Talent to bass ratio

[simes]

Last rehearsal night we jammed out a rocking garage version of Baby Please Don't Go which turned into a weired version of Who Do You Love. For 15mins I alternated between E and F# only varying the rhythm, dynamics and position. It was a laff and great fun making us laugh like kids and I'm the youngest at 54. What I'm trying to say is it's all relative, I thought I played a blinder so did my band mates. Music does not have to be complicated.

[Iain]

Play what you like, play it how you want.

I realised a while back that I'll never be a great bassist and don't need to be to own a great bass. I currently have two fantastic basses that would do justice to any pro, so what? I don't go about worrying that my gear is too good for me!

[joeystrange]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1463062307' post='3048216']
I also think like the OP, everyone sounds better than me, however I can flip the coin. Not many play like me, and my style is what is needed for my band. Would I prefer to sound like them, or me, in my band?
[/quote]

This. Word for word.

[Jazzneck]

Lozz said it all - perfect.

And just listen to the bass on this, 5 notes played on a Fender Precision.....

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S13ZLMNQBjc[/media]

Edited May 12, 2016 by Jazzneck

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1463070885' post='3048350']...even the guys the rest of know from the song and noodle challenges are actually sh!t hot...
[/quote]

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:185803]

Sorry; couldn't help myself. If only, lad; if only..!

[Dad3353]

... and here's another. Two notes, basically, but it's how they're played...

http://youtu.be/9A7jM-7bNYs

[ivansc]

Um - that first one is 4 notes. Couple of them repeated.....

Edited May 12, 2016 by ivansc

[mingsta]

Don't sweat over it.

I'm big in to road cycling and £3k and upwards bicycles are so so commonplace nowadays that no one batters an eyelid if your rig is far better than your riding ability. If its your passion why not enjoy something if you have the means to buy it.

Even expensive guitars are good value when you consider the lifetime of enjoyment that you can get out of them. A set of top end Road wheels cost over £2k and would only last you a few seasons.

[TimR]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1463059753' post='3048186']
Was unsure how to title the thread.

I'm embarrassed at how nice my bass is compared to my lack of talent. So everyone who picks up my bass has been a great player and they say how great the bass is then proceed to play something far from my level. I get the bass back and don't have a reply.

Now ive started to feel a bit self conscious even though I believe in a more simple bass playing style and even if I could play at a higher level I wouldn't play anywhere near as fancy as some do.
I'm thinking my current ability makes me look a bit all the gear no idea or something to that effect. So much so I've thought about getting a cheap bass so I don't look a plum.

My catch phrase is fast becoming "I work on them much better than I play them".
[/quote]

If you're in a band then your band mates think you can play bass to a pretty good standard.

If your band plays gigs and people stay, then a few more people think you can play bass to a pretty good standard.

You'll always get some strange people at gigs staring at your gear and making comments. If you have a cheap bass they'll say you'd be better if you played an expensive one. If you play an expensive one, they'll suggest you play a cheap one for gigs.

Enjoy your playing.

And if someone picks up your bass and plays something fancy, just remember; that's probably their party trick.

[TrevorR]

There is no ratio. There is only what you want to play, what you can afford to play, what you decide to play and what gives you pleasure to play. No one else has any locus to comment on any of those. And if they do you have no need to take any notice!

[discreet]

It matters not. I don't have any party pieces anyway - as far as I'm concerned the electric bass guitar is not a solo instrument. How many notes per second you can play as you blaze up and down the fretboard is irrelevant to me - I'd be more impressed to hear you play in time with a good drummer in a good band and lay down a great groove with a nice feel. It's about teamwork, note choice, space, time and playing for the song. Whether you have a high-end bass or not is irrelevant.

Edited May 12, 2016 by discreet

[Twincam]

Ok feeling better. Thanks for the comments.

Guess was just feeling the self doubt creep in.

[Telebass]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1463062528' post='3048217']
If someone picks up my bass and starts fret-w***ing, I smirk a cocky smirk of self satisfaction knowing that I would never do something so tasteless.
[/quote]
This!

[FuNkShUi]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1463089672' post='3048596']

And if someone picks up your bass and plays something fancy, just remember; that's probably their party trick.
[/quote]

This is a really good point!!

I would just say enjoy it. Play songs/music you love. Keep playing them.
That's what it's all about.

