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It seems that nobody cares about the bass guitar anymore

Kellan Meig'h

Kellan Meig'h

Kilted Luthier
OK, I'll share my $0.02 USD worth-

having played bass for 40+ years, I can safely say there are a few good bassists out there, some are 'meh' good and a good 1/2 need to find another instrument.

Too many times I see someone with a high $$$ bass, more effects pedals than a lead guitarist and 1,000 watts of power that just can't effing play.

I gig with 130 watts (Musicman HD-130 head, 4-10's cabinet, sealed, louder than sin if you crank it), an old '60's Silvertone (body looks like a Fender Jaguar) w/ a Leo Quan Badass II bridge, '70's vintage Guild Humbucking pickups (hottest output bass p'ups ever made) and Shaller tuners. No pedals needed or wanted. I have yet to stand in with a band (70's rock or country) here in the SF Bay Area where the guitarists could drown me out. For smaller venues I prefer my Bassman 50.

Popping, slapping and 16th note solos sounds like the guy should be playing lead guitar, not bass. Sorry gang, but the bass is not a lead instrument. Never was, either.

That doens't mean I play just a single note groove, I do play a multi note driving line to set the root of the song. It's just that I don't try to solo (unless asked to).

Listen to how Nathan East lays the foundation for this song without calling undue attention to himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6F2qExLsic

Just ignore David Sanborn's insane noodlings on the sax ...!

Kel
 
demonwerewolf110

demonwerewolf110

PIRATE
Also John Myung is amazing.
 
Mr_Pirate_Kitty

Mr_Pirate_Kitty

OMG! It's the Pirate Tiger!
The thing is that mostly metal bands have the heavy bass, because they need it to drive the rhythm. I myself play bass, so I always am looking for good strong bass parts. You just have to find the right style of music.
 
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wheelieotter

wheelieotter

Everything works if you let it
I'm a big fan of Tony Levin, who has played with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Yes and lots of others. Amazingly talented, and a nice guy to boot. Got to see him play with the California Guitar Trio twice at a smallish bar in Houston. His solo stuff is worth a listen, too.
 
Dark Hawk

Dark Hawk

A Scottish Hawk
I have been playing bass for the past 4 years and think that i am somewhat good ^-^

If anyone has heard of the band Biffy Clyro (Band from m home town, Ayr so yea i have same accent xD! ) then they are what got me really into bass, especially the song Get Fucked Studd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFOXIiQT5UM) & A whole child ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0xrL_TtxEo&feature=related)

I love bass and out of all my Friends im the only bassist and because of it im in like 5 different bands, yet i cant complain. ^-^

Now that im all into the more kinda Jazzy Bass i am taking up the Saxophone.
Anyway if you do listen to those Biffy Clyro songs be sure to check out Folding stars by Biffy C.

~D.Hawk
 
kjmars63

kjmars63

The Furry Luthier
Because most rock/metal groups are lead by the douchebag guitarists (Disturbed, Dragonforce are 2 good examples). They write all the music so you just hear their guitars, not the bass. Like in the Indestructable album by Disturbed, why the fuck did they have nothing but guitar solos in it? It sounds horrifically set up on purpose. Theres really only a couple of mentionable bands that use Bass as a lead more than a rhythm. My favorite is Tool. You can actually listen to the Bassline more than the guitar stuff. I wrote a lot of my music with more bass in it than guitar, but I am starting to rewrite the sheet music since i recently bought some different instruments. A Death Metal band with furry oriented lyrics, Double Bass and Erhu solos? Sounds interesting. But thats what I hope my music will end up like.
 
ScruffyHyena

ScruffyHyena

Name and species don't match
C'mon guys!!

Flea?

Victor Wooten?

Jaco?

BOOTSY COLLINS?

C'mon!

Edit: By "C'mon!" I mean, remember the fathers and followers of the funk!
 
K

Kiko The Freako

New Member
I play bass. I actualy have a Traben 5 string. bass is awsome and I also like msuci with more bass enphesis. Tool is almost driven by the bass and P.O.D. has alot of great bass work. Nonpoint is pretty bass heavy too.
 
Tudd

Tudd

Member
Hey man, if you're listening to Supertramp or Rush and not hearing the bass, you might wanna upgrade to some decent speakers or some headphones. I mean shit, YYZ is pretty intense...

Bassist here, care about bass, and on the top of my listen is the sound quality of sound reproduction.
 
KaiFox

KaiFox

NHL 11...you don't understand.
Bullshit to the statement of this topic. When John Myung pulls out a 12-string bass and plays "Trial of Tears", it grabs your fucking attention and puts you in a state of pure astonishment.
 
Sedit

Sedit

Fat-Roll Spelunker
probably not your forte, but as mentioned, the more extreme metal sub genres have some brilliant, highly skilled players....groove montesters, to highly technical beasts can all be found here.

Just a shame that one the majority of metal discs, the bass is hard to make out in the mix


I play bass myself. Have both a standard 4 string electric bass, and a fretless 6 string
 
Aden

Aden

Play from your ****ing HEART
Sedit said:
probably not your forte, but as mentioned, the more extreme metal sub genres have some brilliant, highly skilled players....groove montesters, to highly technical beasts can all be found here.

Just a shame that one the majority of metal discs, the bass is hard to make out in the mix
Click to expand...

Indeed indeed. I love all the jazz fusion metal bands that started popping up in Cynic's wake - amazing players all around, bass was always especially above average. I'd also recommend earlier extreme/tech death like Atheist.
 
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