Bassists are generally such a friendly species!

[gazgoldstar]

Hey all,

I have had a great summer of festivals and the like playing great gigs and meeting loads of new people. I have especially enjoyed meeting bass players and having some terrific chats. It occurred to me recently that there seems to be a peculiar bond that we share and are absolutely delighted to chat about it!

I'm sure fellow bagpipers, banjoists, Hurdy Gurdy umm Nerdys all have similar experiences but there just seems to be something really special with other bass players. I seldom experience egotism or indifference but encounter plenty of impassioned and excitable folk who just love to talk bass!

I think there are definitely characteristics and personality traits that you find in bass players but for me chiefly above all else is open friendliness! There I have said it!

Cheers

Gaz

[Lozz196]

Well considering we have this forum, and the various meets/bashes over the country, I`d say you`re spot-on there Gaz. The London Bass Guitar Show is always good as well, we really are a sociable bunch, or is it just that we realise no other musicians/audience members really want to bother with us.

[NoRhino]

You're not wrong.
Bass is a dark art known to a minority.
Like goalies.

[HowieBass]

We all love the bass, it's mostly everything else we argue over

[Dad3353]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1411683695' post='2561982']
We all love the bass, it's mostly everything else we argue over
[/quote]

I disagree..!

[JamesTun]

Anyone else notice how ahead bass players are socially, communication. I've always noticed the dry pan humour which most bass players share. There isn't much egotists amongst us. And that is definitely something to be proud of when you are playing music.

I always talk to my band about gear and picking up bargains off forums and having no problems with dealing between players. Whereas there is no guitar forums, everything is always traded over shops or eBay (which can be dodgy). Most stuff that comes out, isn't obvious. You could find out more from basschat in an evening than rather waiting for the new guitar magazine to come out to see what is popular. Kudos!

[alyctes]

[quote name='JamesTun' timestamp='1411684754' post='2561999']
Anyone else notice how ahead bass players are socially, communication. I've always noticed the dry pan humour which most bass players share. There isn't much egotists amongst us. And that is definitely something to be proud of when you are playing music.
[/quote]

This ^

I'm not a great fan of the Rolling Stones, but the thing I always liked about the video footage I saw of them was Charlie and Bill just quietly grinning at each other, just getting on with it, while the rest ponced about up front

[phil.c60]

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1411692040' post='2562039']
This ^

I'm not a great fan of the Rolling Stones, but the thing I always liked about the video footage I saw of them was Charlie and Bill just quietly grinning at each other, just getting on with it, while the rest ponced about up front
[/quote]

All of the above, but especially this!

[Oopsdabassist]

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1411692040' post='2562039']
Charlie and Bill just quietly grinning at each other, just getting on with it, while the rest ponced about up front
[/quote]

That was me and my drummer last night listening to the escapades of 2 guitarists and our singer trying to work the intracacies of a Feeder song whilst giving them the rock solid rythymn they so obviously crave

[madshadows]

Let's face it bass players rule !!

John

[pfretrock]

[quote name='gazgoldstar' timestamp='1411681980' post='2561961']
...I seldom experience egotism or indifference....
[/quote]

Egotism is probably caused by having your strings tuned an octave too high.

[neepheid]

I'm a geek, I'm firmly in the mould of "always got a cable/battery/tool kit on him" bass player. I love geeking out about basses, bashes being the epitome of that. But I've met bass players at gigs who simply aren't that into it as would spend any time talking about gear or techniques, they just play and then wander off. You must have experienced it -

Me: "Great gig, really enjoyed your playing."
Bass player: "Thanks very much."
Me: "Nice bass you've got there."
Bass player: "Yeah, it is."
[i]awkward silence where you expected someone to wax lyrical about the type of wood it's made of and got nothing[/i]
Me: "OK, well, cheers!"

Hell, I've had indifferent exchanges at bashes before. So I'd love to believe that we're all a happy, polite gang of bass geeks, but it doesn't always pan out that way. Of course I've met some gems of bass players who are geeky, gregarious, gear mad and happy to talk the hind legs off a donkey about bass. They're ace.

It must be me, I am the only common factor in all these encounters of variable friendliness and engagement. Perhaps I'm coming in too hot for the reserved type, maybe I give off an aura of loserness that some people pick up on and have no wish to engage me in conversation beyond the perfunctory. I am not the most confident of people, and meeting new folk doesn't come easy to me, so I may be overly reserved or I may overcompensate. If you ever encounter me, and if you're feeling generous, please bear this in mind. I do warm up, honest

Maybe one day I'll accept that it's OK for me to take up the square metre or so of space that I occupy, and that it's also OK if I don't click with every person I meet.

Oops, that was deep.

[Hobbayne]

Hmmph! For a forum entitled Basschat, I have not seen even one fish related post yet!!

[IzzyT2807]

[quote name='NoRhino' timestamp='1411683294' post='2561979']
You're not wrong.
Bass is a dark art known to a minority.
Like goalies.
[/quote]

Genuinely made me choke on my coffee with laughter lol

[FinnDave]

I've had people compliment on my playing (occasionally) and I thank them for it, but on the rare occasions someone has commented on the bass itself, I have no idea what to say. I didn't make it, I just bought it, it is a standard Fender product, all I did was buy it.

[Damonjames]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1411683115' post='2561976']
or is it just that we realise no other musicians/audience members really want to bother with us.
[/quote]

I think it's this that keeps us pretty humble! I usually find it's other bass players or drummers that comment. I had one guy at our last gig (a drummer) comment on what an awesome rhythm section we were!

Sticks chest out...

[Norris]

Don't you find that even when someone compliments you on a good performance, you are still thinking about that note you missed during the key change into the second chorus, and how the drummer speeded up in the last song before the break, and how the guitarist never can get the rhythm of those accents quite right...

and end up replying...
[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1411724157' post='2562232']
Me: "OK, well, cheers!"
[/quote]

[Bilbo]

Nobody else knows what we do unless we stop.

[gapiro]

Most of the time we dont even know....

And agree with the goalkeepers - it takes a certain type of crazy to be a goalkeeper

[Bassman Steve]

I wonder if it's significant that I played in goal in the days when I played?

[Dad3353]

I'm puzzled. There [i]is[/i] no goalie in rugby..!

[Damonjames]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1411731837' post='2562330']
Don't you find that even when someone compliments you on a good performance, you are still thinking about that note you missed during the key change into the second chorus, and how the drummer speeded up in the last song before the break, and how the guitarist never can get the rhythm of those accents quite right...

and end up replying...


[/quote]

+1

[CamdenRob]

I don't think all bassists are nice people by default..... I'm a bassist and I'm not nice at all.

[Highfox]

CamdenRob, the Ginger Baker of bass

I think the answer to the question is yes.

Don't ask me how or why but I came across a couple of birdwatchers today, they were the most miserable and unsociable gits I've met in a while.. too much hiding out in the woods maybe-

edit..spelling

Edited September 26, 2014 by Highfox

[TheGreek]

So what happened to the myth that you can tell the bassist in the band - "he's the moody one..."?