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Ratio of Guitarists to Bassists?

#22
Vintage P said:
Let's face it, it's easier for a decent guitarist to play competant bass than it iis for a decent bassist to play competent guitar. That doesn't make the bass inferior-- some instruments are just easier to "get by" on than others at an amateur level and bass is one of them. But that's changing. More and more bassists are playing guitar and playing it well. As they should. It can only help your bass playing. It's also why when I see people using the term"guitard" I assume they're either 14 years old or not especially intelligent.
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Hmm...not sure of this one. I've seen many guitarists that couldn't play a walking bass line, especially over changes. I think your point is reliant upon what type of music it is.
 
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#23
hasbeen said:
Hmm...not sure of this one. I've seen many guitarists that couldn't play a walking bass line, especially over changes. I think your point is reliant upon what type of music it is.
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That goes both ways. If you don't understand a type music you don't understand it. But I'd say you'll have a better chance of a fair rock guitarist playing a adequate walking bassline than you do of a fair rock bass player playing an adequate jazz guitar solo.
 
#24
Vintage P said:
The ratio is irrelevant. There are thousands more musicians than are needed.
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Depends on what you mean by "needed," or to be more precise, who "needs" musicians. To be sure, there are a lot more people who dream of being professional musicians than there are people willing to pay them (for sessions, touring, or buying their music if they're in original bands, etc.). But playing music, if only at home, is itself a need (or at least a source of fulfillment and pleasure) for many. To my mind, there's no such thing as too many musicians.
 
#28
Funny enough, the actual playing "demand" (as opposed to offer) is roughly 2:1, max 3:1 (assuming 2 guitars, max 3 guitars and 1 bass per band). This offer and demand ratio is simply not sustainable, which seems to point out that professionally speaking, the ratio must be quite close to 3:1 than 10:1.
 
#29
Reasons I switched from being known as a "bass player" from being a "guitarist"

1. Easier to earn a paying gig because a bass player is always in demand. Everybody's cousin's stepbrother's uncle plays guitar, often badly.

2. Chicks can't tell the difference between a guitar and a bass, at least not the ones I stood a chance with.
 
#30
Well, you could have a somewhat higher ratio if the average bassist plays in a larger number of bands than the average guitarist, which I'm pretty sure we are. Still, a 3:1 ratio in gigging bands seems about right.
 
#31
hasbeen said:
Hmm...not sure of this one. I've seen many guitarists that couldn't play a walking bass line, especially over changes. I think your point is reliant upon what type of music it is.
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Very true ^

Aside from left hand technique (if they can get used to the spacing), a lot of guitarists I've seen played bass with a pick or just had terrible right hand technique/timing. Sure a bassist might not pick up a guitar and play a jazz solo, but that would be the same as saying a guitarist can't pick up a bass and play a Marcus Miller slap solo or perhaps some double thumbing like Vic Wooten does. The thing is most people (guitards) want a simplistic bassline or bassist. Many of them don't want anything outside of root notes so they can solo over it easier. Since most bass players aren't as big of egomaniacs as most guitars, we end up doing it for the good of the song instead of injecting annoying pentatonic solos and useless riffs all the time.
 
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#33
Before becoming disabled and unable to play regular gigs I had the best of both worlds. I consider myself a bassist first and a utility guy second. I play bass, guitar and harmonica well, I also am somewhat convincing on banjo, mandolin and lap steel in varying degrees of ability. Now I play in a band that subs at churches, I'm the dedicated utility guy. I haven't had the opportunity to play bass in a band setting for a long time.
 
#34
When I started out, a good bass player could always find work, because there weren't as many bassists as there were guitarists.

Lots of folks caught on, and switched over to bass.

Now, IMO, the local market is flooded with mediocre bass players that are looking for gigs. The good ones still get the good gigs, but it is much more difficult than it used to be.
 
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#35
Gaolee said:
Some guitarists can play a bass guitar fairly well. Hand 'em an upright and see what happens. It's pretty funny.
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I'm sure this would be equally funny with many competent electric bass players.

Anyway, among the bunch of guys I jam with there's quite a few bass players. I've been to sessions with 4 or 5 bassists taking turns but only a couple guitar players. But I'm sure it's because we only invite decent & fun musicians - and many guitarists who aren't busy touring the world are "either - or".
The hardest to find over here is a good keyboard player. And the one I play with regularly likes me better on drums.
 
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#38
Uncle Psychosis said:
Guys, guys, guys.

There's a lot more bassists than guitarists.

After all, any idiot who can play the guitar can absolutely kill it on the bass!

Amirite? Am I? :)
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Yeah, but they won't know about important stuff like not playing a Squire unless you are a n00b, underpowering your bass cabs, or knowing which is the best bass for metal. Oh and obviously things like tube vs solid state watts transcend and apply to bass and guitar. ;)
 
#39
KwinS said:
When I started out, a good bass player could always find work, because there weren't as many bassists as there were guitarists.

Lots of folks caught on, and switched over to bass.

Now, IMO, the local market is flooded with mediocre bass players that are looking for gigs. The good ones still get the good gigs, but it is much more difficult than it used to be.
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This. Listen you will.- Yoda
 

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