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How did we get to this point....

#44
PeeJay21208 said:
As a bassist, I have been wondering over the last few years how we got to the point of needing soooooo many strings! We started out with the 4 string and now you see everything under the sun including 12 strings. What the heck is going on! As I watch these younger generations of bass players grow up, they have no sense of holding down a pocket or locking in a groove. But give them 8 bars and they will throw in every lick they have learned off of YouTube! I think it is getting out of hand sometimes. I love the creativity and the thought of the bass not only being the foundation but also having the freedom to spotlight. But that seems to be the focus now and not the pure art of being a bassist. What does everyone think?
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Yeah! All those busy players like Wooten and Clarke, Flea with all that slapping, playing their, uh...four-bangers.:rolleyes:

Gard said:
This describes me quite well, with one exception: I don't OWN a 4 string bass, not ONE.

Anyone that's seen me gig, or heard me recorded will avow that I don't ever overplay at any time, because it goes against my way of being as a bassist.

If you judge me by the number of strings on my instrument, you are listening with your EYES, and not your ears, and therefore are by definition a FAILURE as a musician. The people dancing to what I play aren't counting my strings, why the heck are you? Because YOUR ego is in the way - a listener doesn't HAVE an ego.
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Gard, it's good to know that your playing is in direct contrast to your posting style.:p
 
#45
Ric5 said:
In the 80s we got modern keyboards that could play lower notes. In the 80s we also got modern bass amps that give you more low end, and in the 80s we got modern pa systems with good subwoofers. Then modern composers started writing music that used the notes lower than the low E. Modern bass players need to either have the extended low range to play modern songs and get modern tone.

I find the extend low range helps with Metal, country, gospel, blues, jazz, and even classic rock.
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Right - but a 5 should cover all of that. Why does anyone need 5+? I still think it's just bravado.
 
#46
bassbully said:
Not trying to put down my brother or sister bass players but alot of bassists are seeking an idenity and refuse to be a engine room player...they want to stand out. To each their own but i prefer tasteful pocket playing and bass used in its role a foundation with the drums.
I personally know a couple of bass players who get ticked off that no matter what they do or how good they lay it down the guitarists gets all the attention. They feel they need to ad more to get noticed, more strings over the top playing etc. Some bassists just need to know if you are doing your job it will show and people will know. I can live with that...Can you?
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So they want attention and chose to play an instrument in a support role?

Sweet.
:hyper:
 
#47
Relevant bad bass player joke....

A kid gets a new bass and lessons for his birthday. Never played bass before in his life.

After his first lesson, the dad asks him what he learned, he says "Open E and the G note on the E string".

The dad sees the kid after the 2nd lesson and asks what he learned and the kid says "Open A as well as C and D on the A string".

The dad sees the kid walking out of the house with his bass the following week and asks him if he is going to his 3rd lesson. The kid says "Lesson? I'm going to my first gig."

Insert rimshot here.
 
#48
I've never understood the never understood thing:D. This isn't like the mystery of how the pyramids were built or the location of the fountain of youth.


"x number of strings determines groove" is one of the sillier equations out there. I did an old school/new school R&B gig last Saturday. I did the first set with a six string, playing mainly pocket with some fills. I switched to a new five string and my playing admittedly was busier. By conventional wisdom here if I had then switched to 4 string I would've been motor-boatin'. Three string? Next stop Giant Steps at 275bpm.
:D
 
#50
Brad Johnson said:
So they want attention and chose to play an instrument in a support role?

Sweet.
:hyper:
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:D

Always a chuckle when I hear bass players b*tching about stage presence and the amount of attention someone else gets :). I get an equal amount of attention to my guitar player, but that's because I sing, interact with the audience and generally do more than the usual "sulking-bass-player-in-the-background" pose ...... it has ZERO to do with the number of strings on my bass .... :cool:
 
#51
debassr said:
Right - but a 5 should cover all of that. Why does anyone need 5+? I still think it's just bravado.
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In the music that I play, I don't need multiple 8x10 stacks---but I still see a need for others to have them. There is a very small percentage of gigging musicians who would truely benefit from having four 8x10's as a back line, but they are out there.

