Bassist Vs. Bass Guitarist
Andy Shrimpton
To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
why?
Cheers,
Andy
Don "Mango" Pancoe
Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> why?
Well, you do fill the "bass" role within your band (I trust I'm not
giving you too much credit here,) so you could be considered the "bass
player." Keep in mind though that the "bass" role could be filled by a
variety of instruments such as tuba, bass clarinet, the left hand of a
piano...
The instrument you play is a "bass guitar," or, more specifically,
probably an "electric bass guitar." This is a different instrument from a
contrabass or an acoustic bass guitar, for example, hence the difference
in the name.
Having said all that, I usually save such pretentious crap for when I'm
having conversation over drinks with by ethno-musicologist friends. For
every day use, I just refer to my self as a "bassist" or "bass player." I
only elaborate when someone asks, and I also usually thank them for
taking an interest.
--
Don "Mango" Pancoe |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
pan...@netaxs.com |---|---|---|-o-|---|---|---|
Bass, Samples and Turntable, |-o-|---|---|---|---|---|-o-|
Philly Stylee! |---|---|---|-o-|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"I got some funny ideas about what sounds good. Better shut us down..."
-- Camper Van Beethoven, "Shut Us Down"
Dave
Andy Shrimpton <wolf...@OnTheNet.com.au> wrote in article
<5lch8a$p9r$1...@corolla.OntheNet.com.au>...
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> why?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Andy
I like to refer to myself as a musician who plays bass. 8^)
Dave
K. Kurki-Suonio
I don't understand what on earth is
alt.guitar.bass
Bass certainly is a bigger thing in music than a sub-category of
guitar. AAARRRRRRRGGGH!
kari,
a bass player in the second generation
Paul Matthews
>To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist.
Does not specify if bass guitar or URB
>My drummer insists I'm a bass
>guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
>why?
I prefer to use the term Bass Guitarist to describe a bass guitarist :-)
Paul Matthews
http://www.triton.u-net.com
paul...@triton.u-net.com
Kosta Kostis
Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> why?
It doesn't really matter, does it?
Ask your drummer what he thinks he does? Does he play
acoustic drums, percussions, eletronics drum kits?
How precise is he there? Is he always that narrow minded?
For me anyone who plays any kind of bass instrument is a
"bassist" or "bass player", no matter if it is a double
bass, acoustic bass guitar, electric bass guitar or
whatever is used to make you band groove. ;)
You get the idea :)
Kosta
--
ko...@robin.de, kos...@acm.org, ko...@kostis.net
Kosta Kostis, Talstr. 25, D-63322 Rödermark, Germany
http://www.kostis.net/de/privat/
Ben Harmsen
Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> why?
> Andy
>
There are bass guitar, acoustic bass, electric bass, double bass, string
bass, upright bass, bass trombone, bass clarinet, tuba, synth bass,
organ bass pedal players; so to be precise I guess I'm an electric bass
guitarist.
Ben H
Ben Jacoby
Andy Shrimpton (wolf...@OnTheNet.com.au) wrote:
: To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
: guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
: why?
: Cheers,
: Andy
What's wrong with bass player? Sure I used to play upright and I don't
play tuba etc., but everyone seems to know what that is and there is
little concern over the sublety of *which* bass instrument you happen to be
playing. So I now happen to play electric bass guitar, but I really hate
to use a term that includes the word "guitarist" in it! :)
I'll bet your drummer insists on including the "G" word just so there
would be one more guy in the band he can feel superior to. I mean other
than guitar players to what can a poor drummer compare himself to boost
his ego? :)
--
Benjamin Jacoby | "Some rob you with a six-gun and some with
bja...@infinet.com | a fountain pen." ..........Woodie Guthrie
Aidan M Humphreys
When I was young and pompus I demanded that the instrument was refered to
ONLY as an 'electric bass'. I took offence at the term Bass Guitar. This
nomenclature emphasised that my musical inspirations came from the Jazz
world, and the Double Bass rather than Sid Viscious.
Now I can actually play, I don't give a damn what people call it.
Andy Shrimpton <wolf...@OnTheNet.com.au> wrote in article
<5lch8a$p9r$1...@corolla.OntheNet.com.au>...
Ben Harmsen
Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> why?
> Andy
What's In A Name?
