How often do BL's request you use a particular bass?

[bassbrad]

When starting a new project I will intentionally take a different bass to gigs or rehearsals until I settle on the best choice or hear a preference from the artist or group. Currently my main bass is a fretless jazz that the group prefers the sounds as well as my playing.

I also have recording clients that have bass preferences for the same reason for the tones and the ideas I get from each of my menagerie of basses. Some of those clients request multiple bass takes for different ideas or sounds. On some basses I lean into a particular approach or groove, for example my playing is very different on my Sub Ray 4.

 

[ninjatanzen]

I worked with a guitarist who hated my Ibanez SR506 into a Mesa 400+ and Mesa 1516B-E. Used a SWR WorkinMan's 810, same result. What did he like? SX P-bass with SD QP's in it through a 1x15 Harke combo.

All of that gear is in the past now. Sometimes I miss parts of the rig, but I can't say the same for the guitarist

 

[mambo4]

It happened to me only once. I was playing fretless and probably not well.
He said "you should get a precision" and I did.

 

[DWBass]

Never happened.

^^^THIS^^^

 

[Zooberwerx]

I had a drummer ask for my Dingwall Combustion because "the notes jumped off the fingerboard". That's a heckuva endorsement.

Riis

 

[wboyd68]

Never in 40 years.

 

[erratick]

Have been asked a couple times to bring the P bass or the jazz bass.

But also twice with a different band- don't bring the 5 string. Guess I don't sound as good on a 5er or that bass doesn't sound as good.

Most of the time nobody cares what bass I show up with...

 

[matthewbrown]

I've had a jazz casual BL tell me that my bass sounded "too muddy." I was using a hollow-body ibanez fretless set to sound as much like an upright as possible. He preferred my MTD Heir, so I've stuck with that, mostly, for jazz gigs, as it's got a variety of tonal options. I think, though, that the BL just wanted the bass to cut through the drums more, and I was shooting for something different, with more emphasis on the fundamentals.

 

[bass12]

I don't know if I've been asked to bring a specific bass to a gig, but there are certain band leaders who I know won't like it if I bring certain types of basses to their gigs. This is typically, I'm sure, more a matter of them listening with their eyes than anything else. But on gigs where I'm a hired gun that's simply part of the job.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

All the time.
This is not restricted to just the bass but also extends to amps.
They insist I use my Maton JB4 with DiMarzio PJ pickups and absolutely insist I DO NOT USE Class D amps. I must use my Labsystems SS600 amp.
They say my sound just isnt the same and lacks everything that makes us unique when using D amps.
Clearly, they CAN tell the difference!

 

[TBird1958]

I'm the BL so no, it's never been an issue.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

I'm the BL so no, it's never been an issue.

And I imagine everyone knows you'll be rockin' some variety of T-bird!

BBB

 

[mikeswals]

Never.

 

[instrumentlevel]

No. Kind of the opposite. I’ve been bringing 2 basses to gigs on and off for a couple of years. Last month, while using one of them in the studio, BL asked “hey, did you get a new bass?”

 

[Paul New]

I worked with a guitarist who hated my Ibanez SR506 into a Mesa 400+ and Mesa 1516B-E. Used a SWR WorkinMan's 810, same result. What did he like? SX P-bass with SD QP's in it through a 1x15 Harke combo.

All of that gear is in the past now. Sometimes I miss parts of the rig, but I can't say the same for the guitarist

You ruined a nice SX with QPs??

 

[Paul New]

I’ve played a white P Bass for the same BL on and off for nearly 30 years. Gave it a break for not quite a year, and when I took it to a rehearsal the BL asks if I got a new axe.

It’s the only bass he’s ever commented on at all. I think it triggers his memory of the Cab Calloway scene in Blues Bros with Duck on the white P.

 

[ninjatanzen]

You ruined a nice SX with QPs??

A decade and a half younger me sure did. I nearly doubled the price of the bass with those pickups lol.

 

[2112]

Every. Single. Gig.


































(Because I'm the BL )

 

[TeaTime]

Not which instrument to use, but which to not use. I was in a 6-piece with a female vocalist. The five guys always wore black, she wore bold red. Without thinking I once showed up to a gig with a brand new shiny red Lakland. She kind of freaked out. My backup bass was dark grey, so it got the gig.

 

[Pep]

Never but I have a buddy who’s a sound engineer and he requests a P-Bass whenever he mixes us. He is so good that I accommodate him every time.