Bass Players

Ger the man

Hi,
Would anyone agree that there is a shortage of bass players and too many guitarists? Im seriously thinking of swapping to bass.

Doctor J

I'm a bass player who's currently on guitar in a band because there's a shortage of good guitarsts too


Seriously though, yeah, bassists are in short supply at the moment and drummers too as usual. Bass just isn't a glamour instrument, so it's only natural more people will be drawn to guitar. TBH it has always been that way.

Ger the man

Bass players seem to have an easier time actually learning I think, plus there in high demand. I might swap

Dord

Not as easy as you think.

Rigsby

Joe Robot wrote: »

Not as easy as you think.

I agree. Like any instrument, how easy it is depends on the type of music.

Try playing bass to some "Steely Dan" material and report back on how "easy" it is.

eoin5

Bass is more fun, fact!

Ger the man

True , compare Mark King with Adam Clayton....

Dord

One other thing you might notice is price. Most things bass related are more expensive, especially strings. Be prepared to get blisters when you start too!

Passenger

Guitarists are ten-a-penny in the citys/towns. Plus Bassists don't tend to adopt as rigorous practice regimes as many guitarits do, hence the poor quality of bass players, style of music depending.

Ger the man

Joe Robot wrote: »

One other thing you might notice is price. Most things bass related are more expensive, especially strings. Be prepared to get blisters when you start too!

How much more expensive? Looking at stuff on the net its not that much different?

Bassman

...not always the case!

Passenger wrote: »

Guitarists are ten-a-penny in the citys/towns. Plus Bassists don't tend to adopt as rigorous practice regimes as many guitarits do, hence the poor quality of bass players, style of music depending.

Dord

Bassman wrote: »

...not always the case!

I agree too, its a very general statement to make about bassists. :mad:

verydia

i dont get why more ppl dont to bass, bass isnt a glamour instrument, but ****! i always end up bedding the bassists, theres just something about their groove!!! AMAZING!

Rigsby

verydia wrote: »

i dont get why more ppl dont to bass, bass isnt a glamour instrument

That's probably why more people dont take it up. The bassist (and drummer) usually stay in the backround keeping everything together, while the guitarist gets to strut his stuff and show off. But if the bassist was to lay out for just ten seconds ........

kilboy

Ger the man wrote: »

Bass players seem to have an easier time actually learning I think, plus there in high demand. I might swap

dont start mate, bass and guitar are completely different instruments, i, like you thought i could just swap over............DONT THINK THAT!

its always remarkably easy to spot a guitarist who plays bass.

learn bass before u decide your a bassist

Rigsby

Ger the man wrote: »

Hi,
Would anyone agree that there is a shortage of bass players and too many guitarists? Im seriously thinking of swapping to bass.

If you dont mind me saying so, it seems a genuine but shallow reason for changing. I would assume most people play a certain instrument because they love everything about it. If you had suddenly discovered the "joys of bass playing" that would be a different matter.

Yap Stam

At the moment indie music is probably the most popular style of music to play in terms of live rock band music- part of this musical style is a very simple way of playing the bass and a very simple way of using the bass sound in the songs. Most of the time they just pluck the route note of whatever chord the guitarist is playing. It doesn't always sound bad- nirvana did it all the time, but its boring as hell and not very attractive for a musician.

Strangley though, theres quite a bit of work out there for session bassists - more so than session guitarists/drummers, if they're any good. This is because really technical guitar solos aren't as popular as they were- so its not necessary to have to pay a really good guitarist, however, bass lines are often quite difficult to play even these days. And also because pro-tools (the industry standard studio programme) has a really crap bass sound.

Getting the gear isn't difficult- it just costs money, learning to play isn't too difficult either- it just takes time and practice; they're not the hard parts. The most difficult part for any bassist is recording the instrument. Believe me, it will brake your heart. Guitarists often have 'their own sound' and so in every song they'll have very similar settings and levels with some variations depending on the song. A Bassist can't do that, in almost every song he/she will have to use a different set up- and if it isn't recorded properly it will make the whole song sound like sh1t. If you have heaps of cash you can do what Peter Hook (New Order/Joy Division) does, stack up loads of amps on top of each other (up to 10ft according to him) and blare the fvck out of them- that'll make any bassist sound good, but i'm sure most of you do not have those facilities available to you. '...And Justice for all' by Metallica is a fine example of what can happen if you don't record a bass properly- well written,well-structured songs with good lyrics that all ended up sounding like complete sh1t, that album could have been brilliant if it weren't for the fvckin donkey of a producer they chose to work with.

But don't let it put you off, and if you get a bit preturbed just slap on a decent reggae record and you'll be reminded of how cool the bass can be.

What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?
Homeless.

Why are all band jokes one-liners?
So the bass player can understand them.