Once apon a time... around the early 1960s, there were 2 main types of
'string' bass players: double bass players and 'Fender' bass players.
At that time, 'bass guitar' referred to the 6 string baritone guitar, eg
Fender Bass VI or the Danelectro Long Horn Bass 6 which had a short
scale, close string spacing and was tuned down an octave.
For this reason, session bassist Carol Kaye renamed the so-called
'Fender bass' as 'electric bass' as a generic name.
In the low-end audio spectrum, there are bass guitar, acoustic bass,
Bill Bolton
wolf...@OnTheNet.com.au (Andy Shrimpton) wrote:
> To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> guitarist.
You're a bassist! Paying attention to what drummers say is
dangerours... it leads to madness!
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton billb...@onaustralia.com.au
Sydney, Australia
Paul Campbell
Kosta Kostis wrote:
>
> Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> > To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> > why?
>
>
> Ask your drummer what he thinks he does? Does he play
> acoustic drums, percussions, eletronics drum kits?
>
> How precise is he there? Is he always that narrow minded?
>
> For me anyone who plays any kind of bass instrument is a
> "bassist" or "bass player", no matter if it is a double
> bass, acoustic bass guitar, electric bass guitar or
> whatever is used to make you band groove. ;)
>
> You get the idea :)
>
> Kosta
> --
> ko...@robin.de, kos...@acm.org, ko...@kostis.net
> Kosta Kostis, Talstr. 25, D-63322 Rödermark, Germany
> http://www.kostis.net/de/privat/
Someone at work asked me the other day if I was a bass guitarist -
I said "no, I'm a bassist" :).
Mind you I do actually play guitar as well but I really dont think
of bass as simply being a varient of guitar, its requires a whole
different mindset.
Paul C.
UK.
K. Kurki-Suonio
On Thu, 15 May 1997 15:13:19 +1100, Ben Harmsen
<ben...@nmit.vic.edu.au> wrote:
>[..]
>..., 'bass guitar' referred to the 6 string baritone guitar, eg
yes.
>Fender Bass VI or the Danelectro Long Horn Bass 6 which had a short
>scale, close string spacing and was tuned down an octave.
>
>For this reason, session bassist Carol Kaye renamed the so-called
>'Fender bass' as 'electric bass' as a generic name.
That's it! There is the double/acoustic/upright bass and the electric
bass and the tuba. I'll go with this one!
>
>precise I guess I'm an electric bass guitarist.
Oh no. There we went wrong again :}
(Guitarist is the one with the leather pants. gn gn gnnn gnnn)
kari
a bass player in two generations (my dad did the tuba bit :)
-------- ------- --------- --------- -------- --------- ---------
--------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
K. Kurki-Suonio
>Paying attention to what drummers say is
>dangerours...
...with one exeption. If he says 'one' and hits his drumsticks
together at the same time - but that's the only time
kari
Kosta Kostis
Paul Campbell wrote:
> Mind you I do actually play guitar as well but I really dont think
> of bass as simply being a varient of guitar, its requires a whole
> different mindset.
You don't say. :)
Actually only bassists who are also guitarists and vice
versa know that there is (or at least should be) a "whole
different mindset". I'm a bassist who sometimes happens
to play guitar and I guess I know what you mean. ;)
Cheers
Skip Elliott Bowman
Ben Harmsen wrote:
>
> Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> > To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> > guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> > why?
> >
>
> electric bass, double bass, string bass, upright bass, bass trombone,
> bass clarinet, tuba, synth bass, organ bass pedal players; so to be
>
* Acoustic bass, double bass, string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle,
bull fiddle, doghouse, all refer to the same instrument: bass viol
And so on.
Me, I'm a musician playing the bass parts.
(Insert yawn of boredom/amusement here)
Skippy
ARDeWittKS
I don't know, but I like "musician" better than "bus boy".
Basscraft
In article <337BBB...@webspan.net>, Anthony Gregory
<anth...@webspan.net> writes:
> Bass guitar, by definitions, is what an electric
>bass is; its modeled after a guitar...
For what it's worth:
If you take into account Leo Fender's original inspiration to invent the
electric bass, it was because of a need for the bassist of a band (who
would ordinarily be playing an upright) to have a compact, amplified,
relatively well-intonated instrument. While Fender may have taken a number
of design cues for the Precision Bass from his solid-body electric guitar
designs, he didn't set out to make a bass version of a guitar.
