What makes a Bassist Adaptable to different Basses?

[Ric5]

I listen to people talk about not being able to adjust to fives or narrower string spacing. Some really can’t take 35” scale. Some hate short scale basses.

I love fours or fives, I can play sixes, but I feel the C string gets in my way more than I actually use it. 32”,34”,35” scales are fine for me. I like short scales, but I would not want one as a main player. 19mm at the bridge is my favorite spacing, but I can do 17mm spacing if a bass has a pretty fat neck.

My guess is that I am pretty versatile because my chops are quite modest. I remember Stanley Clarke saying how he got lost when he tried to cut loose on a five. I will never have that problem.

How adaptable are you when it comes to different basses?

I am really liking my 30" scale 8 string … but I mainly play 5 stringers

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I am really liking my 30" scale 8 string … but I mainly play 5 stringers

View attachment 3694199

Cool bass! Who made it, you?

 

[Ric5]

Cool bass! Who made it, you?

me and Dr Frankenstein ...

well just me ...

it is a lot like the old Hagstrom 8 string basses

 

[Slevage]

I can “play” any configuration, 4 ,5 ,6 string, any scale.

The differences come into play when I have to read. For that reason, I’ve settled on five string instruments with a high C.
This includes my bass guitars, EUB and Double bass.
I do own a 1969 Fender P for bragging rights. Probably sell it in about 20 years.

 

[xf5]

From what I've experienced getting people who have only played four string basses to try my five string bass, not knowing the notes on the B string instantly puts them in a mindset of "It ain't familiar!" and they're already against it because its taken them a little out of their comfort zone.

Whereas every bass I've picked up in standard fourths tuning I could play fine since I usually only think about the first note I play and from there I go in terms of intervals and how they'll feel and what goals they will accomplish within the music.

Probably also helps for most of my time playing bass now I've owned more than one, which means I'm used to moving between different neck size and shape, string spacing etc.

 

[Hounddog409]

I listen to people talk about not being able to adjust to fives or narrower string spacing. Some really can’t take 35” scale. Some hate short scale basses.

I love fours or fives, I can play sixes, but I feel the C string gets in my way more than I actually use it. 32”,34”,35” scales are fine for me. I like short scales, but I would not want one as a main player. 19mm at the bridge is my favorite spacing, but I can do 17mm spacing if a bass has a pretty fat neck.

My guess is that I am pretty versatile because my chops are quite modest. I remember Stanley Clarke saying how he got lost when he tried to cut loose on a five. I will never have that problem.

How adaptable are you when it comes to different basses?

Ive never had a problem playing any bass so far. I currently have a RIC 4003S, Fender Jazz, and Carvin LB. I have owned a bunch of others.

I could not tell you what the string spacing or nut width on any of them without looking up the specs. I dont care about either.

If i play a bass and like the tone, ill buy it. I dont look at specs.

I dont know what the big deal is either.

 

[jojobean39]

I switch between acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, bass and a little mandolin. As a result, neck width and scale length mean very little to me. Unless it’s an insanely thin neck, I’m okay on most basses. But I’m also not playing Victor Wooten type stuff either.

 

[JRA]

How adaptable are you when it comes to different basses?

i'm more "adaptable" these days. but i'm also more 'picky'* --- so i feel strongly about my preferences having learned the advantage of not complaining about their absence.


* confidence in my choices

 

[Humbled]

I spent a dozen years playing upright 90% of the time, but normally had an electric with me also as it was needed on some things often enough. I've never thought about "adaptation" concerns .

 

[pbass2]

I'm very adaptable, because I've gotten to where the kind of playing I do is so totally song focused - focused on the right sound for the music - that I'll play a washtub bass if that's what works best. So, 34", shorty, fiver, fanned frets, piece 'o crap pawn shop axe with action a mile high and a missing string--whatever communicates the song the best. My flashy chops have become so secondary over the years, that I can play pretty much anything and not sweat it.

 

[Ostie]

I’m pretty adaptable. I have a Jazz, Mustang, Jack Casady, EB0, and a Hofner Club. Very different tone, scale length, and neck profiles. Different tones for different styles of music. Doesn’t seem to bother me to go back and forth between them.

