• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

I'm torn between Bass and Electric guitar

#44
Do not sell yourself short. Play both. Do you know how many of your favorite musicians probably play multiple instruments? The much worshipped Paul McCartney played everything. In school, you take more than one subject don't you? C'mon!

What if you decide you like to write songs? Guitar is more practical from a songwriting standpoint. Both.
 
#45
Frenchy-Lefty said:
The rule of thumb is: If you are an obnoxious and flaky prick with substance addictions, play guitar, if you are a cool cat: play bass :D
Click to expand...

Funny you should say that...one of the reasons I took up bass in earnest was that I was sick of flaky bass players. Please note, I'm not making a generalization here. These were just my experiences at the time. I figured I could teach my self to play well and actually show up.
 
#47

Attachments

  • zoidberg.jpg
    zoidberg.jpg
    8.9 KB · Views: 49
#50
IMO, bass is about locking to the groove. In other words, you realy need to enjoy to be the foundation of the band, to play locked to the drummer, sometimes playing the same pattern for long periods.

On the other hand, guitar is more about soloing and high voices. Expression in guitar is more explicit, and you will probably be in more evidence to the general public.

You need to ask yourself which role you fit better in a band. In my case is the bass!!!
 
#51
Vika said:
I absolutely adore the sound of bass guitar but I also love guitar's high notes! I don't know which of them I'm willing to pick up the most. Any advice/ point of view on it?
Click to expand...

The only "advice" of any value is: "Follow your heart". That's it. There are no right or wrong answers here. And nobody can guide you better than you can guide yourself.

My advice would be to pay more attention and heed to what your own heart is telling you, than to the opinions of other people. :eyebrow:

MM
 
#52
Vika said:
I absolutely adore the sound of bass guitar but I also love guitar's high notes! I don't know which of them I'm willing to pick up the most. Any advice/ point of view on it? As subjectively as it can be. I know many of you happen to play both instruments, I'd love to, but for the time being I'll fully commit myself to make the most out of one.
Click to expand...

I can feel your pain. I started on guitar than took up the bass. I try to play both now. My problem is which ever I'm playing at the moment, I want to be 100% committed to. And I just don't have the time to do that.

When I play alone, I prefer the guitar. Improvising, trying to play chord solos and just plain making noise.

When I play with others, I much prefer the bass. Always needed and it's what makes the song work. Plus I figured out that I really, really like playing out. The bass makes it easier/more enjoyable for me to do that.

I'd agree with others by saying ultimately, what do you want out of guitar/bass or music in general? Use that as your starting point.
 
#53
I started on guitar, then picked up a harmonica, then a 5-string banjo, then bass, then Dobro and finally pedal steel.

I discovered I did not like the sound of a banjo, and I had surgery that ended my pedal steel playing, but both of those instruments influenced the way I play electric guitar and Dobro.

I currently play bass in a combo, because we have a hot guitar player to go with our harmonizing sisters singers, and it's great playing off the percussionist and the guitarist with the bass line.

It's all music. Try out as many as you can and, whatever instrument you end up with, you'll be better as a result.

I love the electric bass guitar (the proper term: it's a bass instrument in guitar form) and I always am aware that I'm not the siren on top of the fire truck, I'm the motor propelling it down the road. :D
 
#54
What do you listen to when you listen to music? Bass or guitar? If you tend to listen to the guitar then that is what you should play.

Rocco Prestia started out playing guitar and sucked at it. Switched to bass and has become a legend.
 
#55
I play both but am definitely a bass player, preferring pretty much everything about it. I've been told my leads sound like, "a really cool bass line." Oh well!

But what I really like for a change is the mandolin. It's so different than a bass in feel and so logical an instrument that I don't have the 'adapt for a few minutes' problem I have with the guitar. I'm terrible on it (though improving) but it is a really fun instrument - try one of those for you high-note jonesin'! Lap steel is also a blast, but a whole different set of skills. Yeah, I wanna be like Lee Sklar and David Lindley at the same time!
 
#56
Being a guitarist does give a guy more game than being a bassist, on average, should the OP be doggedly committed to the idea of choosing but one instrument, and thus in need of a further tie-breaking factor...
 
#57
Music is fun. Why limit yourself? I play either upright or electric bass guitar in bands. At home, I play guitar and now drums as well. Playing different instruments keeps your brain flexible and lets you explore different sounds. That's just flat fun if you have the time and can do it. Even if you suck at it for a while.
 
