bassist stereotype - which one are you?

[4 Strings]

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1348779878' post='1818243']
Perhaps the best guitarists are bassists

Our buddy Guthrie does do the slap thing very well!
[/quote]

He does. I'[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1348779878' post='1818243']
Perhaps the best guitarists are bassists

Our buddy Guthrie does do the slap thing very well!

[/quote]He does indeed. (Im missing a Fellowship gig as I type )

[musophilr]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348779682' post='1818232']
Perhaps the best guitarists have beards
[/quote]

Not many guitarists have beards, but I do. And I play bass. There are some who don't think I'm intelligent, but I can definitely do the moody bit. And I hate mornings ...

[Blademan_98]

Beard, Tattoo's, Moody, Always deep in thought.

That must be why I sold my guitars and bought 4 basses

[Dandelion]

I am introverted to the point of autism, Really....!


Eye contact hurts me.

I am also a Machiavellian misanthropist.

Hell is other people.

[scalpy]

Normally we're intelligent enough to be the only ones in the band able to set up the PA.

[lowdowner]

tattoos? 'nuff said

[Dr.Dave]

I'm up front on stage - always have been. Energetic and an 'entertainer'. I don't mind eye contact as I'm not shy but sometimes worry some bruiser will take offence in the rough shitholes I play in so generally pick on an illuminated exit sign to stare at. I supppose I'm extrovert but I like time alone too. I have a measured (several times) I Q of 137 so I supppose I'm intelligent - talking bollocks is just a hobby.

Beard - yes. Tattoo - not for a gold pig.

[seashell]

No tatts, but I'm working on the beard. :-)

[lee4]

No tattoos or piercings.Have hats.Moody bugger.Low intelligence.Laughs at fart jokes.

[SimonEdward]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348690820' post='1817059']
So, my 'muso' friends all seem to play the 'instrument player stereotype game' where they try to identify stereotypes based on the instruments we play.

...

Do you think there *are* any common behaviours/character-traits for bass players or is it all bunkum?
[/quote]


They're mellow and easy to get along with.
They wear dark colours.
They're always the quiet, aloof, brooding ones.
They're Deep and thoughtful, or just insane but keep it to themselves;
That's why they're bassists. They're there, but only subtly.

.. the following has been half-inched from something called Rottenbass dot com (?)

5 Bassist Types: -

Theory Junkie & Staff Monkey: -

He went to music school and you know it! He can play Bach’s symphonies with double-hand tapping on a 6-stringer. He knows the styles and licks of each of the Best 100 Bass lines of all time lists. His technique is flawless, his gear is pro and when he studied music – he really studied music. He can explain the phrasing of Jaco and the double thump of Victor Wooten even if you wake him from his sleep. His playing is really impressive until you ask him to improvise. Call this guy to a free jam and he’ll turn into stone. He wants to play original music but couldn’t compose something if his life depended on it. His lines always sound like some memorable bassist or song, his bag of tricks is imitations of other people’s bag of tricks. He can play a cover of every song on your iPod but he can only compose something if you gave him the staff notations for it.

King Gear: More bass than plays: -

A pedal board with more population-per-square-inch density than China, amps with more lights and switches than the Star-ship Enterprise, a 4, 5 and 6 string bass with fretless counterparts – the collector has it all. Everything except that he has only two of the three other aspects you’d expect him to have: playing skill, time or technical knowhow. He is probably an investment banker or rich business professional with a ‘passion’ for music. Don’t be surprised if he has his own studio or jam room with state-of-the-art equipment for every band member. His music library could make you melt your chin with your own drool. Mostly, the collector always has a story about how he wanted to be a musician but chose to sell out and keeps it alive as a hobby. You’d rather see him in your bank than in your band.

The Gig-Winging Stand-in Guy: -

He is one of those pros that you hired as a sub because the regular guy was sick or out of town. He will probably decline any need for rehearsing and counter it with a self-congratulatory story and a condescending laugh. You can provide him with all the charts and songs you want but it is all in vain. He will sweet talk his way out of practice and assure you that hiring him as a stand-in was the best thing you ever did. If you are really unlucky, he will turn up at the gig late and drunk. All through your set you will notice that he doesn’t have a clue as to what you are playing. In most cases he will just end up winging it.

The By-Chance Bassist: -

This guy probably picked up the bass because his ‘mates’ had an emergency or couldn’t find someone to jam with. He never chose to play the bass. There is no inspiring story or legendary event of the universe conspiring to make him meet his bass playing destiny. Don’t be fooled – this isn’t a bad thing. His skill can extend either way. He may end up as the bass-note-metronome player playing root notes on the one. He’ll be riding on the shoulder of a band without adding or subtracting anything to/from their sound. OR he may turn into something that we better know as ‘Victor Wooten’. Wooten’s brothers played the guitar saxophone and drums. He was handed the bass at a very young age because they were short of a bassist. He often states that he never ‘chose’ the bass. The rest as we know is history…

The High-Mid (life) Teenager

He is in his 30s or 40s and, if you are unlucky, his 50s. This guy is why they coined the joke – What do you call a bassist who just broke up with his girl friend? Homeless. Either that or he lives in his parent’s basement or bums on his friends (and the band). He doesn’t have a car and needs to be picked up and dropped. He’ll crash at your place and empty the fridge when you are sleeping. He got fired from more jobs than the rest of his class of 78 combined. His body clock is inverted (along with his brain). If you left it to him, he’d always be late. Hung-over at practice, drunk at gigs – he lives each day of his life like it is two hours to midnight on 31st December, 1999.

...

Not saying which one I think I might be! cheers & god bless..

[fumps]

[quote name='thunderbird13' timestamp='1348760437' post='1817853']


Gav, mate - I'm not sure there's anything stereotypical about you
[/quote]
I'm glad you noticed, is it my habit of mixing scalextric & butter that gives it away ?

Roll up roll up...come get cha nose warmers....fresh today.