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Stuff you hate to hear another Bassist Say

#381
Haha I don't know who Stanley Jordan is, but I was mainly ranting.

It was due to this one guy I used to know was like,"I saw this guy who's better than Flea in a concert last night."

I know Flea's not God but he was still my biggest inspiration into playing bass, and this kid's just an ass and trying to piss me off and I know he only listens to ****** punk. Not dissing punk, cuz the Clash and all that jazz is amazing. Just he listened to really really ****** punk. And he shows me this video of one of the bands (A Wilhelm Scream? I think) where the bass player just taps randomly on the bass with such reckless abandon and lack of precision that he makes enough noise to sound like he's doing something cool then goes back to pumping eighths.

And I was like, better than Flea? Really? But I was like, "Oh yeah that's cool." Because he was trying to make me mad and I don't give victory to pussies. :D

I mean I think tons of bass players are better than Flea, but he's still amazing and actually fulfills his role as the BASS player with more kickass than half the players out there, and not to be overdone by some randomass punching on the neck of a Stingray.

This guy had no idea what he was talking about, so I guess it doesn't really fall in this thread. He plays the drums (I played his set better than he did because after 11 years of piano and bass I have a modest sense of rhythm) so what would he know about music anyway? HAHA! DRUMMER JOKE!!
 
#382
I remembered ive posted a video of mine playing in slapping style, and some guy went like "I dont know why some kids wanted to be acknowledged by doing slapping.. Man, learn scales, blah blah blah"

If i play slap doesnt mean i cant play fingerstyle. And screw you, because fingerstyle is not harder than slapping. I really dont know why people thinking that way.
 
#385
knarleybass said:
"I just finished playing bass on the newest number one hit record of the year, and now I just got a touring gig, I will be making more in a week than you in a year. What kind of bass rig do you use? I don't know much about that stuff because I am really a guitar player."

DIVES ME OUT OF MY MIND!
Click to expand...


Something similar happened to me recently. I went to see Marc Broussard, whose bass player was awesome and humble and well versed in gear talk. The opening band's bass player however didn't have a clue. After their set I went up to him to talk bass. I asked about his GK rig and he told me that he just got an endorsement deal with them. I asked what all he got and he turned to the drummer and said "Hey, Lester, what did those guys give me?" I was blown away! You can't even tell me what equipment you're endorsing. Give me a freakin' break! ! !
 
#387
We've got a pretty tight fraternity here in the Tulsa area. It's pretty common to see Bass Stud A at Soon-to-be Bass Stud's gig showing support. We hook each other up with gigs and share tips and tricks. Any Friday I can walk down to the local Thai restaurant and be schooled by Bill Raffensberger (J J Cale/Eric Clapton/David Gates) on just about every style of playing there is. He usually sits with us on his breaks and tells all kinds of tales. Every Sunday a band called "The Lifers" puts on a veritable masterwork of rock and blues. This band includes four of the best musicians that I have ever heard and includes David Teegarden (Bob Seger). I feel really fortunate to have such friendly environment after reading some of the comments on here.

There is, however, the occasional non-bass playing musician who reveals the depth of his/her ignorance. But no need to go into such ugliness now. Maybe later though.:D
 
#389
The recurring conversation:

I really do have this conversation, verbatim, over and over.

Him: What kind of bass is that? It's really nice.

Me: It's a Surine. They're made by Surine down in Denver? They're really amazing, and Scott's a great guy.

Him: Oh. I play a <expensive brand that doesn't interest me, usually a Warwick>. It's great, their basses are great, I won't play anything else. What did you call your bass again?

Me: It's a Surine. By Surine Basses? In Denver?

Him: How much did that cost?

Me: Well, they don't make this exact model any more, the new ones like it retail for about 5-6 thousand.

Him: Wow. (Finally impressed, now that he realizes it is expensive.) What was it called again?

Possibly followed by:

Him: Why are you using a capo?

(I have one band that plays in drop D, but depending on which band I'm playing with I may also want to be in E or E flat.)


And then there's the bass player sitting in, or at the open mic:

Me: Sure, sit in for a couple of tunes (Hands him bass)

Him: Wait, what are you tuned to?

Me: Oh, it's dropped to D. Just down a step?

Him: (handing bass back) Dude, never mind.

Me: Just tune it to E. It'll just take a second. Look, the tuner's always on!

Him: Nah, never mind. Hey, why do you drop the tuning on a 5-string bass anyway?


I don't know why that question annoys me so much. Why not?
 

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