What do you like about bass guitar?

[Killed_by_Death]

Life is good when you are a bassist.

It was better when I was just a boy.



I grew up with Heavy Metal and Punk as the backdrop, but sometimes I'd be attracted to other stuff that just had great bass lines, early Rush and U2 for instance.
There are still songs or even whole band's catalog where I'd rather play guitar.

 

[Hahaha]

When I was a kid I loved the window-rattling sound as well as the industrial appearance of Fender basses with the fat strings, big tuners and metal covers over the bridge and pickups. They looked like heavy-duty musical machinery, and were played through the biggest, toughest looking amp. But mostly I just loved the sound.

 

[addicted]

I love:
-how a bassline sounds in a song. Bassline sounds very unique to me in a song. Especially when it goes against the melody but still keeps the harmony.
-how a bassline can be groovy
-melancholic sound of a bass. Deep and smooth.
-thunderous sound of a bass. You may not be able to hear the notes clearly but you will definitely hear the thump cracking the floor!
-the simplicity of a bass guitar. While I love bass with tons of knobs, I also love simple 4 string bass with 1 or 2 knobs only.
-that it is bigger than a guitar. Gives this sense of presence. I like how a bass looks generally compared to guitar but this can be subjective.
-the fact that boutique bass looks so so beautiful. Exotic top woods, nice body contour, solid fretboard

 

[drumsnbass]

What do I like about playing bass?

1) basses -- several of them. As I've said before on this forum, I tell my wife my basses are like having a bunch of girlfriends. They all feel and sound different, but they're not as expensive and they don't talk back at you. No divorce necessary either!

2) the feel of the 'thump'. Tonight I was learning Train in Vain by the Clash. Heard it on the radio the other day and it just grabbed me. Been a long time since I heard it. It's a fairly simple bass line, and I got about 85% of it down, minus some timing, in 90 minutes practice. The whole time I played to a YouTube video, I could just 'feel' my bass against the song. And like banging on the kit, it just feels great!

3) the way it 'drives' a tune. Music would sound lifeless without it, like a missing heartbeat.

4) that, unlike drums, I can take it, headphones and a headphone amp and play on vacations, camping trips, etc.

 

[tlc1976]

The sound. The control of the dynamics thru our hands, from thundering lows to crisp highs and anything in between.

The feel, the large strings, wide spacing, and the feel of a bare fretless fingerboard and the added control over the sound.

The fact that it is usually more of a background instrument, you have a place even if you're not a flashy frontman. Yet you have huge control over the music and a lot of people can't even pick out a bass part, but they definitely know if it's missing. I like being a behind-the-scenes guy who makes it all work.

I also like doing my own work to them.