Matt Macchiarolo
Moving right along...
stant
> Ben Harmsen wrote:
> >
> > Andy Shrimpton wrote:
> > > To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
> > > guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
> > > why?
> > > Andy
Another two cents worth: Consider the term you use in terms of the role
you're playing in your group. When I did concert band back in high school,
I was often covering tuba parts, either on tuba or bass... I prefer "bass
player" or "bassist" because whether I'm playing tuba, bass guitar, or my
upright bass, my *role* in the band isn't changing, just the instrument I'm
covering the part with. The roles of the guitarist and bass player are
very distinct, while the parts played by, say, the trombonists and the bass
trombonist in a big band are not as distinctly different. I'd insist (if
it's really important to you) on being called the bassist, because you are
doing a job that's separate from those of the other guitarist(s) in your
band.
stant
Ben Harmsen <ben...@nmit.vic.edu.au> wrote in article
<337C8F...@nmit.vic.edu.au>...
> > If an entertainer of a show says, Stanley Clarke on the bass guitar, it
> > makes me smile, because I know the entertainer is a musical ignorant.
> > Although bass and guitar have the same look, but the musicans know
what's
> > the difference between a bass and guitar and *NO ONE* would say you're
a
> > bass guitarist.
>
> Anthony Jackson, outspoken modern master bassist was pioneer of the
> instrument which he always calls the 6-string "contrabass guitar".
> [-Bass Player mag, summer, fall 1990]. The player of contrabass guitar
> would be a contrabass guitarist. He reckons its in the guitar family (in
> contrast to double bass which is in the viol family).
>
> Ben H
>
Some players simply don't 'spas out about what they call their instrument,
when Miles Davis died a few years back, there was radio-show tribute, which
included an interview segment with Marcus Miller about his playing and
production work on "Tutu" and the other albums. He refered to the
instrument we all know and love him for as a "bass guitar", and no-one can
disagree that he can play the heck out of the thing...
Alexander E. Schmidt
In article <5lch8a$p9r$1...@corolla.OntheNet.com.au>,
wolf...@OnTheNet.com.au (Andy Shrimpton) wrote:
|To me, I play bass, I'm a bassist. My drummer insists I'm a bass
|guitarist. Any one got any thoughts on which term they prefer and
|why?
Very easy ... some hundert jears ago, the guitar was an chord-playing
instrument. A bass was in the same time only an single-note- played
instrument.
This means, you're a bassist and NOT a bass guitarist.
I have to mention some new styles of jazz uses chords on the bass, but this
doesn't change the thing you're a bass player.
If an entertainer of a show says, Stanley Clarke on the bass guitar, it
makes me smile, because I know the entertainer is a musical ignorant.
Although bass and guitar have the same look, but the musicans know what's
the difference between a bass and guitar and *NO ONE* would say you're a
bass guitarist.
Hope this helps,
Alexander Schmidt
________________________________________________________
Alexander Schmidt
Adresse : Lindenstrasse 1, 82031 Gruenwald (Germany)
Telefon/Fax : ++49- 89 / 641 21 82 (international)
089 / 641 21 82 (Deutschland)
E-Mail : asch...@m.isar.de
Homepage : http://www.m.isar.de/~aschmidt/index.html
________________________________________________________
Bill Bolton
bass...@aol.com (Basscraft) wrote:
> While Fender may have taken a number of design cues for
> the Precision Bass from his solid-body electric guitar
> designs, he didn't set out to make a bass version of a guitar.
It is well documented, in numerous places, that it is EXACTLY what he
set out to do.
The first Fender bass was intended as bass instrument for guitarists
to play. I suggest you take a careful look at the patent documents
for the first Fender bass. They can be found in Klaus Lasquiz's "The
Fender Bass Book".
Ben Harmsen
> If an entertainer of a show says, Stanley Clarke on the bass guitar, it
> makes me smile, because I know the entertainer is a musical ignorant.
> Although bass and guitar have the same look, but the musicans know what's
> the difference between a bass and guitar and *NO ONE* would say you're a
> bass guitarist.
