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Surf Bass

#21
If you really want to get an idea of the surf/spy sound in a modern context, you really have check out Los Straitjackets. The bassist is Pete Curry, I think, and he uses a Di Pinto, which to my ears sounds very P-bassish. There are some other good "modern" bands too, like Slacktone and The Penetrators.

I play some of the this material with a P-bass and flats and it nails the tone!

BTW, Given that you mentioned "Shadowy Men," I live in Toronto (where they were from) and saw them a long time ago. The bass player, to my recollection was using a Gibson Thunderbird, so say what you like about tradition. Alas that band is no more - I believe, I'm sorry to say, that the bass player passed away some time ago.

Good luck and have fun researching!
 
#22
RJC1811 said:
Surfer Joe - I wish I had been around in those days. It must have been a blast. I lived on Balboa peninsula '79-'81. Great time in SoCal for punk and rockabilly.
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Thankful birds said:
I play bass in a surf/spy/garage band called The Rebel Set- Link Removed . (The tracks aren't me on bass). Generally, surf divides into two camps- the poppy vocal-harmony based beach boys/jan and dean style camp, and the more guitar-oriented ventures/dick dale camp. I think you want to know about the latter.

The guitar-oriented stuff is generally based upon guitar lines that use scales popular in eastern music played over bass lines that generally either play a root note or a 1, 5, country style line. (The Ventures were really into that 1,5 thing). Most fills and transitions in surf style bass are done with a chromatic pattern (think the bass line in wipeout). Overall, the idea is to create a strong lock with the drums to showcase the guitar; generally less is more in the genre.

I also want to double the p-bass with flats sentiment, although some bands also played mosrites, harmonys/silvertones, and danos. Modern bands like Los Straitjackets use DiPintos, and I have seen modern surf bands adopt the jaguar bass.

Hope that helps!
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Yeah - I rented a triplex apartment on 18th Street and Ocean. We had yearly reservations for the three months surrounding "Bal-Week" or Easter vacation and the schools all got out either the week before, the week of or the week after Easter to keep the sheer numbers of people to a minimum. Imagine that peninsula with three counties of school students all loose at the same time! Mayhem! That way we had a fresh batch of 'customers' the next week.

We had a 4-piece rock band upstairs in the street side apartment, a 'bar' downstairs and a 'party room' in the last upper apartment.

See if you recognize the place from this Google maps link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...607394,-117.925288&spn=0.000561,0.001373&z=20

We had kegs of beer and we took 'donations' for people who wanted to have some at the door. We checked IDs and even had a chief-of police's daughter there a few times. Most Fridays or Saturdays we went through six or eight full kegs at $1.00 a glass.

That's how we afforded the rent for the place. You could legally drink alcohol on private property, even in plain sight if you were at least 16 in those days.

I dated a girl whose uncle owned one of the stores on the front near the 17th Street pier, where Perry's Pizza is now. (I'm looking at the map!).

Did you ever get to "Sid's Blue Beet" or was it still there when you were?

I'm trying to remember, but for the life of me - I really cannot see anyone playing a Danelectro in any of those older surf bands. Most people thought they were made out of pressed cardboard and they weren't tough enough to actually put strings on them for fear that they'd fold up.

I think I'll take the wife to Rocky Baja Lobster next to the Newport pier for dinner tomorrow.
 
#23
-executor- said:
Does anyone know how to make good surf basslines?
Are there any special characteristics to surf basslines that make them sound the way they do?
Are there any guidelines in theory and technique?

Thanks

(note: when I say "surf" I am talking about 50s and 60s music with reverb and stuff like that. Like Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.)
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That's exactly what I'm involved with now. That instro guitar stuff is very cool for bass, but I don't think the old recordings have a definitive bass style. A lot of those guys were just playing simpler root position versions of what the guitar did. Not surprising, the bass player was usually ex guitar players.

In a modern context, the bass can do more, have more sonic presence and be recorded better. So a more lead role for the bass is surf music makes sense.

My surf stuff has been accused of being too bass heavy, but I think it works without being overbearing. A sample vid:
 
#26
I just joined a local instrumental surf band. The old bassist used a pick but wasn't exactly the best player. I'm a long time fingerstyle player so I've been doing that. I don't have a problem with playing the faster stuff fingerstyle, but I do worry that it would come out more clearly with a pick.
 
#27
Ukiah Bass said:
Any opinions on the virtues of pick vs. fingerstyle for surf basslines? I've been playing with a pick and really like the attack and ability to play faster lines.
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I grew up on the beaches of SoCal and have played a lot of surf music over the years with various surf/beach bands. I used a P bass with round wounds and a Fender Showman amp with 2x15 cab. I prefer to use a pick employing both up and down strokes with palm muting the strings between the notes. Do what you are comfortable with. Have fun.
 
#28
Thankful birds said:
I play bass in a surf/spy/garage band called The Rebel Set- Link Removed . (The tracks aren't me on bass). Generally, surf divides into two camps- the poppy vocal-harmony based beach boys/jan and dean style camp, and the more guitar-oriented ventures/dick dale camp. I think you want to know about the latter.

