What about your bass playing makes you special?

[Gervais Cote]

Nice bass! I'm sure you could get a gig just showing up with it! Seriously, that is a really nice piece of art and I'll bet is play=yes and sounds great!

Thanks for the comments.

In fact, I had a hard time making it sound like I wanted.

I wanted an extra light bass at first so went with a 3.5 pounds body made of sycamore wood. Then put a non-reinforced maple neck and guess what ? Neck dive ! Compensated with a high mass bridge, bass is now balanced and final total weight is 7.5 pounds !

For the pickups, I used the famous quarter pounder as I wanted a heavy sound without an exaggerated output. I had to try 5 different strings until I put the right ones, some SIT nickel rounds medium light.

The luthier that made the final adjustments phoned me saying : Come grab your bass, it's on fire !

Played with it for 3 hours in a row with my band mates last weekend and everybody agreed it was punchy and full body from bottom to top notes so mission accomplished for me.

 

[pepj]

I try and make my lines move..
Bass player friends tell me they like my lines and find it interesting where I put the notes within the confines of a defined bass line
But you have to listen to notice.

 

[KohanMike]

I played rhythm guitar for almost fifty years, I was often told that I should play bass because I have good tempo and feel, but I didn't want to be encumbered by a big electric bass guitar, forget a double bass. Then in mid 2013 I switched to ukulele and joined a group of about 35 uke players. A year later the leader asked if anyone would like to take up the bass to fill in their sound.

One other guy volunteered and I got online and discovered bass ukes that were 21" to 23" scale with polyurethane fat strings. I went to a store and played one, hey, this feels really good. I bought it and took lessons from Denny Croy at McCabe's Music Shoppe in Santa Monica. Turns out the other bass player in the group also took lessons from him. Since then the bass became my primary instrument, trading off with the other bass player. I take holding the tempo for the group very seriously.

 

[bigjames]

I am not the flashiest player and do not have amazing chops for speed or slap, but in the groups I have played with, ranging from Praise and Worship to blues and Progressive Jazz (this was the most challenging), I have been told I am solid and that my overall musicality is what keeps me in demand. Serving the song and understanding theory and song structure. Basic for sure, but has been invaluable for me when playing with others.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

I've been call 'a force of nature', so that

 

[VicDiesel]

1. I don't mind playing root-fifth
2. I can groove in 7 and 15

 

[VicDiesel]

The beauty of playing bass is no one can distinguish the breaking of wind.

That's what they call the "brown note", right?

 

[Michael135]

The question of what makes a good bassist can be answered by asking yourself, what makes a good [insert instrument] player. In bands, for a good guitarist, I'll take reliability, preparedness and selflessness over technical wizardry. The same applies to bassists. Trust me, the other musicians are not looking for the world's best slap bassist to play towering good slap bass all through the gig. A band is a collective, usually not a democracy, dedicated to performing as the band that it is. Each musician should be contributing toward that goal. Baseline talent is a requirement of course, and your singer(s) better be good, but there can't be a band where every member is the superstar.

 

[Deleted member 409896]

I am the best bass player in my house!

 

[grimjim]

I think the most special thing about me is my humility. Which virtually oozes from every pore of my being. I think that's why women are so attracted to me. It makes my superior intellect less intimidating.

 

[Bighands Bill]

I have learned how to make a bad note or off timing sound like I did it on purpose. Is that a talent or an excuse?

 

[fdeck]

Dave, a trumpet player who had heard me play a couple times at one of my regular haunts, hired me for a Friday afternoon beer garden gig. After the first set, the drummer turned to me and said: "Dave was right. You are obnoxious."

 

[Gervais Cote]

I have learned how to make a bad note or off timing sound like I did it on purpose. Is that a talent or an excuse?

In a live performance, it's a super talent in my book !

 

[jerry]

I got nothing!

 

[hondo4life]

I enjoy creating my own bass lines, I can make a $200 bass play like a $2000 carrot, and I am forever chasing the perfect tone.

Other than that, I have stubby sausage fingers with nerve damage, I still can't read bass sheet music, and I get easily distracted by shiny things.

 

[fhm555]

What I hear most often is "human metronome" and "always plays the right thing for the song."

 

[MuseChaser]

I have an unflappable, uncanny ability to ignore my shortcomings during performances, yet work on them diligently at home.

 

[Dave TB Killer]

I only play three notes. Usually only one at a time.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I make booties move

 

[LiptonJigglers]

For me, it's knowing my role and providing a good solid rhythmic foundation for the other musicians to do their stuff. Keeping it simple and steady..
I've been called "a solid bassist" a "human metronome" and "a better bassist than I think I am".