Anthony Jackson, outspoken modern master bassist was pioneer of the
Mike Smith
In article <337B96...@teleport.com>,
Skip Elliott Bowman <skip...@teleport.com> wrote:
>
>* Acoustic bass, double bass, string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle,
>bull fiddle, doghouse, all refer to the same instrument: bass viol
Yes, they all refer to the same instrument, but it's not a bass viol,
which is a different instrument.
mps
Basscraft
In article <5lpkkb$h...@bcarh8ab.bnr.ca>, mis...@bnr.ca (Mike Smith)
writes:
Bass viol is correct.
Many hundreds of years ago there was the viol family of instruments, which
were direct ancestors to the modern violin family, which includes the
modern violin, viola, and 'cello. The "double bass" that we all know and
love is in fact not a sibling of the violin famlily, but is more like a
cousin. The differences are in the design details...for example, look at
the neck attachment and shoulder width on a bass and compare it to a
violin, viola or cello (proportionately, of course).
Sonically, the "violin" type instruments were considered superior in tone
and volume to the "viols." The bass viol remained because a
properly-designed bass violin was vitually unplayable by virtue of its
size, if the same proportions of the smaller intstruments were retained.
Disclaimer: This is a rehash of my college days, several years ago, but
this is how I remember it.
Andy Shrimpton
NO_SPA...@dial.pipex.comNO_SPAMM (K. Kurki-Suonio) wrote:
>On Thu, 15 May 1997 15:13:19 +1100, Ben Harmsen
><ben...@nmit.vic.edu.au> wrote:
>>[..]
>>..., 'bass guitar' referred to the 6 string baritone guitar, eg
>yes.
>>Fender Bass VI or the Danelectro Long Horn Bass 6 which had a short
>>scale, close string spacing and was tuned down an octave.
>>
>>For this reason, session bassist Carol Kaye renamed the so-called
>>'Fender bass' as 'electric bass' as a generic name.
>That's it! There is the double/acoustic/upright bass and the electric
>bass and the tuba. I'll go with this one!
>>
>>precise I guess I'm an electric bass guitarist.
>Oh no. There we went wrong again :}
>(Guitarist is the one with the leather pants. gn gn gnnn gnnn)
>kari
>a bass player in two generations (my dad did the tuba bit :)
>-------- ------- --------- --------- -------- --------- ---------
>--------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Well, that's enough for me. Electric Bassist, or Bassist for short,
will suffice. I guess the original post was badly worded, perhaps I
should have said "It's not a guitar, is it"?
I did like the comment on the different mind set tho for guitarists
and bassists.
Cheers, Andy
Brian Stark
Not this again :(
Me
Who really gives a shit ?
mathias thallmayer
Basscraft (bass...@aol.com) wrote:
>In article <5lpkkb$h...@bcarh8ab.bnr.ca>, mis...@bnr.ca (Mike Smith)
>writes:
>>In article <337B96...@teleport.com>,
>>Skip Elliott Bowman <skip...@teleport.com> wrote:
>>>* Acoustic bass, double bass, string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle,
>>>bull fiddle, doghouse, all refer to the same instrument: bass viol
>>
>>Yes, they all refer to the same instrument, but it's not a bass viol,
>>which is a different instrument.
>>
No, it's not.
I, too, thought that it was until last year when I looked it up.
--
Mathias
icono...@tarkus.ocis.temple.edu
mathias thallmayer
Basscraft (bass...@aol.com) wrote:
>In article <337BBB...@webspan.net>, Anthony Gregory
><anth...@webspan.net> writes:
>> Bass guitar, by definitions, is what an electric
>>bass is; its modeled after a guitar...
>For what it's worth:
>If you take into account Leo Fender's original inspiration to invent the
>electric bass, it was because of a need for the bassist of a band (who
>would ordinarily be playing an upright) to have a compact, amplified,
>relatively well-intonated instrument. While Fender may have taken a number
>of design cues for the Precision Bass from his solid-body electric guitar
>designs, he didn't set out to make a bass version of a guitar.
When Fender designed the instrument he also had guitarists in mind. This is
because many of them were either doubling on upright or playing bass lines
on the guitar.
And, even if he only wanted to appeal to URB players, he built a guitar
to fulfill that function. Instruments are placed in families by aspects
of design not by function. It's a guitar.
--
Mathias
icono...@tarkus.ocis.temple.edu
Paul Matthews
On 21 May 1997 07:25:46 GMT, mat...@tarkus.ocis.temple.edu (mathias
thallmayer) wrote:
>And, even if he only wanted to appeal to URB players, he built a guitar
>to fulfill that function. Instruments are placed in families by aspects
>of design not by function. It's a guitar.
