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The bass for now!
- Thread starter BazzaBass
- Start date
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- bass guitar future modern
Indeed. It is on most acoustic-electric instruments, even the cheap ones. You would think that it would be a common feature on all active electric basses as well: push the mute button, tweak your tuning, and good to go in less time than it takes me to type this.
Composits will be the future for guitar/bass instruments.
No more wood.
No more wood.
Using the OP’s car analogy, there are people today that restore, drive, and obsess over old cars. The ones without chips, cameras, heated seats, navigation, etc. Not because they are better than cars today, but because of what they are. Over the seventy years of the electric bass guitar’s existence, improvements have been made but some still prefer the oldest ones. They still get the job done despite lacking fanned frets, active electronics, etc.
The future will see less use of an electric bass of any vintage in almost all recorded music. Most likely all analog instruments will be a novelty. It’ll all be digital. There will always be some players and perhaps an occasional revival, but you can expect your favorite instrument to go the way of the hurdy-gurdy or the harmonium. The upside? Probably won’t happen in our lifetime.
The future will see less use of an electric bass of any vintage in almost all recorded music. Most likely all analog instruments will be a novelty. It’ll all be digital. There will always be some players and perhaps an occasional revival, but you can expect your favorite instrument to go the way of the hurdy-gurdy or the harmonium. The upside? Probably won’t happen in our lifetime.
It's helpful to think of bass as a part to be played, not an instrument. Throughout musical history, that part has been played on many instruments. In baroque music the basso continuo is often played by cello and harpsichord. In classical music, the orchestra has many bass instruments: contrabass, tuba, trombones, bassoons, etc. In early 20th century popular music tuba and string bass covered the low end until the bass guitar was necessitated by electric guitars.
A distinctly mid-century instrument, the bass guitar has largely been supplanted by synth bass in 21st century pop music.
The bass guitar has evolved somewhat, but it's essentially hybrid tech at its core. The tone is produced by setting a tuned length of wire into vibration, same as in the baroque. You can make incremental improvements in construction, playability and electronics, and many have. My new Ibanez is way lighter, better balanced, easier to play and more versatile tonally than my P. But it's still fundamentally the same instrument.
The eventual future for the bass guitar is the oldies circuit, primarily. For now, successive generations are keeping guitar music alive, but just barely. Most pop has sequenced bass these days. You don't have to like it, but you can't deny the bass guitar has seen it's heyday in pop music.
A distinctly mid-century instrument, the bass guitar has largely been supplanted by synth bass in 21st century pop music.
The bass guitar has evolved somewhat, but it's essentially hybrid tech at its core. The tone is produced by setting a tuned length of wire into vibration, same as in the baroque. You can make incremental improvements in construction, playability and electronics, and many have. My new Ibanez is way lighter, better balanced, easier to play and more versatile tonally than my P. But it's still fundamentally the same instrument.
The eventual future for the bass guitar is the oldies circuit, primarily. For now, successive generations are keeping guitar music alive, but just barely. Most pop has sequenced bass these days. You don't have to like it, but you can't deny the bass guitar has seen it's heyday in pop music.
If you look at the way popular music has been trending, the bass of the future likely won't be a bass guitar.
Good poser! I love classic cars, but I sure as heck would one to drive one as a daily driver. There is one exception however the Hudson Hornet. Those were awesome drivable cars with killer looks.
RE: Electric cars
I can’t wait for them to come up with an electric car with a 500 mile cruise range in the dead of winter. I currently own a Prius hybrid which get’s me about 46-50 mpg. Good for hauling musical gear as well.
As for my bass, it’s a PB.
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Exactly. I really thought they were "the future" but then I played one and hated it. The models with larger bodies are nice but the small "box" bodies were too small.
What about all the other genres?
Sure, for the last few decades Pop music has always been that; computer or synth generated, and few if any actual playing musicians.
If thats all you listen to, then thats all you see.
Dozens of other genres and even more sub genres still going strong as ever.
But this isn't how I read the OP. I read the OP as 'how are basses going to be built in the future'.
Sure, for the last few decades Pop music has always been that; computer or synth generated, and few if any actual playing musicians.
If thats all you listen to, then thats all you see.
Dozens of other genres and even more sub genres still going strong as ever.
But this isn't how I read the OP. I read the OP as 'how are basses going to be built in the future'.
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Agreed. Musically we are being written out. Why do I feel like a dinosaur trudging along to the tar pits?
If AI does take hold, pretty much all jobs will be eliminated. So not just us musicians.
You don't understand what baseload means. And no, solar is not the answer for a ton of good reasons that make no engineering sense, let alone environmental. Not the place for this discussion, so I'm leaving it there.
Used and / or DIY.
Once we realize there's plenty of bass instruments on the planet for everyone already as we speak, factories will be shut down, and at best a 'new' bass will be pieced together from parts that also are already existing today.
That will be the case for other instruments too.
And generally, everything else.
We won't help the climate by building more @#$%, no matter how 'green' we market it.
Once we realize there's plenty of bass instruments on the planet for everyone already as we speak, factories will be shut down, and at best a 'new' bass will be pieced together from parts that also are already existing today.
That will be the case for other instruments too.
And generally, everything else.
We won't help the climate by building more @#$%, no matter how 'green' we market it.
'New' concepts in basses have come and gone many times over the years, and certain innovations in materials and construction techniques have been adopted as they prove worthy. However, it is a very simple instrument really and fretted, stringed instruments have been around for centuries largely unchanged in their basic design. The straightforward design epitomized in Fender's P and Jazz basses are pretty much still the most successful approach, and materials and construction standards aside I do not see that changing much. Maye a zero-gravity bass to put weight concerns to rest forever.
