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Worlds most famous bass?

#82
wrong, whenever I tell someone that I play double bass they ask "do you mean a cello?"
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God, so true, 90% of people say that. My friend still says about me 'he played cello', and i always go - 'that's was double bass, not cello' - for almost 10yrs now :P

Anyway, IMHO it's Paul's Hofner. I see lotsa non-musicians dont see difference between Strat and P, so that leaves Paul.
 
#85
DerHoggz said:
I seriously thought you accidentally put some extra vowels in that name. I googled it and he is pretty grooving.
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Jamaaladeen is not for everyone, but I can't explain the countless hours I put into studying his solo albums. Check out a tune called "Sunk in the Funk" from the Show Stopper album. In my early 20's I made it known that any band I was in had to slip it into a set from time to time (the guitards always hated me). Yeah, I was known to occasionally fall into wankery back then. :)
 
#87
or possibly Bill Blacks upright
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Paul has them both:

macca2.jpg


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#88
gitlvr said:
"That's a bass", then it's the Fender Precision. Hands down. Most everyone who sees it instantly knows what it is, and who made it.
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That's not even close to true. I've played with many people who can't tell a P from a J, guys who've been playing guitars and other instruments for decades. They simply don't care.

NEWS FLASH: Joe Public doesn't give a &^$% about basses.

Sir Paul's bass is the widest known - no contest.
 
#89
GlennW said:
That's not even close to true. I've played with many people who can't tell a P from a J, guys who've been playing guitars and other instruments for decades. They simply don't care.

NEWS FLASH: Joe Public doesn't give a &^$% about basses.

Sir Paul's bass is the widest known - no contest.
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EXACTLY!!! I don't know how many times I've been told "Nice guitar" or asked "Why does yours only have 5 strings". I'd reply with the standard, "It's bass" or "Because it's a 5 string bass" and get the whatever or oh response. I bet if I were to have shown them the Hofner they'd have asked if we were gonna play some Beatles tunes.
 
#90
dj150888 said:
I'd also bet Lemmy's ric is probably more recognised by the general public than Jamerson or Jaco's Fenders.
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Lemmy? Jamerson? Jaco? The public does not have a clue who any of these people are and they certainly would not recognize their basses.

Don't get me wrong - I love all three of those musicians, but I'm a bass player, knowwhatImean?

Paul's is probably the only bass that the public has a chance of knowing.
 
#91
NZBass said:
It has to be Les' CT Rainbow Bass. McCartney is pretty tasty though. Bass line from The Taxman; lovely triplets.
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Interesting. I don't hear any triplets in that line?

On topic - of the nonmusician section of the general public in western culture, I think some may recognise the Hofner as being Paul McCartney's bass. A few metalheads might recognise the Ric as being Lemmy's. Relatively VERY few would recognise Jaco's BOD or Jamerson's Funk Machine or associate these instruments with their owners. And equally few would even know what a Fender Precision was. I know quite a few musicians who couldn't tell you what a Fender Precision is!
 
#99
dj150888 said:
If we're going on general public perception, I'd be forced to agree that its probably Sir Paul well in the lead.

I'd also bet Lemmy's ric is probably more recognised by the general public than Jamerson or Jaco's Fenders.
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Yep. Lemmy = Ric is instantly recognizable, at least to metalheads and Motorhead fans in particular. If you showed them a Ric without Lemmy, they would likely go, "That's Lemmy's bass!" without thinking of anyone else who plays a Ric.
 
#100
Peepaleep said:
+1 We're a couple of standard deviations above the norm when it comes to instrument knowledge, so we have to keep that in mind. If you took 100 people at random, I don't think you'd find a single one who would know who James Jamerson was, nor would they know what instrument he played. Then of the 100, you might find one who would know Jaco (and I am being generous by giving Jaco a 1 here). You'd find a few - maybe 5 who would know Gene Simmons by name (though more would know him in make-up as "the guy from that crazy band"), and maybe 85 who would know McCartney. Of those 85, maybe 3 would know his bass is a Hofner.
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I think more people than that would at least say "the guy from Kiss", they've been a huge hype machine the last few years. certainly Paul's bass is more recognisable to the general populace than any other bass. as for bass awareness in general, show the average person a cello and a bass and ask them what they are, and they'd probably say "cellos" d:

I play 6 string bass, which probably doesn't help matters but I don't care, not goin back to 4! (tho I am building a 2) I also play Chapman Stick (10 string black carbon graphite) people don't even ask what it is, they just stare at the crazy guitar. on the upside they hang around to find out what it's gonna sound like.

Jamerson, Jaco, Mac and Gene were all influences on me. among others.
 

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