>
Yup!
Exactly, the bass bit just indicates it is in a lower register
<Ducks>
Paul Matthews
http://www.triton.u-net.com
paul...@triton.u-net.com
skip elliott bowman
mathias thallmayer <mat...@tarkus.ocis.temple.edu> wrote:
: Basscraft (bass...@aol.com) wrote:
: >In article <5lpkkb$h...@bcarh8ab.bnr.ca>, mis...@bnr.ca (Mike Smith)
: >writes:
: >>In article <337B96...@teleport.com>,
: >>Skip Elliott Bowman <skip...@teleport.com> wrote:
: >>>* Acoustic bass, double bass, string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle,
: >>>bull fiddle, doghouse, all refer to the same instrument: bass viol
: >>Yes, they all refer to the same instrument, but it's not a bass viol,
: >>which is a different instrument.
: >Bass viol is correct.
: No, it's not.
: I, too, thought that it was until last year when I looked it up.
The instrument known today as the upright bass is a direct descendent of
the baroque instrument known as the viol de gamba. It's not a violin or
a member of the violin family.
Find a photo of a viol de gamba, then compare it to a bass fiddle and a
violin. Which does it resemble more?
I looked it up, too.
Skippo
Andy Shrimpton
"Me" <ajm...@ecr.mu.oz.au> wrote:
>Who really gives a shit ?
Well if you don't, don't follow the thread! And don't assume that
what interests you MUST interest others, and vice versa!
Andy
Gryffdd
Actually, I understood that the upright was an amalgamation of the viola
and violin families... it had charactaristics of both, so noone caould
really decide.
It is what it is....
"All the Bass, All the Time,"
-Griff
Gryffdd
Absolutlely NOT true. The electric bass shares few characteristics beyond
shape with a guitar! It's tuning system is the same as its larger
relative, the upright. It is not an oversized, low guitar! Although many
play it like it is, it's NOT! The assesmant that Fender built a compact
instrument which was shaped like his Telecaster but was still a bass is
correct. Fender didn't invent a new intrument because guitarists got tired
of playing the lines on thier axes... he had bassists in mind! As rock
music developed in the 50's (gee, kinda when the 1st Fender came out?)
amplified music became more popular & louder, and the uprights couldn't
really cut through that wall of sound. Bassists needed an amplified
instrument to accomplish this. Hence, the Fender Presicion Bass. James
Jamerson firmly believed that there wouldn't have been a Fender Presicion
if it weren't for him, and he may have been partially correct.
Electric basses, (or if you must, "bass guitars") were developed with
bassists in mind, NOT guitarists.
Let's not continue in that old line of thinking that assumes guitarists
lead and bassists follow... sheesh!
Just my &.02...
cheers!
Gryffdd
Darn it, I hate it when I leave something out!
In specific response to functionality, a guitar is a chordal, or
polyphonic. The bass is somehwhat more monophonic. Although it is capable
of producing chords, it can be less than practical. (not to say there
aren't exceptions) As I said before, both you & I know (I'm assuming here)
that an electric bass is alot more than a big guitar with two fewer
strings an octave lower!
Dave
Brian Stark <land-con...@slonet.org> wrote in article
<5ltbe5$1d1$2...@zinger.callamer.com>...
> Not this again :(
Yeah. We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves. We should change the subject to
something useful such as Bassist vs Drummer (aka The Rhythmic Encounter),
Bassist vs Guitarist (aka The Volume Wars), Letterman vs Leno, or maybe
even King Kong vs Godzilla. 8^)
Dave
Mike Smith
In article <5lvuu0$dqq$2...@nadine.teleport.com>,
skip elliott bowman <skip...@teleport.com> wrote:
>The instrument known today as the upright bass is a direct descendent of
>the baroque instrument known as the viol de gamba. It's not a violin or
>a member of the violin family.
>Find a photo of a viol de gamba, then compare it to a bass fiddle and a
>violin. Which does it resemble more?
>I looked it up, too.
I never said that the current contrabass wasn't descended from the bass
viol. I simply denied it was the same thing. A pigeon may be descended
from a velociraptor, but it is not the same thing.
