Guitarist subbing on bass

tomajoha

Thanks for the advice peeps - seems like you are all closet bassists 

Bridgehouse

tomajoha said:

Thanks for the advice peeps - seems like you are all closet bassists 

Nothing closet about my bassing. I am a bass player - haven’t touched a guitar for a couple of years. 

ICBM

I’m only a bass player in bands now - I still play guitar at home, but not in a band. My last electric guitar gig was about seven or eight years ago I think, and I’ve done a bit of acoustic stuff since but nothing in the last couple of years. (Probably nearer five given the way time flies...)

It does open your eyes about different ways of doing things - not just technique, but your approach to gear and how you use it. I wasn't joking about amp power - my gigging amp is 500W. But it's a 1x10" combo! It's lighter than the guitarist's 30W valve *head*, let alone his 2x12" cab... and I have an identical head as a backup, which goes in something the size of a small laptop bag.

The funny thing is that I don't even use them normally. If the venue has a usable bass amp - usable as in good enough to hear myself on stage - and a PA, then I don't take an amp at all... I have an EQ pedal which is my 'amp' if I can't get the sound I want out of the house one. So I go to gigs with my entire equipment in a gig bag.

Once you've done this for a bit and found you can dial in your own sound through more or less any equipment, you'll wonder why guitarists make such a rod for their own backs by being so dependent on their own particular amp that they have to take it everywhere...

Fuengi

ICBM said:

I’m only a bass player in bands now - I still play guitar at home, but not in a band. My last electric guitar gig was about seven or eight years ago I think, and I’ve done a bit of acoustic stuff since but nothing in the last couple of years. (Probably nearer five given the way time flies...)

It does open your eyes about different ways of doing things - not just technique, but your approach to gear and how you use it. I wasn't joking about amp power - my gigging amp is 500W. But it's a 1x10" combo! It's lighter than the guitarist's 30W valve *head*, let alone his 2x12" cab... and I have an identical head as a backup, which goes in something the size of a small laptop bag.

The funny thing is that I don't even use them normally. If the venue has a usable bass amp - usable as in good enough to hear myself on stage - and a PA, then I don't take an amp at all... I have an EQ pedal which is my 'amp' if I can't get the sound I want out of the house one. So I go to gigs with my entire equipment in a gig bag.

Once you've done this for a bit and found you can dial in your own sound through more or less any equipment, you'll wonder why guitarists make such a rod for their own backs by being so dependent on their own particular amp that they have to take it everywhere...

This all sounds quite appealing to me. As I've discussed here before the thought of playing guitar live to an audience brings me out in cold sweats, but I've already warmed to the idea of playing bass. 

Got a couple of practice dates with @munckee + Jrs in the diary for Water Rats, I'm on acoustic for one track and bass for the other. 

munckee

Fuengi said:

ICBM said:

I’m only a bass player in bands now - I still play guitar at home, but not in a band. My last electric guitar gig was about seven or eight years ago I think, and I’ve done a bit of acoustic stuff since but nothing in the last couple of years. (Probably nearer five given the way time flies...)

It does open your eyes about different ways of doing things - not just technique, but your approach to gear and how you use it. I wasn't joking about amp power - my gigging amp is 500W. But it's a 1x10" combo! It's lighter than the guitarist's 30W valve *head*, let alone his 2x12" cab... and I have an identical head as a backup, which goes in something the size of a small laptop bag.

The funny thing is that I don't even use them normally. If the venue has a usable bass amp - usable as in good enough to hear myself on stage - and a PA, then I don't take an amp at all... I have an EQ pedal which is my 'amp' if I can't get the sound I want out of the house one. So I go to gigs with my entire equipment in a gig bag.

Once you've done this for a bit and found you can dial in your own sound through more or less any equipment, you'll wonder why guitarists make such a rod for their own backs by being so dependent on their own particular amp that they have to take it everywhere...

This all sounds quite appealing to me. As I've discussed here before the thought of playing guitar live to an audience brings me out in cold sweats, but I've already warmed to the idea of playing bass. 

Got a couple of practice dates with @munckee + Jrs in the diary for Water Rats, I'm on acoustic for one track and bass for the other. 

I played bass at the last jam. It seems a big responsibility but you really get into the bass I found. 

tomajoha

Spent an hour or so looking at one of their numbers: 20 Flight Rock by Vince Taylor. On the face of it you think thats simple, but when you try it you really how tight it is and the subtle rests that give it bounce. Eek

jpfamps

Bridgehouse said:

However, the skills you really seem to develop are quite different to guitar - rhythm, timing, locking in with the drummer, supporting the song, understanding when less is more and how to position fills, runs, accents etc to really help to emphasise other parts of a song.. 

