Charvel Surfcaster...had a chance to buy one of these cheap WAY back and still kick myself for not getting it
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Charvel Surfcaster...had a chance to buy one of these cheap WAY back and still kick myself for not getting it
Surf music and accompanying bass lines are awesome! The Fender Bass VI is often overlooked as a go to in the genre.
I heard great surf music by some modern bands. One that comes to mind is the Tijuana Panthers. Really neat mix of surf and punk.
I heard great surf music by some modern bands. One that comes to mind is the Tijuana Panthers. Really neat mix of surf and punk.
If you want to hear fantastic bass playing in surf music, check out the Mermen, especially Food For Other Fish (I think that's the title) - experimental surf, and one hell of a groove.
My last band (a 3 piece) used to play Surf Rider and lots of other surf tunes. We would throw one into each set and the people loved them.
Your time has come. Time to shine.Did somebody say ‘surf?!’
There's room for MASSIVE improvements in terms of playing bass in a surf band. It hasn't been explored too deeply, but The Ziggens did some good bass work. Compliment melodies at times, playing his own rhythm while the band goes somewhere else... Sounds like a fun genre to explore and expand the bass role. Good luck!
A great bassist will shine in any genre. However, that's no guarantee the great bassist will shine as a surfer when the waves get really big. BTW, I play in an 80's hairband tribute. It doesn't get much cheesier than that. Embrace your cheesy side and rock on! If the opportunity arose, I'd play in a really good surf music band any day. Be proud of your art form.
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Play what is appropriate for the music.
Of course it's kinda cheesy!
That's the charm!
I used to play in a "traditional", retro early 60's style surf band. We'd dress the part, had the appropriate gear, etc(in my case a Pbass w/flats, covers and mute, and my B100R fit the bill fine). I played the very simple, swinging parts as required by our period-correct vibe. We'd end up on bills with other bands that weren't as adherent to the old school sound, and there was some cool stuff going on with some of the bassists (most of the time when they'd branch out from playing trad surf bass they'd do something more akin to surf guitar--twangy, lead bass stuff with trem and verb which is of course fun to do as we all know!). But it was when the band was attempting to be a retro surf band yet the bassist didn't play it straight when it all fell apart.
I'm working on some Ventures bass and it's fun! Bob Bogle moved over to bass from guitar when Nokie took over lead. The lines have good, aggressive picking.
I think that Ron Griffith of the Lively Ones was way ahead of the pack of first wave surf bassists.
Learning bass in surf music is like taking a master class on the fundamentals of bass playing. Arpeggios, progressions, turnarounds it is all there.
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