Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[socialleper]

Just throwing this out there but you might be having trouble playing guitar because the string spacing is too small for you especially being used to bass. Maybe try one of the Agile wide neck Les Pauls, get a warmoth, or make a partscaster from one of these necks Big Lou Wide Nut Electric Guitars | Wide Neck Guitars for Bigger Players I have a big lou neck on a partscaster and its pretty great it made a huge difference in my guitar playing. Just throwing it out there but it made such a big difference for me I thought I might share that because it may help you.

When I try to play open chords my fingers feel so cramped. The upper fret spaces feel so tiny.
What is weird to me is that I have small hands and I feel like that. How do tall guys with catcher's mitt hands play solos?

 

[jollygiantchris]

It kind of depends on the shape of your hand but it is true that some chords are more difficult with the wider spacing but I find overall the wider spacing helps with everything else and for the kind of music we are doing most of what is being played is power chords anyways which are definitely easier with wider spacing for my hand shape. You can always change tunings to ones which favor chord shapes that are easier for you to do as well.

I'm not the greatest soloist on guitar so I can't say too much but I will say you need to change the angle of your wrist on guitar a lot more when playing higher up on guitar then on bass it takes time to get used to. On bass I can pretty much stick with one finger per fret on almost the whole board but that's not really possible for me on guitar, which you may also have the same problem with.

It all really depends on what you're trying to do and what feels best in your hands but I'd strongly recommend trying a wider neck with larger spacing on anyone having trouble playing guitar.

 

[Jolagh]

Yeah im like 6'2 with monster hands. It took me a really long time to get reasonably comfortable on guitar and i still fat finger stuff all the time. Eventually you just get used to it. Its just spending the time. I was practicing guitar for years while i was playing bass in my band. So when we got to this s

When I try to play open chords my fingers feel so cramped. The upper fret spaces feel so tiny.
What is weird to me is that I have small hands and I feel like that. How do tall guys with catcher's mitt hands play solos?

ituation it wasnt a leap for me to be like "Oh well ill give it a go."

 

[Jolagh]

The eagle has landed. Sounds amazing. I cant wait to hear it through a big boy cabinet. Immediately had to bust out some sleep riffs and go to that place.

 

[Batsquatch]

My bands first lil ep. Used an Ibanez blazer bass into SVT II np and Ampeg 610. Had fun!

 

[br1qbat]

My bands first lil ep. Used an Ibanez blazer bass into SVT II np and Ampeg 610. Had fun!

Sounds great. I really dig the vox too. Very much a Saint Vitus / Candlemass vibe. Me likey! Your bass sounds boss too

 

[thombo]

@hardtop, there are a few Dunables floating around Denver and they sound amazing! They are one of the brands where one person gets one, and within a year the rest of the band is playing them. I'm still waiting to see of Joe Lester ever gets one. I'm not knocking Zon, but when your bandmate builds sweet instruments...

How's the neck dive in the R2?

 

[hardtop]

@hardtop, there are a few Dunables floating around Denver and they sound amazing! They are one of the brands where one person gets one, and within a year the rest of the band is playing them. I'm still waiting to see of Joe Lester ever gets one. I'm not knocking Zon, but when your bandmate builds sweet instruments...

How's the neck dive in the R2?

It's there for sure. Will definitely take some getting used to. I'm going to try playing it lower and see how that goes.

 

[socialleper]

@hardtop, there are a few Dunables floating around Denver and they sound amazing! They are one of the brands where one person gets one, and within a year the rest of the band is playing them. I'm still waiting to see of Joe Lester ever gets one. I'm not knocking Zon, but when your bandmate builds sweet instruments...

How's the neck dive in the R2?

Joe likes his fancy fretless basses. I don't think these are the right vibe for him.

 

[StayLow]

What are you doing now to fill the space? I always like heavier dirt in spaces where my guitarists might not have such heavy dirt or are leaving me plenty of sonic space in the song.

Thanks for responding. It's a new project, so for now I've just been playing a stripped down consistent line to leave plenty of musical room for the solo and offer some contrast to the busier material we're generally playing.

I've ruled out a few options already, and may end up taking your good advice and doing the traditional thing of heavier dirt. More so an expanded signal than dirtier, ideally. Light OD with a baked-in or other EQ that just makes it all "phatter".

Heard the recordings from 1st rehearsal and I don't mind at all how it sounds without anything extra on the bass during solos. Maybe that's just me though.

We'll experiement either way. Various effects for me. Guitar will try some different things too, and doing something compositionally appeals most to me.

