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Things bassist hate, Part 2

#121
- Band members not pulling their own weight gear-wise. I know that not everyone has a ton of cash to spend on top-of-the-line equipment, but if you are in a gigging band, you should have your own gig-worthy gear, that is also suitable for whatever the band will be playing. That 30 watt practice amp will not cut it, nor should you expect it to.

Also if you borrow something like a patch cord, pick, etc... you should give it back at the end of band practice.

- Bands being TOO loud. I do understand wanting to crank the volume a bit. Tube amps sound their best when given a good amount of juice, bass sounds great when you can hear AND feel it. But if you are so loud that all the audience can hear is the drums behind a wall of undesipherable noise, then you are too loud. No one will think less of you for turning down.

- Guitar players tuning after every song. Had this problem in my last band. Even during live preformances, he would stop everything to tune his guitar after every damn song, even when the previous song sounded fine. Drove us insane.
 
#122
...playing with dudes that have owned gear for 30 yrs...actually played for 7....never took the time to educate themselves on anything theory....of course, can't read or interpret charts.....but still claim they've "been doin' this for 30 yrs" while they attempt to override arrangements.
 
#124
Bassists that set their graphic EQ as a V, considering mids as a nonsense in the bass' sound. Bye bye definition and clarity "I'm a metal player I can't hear myself !!" how many times did you read that ?? :D:hiding:

Bassists that always think that "hey!! my EQ 's got a 20 Hz knob I can push up!! great !!"... great man... You've understand everything about acoustics :spit:

Guitarists that want you to play only melodic lines "a la macca"... I'm not saying I'm hating macca, but... man... have you got other musical references ? No ? argh.... :spit:
 
#126
What everyone else just said. It's amazing.

1. house mix
2. Guitarists
3. keyboard players
4. drummers who can't keep time
5. where bass players have to often stand on stage

We should coomend every bass player that has ever made it big as a bass player, or is a band leader etc. Consider all the crap we tolerate just to deliver the bottom. We support the whole thing despite what we often get in return. I can remember a band I was in and we went into a song we had never practiced or they even knew I knew and I pulled off a line that was just like the record. The drummer turned around and said to me he was shocked. I was like if I didn't have to struggle so much with making this band sound musical I could do alot of things. I couldn't stand how he had piegonholed me just because I'm laid back and a solid if not fancy kind of player. I'm more for substance than form. The drummer was one of those skirt chasin types that couldn't stay focused if a pretty girl was paying attention to him. On those nights I hated playing with him. Girls would come up on stage and sit on his lap while we were playing and the band leader tolerated the crap but would holler at me for smoking a cigarette to close to the end of a break. Needless to say I quit that band.
 
#127
The Owl said:
Am I alone in this on particular pet peeve, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND when people insist on playing music over the phone for me, it sounds HORRIBLE and hurts my ears!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Especially if the guy on the other side is a bass player too and wants to play his bass over the phone. He was a jackass anyway and I got rid of him too :-)
 
#128
I hate when a boutique bass shop owner keep changing what they say (as a self- proclaimed "expert") is the "best" bass or piece of gear when its all about what they are just selling at that time. They carry something, its the BEST, they lose the dealership or the politics blows up behind the scene and all of a sudden their BEST gear is crap.

Then the guy gigs his gear 2x a month , is not a good bassist, or musician, and then aggressively holds himself up as a Guru with a huge conflict of interest. One without much cred.

LOL. I've actually seen that twice!
 
#129
Pretty much everyone who automatically comments your effect-doodling with even a joking encouragement to switch to guitar. I've only played in a band for so little time the role of bass in a live setting is just beginning grow on me and I used to have all kinds of odd effect ideas (not crazy per se, just something that sounds interesting as an idea but really doesn't get to sound out in a band setting) so that was and is rather justified, but still kinda douche-y. Hate guitarists defining bass playing and sound for me in general.
 
#131
This thread is amazing! I agree with a good majority of these!

These are the ones that I have a particular issue with:

1. "Oh you plays bass? But you aren't a girl..."
2. When I slap AT ALL (normally during sound checks or just messing around at practices, even at worship practices) some douche yells "Yeah Seinfeld!"
3. Guitar playing too loud during practice, you tell them to turn it down a touch so you can hear anything and they give you the stink eye. 40 watt tube vs 400 watt solid state bass amp, just not fair haha.
4. "Busy" drummers. Do you really need to use all 8 cymbals in the time we get through one progression?
5. When the guitar player doesn't know what key the song is in.
 
#132
- drummers who play too fast or speed up during the song

- guitarists who insist on ear-shattering stage volume

- vocalists who never help with schlepping the gear

- drummers who hit so hard that broken sticks and heads litter the stage when you're done

- sound men who can only mix a p-bass, SM58, LesPaul (because nothing else 'sounds right' :rolleyes:)

- completing the entire PA connectivity with ZERO lighting

- p**s poor acoustics on the stage or in the venue

- the drive home at 2:30 a.m.
 
#133
Jazz gigs where the first soloist passes it on to 2nd soloist and then takes the 3rd solo and doesn't look your way song after song, until his drink is empty at which time he'll pass a solo to you while he goes to get a refill, but of course doesn't bring you one.
 
#136
We made an EP about 2 years ago and sold a few to our friends and such and made about 150 bucks, nothing major- but I never saw any of that money and just recently learned that our drummer used it to pay his rent.

Also, I hate when someone says playing bass must be easier than guitar because it only has four strings. ....pure lack of knowledge.
 
#138
This thread was fun to read....and I think I learned something as well. Without a doubt, the bass player (assuming we are talking about someone who has devoted their musical life to primarily playing BASS, not a frustrated guitarist...) is the member of the band that must know the most about music. We need to know about lead parts, as well as Rhythm. Dynamics, theory, and subtlety are our vocabulary. We are the producers and arrangers, the man behind the scenes, the glue that joins the more immediately apparent parts of the group together. Take an average band and give them a great bassist, and watch the audience start to dance.

The bass is ephemeral in that its essence is the music. It has an almost indefinable quality, and many do not know what it is, or what we are doing up there, on stage.

For all I care, as long as they keep bouncin', they don't need to know. :cool:
 

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