[gafbass02]

I've been playing around 25-26 years and owned over 160 basses, as I've matured both as a person and a player I've found im much more content with owning 'lower quality' basses.
I used to have to have four figure, brands only, various Warwicks, statii, EBMMs etc etc
These days I'm much more comfortable to step out with whatever instrument has spoken to me on merit and let my playing do the talking, even though my playing has got more functional and less flashy along the way too!
In fact. I recently moved on a pretty good stingray simply because I'd bought a SUB Ray that was just an all round better instrument!
Go with what speaks to you. There's always some muppet who'll feel the need to show off or judge you for it, (usually without knowing all the details)
Like the guy who recently made a comment to me along the lines of my ray not being the real thing and me 'getting there one day'
I didn't bother to mention I've owned about six already.

Edited May 13, 2016 by gafbass02

[paul h]

I feel very much the same about my wife but I never let anyone else have a go on her.

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1463122517' post='3048712']
Like the guy who recently made a comment to me along the lines of my ray not being the real thing and me 'getting there one day'
[/quote]

I've had the reverse of that on a couple of occasions over the last few years... band members (particularly band leaders) developing an instant resentment towards me when they go home after an audition and look up what a Wal costs.

There is an attitude on the originals circuit that if you have a proper job and nice gear you're somehow not a proper musician... proper musicians play squiers and live on their mate's sofa.

Edited May 13, 2016 by CamdenRob

[DiMarco]

Pictures or it didn't happen Paul H!

On topic: There are dozens of techniques you can learn on a bass, some are very hard to master and some are hardly useful in an average band (like tapping strings or sweep picking on a bass). When someone starts doublethumbing on a jamsession it does turn some heads but really mostly all of the flash stuff to me feels gimmicky.

I can hold my own pretty well but when at a jam session or playing songs within a band I usually hold back, reinforcing the kickdrum and letting the snaredrum breathe with what I do. I am very concious about making the drums work well with whatever it is I am doing on the bass. No flashy stuff, just breathing air into the music.

At home, in my home studio attic while practising on my own I do try to master new techniques all the time just to see if it will be something I can work with. Nobody will ever notice I do these things. Currently I'm playing along to Yes tracks to see if I can get my pick playing to the same level as Chris Squire was. It is both intriguing and inspiring to fail bigtime and having to up my game. Some songs are going really well, others are a b1tch to master. These are the ones I focus on. Then when I return to my usual fingerstyle playing I can't help but feel good about myself and thinking "hey I really do this very well!"

Always remember:[list=1]
[*]Music is not a contest.
[*]You don't play bass to win jamsessions or youtube.
[*]Never stop learning.
[/list]
Keep enjoying what you do.

[gafbass02]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1463123239' post='3048722']
There is an attitude on the originals circuit that if you have a proper job and nice gear you're somehow not a proper musician... proper musicians play squiers and live on their mate's sofa.
[/quote]

Oh dear god yes, I know so many like that round here!

[MrDaveTheBass]

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1463123836' post='3048734']

Always remember:[list=1]
[*]Music is not a contest.
[*]You don't play bass to win jamsessions or youtube.
[*]Never stop learning.
[/list]
Keep enjoying what you do.
[/quote]

+100

[paul h]

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1463123836' post='3048734']

1.Music is not a contest.

[/quote]

You're never going to win with that attitude.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1463123836' post='3048734']
I can hold my own pretty well but when at a jam session or playing songs within a band I usually hold back, reinforcing the kickdrum and letting the snaredrum breathe with what I do. I am very concious about making the drums work well with whatever it is I am doing on the bass. No flashy stuff, just breathing air into the music.
[/quote]

I like your style.

[gjones]

All the gear and no idea is usually the preserve of guitarists in my experience. But we on Basschat are a different breed from the average bassist. We hear about the mythical Glockenklangs and the legendary Bergantinos the Wals and Pedullas and we know that if we played through that kind of gear, when we played Mustang Sally down the Pig & whistle, we'd have supermodels prostrating themselves before us desperate to have our babies.

Of course, on the other hand, Pino Pallidino plays a Fender precision, though a bog standard Ashdown ABM (I know it's his CS signature one but still it's just a Precision).

Will we never learn?

Edited May 13, 2016 by gjones

[neilp]

What's to learn where that's concerned? Pino's choice suits him, my choice suits me. If Pino's choice is right, then by definition so's mine, and yours.

[scalpy]

A student of mine owns a really nice Les Paul heritage. He bought it when he could barely play Satisfaction, and did have similar qualms about whether he was worthy, for want of a better expression, of owning it. He has got better, but now really enjoys appreciating it from a technical perspective, it's a beautiful thing, plays really well, sounds great, and when he does have those breakthrough moments when a new phrase starts to sound really comfortable he's not left thinking, 'if only I had a nice guitar and that would have been really special'. His viewpoint is that his musical journey is a relationship between him and that instrument and although that's hard to qualify, for him it's a beautiful thing.