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What do you NOT like about playing bass?

#61
What I dislike MOST about playing bass . . . is all of the (wasted) time it takes to get from gig to gig . . . when our band is "on tour", I tend to sleep a lot, out of boredom. On planes, in buses, in vans, whenever . . .

The 1 1/2 to 3 hours (straight) that we're on stage DO make it worth while, though.
 
#62
skb5string said:
Being asked to turn down because the guitar player is only blowing peoples hearing in their right ears instead of blowing their hearing in both their ears, ya know the bass takes up too much "sonic" space for some guitar players...JK all you Guitfiddlers :hiding:
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Yes, the guitard blowing my ears out is one thing. I also hate how they don't like you to do runs because it gets too busy. I really hate how you can't drop even one note without it being noticeable while the guitarist can take a whole phrase off if they want to.
 
#64
I guess the only downside is lugging the rig around, but I don't have any complaints, really. Nobody ever put me down for playing bass and the more I play, the more I'm into it. I don't have any guitar envy - I could learn guitar, but that would take time away from playing bass.

I have never gotten any negative comments from guitarists, but if I did, I expect that I'd just laugh in their face.
 
#66
getting stuck in the "dogsbody" role in an original band-

having guitarists giving you boring/pointless vocal parts to sing- and then nitpicking over you not singing them right,
and suggesting what clothes you should wear at a gig,
and what bass you should get for visual effect-
eg. "you should get a Rickenbacker".

not putting up with that again, unless I'm on good wages....
 
#68
Strings. Bust one, change them all. No justice

When I tell people I play bass, being asked 'Oh, did you try guitar first then and give up?'

Also sound engineers. Luckily, the one we use is also a bass player so he spends a bit of time on me. Most I've worked with spend an hour ensuring the guitarits and his 200 different sounds all come through crystal, then asks me to play for about 12 seconds without touching a dial with 'yeah, that's alright'.

No it's bloody not.....
 
#69
I used to be a guitarist, but I manage to do ok with most stuff complained about here. I load in and out in about 15-20 minutes by having multiple small cabs. Strings are expensive, but the sheer amount of material used compared to guitar strings justifies the cost. I am nice to soundmen, and politely request to use the DI out on my head rather than a cheap box...have never had this request turned down. I have a pretty good tone in the mix, and I have pretty much free reign to do what I want within the context of the song. Back when I played guitar, I used a PRS Custom 22 which is heavier than some of the basses I've owned so the weight isn't a huge issue. My amp isn't a flyweight, but both the guitar players in my band use all-tube combos and I used to as well. I'll take my bass amp over those, thank you!

I guess my biggest complaint is that I leave blood and sweat all over the stage (figuratively speaking... well, only about the blood, I do sweat) and I know I am heard because I see people moving in exact proportion to what and how I'm playing, but I am still invisible to the audience most of the time. After the show, I get 1/10 the compliments of our lead guitarist and thats on a good night (he IS a good guitarist though). Some folks don't even realize I'm in the band. Ignorance about the instrument by the general public is really frustrating, especially when your kill yourself during a show and no one notices.
 
#72
+1 on the money. As far as the bass, mostly my fault for getting hooked on Dingwall. But then again, I'd have a whole flock by now if it weren't for DW's high prices. For amps, for sure. Given that a 100 watt guitar amp is about as loud as a 400 watt bass amp, we're all screwed.

+1 on the string cost. Again, mostly my fault for using DW. $50 a set, or $35 with that sweet deal at Bass Central. Still, a little more expensive than guitar strings.

+1 on the sound guy stuff. You can spend your whole life finding YOUR sound, only to have a sound guy tell you to go direct and turn down while he spends forever getting the guitarist his tone.

+1 on the weight. Goes back to the amp stuff. We need a lot more to be heard over a guitarist.

+1 to being the guy nobody notices.


We all could complain all day about the problems with being a bass player. I just know that, at least for me, playing bass is life. Not playing guitar, not playing keyboard, not singing, not drumming. Playing bass. I sure can gripe about it, but I hope there never comes a time when I get that taken away from me.
 
#76
1) +1 on singing and playing. Sometimes it's quite a process to get the two independent. It's called counterpoint, singing one line and rhythm and playing another.

2) Tearing down at the end of a gig. We play for free, we charge for setting up and tearing down our equipment.

3) The occasional 'bass is easy to play' attitude.

4) I hate the initial stress I feel when having to come up with a new bass line. The bass line is generally so important to how a song sounds that I feel a lot of pressure to get the feel right quickly (which I don't always accomplish). Some times it takes a few misses before I start to get it right.

5) OTOH - I love being the one most people don't notice! :) The power you have over the entire feel of the song is great! Between you and the drummer the control is close to total! Bwahhaaahaa! :cool:

:bassist:
 
#77
MaxZolt said:
I don't like how I can play an hour-long set, standing pretty much in the center of the stage, and even sing lead on 3-4 songs, and then have people not recognize me afterwards. I will be standing with the rest of the band, and get into a conversation about the show with someone from the crowd, and after a few minutes you can practically see a light bulb go on over their head and they say "Oh! Are you in the band?"

I don't think it's my stage presence, as I do move around quite a bit and interact with the crowd. I guess bass = cloaking device.
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How big is your bass dude?
 
#78
Crazyeelboy said:
I guess the only downside is lugging the rig around, but I don't have any complaints, really. Nobody ever put me down for playing bass and the more I play, the more I'm into it. I don't have any guitar envy - I could learn guitar, but that would take time away from playing bass.

I have never gotten any negative comments from guitarists, but if I did, I expect that I'd just laugh in their face.
Click to expand...

+1
 
#79
I hate the fact that if my guitarist or keyboard player does a solo, as simple and easy as it is, they get ooohed and aaaahed all night but if I do this amazing solo and played every note on the fretboard no body even knows it ever happened. No body loves the bass player.
 
#80
Is being told that you're just too busy. I pride myself on being able to tell if I'm getting the most out of a song without killing the feel, so to be told that you're just playing too much is MADDENING.

"Come on, can't you just aid in the fallacy that all bass players suck and only play bass because they have no musical talent?"
:::MUST....KILL......GUITARIST:::

Fortunately, that hasn't happened too very often. It helps that all the bands I have been a part of in the past (and one I haven't!) have inquired about me coming back. Nice ego stroke.

To the guy(s) who says he doesn't get noticed: If your neck isn't sore the next day after a gig, you haven't put enough show in your show. :D
 

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