RANT - String Demo Videos - I WANT FINGERSTYLES

[Camaro69]

Yeah! Where's Consumer Reports for bass gear. Heck I can read their mag or website and find the best toaster for $20. Why not strings, amps, cabs...

Don't circumvent all my work here with that nonsense speak

 

[iiipopes]

Yeah! Where's Consumer Reports for bass gear. Heck I can read their mag or website and find the best toaster for $20. Why not strings, amps, cabs...

Bass Player magazine used to have multiple shootouts, but the advertiser dollars took over, so that there is nothing reviewed anymore that isn't either fantastic or ffffffffffffff fantastic.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

Yea, I didn't know that everyone slapped but me until I started watching Youtube.

It's a cool style and all but it also gets a bit old when searching for demos.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

That's one of the things I appreciate about Andy Irvine's Warwick demos. He usually plays the instrument he is demo'ing with a variety of styles including slap, finger style, harmonics, etc.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I fully agree with OP...way, way, WAY, WAAAAAY too much slap n pop on these so-called demo videos.

Just play each open string, with fingers or pick, and then play chromatic scales S-L-O-W-L-Y up and down each string so I can hear each and every note. Do the same with various pickup settings. Then, do some mellow grooves... and please oh please keep it simple.

 

[Doc Mojo]

I feel like an idiot when I slap and really self conscious even though a little can be really creative. When Higher Ground can be as bad as being asked to do Free Bird............

 

[Yango]

I just recently watched a demo video for new La Bella Gold Tapewounds. Good strings.

Now, why, WHY, do demo videos for strings have to be so g@*-*@##^* slap-heavy!!!???

Most bass players still play mostly fingerstyle on the first five frets. Amateur and professional alike. We call it the "cash register" as opposed to the low register of dropped tuning or high register of flailing up the fretboard. Yes, I can do all that too. I refrain from doing it where it is not appropriate, which it is not appropriate more than it is.

I WANT TO HEAR FINGERSTYLES. Yes, that is plural: fingerstyles. Neck or mid pickup alone, bridge pickup alone, blend: Macca, Jamerson, Dunn, C. Kaye, Squire, Entwistle, Jaco, and the rest of the classic rockers and fusion of all decades, fingers and picks. And then there are all the jazz and country bass royalty that are on every album, modestly laying down all the famous lines in those genres, and which I should be able to list their names, but they aren't coming to me right now.

Make no mistake: Larry Graham is a monster of bass playing. Bass playing in general took a quantum leap and a paradigm shift with his playing. But he's not the only one. Bootsy, S. Clarke, etc., all relied on fingers as much as slap.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE DEMO VIDEOS PLAYING SLAP TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL THE OTHER STYLES, just to make a percussive impression.

PLEASE -- everyone going forward, professionals, string reps, demo auditions, basement tapes, youtube excursions, PLEASE -- balance out the percussion with the styles that define the rest of proper bass playing and lay down the proper foundation and groove for the rest of the styles of music so we really know what those strings sound like.

Thank you.

I've forwarded your request to youtube, and they've ensured me that this issue will be corrected immediately. You're welcome.

 

[Doc Mojo]

I've forwarded your request to youtube, and they've ensured me that this issue will be corrected immediately. You're welcome.

All slap music will be over dubbed with the jingle dogs and the jingle cats.

 

[Tunaman]

I just recently watched a demo video for new La Bella Gold Tapewounds. Good strings.

Now, why, WHY, do demo videos for strings have to be so g@*-*@##^* slap-heavy!!!???

Most bass players still play mostly fingerstyle on the first five frets. Amateur and professional alike. We call it the "cash register" as opposed to the low register of dropped tuning or high register of flailing up the fretboard. Yes, I can do all that too. I refrain from doing it where it is not appropriate, which it is not appropriate more than it is.

I WANT TO HEAR FINGERSTYLES. Yes, that is plural: fingerstyles. Neck or mid pickup alone, bridge pickup alone, blend: Macca, Jamerson, Dunn, C. Kaye, Squire, Entwistle, Jaco, and the rest of the classic rockers and fusion of all decades, fingers and picks. And then there are all the jazz and country bass royalty that are on every album, modestly laying down all the famous lines in those genres, and which I should be able to list their names, but they aren't coming to me right now.

Make no mistake: Larry Graham is a monster of bass playing. Bass playing in general took a quantum leap and a paradigm shift with his playing. But he's not the only one. Bootsy, S. Clarke, etc., all relied on fingers as much as slap.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE DEMO VIDEOS PLAYING SLAP TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL THE OTHER STYLES, just to make a percussive impression.

PLEASE -- everyone going forward, professionals, string reps, demo auditions, basement tapes, youtube excursions, PLEASE -- balance out the percussion with the styles that define the rest of proper bass playing and lay down the proper foundation and groove for the rest of the styles of music so we really know what those strings sound like.

Thank you.

Dont stop at just strings... check out this "questionable" Seymour Duncan pickup comparison video... by far the worst I've ever seen& its their OFFICIAL demo. SMH

 

[vin*tone]

True.... BUT....