Anyway, as others have pointed out, modern basses combine characteristics
of both families. I don't know all the details, but I doubt the argument
based on superficial appearance carries any more weight here than in
biological taxonomy. A panda looks more like a bear than a racoon, too.
mps
Bill Bolton
gry...@aol.com (Gryffdd) wrote:
> correct. Fender didn't invent a new intrument because guitarists got tired
> of playing the lines on thier axes... he had bassists in mind!
It is well documented in several places that Fender built the bass
guitar so that guitarists could start to play bass lines. This was a
by product of the sort of working conditions prevalent for
professional guitarists in the late 40s and early 50s. They could get
more work if there was a guitar like instrument which would allow them
to play bass parts. See Richard Smith's book "Fender: The Sound
Heard 'Round The World" for a good background coverage on this.
> music developed in the 50's (gee, kinda when the 1st Fender came out?)
The Precision Bass arrived in 1951. "Rock" music didn't arrive until
the mid 50s, and even then most of the original R'n'R artists used a
double bass in their ensembles until the late 50s, i.e. Bill Haley,
Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley etc.
If anything put bass guitars "on the map", it was surf music in the
early 60s. There was no surf music without a loud bass instrument
that could accurately double a loud guitar line.
Up until the surf music period made electric bass a "must have" for
every garage band around the world, it had remained an interesting
alterative to the double bass for most groups, but little more. The
explosive growth of bass guitar occurred from the early 60s. Up until
1960 Fender had only made about 40,000 instruments OF ALL TYPES, with
perhaps 5,000 or so of these being bass guitars, and Fender at that
time were BY A VERY GREAT MARGIN the largest producers of electric
basses.
It's easy to see that in the '50s there simply weren't enough bass
guitars to go around to have made a significant impact on the double
bass as the preferred bass instrument for most contemporary ensemble
work.
By 1963, Fender has made another 60,000 instruments of all types,
including two models of basses, and by the end of the made a further
200,000 odd instruments of all types and there were 8 bass models in
the range.
> James Jamerson firmly believed that there wouldn't have been
> a Fender Presicion if it weren't for him
Say what?
James Jammerson is undoubatbly one of *the greats* of bassdom, but he
didn't move to electric bass as his primary instrument until the
Precision bass was 10 year sold and in its 4th model
configuration!!!!!
Jammerson started out as a double bassist and it was always his first
love. He didn't take up electric bass until the early 60s and his
first couple of years of Motown work were mostly on double bass. He
continued to overlay double and electric bass on Motown recordings
into the mid 60s, with songs like "Heat Wave" and "Baby Love" having
doubled bass lines.
> Electric basses, (or if you must, "bass guitars") were developed with
> bassists in mind, NOT guitarists.
It doesn't matter how many times you repeated it, it still doesn't
make it true.
Dan F Crea
> Anyway, as others have pointed out, modern basses combine characteristics
> of both families. I don't know all the details, but I doubt the argument
> based on superficial appearance carries any more weight here than in
> biological taxonomy. A panda looks more like a bear than a racoon, too.
>
> mps
I think that the curved, more teardrop shape of the upright (rather than
the straight-out-from-the-neck shape of violins and acoustic guitars) has
something to do with defining the high end of the sound. It is definitely
descended from the bass viol.
DC
Mike Smith
In article <dcrea-25059...@dialup-7-142.d.umn.edu>,
Dan F Crea <dc...@d.umn.edu> wrote:
>
>I think that the curved, more teardrop shape of the upright (rather than
>the straight-out-from-the-neck shape of violins and acoustic guitars) has
>something to do with defining the high end of the sound. It is definitely
>descended from the bass viol.
Maybe, but surely the main reason is to allow you to play in thumb position.
mps
Elson Trinidad
I prefer the term, "Bass Artist".
:)
Christopher C Smith
Mike Smith wrote:
>
(snip)
> Anyway, as others have pointed out, modern basses combine characteristics
> of both families. I don't know all the details, but I doubt the argument
> based on superficial appearance carries any more weight here than in
> biological taxonomy. A panda looks more like a bear than a racoon, too.
>
> mps
And the Russian "Space Shuttle" looks (externally) just like the
American one -- but in reality, they aren't even close.
_BassChriss_
bean
On 29 May 97 09:34:25 GMT, "Elson Trinidad" <el...@westworld.com>
wrote:
>
>
> I prefer the term, "Bass Artist".
