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Why no P-bass in gospel?!?

#61
In contemporary urban gospel, at least in Detroit, basses such as MTD & ken Smith seem to be the bass of choice.
Walk in with something else along those lines and it's OK, but a P-Bass and I'm sure you would get a look.

But let your playing dispel any question about what bass you're playing.
Kill it and no one will care.
 
#62
IotaNet said:
Gospel is a lot of different things to a lot of different people but when I am asking about whether a P-Bass will work, I want to know if it can work in THIS idiom:



This is not my choir but this is very indicative of what we play and how we play it.

This is a pretty dense sonic mix and the bass player is definitely playing a Jazz (They show a shot of him in the second video.)
Click to expand...

The church choir I sing in is pretty much the opposite of this. But the music I've listened to all my life is not. I listened through the entire second cut on my Sennheisers, and to my ears, a P with just a basic contour on the amp would sit really well under that wailing hammond and interfere with the keyboard less.

Certainly no worries about anybody hearing that choir over *any* bass. I mean, they held a note for 37 seconds at one point! The conductor even turns around, stops dancing, adjusts his lapels... our wooden church was built in the 1820's. I think it would just about fall down if that were going on in our choir loft!
 
#65
I only bring this point up to help question various myths about bass playing in a Gospel setting. No, you don't have to have a five string (as I used to think) or an ultra scooped sound (mids are really your friend!) to successfully play various gospel tunes. As was mentioned regarding Gouche and his dropped tuning, I heard a few cats mimic him and hit the A0, and I have heard cats playing his basslines on a 5 and never attempt it.

In all truth, my point was also to point out that many cats in the Gospel community are "Flavor of the month" cats. I remember at one point that in order to be hot you had to have the Hartke 3500 and 410, then it switched to the GK700rb and SWR 410, next was the Aguilar 410 or 2x112. I showed up to one gospel event in 2001 and 4 of the 6 bass players had Pattituchi signatures and one had a Warwick Corvette. Next year, same event, The 3 Pattituchi cats now were rocking Warwicks and the Warwick cat was rocking a Lakland 55-02. Guess what happened the third year.

In reality, for me, it's whatever I feel like playing that day. This Sunday, I rocked the 4 string Sandberg Jazz. Next week, I was thinking about rocking the Rumblefish PJ!
 
#67
For the most part I either drop tune a half step, or transpose any thing lower than E up one octave. Really not missing much. I will say that if you are used to playing a 5, the transition may be a bit strange because of the alternate placements that the 5 offers.

Most folks listening won't notice the difference.
 
#68
I used to have a Fender P5 and it killed. I wish I still had it. It had an excellent low B and with a good set of strings could provide a very wide range of tone!

I would consider the music we play at our church as a mix. We do play gospel songs by Fred Hammond and Donnie McClurkin but we also do Israel Houghton, Planetshakers, Desperation Band and other "contemporary worship" songs. I used my vintage re-issue P with La Bella flats for everything and it sat very nicely in the mix. There were a few times when i longed for an active 5 stringer but the whole experience humbled me to realize that the player means more than the instrument. I think using a P for all those styles made me a better player because I had to adjust my playing to compensate.
 
#71
Billy Low said:
I only bring this point up to help question various myths about bass playing in a Gospel setting. No, you don't have to have a five string (as I used to think) or an ultra scooped sound (mids are really your friend!) to successfully play various gospel tunes. As was mentioned regarding Gouche and his dropped tuning, I heard a few cats mimic him and hit the A0, and I have heard cats playing his basslines on a 5 and never attempt it.

In all truth, my point was also to point out that many cats in the Gospel community are "Flavor of the month" cats. I remember at one point that in order to be hot you had to have the Hartke 3500 and 410, then it switched to the GK700rb and SWR 410, next was the Aguilar 410 or 2x112. I showed up to one gospel event in 2001 and 4 of the 6 bass players had Pattituchi signatures and one had a Warwick Corvette. Next year, same event, The 3 Pattituchi cats now were rocking Warwicks and the Warwick cat was rocking a Lakland 55-02. Guess what happened the third year.

In reality, for me, it's whatever I feel like playing that day. This Sunday, I rocked the 4 string Sandberg Jazz. Next week, I was thinking about rocking the Rumblefish PJ!
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I see. People play stuff because they see others play it. That's cool, but no one should get their panties in a bunch because Snoop Evans has a Warrior or Fred Hammond has a Ken Smith.
 
#72
It's like now all of the talk is Callowhill, Pavel, and Wyn. Nice instruments, but it seems so "Kitchy" to follow trends like that. No joke, I know of a group of guys that go thru basses like water keeping up with the latest gospel bass trend. were talking about cats that may keep a bass for four month MAX! The damned thing hadn't even settled yet and they are trading it off! It's as if they treat their instruments like most church folks treat their clothes...you wanna stay fashionable! :ninja:

Seems to me that if Mo Fitzgerald has it, then folks have to get it! If he had a bass banjo, you would believe by the end of the month there would be a run on them! Not that I take issue with Mo, but the lemmings that thoughtlessly follow that trend. :rolleyes:
 
#73
Billy Low said:
It's like now all of the talk is Callowhill, Pavel, and Wyn. Nice instruments, but it seems so "Kitchy" to follow trends like that. No joke, I know of a group of guys that go thru basses like water keeping up with the latest gospel bass trend. were talking about cats that may keep a bass for four month MAX! The damned thing hadn't even settled yet and they are trading it off! It's as if they treat their instruments like most church folks treat their clothes...you wanna stay fashionable! :ninja:

Seems to me that if Mo Fitzgerald has it, then folks have to get it! If he had a bass banjo, you would believe by the end of the month there would be a run on them! Not that I take issue with Mo, but the lemmings that thoughtlessly follow that trend. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Maybe the musicians at my church are just old, or old enough to stop chasing trends. We pretty much just know what we like to play and stick with it. I'm thankful for it. I think they've brought the same set of basses and guitars(plural because they tend to have backups/rotations) for at least 5 years. I think I'm the only one that's had new stuff and it's because I'm the youngest.
 
#74
Billy Low said:
It's like now all of the talk is Callowhill, Pavel, and Wyn. Nice instruments, but it seems so "Kitchy" to follow trends like that. No joke, I know of a group of guys that go thru basses like water keeping up with the latest gospel bass trend. were talking about cats that may keep a bass for four month MAX! The damned thing hadn't even settled yet and they are trading it off! It's as if they treat their instruments like most church folks treat their clothes...you wanna stay fashionable! :ninja:

Seems to me that if Mo Fitzgerald has it, then folks have to get it! If he had a bass banjo, you would believe by the end of the month there would be a run on them! Not that I take issue with Mo, but the lemmings that thoughtlessly follow that trend. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Humans are herd animals. Once we understand that, nothing people do is a surprise. :)
 
#78
manbearpig97 said:
I have nothing to actually contribute but if you used an SG bass I'm sure you'd get even more odd stares.
Click to expand...

I used a LP bass in the youth band which is definitely a rock and roll bass, I think when I covered in the main sanctuary he wanted me to use his Jazz 5 which I had no objections, it was lighter! ;)
 
#80
Shakin-Slim said:
Thou shalt not play with Precision. Haven't you got to that part yet?

All seriousness aside, shiny boutique basses with x amount of strings are perfect example of that good ol' Christian poverty
Click to expand...


You make me chuckle...

I use a MIM 4 string Fender in a Southern Baptist, stompin' clappin' church and I love when churches visit and they bring out they're 6, 7 string $3,000 deal, and I kill'em with the $250 wonder!
 

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