Slapping definitely brings out the distinct voice of string/pickup/bass more prominently than finger style. Even though I rarely slap - I can get more of an idea of a product's personality when I hear it slapped.

Unless it's really bad.

 

[Stick_Player]

OP, just get some TI Jazz flats and make your own demos.

I just recently watched a demo video for new La Bella Gold Tapewounds. Good strings.

Now, why, WHY, do demo videos for strings have to be so g@*-*@##^* slap-heavy!!!???

Most bass players still play mostly fingerstyle on the first five frets. Amateur and professional alike. We call it the "cash register" as opposed to the low register of dropped tuning or high register of flailing up the fretboard. Yes, I can do all that too. I refrain from doing it where it is not appropriate, which it is not appropriate more than it is.

I WANT TO HEAR FINGERSTYLES. Yes, that is plural: fingerstyles. Neck or mid pickup alone, bridge pickup alone, blend: Macca, Jamerson, Dunn, C. Kaye, Squire, Entwistle, Jaco, and the rest of the classic rockers and fusion of all decades, fingers and picks. And then there are all the jazz and country bass royalty that are on every album, modestly laying down all the famous lines in those genres, and which I should be able to list their names, but they aren't coming to me right now.

Make no mistake: Larry Graham is a monster of bass playing. Bass playing in general took a quantum leap and a paradigm shift with his playing. But he's not the only one. Bootsy, S. Clarke, etc., all relied on fingers as much as slap.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE DEMO VIDEOS PLAYING SLAP TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL THE OTHER STYLES, just to make a percussive impression.

PLEASE -- everyone going forward, professionals, string reps, demo auditions, basement tapes, youtube excursions, PLEASE -- balance out the percussion with the styles that define the rest of proper bass playing and lay down the proper foundation and groove for the rest of the styles of music so we really know what those strings sound like.

Thank you.

 

[iiipopes]

TI Jazz flats have a pure nickel wrap. They turn my fingers black. No thank you.

 

[pacojas]

Dont stop at just strings... check out this "questionable" Seymour Duncan pickup comparison video... by far the worst I've ever seen& its their OFFICIAL demo. SMH

i just can not listen to slap without it being fully accompanied. i find finger style much more interesting in a solo context. most slap seems limited in true expression unless the player is a beast. i'll give a novice like 16bars before i launch my invisible tomato,... even then,.. a beast still only gets 32bars as long as the phrasing is killer. if he repeats some cliche "root-octave" crap from the 80's, it's Tomato Time!

 

[project_c]

OP, just get some TI Jazz flats and make your own demos.

I'll happily admit that I also can't stand a YouTube slap wank-fest, but I'm gonna have to agree with the comment above. The beauty of YouTube is that you're free to go ahead and address this situation by making your own videos.

However, ultimately I think there is something more complex at the core of the problem: YouTube is the perfect platform for attention-seeking show-offs. Extra fast slap bass - just like guitar shredding, twerking and a bunch of other party-trick nonsense on YouTube - is a way for people to show off. The reason why you don't see too many humble and considered bass string demos on YT is simply because humble and reserved musicians don't feel the need to show off and over-share. There are lots of decent bass demos on YT, but they're just outnumbered by the sheer number of show-offs.

 

[JustForSport]

Same with basses- slapping tone has very little, if anything relative to what I look for. If I wanted to hear the strings banging and clacking on the frets without much else, I'd just go listen to a GC 'concert'. As soon as the slapping starts, 'X'- don't care what the bass looks like or what hardware is on it- Next...

BTW: I've always got more girls, and better ones with the fingering, not by slapping- those are better for someone else, anyway.

Like some Sly/ Stone, tho...

 

[Gorn]

Dont stop at just strings... check out this "questionable" Seymour Duncan pickup comparison video... by far the worst I've ever seen& its their OFFICIAL demo. SMH

Why the H-E double hockey sticks does that man keep licking his fingers in between playing? That's one of the most upsetting things I've ever seen.

 

[pacojas]

^^^^ LMAO!

 

[Tunaman]

Why th H-E double hockey sticks does that man keep licking his fingers in between playing? That's one of the most upsetting things I've ever seen.

I know I noticed it too, isnt it the absolute worst? And its an OFFICIAL product demo! I dont know companies allow this jackassery to represent their products

 

[Doc Mojo]

Why the H-E double hockey sticks does that man keep licking his fingers in between playing? That's one of the most upsetting things I've ever seen.

A: A great fried chicken dinner. B: A great girlfriend. C: Doesn't believe in toilet paper.

 

[Neon Blues]

Agree 100%.

The issue I have is you get some demos which are basses or cabs that nobody who slaps is going to buy, doing all slap.

I recently considered purchasing a Fender Hot Rod Jazz, and had a guy slapping the whole thing. Sounded awful. Also, tube amp demos. ***.



Alternatively, the main reason I never bought a Rickenbacker is every demo of them is with a Pick and Rounds. The 2 things I'd never use on a bass.