These are obviously skills not needed by guitar players.....

Bridgehouse

jpfamps said:

Bridgehouse said:

However, the skills you really seem to develop are quite different to guitar - rhythm, timing, locking in with the drummer, supporting the song, understanding when less is more and how to position fills, runs, accents etc to really help to emphasise other parts of a song.. 

These are obviously skills not needed by guitar players.....

Hah, my response was poorly written - what I meant was they are the same skills, but they are different between guitar and bass. 

MagicPigDetective

 The last time I played with a band, I played bass for the first time. I found it very enjoyable, especially not being the centre of any attention and propping up and propelling the songs forward. I suspect I might be a closet bass player. Anyway, I got my 1st bass today, see NBD thread. Surely it can only enrich your guitar playing and music knowledge.

TheMarlin

I struggled going from Fender guitar scale to Fender Precision bass scale. I just couldn’t hit the notes cleanly unless looking right at the frets. 

So, i bought a Mustang Short scale bass, that did the trick, and sounded most excellent. 

ICBM

TheMarlin said:

I struggled going from Fender guitar scale to Fender Precision bass scale. I just couldn’t hit the notes cleanly unless looking right at the frets.

That's how I've played guitar and bass for the last 35 years...

TheMarlin said:

So, i bought a Mustang Short scale bass, that did the trick, and sounded most excellent. 

But they do too!

Fuengi

TheMarlin said:

I struggled going from Fender guitar scale to Fender Precision bass scale. I just couldn’t hit the notes cleanly unless looking right at the frets. 

So, i bought a Mustang Short scale bass, that did the trick, and sounded most excellent. 

I went with the Squier VM Jaguar Short Scale bass, easy transition from guitar.

jpfamps

Bridgehouse said:

jpfamps said:

Bridgehouse said:

However, the skills you really seem to develop are quite different to guitar - rhythm, timing, locking in with the drummer, supporting the song, understanding when less is more and how to position fills, runs, accents etc to really help to emphasise other parts of a song.. 

These are obviously skills not needed by guitar players.....

Hah, my response was poorly written - what I meant was they are the same skills, but they are different between guitar and bass. 

Actually what I should have said is that these are not skills displayed (or valued?) by guitar players!

PolarityMan

it will definitely improve your abilities..bass is a great instrument, you can totally change the feel of a song by using a different bass part, also really expressive and articulate when compared to particualrly heavy guitars.

pintspiller

I've played way more gigs on bass than guitar

AlexO

 I guarantee you will go into the first practice playing it like a lead guitar.

ICBM

AlexO said:

 I guarantee you will go into the first practice playing it like a lead guitar.

I play bass like a rhythm guitarist...

mart

Mulling this over, I realize I’m probably guilty of playing guitar like a bassist.

For years I wasn’t interested in lead guitar, so worked up my rhythm guitar and did a lot of bass playing. The bass playing was improvising over chord charts and I fell into following Bootsy’s mantra of “play whatever the heck you want, just make sure you hit the 1”, albeit also focussing heavily on keeping the groove going.

So on lead, which I’m still crap at, I kinda noodle around the chord notes making sure that in each phrase I end up at the note I want, at the time I want (which might not exactly by the 1, but often is). 

Am I doing it all wrong?

Bridgehouse

mart said:

Mulling this over, I realize I’m probably guilty of playing guitar like a bassist.

For years I wasn’t interested in lead guitar, so worked up my rhythm guitar and did a lot of bass playing. The bass playing was improvising over chord charts and I fell into following Bootsy’s mantra of “play whatever the heck you want, just make sure you hit the 1”, albeit also focussing heavily on keeping the groove going.

So on lead, which I’m still crap at, I kinda noodle around the chord notes making sure that in each phrase I end up at the note I want, at the time I want (which might not exactly by the 1, but often is). 

Am I doing it all wrong?

You are my hero

ICBM

mart said:

Mulling this over, I realize I’m probably guilty of playing guitar like a bassist.

For years I wasn’t interested in lead guitar, so worked up my rhythm guitar and did a lot of bass playing. The bass playing was improvising over chord charts and I fell into following Bootsy’s mantra of “play whatever the heck you want, just make sure you hit the 1”, albeit also focussing heavily on keeping the groove going.

So on lead, which I’m still crap at, I kinda noodle around the chord notes making sure that in each phrase I end up at the note I want, at the time I want (which might not exactly by the 1, but often is). 

Am I doing it all wrong?

No.