• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Unpopular tone and technique

#48
Loren Herrington said:
Well I do all of the singing and songwriting in my band and I agree that life is too short for absolutes, but it absolutely bugs the crap out of me when the majority of people say "your tone is really awesome and unique, you really know your way around the fret board, you play like, lead bass" haha, then they say, "you should try playing with your fingers" which I have and I have no interest in for the last 9 years or so haha
Click to expand...

I still can't believe I misspelled Bozeman... I deserved to get called on that one, so Double Word Score ;-)

I also think life is too short for only one technique on bass. I'm primarily a Fingerstyle guy. I added some thumb to my tool chest and can play with a pick - I love the pedal a note with a pick and let the flanger do it's thing - thing. I've not bothered much with slap. I don't really hear it musically so I back away... I would think as you're writing, other techniques might take you other places. It's good to be multi-dimensional while not being all over the map... But... All things in time...

Oh lord I just noticed a user with the name Angry Mob with a Pitchfork ... Instant classic!
 
#49
I have a pretty undesirable style as far as getting into bands goes. I play with lots of chords, even 3 note chords with a droning 4th note. I slap all the time and use my fingers as the sort of fills, when I want to go fast, and do complex slap fills with triplets and lots of ghost notes, and I strum a lot of chords, usually as an accented heavy "pow". I know that most bands just want a bass player to play the backbone and not that sort of thing, so I write my own songs. I've been turned down from bands for my complex style, and that's fine. I've worked years to perfect it, and I still haven't. I'm Proud of it, it is me. So just master it, and keep at it. You will find what you are looking for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: foolforthecity
#50
To OP, I really dig that tone your describing(except I never use a pick), I too love a nice bright grindy bass sound, roundwounds and plenty of treble...its perfect for rock/metal, other styles, not so much(at least according to many BL)...

Really, its a comfortable tone for me to play with, I hate that dull, boomy sound alot of guys go for, so no, your not alone...

Edit: Nothing wrong with using a pick either, IMO some of the best used the plectrum, do your thing and naysayers be damned....
 
Last edited:
#52
That's exactly how I play! Heavy picks on a steel strung G&L L-2500 with the preamp treble switched on, through my maxed out B7K, into a Mesa 400+ and 2X15. Super gnarly. I'm totally a distortion chaser and the only two pedals that I've managed to fall in love through the years are the Darkglass B7K and the Tech 21 XXL bass edition. In fact, one of my gripes with those pedal testing Youtube channels is that they never max out the settings!

I've gone through a bass playing existential crisis before, like you. I played with my fingers for awhile and tried to tone down the distortion a bit, but it didn't excite me as much, nor did it fill out the three pieces i've played in.

Don't worry, dude, I believe we're in good company. There's David Wm. Sims from Jesus Lizard, Bob Weston from Shellac, Lemmy, Nate Newton from Converge, Jo Bench from Bolt Thrower, Justin Chancellor, the list goes on!
 
#54
Loren Herrington said:
So I've definitely noticed in the just over 10 years I've been playing bass and in bands, (and even more confirmed since I've been on this forum) my style is definitely not most popular as a bassist. I play with a pick, I prefer a really trebley, bright sound, I play with heavy overdrive, I play chords or two string bass droning faux chords, and I mostly play off of the neck pickup on any bass, I really prefer a bright crisp, often biting and driving, gritty tone to a low deep, round sound. When I switch to the bridge pickup it all sounds like mud to me, I don't like the thud and undefined tone of finger picking and rolling off the tone..... I guess this is just kind of a rant..... I just feel singled out a lot for my style. I don't play flats, I don't play with my fingers, I like playing like a freight train, I play like lemmy, I'm not afraid of using chords and such.... I guess I'm just looking for a smoke signal in the dark...... like I'm not alone. AM I ALONE?!
Click to expand...


It seems back in the day many more bassists used picks. The double stops on bass really fill out a sonic space that doesn't happen any where else. Throw in an occasional tritone.
 
#56
I'm with you bud. I play P-basses tuned to C, with Duncan QP-3s, tone dimed with a pick, heavy guage Roto 66s, Keeley modded Rat on at all times into what is basically a guitar amp; 1974 Ampeg V4B paired with an Atlas 412 loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs, or sometimes an ampeg 810. If you're playing agressive music, it's gotta cut through. Grit is good. I have a Verellen Meatsmoke coming at the end of the month, can't wait to see how that affects how I play.

The bassplayer / vocalist in the band Royal Thunder basically has the same style/tone you described. I remember hearing her sound check and thinking, "that tone is hot garbage". As soon as they started in though, it just sat in the mix so well. It had the right amount of punch and clarity. It sounded awesome. Honestly, it isn't about how the instruments sound individually, it's how they hang together in the mix. If it sounds good, keep doing it.
 
Last edited:
#57
After thinking about it a little more, the only way I would suggest changing your playing style is if you're feeling discomfort/pain while playing (as in doing real damage to parts of your body that you'll need to keep playing bass).

So I was wrong, there is a "wrong" way to play bass if the way your are playing will physically damage your body to the point you can't play bass anymore.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back