 

[kleinenenten]

Thanks for responding. It's a new project, so for now I've just been playing a stripped down consistent line to leave plenty of musical room for the solo and offer some contrast to the busier material we're generally playing.

I've ruled out a few options already, and may end up taking your good advice and doing the traditional thing of heavier dirt. More so an expanded signal than dirtier, ideally. Light OD with a a baked-in or other EQ that just makes it all "phatter".

Heard the recordings from 1st rehearsal and I don't mind at all how it sounds without anything extra on the bass during solos.

We'll experiement. Various effects for me. Guitar will try some different things too, and doing something compositionally appeals most to me.

Got it. That’s pretty much my thing, too. None of my dirt is jaw-droppingly heavy, but the fuzz certainly fills up the space more than others when I have the room.

 

[Jolagh]

Thanks for responding. It's a new project, so for now I've just been playing a stripped down consistent line to leave plenty of musical room for the solo and offer some contrast to the busier material we're generally playing.

I've ruled out a few options already, and may end up taking your good advice and doing the traditional thing of heavier dirt. More so an expanded signal than dirtier, ideally. Light OD with a a baked-in or other EQ that just makes it all "phatter".

Heard the recordings from 1st rehearsal and I don't mind at all how it sounds without anything extra on the bass during solos.

We'll experiement. Various effects for me. Guitar will try some different things too, and doing something compositionally appeals most to me.

Ive been known to use a boost to bring my volume up closer to or higher than the guitars solo tone which makes it seem like more space is being filled. I use the megaliths more heavy button alot.

 

[bassboysam]

NBD. 2012 Geddy Lee

 

[socialleper]

For those of you that pinch hit on guitar as well, what kind of 6 string do you play?
Do you think the heavy leaning towards Gibsons in the Doom\Stoner\Desert\Sludge\etc genres is truly validated or more of a matter of fashion?

 

[Jolagh]

For those of you that pinch hit on guitar as well, what kind of 6 string do you play?
Do you think the heavy leaning towards Gibsons in the Doom\Stoner\Desert\Sludge\etc genres is truly validated or more of a matter of fashion?

Matter of fashion 100%, . I use a charvel ds2 with seymour duncans in it. The fit and finish are considerably better than most of the usa gibsons i see. Costs considerably less. Im kind of a gibson hater though, as all my years looking through guitar shops its very rare that i dont find some sort of defect or flaw on one that isnt immediately noriceable to me. Like lazy polishing around the neck or half asses binding. Its nit picky but i can buy a considerably cheaper ibanez or charvel many oyher made in korea brands with better finishing. Rant over.

 

[socialleper]

Matter of fashion 100%, . I use a charvel ds2 with seymour duncans in it. The fit and finish are considerably better than most of the usa gibsons i see. Costs considerably less. Im kind of a gibson hater though, as all my years looking through guitar shops its very rare that i dont find some sort of defect or flaw on one that isnt immediately noriceable to me. Like lazy polishing around the neck or half asses binding. Its nit picky but i can buy a considerably cheaper ibanez or charvel many oyher made in korea brands with better finishing. Rant over.

I know a lot of people have issues with their quality control. The issue I've had with the Les Paul body is how hard it is to sit down with. It jabs you in the chest and is difficult to reach the upper scale. The tone isn't as beefy, but the feel of an SG is pretty nice.

 

[CRich0205]

For those of you that pinch hit on guitar as well, what kind of 6 string do you play?
Do you think the heavy leaning towards Gibsons in the Doom\Stoner\Desert\Sludge\etc genres is truly validated or more of a matter of fashion?

I just got an SG faded which doesn’t have a super high end finish anyway. I like mine a lot. Im a fender guy for bass but their guitars aren’t really my thing so far.

 

[Jolagh]

I just got an SG faded which doesn’t have a super high end finish anyway. I like mine a lot. Im a fender guy for bass but their guitars aren’t really my thing so far.

Yeah, i mean even my charvel is made to look and sound kind of like a les paul. Theyve had good designs its just their QC isnt up to my standards.

 

[rutrho]

I impuse bought a 420 fuzz yesterday morning... should be here Monday. No idea how its going to play with my signal chain but hopefully its as nasty sounding as some of the half baked demo vids make it seem.

 

[xJasonSmithx]

I bought an ESP EC Les Paul copy from CL for $200. I think the quality is better than any epiphone I have ever played. It also has coil splitting on the pickups which is cool.