Maybe not so much in pop/rock, but there are a ton of ERB players in other genres who can groove AND solo.
 
#52
spade2you said:
Probably.

I did a little thinking and came to the conclusion that there is a surge of young youtube wizards. A lot of us will grab our choices of basses and do our thing without worrying about obtaining affirmation from others. I'm not gonna stereotype all dudes 25 and younger, but it is a different generation.

As a relatively recent college grad, I can say I see a lot of entitled youngsters who think they are owed a lot before accomplishing anything....although in their own minds they've already accomplished everything.

The problem with some of the newer aspiring musicians is that they view music as a competition. The youtube wizards are trying to outplay each other. The NU metal kids are in a competition to see who can growl the lowest, tune the lowest, and double kick the fastest. I know this comment might ruffle a few feathers, but I've heard many a youngster at the guitar store talking about who is "better" and why.

Art always suffers when it becomes more about winning a competition than playing from the soul.
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"hangs head and goes to delete all of his YouTube videos...."


:(

:D
 
#53
debassr said:
Right - but a 5 should cover all of that. Why does anyone need 5+? I still think it's just bravado.
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How do all the guitar players look at you when you tell them this? Do they think it's a silly notion for them to restrict the music they want to make because it suits the role you want to put them in? Or do you only apply this silly concept to bassists?
 
#56
PeeJay21208 said:
... and not the pure art of being a bassist. What does everyone think?
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The "pure art of being a bassist" is whatever the bassist needs it to be at any given time, IMHO. I would never limit a bass player so long as his or her playing fits the music at hand. There's room for everyone; if someone doesn't learn how to groove the pocket that's more opportunities for me.
:bassist:
Still, if I could slap like Louis Johnson I'd be the $h!t :D
 
#58
GregC said:
Yeah! All those busy players like Wooten and Clarke, Flea with all that slapping, playing their, uh...four-bangers.:rolleyes:
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Yeah, I was going to comment that most of the really BUSY players I'm familiar with (I'd add Geddy Lee and Billy Sheehan) are either exclusively or at the least primarily 4-string players. Interesting the vitriol exuded at us ERBers in light of that fact, isn't it? ;)

Gard, it's good to know that your playing is in direct contrast to your posting style.:p
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...whhhhhyyyyy IIIIIII ottaaaahhhh....

(raises pimp hand)

...wait, naw, you might have a point (aside from the one on top of your Gay-tor-lovin' head)...

;)
 
#59
PeeJay21208 said:
As a bassist, I have been wondering over the last few years how we got to the point of needing soooooo many strings! We started out with the 4 string and now you see everything under the sun including 12 strings. What the heck is going on! As I watch these younger generations of bass players grow up, they have no sense of holding down a pocket or locking in a groove. But give them 8 bars and they will throw in every lick they have learned off of YouTube! I think it is getting out of hand sometimes. I love the creativity and the thought of the bass not only being the foundation but also having the freedom to spotlight. But that seems to be the focus now and not the pure art of being a bassist. What does everyone think?
Click to expand...


Not true at all. The bass still holds it down. Its just that the music that is being created these days are not just sit in the pocket songs. The bass needs to be the harmony of the song. Plus the 60's are over. Not every band is gonna be a groove machine like Zepplin and James Brown.

And if you are talking about kids of course they want to shred. They don't have the patients to just sit in the pocket. Some will learn and others won't.

And the addition of the 5th string was a huge improvement. Now a bass player can play as low as an organ or piano player. I don't play one on the regular. But for anyone that plays in standard tuning should use a 5 string IMO.

Take a listen to the hit song Jeremy by Pearl Jam. He uses and 8-string bass to achieve that sound. Nowadays people are choosing to us an effect to achieve that octave effect but if I had the cash I would have an 8-string Hammer.
 
#60
I play a six string fretless bass as my primary instrument. If I'm playing with my smooth jazz group, I lay back in the pocket. If I'm playing my own experimental metal, I am the pocket. Do whatever works, and use whatever works to get you there.
 

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