The guitar-oriented stuff is generally based upon guitar lines that use scales popular in eastern music played over bass lines that generally either play a root note or a 1, 5, country style line. (The Ventures were really into that 1,5 thing). Most fills and transitions in surf style bass are done with a chromatic pattern (think the bass line in wipeout). Overall, the idea is to create a strong lock with the drums to showcase the guitar; generally less is more in the genre.

I also want to double the p-bass with flats sentiment, although some bands also played mosrites, harmonys/silvertones, and danos. Modern bands like Los Straitjackets use DiPintos, and I have seen modern surf bands adopt the jaguar bass.

Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

Thankful Birds - I dig Rebel Set, great sound!

I second the P-bass and Moserite. DiPinto is local to me and are a pretty good candidate for surf bass as well.
 
#29
I've long been more of a finger-style player, but have recently started honing my picking technique for the reboot of an old music project that will include a bunch of surf originals. We just laid down a quick demo of a song called "Road Ends In Water" where I used a pick and fuzz bass. On the next-to-last pass the lead guitarist dropped out so I played my line twice as fast to fill in ... thinking maybe I should have played the melody? This surf stuff is fairly new to me as a player and I'm looking forward to attempting some justice! :)

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#30
Interesting...thought this thread had expired. Ukiah, I'd done the same thing - having been a fingerstyle/funk player (since high school orchestra days), when I fell into a Surf band I had to learn how to use a pick from scratch. Found myself continually wanting to drop the thing and pluck as it was easier (particularly on the faster phrases) but eventually forced myself into it.
Not exactly surf, but it was good learning Shadows bass lines from, say, "Kon Tiki" and "Man of Mystery." Surf classics such as "Pipeline," "Miserlou," aren't particularly difficult, and are mostly roots or arpeggios. Lots of palm muting, which was another thing I'd never done much of prior to the surf gig, to get that "tic-tac" sound. It's been fun - using a MIJ P-bass reissue and a Carvin PB4, both with flats, through a Fender SB300 (either the 6x10 or a new Dually 2x15) - 'one way' enclosures.
 
#31
I started playing in a surf band back in the late 80's, one of the first things I learned is the the Beach Boys is NOT surf music, it is really west coast pop. It had it's own sound, talked about surfing and cars, but the genre really isn't like the true surf music of the day, which was primarily all instrumental.
How to play it? Generally pumping eighth notes on a P-Bass, maybe with a little palm muting is a good place to start. Always be ready to throw in some walking lines to make it swing in some sections. Walk Don't Run is a great example of straight time feel with a swinging bridge.
 
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#32
Just to hold up hope for the lowly Dano- Bob Reed of the mighty Trashmen played one! And while they're from the Midwest, The Bob Reed, bass/Steve Wahrer, drums rhythm section remains one of the greatest on record- hell, that whole band was superlative for its time!
But I think with today's "vintage" craze it's easy to forget that the most important part of your sound is in your mind and fingers. If your equipment is decent, and if you've got the sound you want well in mind, you'll get it eventually! Because long before the "vintage" hoopla hit, I'd heard many players get very "vintage" sounds using wildly different gear from the "originals."
Today, you can buy all this "vintage" gear, you can get note-perfect transcriptions of a zillion tunes- but if you REALLY want to do it the real Vintage way, you try to figure the stuff out by ear, you go to shows and watch the fingers, then you try to get THAT sound with the stuff you've got. Because that's mainly how your "vintage" idols learned their stuff! You try to copy the sounds you dig, you inevitably screw up a few things, keep at it and you may find YOUR sound, which is fun, even if you never make a career of it.
Well, today you can't go see The Ventures or Link or The Trashmen- though Dick Dale is still rocking! I saw Link Wray in '03- I'd listened to those tunes a bazillion times, but watching his left hand I saw I'd figured some things wrong. Yet I could PLAY a more Link-ish sound doing it my ("wrong") way, on utterly diff. gear. Because even if I'd had the exact same stuff and played it the exact same way, I'm obviously not Link! (Neither is anyone else!!!)
I close my mini-essay with Les Paul's oft-used quip: "People hear with their eyes, y'know!" Vintage victims should take that to heart- it's about SOUND, and that's in your ears and hands. HeeeeeeeeeeAaaaaaaaHaaaaaaHaaaaaaaa WIPEOUT!!!!!
 
#39
To my knowledge there were no bassists or bands or even songs that defined surf bass playing. It played a supportive role in a simple context to feature that new novelty the "electric guitar." The bass player was usually the guy who wasn't good enough to play guitar.lol

I like playing to surf because it sounds cool to mirror the guitar.

Some of the later modern/ reto bands have guys with a more up front sound and have a more prevalent approach to the bass. Do a simple search on you tube for surf music bass and you'll come up with some interesting stuff.
 

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