How have you changed as a bass player?

[tb-player]

I've been playing bass since 1989. Over the years I've changed as a bassist and musician. But I've also stayed the same. Here's an off-the-top-of-my-head list. I'm curious how many of you can relate or even add to these...

- My skills have improved
- I own better gear
- I have better ability to lock-in
- I play less on a song
- I don't 'gig' as much
- I like to practice now more than I used to
- I still don't practice as much as I'd like
- I have less time to play and practice
- I now enjoy the hang as much as the playing
- I'm definitely more enamored by gear
- I can definitely afford better gear
- I definitely don't need more gear
- Deep down I still somehow believe I can 'make it'
- I don't enjoy playing out like I used to
- When I do play out, it's still a rush
- I'm much more comfortable in the studio
- I still feel like I need to get better at sight-reading
- I no longer find my fulfillment in playing music
- I still enjoy making music
- I have a better sense of what a song needs
- I have less desire to fix other musicians
- I still don't understand those fast walking jazz basslines
- I appreciate drummers more than I used to

I'm sure there are plenty more. Please share yours and I'll steal a few.

 

[Happy Face]

Great list! Nothing to add.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Live I prefer inears to cabs.

Less to carry and saves the hearing.

Your gonna wear ear plugs anyway, may as well wear inears that produce a pleasant sound and you can hear everyone.

 

[tb-player]

Live I prefer inears to cabs.

Less to carry and saves the hearing.

Your gonna wear ear plugs anyway, may as well wear in-ears that produce a pleasant sound and you can hear everyone.

Yeah, that's a good one. As I age, I'm all about portability... gig bags and lightweight cabs. And I do love my IEMs.

 

[Killing Floor]

I play fewer notes even though in some ways I could technically play more notes. Is that a thing? I play with more patience. Even fills I don’t try to shove in as much.

 

[Riff Ranger]

I’ve played since age 12 in 1993.

Since then I’ve switched from …

•primarily fingers to primarily picks
•clean and scoopedy to overdriven and clanky
•overly confident to overly critical of myself
•leading the band to joining a band to doing as much as I can myself and bringing in others as necessary
•goal of getting signed and touring and getting huge to recording my own uncompromised vision at home and definitely not touring and reaching whatever audience I reach
•goal of hitting it rich playing music to goal of making the best music I can and enjoying it regardless of who hears it
•playing live as peak experience to creating as peak experience
•pointy basses to traditional designs to all-of-the-above

Still love ‘80s–90s MIJ instruments into ‘80s Peavey amplification, though

 

[tb-player]

I play fewer notes even though in some ways I could technically play more notes. Is that a thing? I play with more patience. Even fills I don’t try to shove in as much.

Yeah, that’s definitely a thing. It’s musical maturity. You have better chops and use them less. That’s a flex.

 

[The Owl]

Learned how not to overplay

Ditched active electronics in favor of a great sounding passive pickup and external preamp.

Traded the cutting midrange fusion sound for a more rounded off but still punchy present sound.

Went from wanting to gig live regularly to creating my own unique music in my home studio for whatever audience it may reach.

 

[tb-player]

Still love ‘80s–90s MIJ instruments into ‘80s Peavey amplification, though

It's funny. My first bass was an '89 MIJ Fender PJ (Jazz Bass Special??) into a Peavey amp. I toured with that rig and it held its own.

 

[tb-player]

Ditched active electronics in favor of a great sounding passive pickup and external preamp.

I still dig active basses but for a very different reason than when I first started. I definitely appreciate passive basses more than I used to when everything was active & over processed in the 90s. That's a good one for sure.

 

[TheDavis504]

I went from an arrogant dreamer to a humble admirer,

 

[BassDaddy77]

I've come to realize that the overall product is far more significant than my individual role when it comes to playing with others.

I'm far more impressed with feel, how in-sync with a drummer a bassist is, and sense of groove - than chops, speed or flash.

I've decided there is no "best" when it comes to gear, music styles, or abilities - just preferences. (And nobody's right or wrong )

 

[ajkula66]

Over the past 40+ years...

Pick -> Fingers (that happened a long time ago, though. No disrespect to the pick players, it's just not for me)
FSOs -> Various active basses during the '80s and 90s -> mostly short scale Gibsons
British tube/valve amps and huge cabs -> American vintage-ish solid state combo amps
Hard rock -> Funk -> a mix of prog and etno-jazz (for a lack of better description)
Love for live performance -> absolutely zero interest in performing live, studio work (on my own music) only
SS roundwounds -> a mix of rounds, flats and tapes
Lot of collaboration with various artists and studio work (some paid and a chunk thereof unpaid) both as a player and a sound engineer for them -> None of that. I'm and old man and the time is the most valuable commodity in my book.

I'm dead certain that I've forgotten a thing or two or seven, but what matters the most *to me* is that I've never been happier when it comes to my own playing and the music that I'm working on...

 

[darwin-bass]

Been playing since age 20. I am a better player today (age 61) than I have ever been and I look forward to continue growth.

Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I may become average by the time I die

 

[drumvsbass]

I used to care....

 

[tb-player]

I used to care....

Brilliant!!

 

[Carl Hillman]

I try to play every note like it's the last one I'll ever play.

...because some day, I'll be right about that.

 

[scuzzy]

Haven't had blisters on my plucking fingers in decades.

 

[WG Plum]

I'm way less critical and far more into having a good time than being... whatever it was I was trying to be back when I played in bands. I'm also lucky enough to have found a couple of like-minded sonic explorers to throw sonic paint at the wall with.

 

[LBS-bass]

My priorities as a player have changed. I was spoiled early on because I fell in with some excellent players from the very start who gave me opportunities to learn and grow at my own pace while we all made a good living at this. The tradeoff was that I traveled a lot, was willing to put up with some questionable conditions and move heaven and earth to get to a show, no sick days allowed. I have horror stories of traveling to distant towns stretched out on top of two huge speaker cabinets while stricken with an unknown virus when by all rights I probably should have been on my way to a hospital, but back then there was simply no thought to cancelling a show if you ever wanted to work there again.

Nowadays there's a lot I won't put up with. My dues are paid and I don't have anything to prove to anyone, nor is there a compelling reason to put my life on the line for what's now been reduced to nothing more than a fancy hobby. I'm no longer afraid to say "no" when I want to, and I'm ok with whatever fallout that may bring.

Things in the music business have changed. I've changed too, but much of the change in me is due to the lack of seriousness I see in the landscape. Lousy pay, poor working conditions, etc., don't rise to the level of things I'm willing to get myself all bent over.

I'm a way better player now than I was then, but that seems barely relevant.