 

[brianrost]

I've played 25", 30", 34" 4 strings, 34" and 35" 5 strings, double basses with scales around 41" and necks from baseball bats to toothpicks.

I can get around on all of them but recently I've been doing a lot of DB-only gigs and using a 5 string with another band, so when I actually pulled out my trusty P-bass last week, it felt like I was playing a ukelele

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I listen to people talk about not being able to adjust to fives or narrower string spacing. Some really can’t take 35” scale. Some hate short scale basses.

I love fours or fives, I can play sixes, but I feel the C string gets in my way more than I actually use it. 32”,34”,35” scales are fine for me. I like short scales, but I would not want one as a main player. 19mm at the bridge is my favorite spacing, but I can do 17mm spacing if a bass has a pretty fat neck.

My guess is that I am pretty versatile because my chops are quite modest. I remember Stanley Clarke saying how he got lost when he tried to cut loose on a five. I will never have that problem.

How adaptable are you when it comes to different basses?

Every instrument is different. I can play anything, but nothing like I can play mine. It's simply that mine is mine. I play them constantly. New or different, is just that...different. it takes a little bit to get used to. I can still play it just fine, but not when compared to mine. Mine vs yours. Mine wins every time. Playability, sound, set up...mine. I know how to make them do exactly what I want them to do. I'm never happy figuring out another bass, until I put in some time. If given a choice of 100 basses between 300 and 3000 before a show, I'd pick mine. Not the one on the rack that's exactly like mine...mine.

 

[StatesideRambler]

I hear and read a lot about players saying they need instruments of a certain configuration to play acceptably well. To my mind they’d be far better musicians if they would concentrate on building their skills instead of building impediments to their own progress.

[EDIT]
Q: ”What makes a Bassist Adaptable to different Basses?”
A: Attitude.

 

[gelinas666]

Adjust and Adapt.. Practice..

 

[Old Blastard]

In the originals rock band, I play a 33" scale Drake 7 fretted and the same model fretless for big shows and a 30"' Chinese Hofner Club for tiny, quiet venues with a 32" Drake semi hollow for recording.

In the Americana band I play a 33" Drake Cricket fretless and a 30" Fender Starcaster plus an old post-war Czech cello. Sometimes I pull out the 30" big bodied hollowbody Ibanez bass jazz box.

For blues jams or filling in for local bands it's 34" FGN jazz bass, Epi Jack Casady, Epiphone Embassy or Fender Jag Deluxe.

Life is short. Taste the rainbow.

 

[bobba66]

Start off slow and go for what you know...….

 

[mattj1stc]

I don't know - I think everyone is differently adaptable. For example, I can play 4 string basses of most configurations, but I prefer the P bass (34 inch scale, 1.75" at the nut, etc.). I haven't played too many short scale 4s, but anything shorter than a Ric (33.25") would probably mess me up a bit. I mostly play a Lakland 5 string, which has a fairly wide neck, a 4 string like spacing at the bridge and a 35 inch scale. This fits me. When I've tried to play smaller scales and narrower spacings on 5ers, I've had issues with things feeling cramped. Similar to the good Doctor, I've played 6 string basses, but found the spacing to be cramped (and the C string not too useful). FWIW, I find moving from bass guitar to upright easier than moving from bass guitar to guitar. In short, I need my space, so I'm probably adaptable only in one direction.

 

[fdeck]

When I was a teenager, I played cello and electric bass concurrently, and could sight read on both instruments. That was 5ths and 4ths tuning. Later on in life, upright and electric. I do think it's just a matter of practice. Maybe it also requires figuring out what "clues" you depend on when you play a particular instrument, and weaning yourself from needing them.

 

[David Jayne]

I play most just fine EXCEPT certain 'booteekey' jobs with 26 or so frets. My issue with them is that the far end of the neck tends to be a lot further left than I'm used to (I tend to flog simple Fender shaped things) and so I tend to get lost in the vast, uncharted sea of frets.