitar at home after I met my wife (1995), but my dad wanted me to perform at his assisted living home 3 years ago so I worked up a few songs on guitar and did a little show.
I tried to put together a trio, a couple of months ago, out of the 5 member band I am in, but the guitar player had to go back north, then I decided to play guitar in a duo with my backup bass player, but he backed out. So I am gearing up to start playing out as a solo in a few weeks. As opposed to these acoustic duos and solos around here, I am using a drum machine and my Affinity Strat, with Rumble 100 and Zoom B1. Doing Credence and Tom Petty tunes, etc. I call it Classic Pop/Rock. I am learning signature intros and then sticking to playing chords and singing. I need about 5 more songs for 3 sets of material. There is at least one restaurant gig around here that is only 2 sets.
I tried to put together a trio, a couple of months ago, out of the 5 member band I am in, but the guitar player had to go back north, then I decided to play guitar in a duo with my backup bass player, but he backed out. So I am gearing up to start playing out as a solo in a few weeks. As opposed to these acoustic duos and solos around here, I am using a drum machine and my Affinity Strat, with Rumble 100 and Zoom B1. Doing Credence and Tom Petty tunes, etc. I call it Classic Pop/Rock. I am learning signature intros and then sticking to playing chords and singing. I need about 5 more songs for 3 sets of material. There is at least one restaurant gig around here that is only 2 sets.
No, no, no. I know lots of guitarist that aren't attention hogs; I'm one of them. I spend as much time supporting the singer, keyboard, fiddle player as I do playing burning solos. My metric for success has NOTHING to do with how much attention I get.
I'm going to guess the average music listener (ie - not a musician) looks at the singer and guitarist first. The drummer, bass, and keys are second fiddle. Don't shoot the messenger.
Entire genres are typically defined by the amount of distortion the guitarist uses.
This happened to me. So then the OP's question: do you boss around your bassist? Well, he asked me if I wanted him to do my lines note for note. I said absolutely not, I wanted him to do HIS thing, HIS voice, go nuts. And he came up with the most incredible stuff. Nothing like my original lines. All awesome. He asked me if it was OK, if I wanted him to change anything - hell no. Never ask me that again. Do your thing, Les. Same with the drummer. Make it happen. Don't play anything I did unless you want to. Don't ask me if it will be OK because I've been playing with you for 25 years and it will be OK.
But I'd been playing with these guys for a long time and knew I could trust their killer instincts. That's the part you gotta have. I would not have cut another batch of people the same freedoms. But damn, it paid off so well.
Hilarious thing about that whole outfit is that the drummer's main instrument was guitar (he was a phenomenal guitarist AND a slamming drummer), both guitar players, me and my writing partner, were both bassists by trade, and only the guy playing bass was playing his main instrument.
When I was 12 or 13 my friend and I began taking guitar lessons from an old country crooner type, we each spent half the hour on bass and half on guitar.
Guitar being my primary focus, I didn't play bass again until about 30 years later. I've played bass in bands for the past 10 years but never made a dime playing guitar. Still, when I pull out an axe at home it's usually a 6-string I get out to play.
Guitar being my primary focus, I didn't play bass again until about 30 years later. I've played bass in bands for the past 10 years but never made a dime playing guitar. Still, when I pull out an axe at home it's usually a 6-string I get out to play.
I've always had a guitar around and taught myself all the chords so I can look at a guitar player and know what what he's playing. ... I just recently bought a 2005 Highway 1 Telecaster and I really like it. ... All bassists should have an understanding of the instrument just like keyboards. ... It's all about the music.
- Jun 6, 2012
- 4,837
- 6,859
- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
appreciate all the contributions so far, it’s great to hear everyone’s path from bass to guitar and vice versa. i’ve found that my bass playing has improved tremendously since taking up guitar, and i incorporate waaayyy more legato runs into my playing. it’s also been a huge help to know how to set my EQ to sit well in any mix without running into competing frequencies.
