slide bass?

[60's Bluesman]

maybe this is a noob question but is there such thing as a slide bass? using bottle neck thingy like dunae allman or george harrison but on a bass. anybody do it or know someone who does it? i love that sound on guitar and id like to try it out on bass but idk if it can be done

 

[DONZI97]

Check out the band Morphine, all 2 string slide bass

 

[Shakin-Slim]

I wouldn't say that Duane Allman or George Harrison are the best examples of bottleneck blues. I personally haven't heard someone play bottleneck bass. I've tried once or twice to dissatisfying results. Maybe with a lot of gain...

 

[duderasta]

I used to use one of these ground rod clamps, we were doing NiN "Terrible Lie" and had no keys, so I used the "slide" on my right ring finger, during the chorus part I would use the slide for the one part, and hammer the other with my left hand...

(the ground clamp had a rough finish and I ground and polished it before using)

 

[Unwound]

it can be done, for sure. check out the band morphine, the sandman pretty much refined it. If you do decide to pick it up, think outside of the box and you'll definitely come up with something unique. i mean after all, the world definitely needs more curious musicians like you.

 

[60's Bluesman]

it can be done, for sure. check out the band morphine, the sandman pretty much refined it. If you do decide to pick it up, think outside of the box and you'll definitely come up with something unique. i mean after all, the world definitely needs more curious musicians like you.

you and one other dude on here said check out mophine, ive never heard of them before. i love that music, great sound, im getting a bottle neck tmmrw lol

 

[Ric5]

Slide bass ... play a fretless

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Glass before brass, and the thicker the better. I used to play psychedelic improv with a Jazz+, a thick glass slide and an Ibanez AD9. It was an awesome sound. You will need to raise the action to avoid fretting out.
Mark Sandman and I are the only bassists I know of who got deep into slide.

 

[xxfaux_punkxx]

I do a lot of slides in some of the songs that I play (and the one i wrote) and never bothered looking for those bottleneck things. Why not just use your fingertips?

 

[nysbob]

Why not just use your fingertips?

Because it's a different sound when you use a slide.

My band opened for Morphine once, Sandman totally killed it. So sad he's gone.

 

[Unwound]

you and one other dude on here said check out mophine, ive never heard of them before. i love that music, great sound, im getting a bottle neck tmmrw lol

awesome! i hope it works out for you, and if anything you could make some pretty interesting noises in conjunction with effects, assuming of course thats your thing haha.
ohh, and one more thing..it might seem like common sense, but don't actually push down with the slide to fret notes, just let it glide like butter over the top of the strings and your in business.

 

[60's Bluesman]

ohh, and one more thing..it might seem like common sense, but don't actually push down with the slide to fret notes, just let it glide like butter over the top of the strings and your in business.

yep and raise up the action, does it matter tho what strings i use?

 

[steveksux]

I think its a great idea...

Maybe then people will start picking on you and leave slap bass alone...

People stopped bashing pick players when slap came along...

Randy

 

[Unwound]

yep and raise up the action, does it matter tho what strings i use?

generally id say the brighter the better, because with brighter strings you can hear the little nuances, but it really doesnt matter...i guess im trying to say that most of the sound comes from the technique haha.

 

[Passinwind]

maybe this is a noob question but is there such thing as a slide bass? using bottle neck thingy like duane allman or george harrison but on a bass. anybody do it or know someone who does it? i love that sound on guitar and id like to try it out on bass but idk if it can be done

I've been doing it for a few decades. A fretless bass makes it much easier. I use a big solid soft brass slide, similar to what pedal steel players use. A lot of times I use it in my right hand, like a bow, rather than the way most guitarists do. Either way gets some interesting effects, but you will need to really work on string damping to get the most out of it.
Link Removed.

The same cut's also on my MySpace, Link Removed , if that's easier for you.The cut is Termination Dust. That's my '77 Travis Bean fretless BTW.

 

[duderasta]

Glass before brass, and the thicker the better. I used to play psychedelic improv with a Jazz+, a thick glass slide and an Ibanez AD9. It was an awesome sound. You will need to raise the action to avoid fretting out.
Mark Sandman and I are the only bassists I know of who got deep into slide.

lol glass before brass
purely a matter of preference, I prefer brass slides for guitar too, more mass, not as thin sounding

 

[duderasta]

I've been doing it for a few decades. A fretless bass makes it much easier. I use a big solid soft brass slide, similar to what pedal steel players use. A lot of times I use it in my right hand, like a bow, rather than the way most guitarists do. Either way gets some interesting effects, but you will need to really work on string damping to get the most out of it.
Link Removed.

The same cut's also on my MySpace, Link Removed , if that's easier for you.The cut is Termination Dust. That's my '77 Travis Bean fretless BTW.

sounds like we used similar technique, only I used a smaller version (could slide on 2 strings at a time). and you were doing it well before me!! lol I guess I pulled it out in the early to mid 90's to fill some space in a trio

 

[FunkMetalBass]

lol glass before brass
purely a matter of preference, I prefer brass slides for guitar too, more mass, not as thin sounding

I definitely like the sound of glass better. Given that the strings vibrate so much more on a bass, I find that the brass seems to sound more like fret buzz. The glass is considerably more forgiving in that regard.

 

[darkhorse9]

would flatwound strings make a difference over roundwound? I'm guessing they would.

 

[Passinwind]

sounds like we used similar technique, only I used a smaller version (could slide on 2 strings at a time). and you were doing it well before me!! lol I guess I pulled it out in the early to mid 90's to fill some space in a trio

I actually heard a clip of Phil Lesh doing it with a wine bottle or something like that back in the late 60s -- the boot I heard it on in the early 70s was on reel to reel!