• 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 freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What Bass Am I?

It's against the rules to have to look at the finger board especially when your time could be better spent winking at the groupies. That's like bass player 101 stuff mang.

I am more worried about my intonation! I may not have perfect pitch but I am close enough that my fretless playing can be painful. Switching back and forth from my Alembic to my Fender is a major adjustment and not just the frets!! Although the Fender is actually a little longer with the headstock the Alembic seems a mile longer both sitting and standing...And the Alembic is perfect up and down the neck. No dead spots, every note perfect.

My brain hurts after a fretless session!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt.Obvious
If the goal is to mimic a double bass, you might want to look at the Godin A4 fretless basses... They have the piezo system and a regular soapbar in the bridge position that gets a convincing "Jaco tone"
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt.Obvious
don't be concerned about fretless 'feel' references - it is a temporary insecurity

I've been playing nearly exclusively fretless EB (and DB too) for 35+ years and you adapt - as an early DB student I have always used the 3 finger left hand technique too

am I the fastest EB player? No, but it has served me well (BTW, there is no crime in looking down either)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt.Obvious
LOL! Love that Gloria Gaynor tune and I endeavor to insert a little disco into every project, no joke. I'm not even a child of the 70's, but I just love that octave jumping 8th note bass groove typical to disco. I've successfully worked disco bass lines into every single project I'm playing with now. Full 16 piece big bands, small combo jazz, a medieval Celtic/fusion band, and an American blues pop group. No music genre is safe!

*Uploading proof*

Cap. You're just like me. I love 'discoing' things up.

I'm not sure whether you've ever heard these, but if not you're in for a real treat. A couple of examples of what happens when virtuoso bass playing - courtesy of Anthony Jackson - and 'disco' (well not true disco in the typical sense, but close enough)...collide. In the first cut, AJ's busting out octaves all over the place. The second features one of his typically flawless performances on an up-tempo dance number from that era.

Enjoy



 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt.Obvious
I am more worried about my intonation! I may not have perfect pitch but I am close enough that my fretless playing can be painful. Switching back and forth from my Alembic to my Fender is a major adjustment and not just the frets!! Although the Fender is actually a little longer with the headstock the Alembic seems a mile longer both sitting and standing...And the Alembic is perfect up and down the neck. No dead spots, every note perfect.

My brain hurts after a fretless session!

I'm seriously leaning towards going fretless on the electric and it's just intimidating, and that's from a double bass player. It's just a different animal.
 
Cap. You're just like me. I love 'discoing' things up.

I'm not sure whether you've ever heard these, but if not you're in for a real treat. A couple of examples of what happens when virtuoso bass playing - courtesy of Anthony Jackson - and 'disco' (well not true disco in the typical sense, but close enough)...collide. In the first cut, AJ's busting out octaves all over the place. The second features one of his typically flawless performances on an up-tempo dance number from that era.

Enjoy

*Puts on plaid bell bottoms, proceeds to groove hard*

Love it! hahaa
 
How about this - put a 'landmark' on the back of your electric bass' neck (something that can be easily removed)?

Not a bad idea at all! Like a sticker or something. I've seen student double basses with actual knife marks on the back of the neck to give beginners some kind of reference out of first position. I never considered something temporary like a sticker. Cheers!
 
PS Cap: If you love disco bass playing, you've just GOT to check out Bernard Edwards from Chic. THE MAN

This is my favourite B.E. bass groove.

*bobs head to the beat*

It's infectious and really drives the point home how the bass can really influence the groove, hell, it IS the groove. Drums are just ornamentation. High hat here, cymbal splash there, like sprinkles on the cake that is the bass line. ;-)

I played with a band that covered this song, no joke. lol

 
Well Cap, I'd say there's no time like the present to jump in at the deep end ! (you could always get a lined fretless too)

This might sway you to try. The first time I heard this clip, I was convinced after listening for a few seconds that the bassist was playing an amplified upright. Nope: good 'ol fretless P. Sounds great but I prefer the growl of the jazz bass for fretless.

Ps. rewind the clip to the start to hear what I mean



That's possibly the best impersonation of a DB by an EB I've ever heard... and Buddy wouldn't put up with any $#¡^.


It's against the rules to have to look at the finger board especially when your time could be better spent winking at the groupies. That's like bass player 101 stuff mang.

ALWAYS SERVE THE SINGER, uh song, FOCUS ON YOUR SINGER! uh, the song, I meant the singer song. That's what I'd be payin' attention to... I wouldn't be looking at my fingers, I'd be looking at the singer's... gesticulations – when to come in, when to lay back in the groove, when to bring things down, when to end. Who needs groupies when you can complicate your life and your singer's life by becoming romantically involved... with each other. Groupies is for amateurs, you gotta get the whole Fleetwood Mac McVieeee thing goin'...

...
I played with a band that covered this song, no joke. lol



Is that a US flag hiding under his cape, Capn?


I liked CV115505's suggestion of a Godin, but more important than gear – it's in the playing technique that'll help you sound similar to a DB, frets or no frets.

My original suggestion was going to be: Jaguar with P/J pups. Keep the frets or declaw your kitty and yank 'em out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt.Obvious
That's possibly the best impersonation of a DB by an EB I've ever heard... and Buddy wouldn't put up with any $#¡^.




ALWAYS SERVE THE SINGER, uh song, FOCUS ON YOUR SINGER! uh, the song, I meant the singer song. That's what I'd be payin' attention to... I wouldn't be looking at my fingers, I'd be looking at the singer's... gesticulations – when to come in, when to lay back in the groove, when to bring things down, when to end. Who needs groupies when you can complicate your life and your singer's life by becoming romantically involved... with each other. Groupies is for amateurs, you gotta get the whole Fleetwood Mac McVieeee thing goin'...



Is that a US flag hiding under his cape, Capn?


I liked CV115505's suggestion of a Godin, but more important than gear – it's in the playing technique that'll help you sound similar to a DB, frets or no frets.

My original suggestion was going to be: Jaguar with P/J pups. Keep the frets or declaw your kitty and yank 'em out.
"
Finally someone that gets bass playing! Especially Jazz bass. It's thought the term "jazz" comes from

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed])

Jasm which is thought to derive from or be a variant of slang jism or gism, which the Historical Dictionary of American Slang dates to 1842 and defines as "spirit; energy; spunk." Jism also means semen or sperm, the meaning that predominates today, causing jism to be considered a taboo word. Deepening the nexus among these words is the fact that "spunk" is also a slang term for semen, and that "spunk", like jism/jasm, also means spirit, energy, or courage (for example: "She showed a lot of spunk.") In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, jism could still be used in polite contexts. Jism, or its variant jizz (which, however, is not attested in the Historical Dictionary of American Slang until 1941), has also been suggested as a direct source for jazz. A direct derivation from jism is phonologically unlikely; jasm itself would be, according to this assumption, the intermediary form.

Probably why it's inappropriate for females to play jazz. They risk getting too spunky. :(