Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
"You look like a bass player"
- Thread starter Twocan
- Start date
Somehow I always end up being the "band mom" and it gets frustrating. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my stuff on the road without having to constantly pay attention to everyone's keys, glasses, cell phones, chargers and every other item that some scatterbrain can't keep track of.
After reading this thread, I think I have an idea of how I need to look. Jeans, t-shirt, fedora, goatee, sunglasses, stand in the corner of the stage in a shadow... but I can't change that I'm 6'1 and 230, shaped like a safety or linebacker, and there's no way I'm shaving my head unless a significant amount falls out on its own. Can I still pull it off, or should I switch to leather pants, tattoos, hairspray, mascara, and go back to guitar?
I'm the opposite, short (5'9"), skinny/average (like 65-70kg, kind of a regular weight...), small hands, long hair and no goatee... Am I not a bassist? 
I'm the opposite, short (5'9"), skinny/average (like 65-70kg, kind of a regular weight...), small hands, long hair and no goatee... Am I not a bassist?
Go to work tomorrow as normal. Special government services will visit your home and remedy the problem, and you will come home to find your basses replaced with ukuleles.
Short - no
Bald - nah, not yet
Goatee - briefly a couple of weeks in 1993, otherwise no.
Silly hat - no, no hat at all
Once I had a guy run up to me with his arms outstretched saying, "Pino!" (as in Palladino), so I look like at least one bassist. 
I think tall and skinny works for bass players.
I think tall and skinny works for bass players.
Had an artist's wife tell me once - you couldn't be an artist, you don't look like one." So I ask, "how about musician". Her "of course you're a musician".
6'1',220, no no gut, not a trace of facial hair, mass of long hair. Occasional weird hat, sunglasses, clothing or watch. Bass player.
Definitely agree that bass players tend to be more technical people. Nobody wants to hear about OUR gear so we learn about theirs.
6'1',220, no no gut, not a trace of facial hair, mass of long hair. Occasional weird hat, sunglasses, clothing or watch. Bass player.
Definitely agree that bass players tend to be more technical people. Nobody wants to hear about OUR gear so we learn about theirs.
I'm 6'8" and while not super thin and fit like I used to be, I still pass as thin at 49. I've gotten the "bass player, definitely" many times. I think it's more a retiring quality of personality. Gene Simmons not withstanding, bass players tend to not be spotlight seeking in my experience, more like the Gibraltar Stone anchoring the band musically and psychologically. Plus, we get to play the coolest instrument in the band. Where to stand on stage to not make the guitarists look like midgets is another issue altogether
"Gene", that's my wife's nickname for me. She uses that in a lame attempt to get me to go for a haircut. Sometimes even a "family jewels" reference. E.g. "Gene,I think I hear the garbage truck, better get your family jewels out of bed." BTW. my name is Ed.I'm 6'8" and while not super thin and fit like I used to be, I still pass as thin at 49. I've gotten the "bass player, definitely" many times. I think it's more a retiring quality of personality. Gene Simmons not withstanding, bass players tend to not be spotlight seeking in my experience, more like the Gibraltar Stone anchoring the band musically and psychologically. Plus, we get to play the coolest instrument in the band. Where to stand on stage to not make the guitarists look like midgets is another issue altogether
Tough call. I'd make an not so educated guess of the guy in black.This is a picture we took with our band, find the bassist (which is me, naturally)
- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,460
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
People tell me my hairy arms and beard make me look like a bassist.
Lo and behold it's my instrument of choice
Lo and behold it's my instrument of choice
I'm the opposite, short (5'9"), skinny/average (like 65-70kg, kind of a regular weight...), small hands, long hair and no goatee... Am I not a bassist?
Yea, I'm 5'6.5" on a good day, and I'm well below 200 lbs these days.
In fact, I'm almost always the shortest guy in the band. Oh well. I still make the coolest noise.
Ain't that the truth. I frequently pack a JP Player Stratocaster, a little pick wallet (I do not play with a pick 99% of the time but I carry about 6 of them in my pocket), extra strings, peg winders, batteries, and a giant duffel bag of cables and other odds and ends that I just won't do a gig without. I actually received a kind of outraged "I can't believe you are mothering me" comment from my old guitarist one time when I reached into a bag and pulled out a set of strings because he'd forgotten to change his for eight weeks again and couldn't keep two chords in a row in tune.