>
>:)
>
Bass player anyone?
MEGIRONDA
Ever the pragmatist; will the check clear? Yes I'm the Bassmathingie.
gg
Dennis Richards
How about Low Frequency Stylist...? Either that or Master of all I Survey...
Zanshin
Keith (Paramedic wannabe)
On Fri, 30 May 1997, bean wrote:
> > I prefer the term, "Bass Artist".
> >
> >:)
> >
>
> Bass player anyone?
...or as a certain dizzy woman asked me, "Oh, you're the guy that
plays the guitar with the four strings?" Yeah, that's me.
Not since I've been playing a 5!!
About what percent of the general public really understands the
difference between a bass guitar and a regular guitar? Or the
purpose of bass in rock music, for that matter.
Keith
Me
If you've got time to worry about this, you should be doing more practise.
Who really cares ?
Andy Shrimpton
"Me" <ajm...@ecr.mu.oz.au> wrote:
>If you've got time to worry about this, you should be doing more practise.
>Who really cares ?
I don't "worry" about it, merely interested in soliciting some
comments from "MY" newsgroup. Yes, I should be doing more practice,
shouldn't we all, but at times I can't. You are obviously one of
those people who practices while driving, eating walking working etc,
either that or you don't think at all while doing these things. And
the fact that there has been so many replies to the original post
indicated that some people do care. And if you don't, why bother
replying?
gue...@hslc.org
I'm not a musician, so (alas) I suppose I can represent the great
unwashed mass as well as anyone.
I certainly never heard of bass guitar at all till recently when I
caught a different sound on a John Scofiled album and the liner notes
pointed out that Steve Swallow was playing accoustic bass guitar. I
almost immediately went out to find more and bought Music With Legs with
Carla Bley and Steve.
I think the sound of that instrument is absolute majic, at least in
Swallow's hands. I wouldn't want to hear it all the time, but given the
right tunes (and jazz seems to offer many possibilities, so would folk,
I suppose, if I could stand to listen to it).
So, for what it's worth, I think you could win friends and influence
people if you champoined the accoustic bass guitar. It seems to be a
relative unknown outside esoteric circles.
If you can recommend some good jazz recordings using it, I'd appreciate
hearing them.
Best regards,
John Barr
Philadelphia, PA
Omega.red
: > > I prefer the term, "Bass Artist".
: > >
: > >:)
: > >
: >
: > Bass player anyone?
: ...or as a certain dizzy woman asked me, "Oh, you're the guy that
: plays the guitar with the four strings?" Yeah, that's me.
: Not since I've been playing a 5!!
: About what percent of the general public really understands the
: difference between a bass guitar and a regular guitar? Or the
: purpose of bass in rock music, for that matter.
: Keith
The line I love is, " Do you play the big guitar?"
I guess most the public doesn't understand that the "Big Guitar" also is
lower than a guitar. Oh well. Least recognized most important.
--
..............
:::::::::::::::::: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::::::::::::::: ::Omega Red..............
:::`::::::: ::: :omeg...@netcom.com
:::: ::::: ::::: :Words of Immortality--
:` :::::; :..~~ "Don't stop to think. Don't
: :: :::. ::: think to stop."-me
:...`:, :::::...::: "Crack in the egg, Crack in
::::::. :::::::::' the egg, the time is ripe
::::::::|:::::::: ! crack in my pipe " -
:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;']} Oderus Urungus
;--.--.--.--.--.- "Kool-Aid always kicks ass,
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ even on sub -0 day."
::: :::: | .---._.--. + +
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^.:^:.^^^::`:: . .___.-._. + +
::::::::.:::: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/om/
.:::::::::: omegared/ http://not_yet.com
Ben Harmsen
gue...@hslc.org wrote:
> So, for what it's worth, I think you could win friends and influence
> people if you champoined the accoustic bass guitar. It seems to be a
> relative unknown outside esoteric circles.
>
> If you can recommend some good jazz recordings using it, I'd appreciate
> hearing them.
Unaccompanied solo acoustic bass guitar recording:
Jonas Hellborg "The Silent Life" (Day Eight Music records).
Acoustic bass guitar + Soldier string quartet + the late drummer Tony
Williams:
Jonas Hellborg "The Word" {1991 Axiom records, produced by Bill Laswell)
These are very interesting and adventurous recordings!
