So many basses seemed to get slammed for being One Trick Ponies,when your p bass sounds like John Wetton,Roger Waters,Steve Harris etc. or your Ricky sounds like Geddy,Roger Glover or Chris Squire etc. if you can get it to sound that good why would you want anything, else better to have a couple of axes with different sounds than one with a bunch of so so sounds
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One Trick Pony
- Thread starter Big Thump
- Start date
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
Joshua said:
Yer right....
Until I came across TalkBass, I never thought of a Precision as a 'one trick pony'. I've seen them used in so many settings, and I've used mine in a variety. It sounds completely different with the tone all the way up and played at the bridge as compared to played with my fingers across the base of the neck.
I don't know about most players, but I find as time goes on, I spend my night on stage moving my right hand into different postions depending upon the tone I'm looking for, for a particular song. I much prefer that to knob tweaking on my amp and reaching down to the switches and knobs on my bass, and I can do it mid-song, mid-phrase, mid-run.
I played EB-Os in the 60s in bands that didn't really want to hear the bass player; they wanted to FEEL him. That kinda ruined me as a decent bassist until I started playing with smaller, progressive bands using Fenders and Ampegs. I thought the EB-O was a one-trick pony until about three years ago when I got to play a gig with one. It was me all the time. I now have an EB-O and a RumbleKat that I have learned to play various styles on almost as well as my fancy, preamped actives. Took me a long time to learn but most of the sound is my fault.
...hey, don't forget the role of the sound engineer when discussing studio recorded bass
There's a good reason why most every recording studio out there has a P-bass in it.
But, yeah, I too am of the whole notion of using different touches, hand placements, and hand/fingering techniques to bring a variety of sounds out of my instrument. I keep the blend on my Corvette dead center and the volume control pulled out to bypass the preamp.
But sometimes there are times when you can coax amazing sounds from your bass when playing it acoustically, but once you plug it in, the electronics may color your tone for the worse. Like maybe choking it or whatnot.
Of course, yeah, there are always those epiphanies when you start playing and you blame your instrument for you sounding like garbage, but then when an expert picks up your bass and makes it sing, it's like the heavens opening up.
There's a good reason why most every recording studio out there has a P-bass in it. But, yeah, I too am of the whole notion of using different touches, hand placements, and hand/fingering techniques to bring a variety of sounds out of my instrument. I keep the blend on my Corvette dead center and the volume control pulled out to bypass the preamp.
But sometimes there are times when you can coax amazing sounds from your bass when playing it acoustically, but once you plug it in, the electronics may color your tone for the worse. Like maybe choking it or whatnot.
Of course, yeah, there are always those epiphanies when you start playing and you blame your instrument for you sounding like garbage, but then when an expert picks up your bass and makes it sing, it's like the heavens opening up.
There's a fine line between having a signature, definable sound that you like and being a "one-trick-pony".
I'm watching an Iron Maiden video right now and there's no way Harry's P-bass sounds like Waters'.
I'm watching an Iron Maiden video right now and there's no way Harry's P-bass sounds like Waters'.
The bass is just one part of the entire signal chain. As noted the player is an especially important part, and the amp, speakers, etc are important too.
thank god bassists stand up for "the one trick pony" p-bass. jesus man, jaco always played with his bridge pickup turned to full, that could be defined as a "one trick pony" too couldn't it? he never needed any more, nor less, and the sounds that came from the combo of his bass and himself is just out there man. just goes to prove that people are a bit closed minded at times.
Everyone claims the Stingrays, Ps, and Ricks are one trick ponies, yeah? I gotta wonder, how many tricks does a Jazz have with that extra pickup?
The truth is that I have heard many bassists with active, multiple pickup basses who mananged to sound unremarkable. I remember when Stanley Clarke came out and put ALembic on the map. Who except for maybe Mark King has an exceptional Alembic tone outside of Clarke? I think about the "limited" Stingray and I think about Louis Johnson, Tony Levin, Dave LaRue, Paul Denman (Sade). I know I've made this point many times, but it bears repeating.
Exactly,people will take for example a P bass and say it's a one trick pony when there are many cool sounds you can get outa it,Waters and Harris are just exampled of wonderful sounds you can coax out of a so called one trick pony.scourge said:
