New to country, help please!!

[NewCountryBassist]

Remember less is more.. but never lose the groove. Chances are people will be two-stepping and line dancing at your show, so always keep the basic foundation and feel of the tempo going. And hit the 1 on the 1

Thanks for this, it never even occurred to me to consider people would be trying to dance!

 

[Felix1776]

Some good advice in here.

Any tips on amps, basses, and effects for country? What kind of gear do you guys use and what kind of tone do you go for?

 

[dreamadream99]

For 2-beat, there are some rules. Alternate 1 & 5, except in the last measure before a chord change, then 2 roots in a row. Unless you walk that last measure. Don't walk every measure before a chord change. If drummer goes to ride in chorus, walk it all (not too chromatic--stick to 6 chord arpeggios.).

 

[tfer]

Some good advice in here.

Any tips on amps, basses, and effects for country? What kind of gear do you guys use and what kind of tone do you go for?

I use a Hartke LH500 into various combinations of 1X15 and 2X10 Hartke cabinets, but it's not the equipment- its the "pillowy" bass sound that gets its attack from the kick drum for me.

I use compression and a little EQ'ing, but that's it. Keep it as simple as possible.

And Country is the one genre where a low B string is used more than anywhere else, and it isn't a gimmick - you won't even realize it's there until you are transcribing, then you'll find it all over just about every album in the last 15-20 years.

 

[mansjasont]

Biggest thing for me is to lock in with the bass drum, and the snare lots of room to breathe.