Ben H
Anthony E. Williams
gue...@hslc.org writes:
>I'm not a musician, so (alas) I suppose I can represent the great
>unwashed mass as well as anyone.
>I certainly never heard of bass guitar at all till recently when I
>caught a different sound on a John Scofiled album and the liner notes
>pointed out that Steve Swallow was playing accoustic bass guitar. I
>almost immediately went out to find more and bought Music With Legs with
>Carla Bley and Steve.
>I think the sound of that instrument is absolute majic, at least in
>Swallow's hands. I wouldn't want to hear it all the time, but given the
>right tunes (and jazz seems to offer many possibilities, so would folk,
>I suppose, if I could stand to listen to it).
>So, for what it's worth, I think you could win friends and influence
>people if you champoined the accoustic bass guitar. It seems to be a
>relative unknown outside esoteric circles.
>If you can recommend some good jazz recordings using it, I'd appreciate
>hearing them.
>Best regards,
>John Barr
>Philadelphia, PA
I'm wondering if the true distinction may come from being an upright bass player versus a bass guitar player?
These instruments are different in fingering and traditional uses: classical double bass (bowed style)
There seems to be a faction of upright bassist ie Ropn Carter, Rufus Reed who don't/didn;t think much of bass
guitars and then there are bassist who play ONLY bass guitar: Jaco Pastorious (who felt that anything you can do on an upright you can duplicate on fretless bass guitar), Anthony Jackson, Jeff Brelin (?).
Then there are bassist who are of both schools of though: John Pattitucci, Stanley Clarke, Paul Vitirlous, Sting (?) ...
These bassists believe that both instruments have their place.. it just depends on the tune your playing and what you want out of a bass sound.
I don't know if that means that these last group of bassist feels the this word "bassist" belongs to a player who can play both instruments or the acoustic/electric upright soley.
If someone can shed some light on this I'd appreciate it.
Thanks
Tony.
--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tony E. Williams |
Motorola, (WNSG/CIG) |
Internet: will...@cig.mot.com|
Anthony E. Williams
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Path: tamarin!williama
Date: 14 Jun 97 00:35:34 GMT
Message-ID: <williama.866248534@tamarin>
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.bass
Subject: Re: Mexi vs. US P-bass
References: <bgraves-0506...@bgraves.nmu.edu> <3397EC...@sni.de>
Rainer Boettchers <techsu...@sni.de> writes:
I also think that there's a higher resale value with the US P-Bass than either a Mexican or Japanese one.
(These are fretless basses I'm refering to.)
The unique thing about the fretless basses is that there are no new US fretless J-Basses but there are Mexican and Japanese ones and only the Japanese one doesn't use "cheat lines".
I agree that it's a matter of taste.. I love my fretless P-Bass.
T.
>Brent Graves wrote:
>
>> I play a Gibson Ripper, but I'm looking for a second bass. I thought that
>> a P-bass would give me a different sound, and I used to have one (US) that
>> I liked alot. So I went to the music store and looked at the US and
>> Mexican P-basses. What are the differences? I play in a local band, but
>> this strictly for fun playing (I'm lucky to make money to cover strings
>> and a babysitter). So anyway, would you play a Mexican P-bass in such a
>> context?
>> Brent Graves
>We had a recent discussion about this but AFAIR the neck, body and
>most hardware parts for the Mex PB, JB and Tele come from the US,
>and only assembly is done in Mexico.
>I have a Mex JB and tried an US Standard. The differences are
>minute, and if you dont worry about the little "Made in Mexico"
>I would take the Mex model.
>I also feel a little limited with the PB in sound. That's one
>reason why I took the JB. The singlecoils and the two PU positions
>give some more flexibility. But that's really a question of taste.
>Rainer
Bill Bolton
will...@tamarin.cig.mot.com (Anthony E. Williams) wrote:
> The unique thing about the fretless basses is that there
> are no new US fretless J-Basses
There aren't *any* US Fender fretless J-Basses, apart from a few
custom jobs by Fender over the years.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Bolton billb...@acslink.net.au
Sydney, Australia
Dan F Crea
> There seems to be a faction of upright bassist ie Ropn Carter, Rufus
Reed who don't/didn;t think much of bass
> guitars
Rufus played both. Good info otherwise.
DC