#58
ShowLow said:
I play bass only. I chose it because it combines rhythm and melody, and because the booming low sounds have always made me happy.

Fingerstyle only, no pick, no slap. I do read music thanks to the Hal Leonard Bass Method. Yet I often work from chord charts or tab. P&W music, Motown and now blues. I've come pretty far in less than two years, or so people tell me.

Every band needs a bassist. The bass provides the foundation. And it makes the booties shake! Including mine. :bassist:
Click to expand...


It's funny, because I've been a gigging lead guitar player for 30 years. And since I was a teenager I liked the way that loud rock vibrated. So I've been using one or two 4X12 cabs for many years to move a lot of air. In fact, I've been wearing ear plugs for my DAILY practice because I just like the way it feels when I play LOUD (but a tinnitus scare cause me to start wearing plugs). I'd always thought about getting serious about bass instead of just having one always lying around the man cave, but never got around to being able to walk away from guitar for a while to focus on bass.

So several months ago something finally clicked in me and I decided to get a decent bass rig going and throw myself at the bass. I picked-up a 5-string Sterling Ray 35, a GK MB200 head and an Eden N115RS cab. It was instant, mad chemistry between me and this rig. Talk about laying-down the RUMBLE!!! One 15" cab at low volume (requiring NO ear plugs) rumbles my house more than my full Marshall JCM800 stack at ear-splitting volume. It's wonderful! And ever since discovering this, my passion has been bass and I only pickup one of my electric or acoustic guitars about once a week any more.

Honestly, I kind of wish I'd really discovered the bass decades ago. After letting the ego go behind wanting to be out front and center with lead guitar, I feel MUCH more musically satisfied now that I'm focused on laying-down tight rhythms and groove with the drummer. Lead singers and guitar players can have all the "glory". I'll be laying it down with the drummer and LOVING it! Reminds me of those old 80s videos of the Rolling Stones... where Mick, Keith and Ron were dancing around like clowns, and Bill and Charley just sat back and created the whole foundation for those three goofs to prance around like peacocks. :D
 
#59
I play guitar (electric and acoustic) in a couple of bands. (Rock, Bluegrass, Folk, Twang)
I play mandolin (acoustic and electric) in a couple of bands. (Bluegrass, Swing Jazz, Jazz Standards, Rock, Twang)
I play bass (electric 4, 5, fretless 4 and upright in a couple of bands. (Bluegrass, Swing, Blues, Folk n Funk)

The fundamental thing for me is - approach each instrument as a seperate discipline.

Learn the proper technique of each instrument so I don't come off as looking like a frustrated guitarist playing bass and vice versa.

So far it's worked well for me as I am busy and gigging and having a blast.
Even make some $$

It's all music!
 
#60
silvertone said:
I play guitar (electric and acoustic) in a couple of bands. (Rock, Bluegrass, Folk, Twang)
I play mandolin (acoustic and electric) in a couple of bands. (Bluegrass, Swing Jazz, Jazz Standards, Rock, Twang)
I play bass (electric 4, 5, fretless 4 and upright in a couple of bands. (Bluegrass, Swing, Blues, Folk n Funk)

The fundamental thing for me is - approach each instrument as a seperate discipline.

Learn the proper technique of each instrument so I don't come off as looking like a frustrated guitarist playing bass and vice versa.

So far it's worked well for me as I am busy and gigging and having a blast.
Even make some $$

It's all music!
Click to expand...

Totally agree with that. I play/have-played guitar (6 and 7 string electric, steel and nylon string acoustic), mandolin, bass, banjo, ukelele, and piano. When moving from one instrument to the next, I try to put my hat on for just that instrument and try to approach it the way that particular instrument is traditionally played. Took me many years of trying to do it all through a guitar player's eyes before I finally learned to lay back and let the instrument itself dictate how I was to play it and feel the music. I also have to do that when I switch from genre to genre, as in any given period of time I'll be playing rock, country, bluegrass, metal, blues, classical, flamenco, Celtic, funk, etc on any of those instruments. I'm a bit schizo!!! But luckily I focused on guitar for so many years that I developed the need to feel competent and the chops to make me want to be as good as possible at any instrument and style that I play. Still... I feel like a bumble-bee, buzzing around from flower to flower sometimes. :D
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back