Your Bass doesn't 'suit' the band...

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1488058245' post='3245564']
Thank you Comrade ✊

☺
[/quote]

Welcomski

[chris_b]

When I joined my first pro band, a 10 piece soul band, I threw away my falling apart and crappy Framus and bought the only "pro" bass I could afford, an old Gibson EB0. I duly turned up at the first rehearsal and was told, "That won't do". They then thrust the singer's old Danelectro into my hands.

I didn't throw my toys out of the pram, I was in Brussels, and had to stay, but when I tried the EB0 on a rehearsal. . . they were right. It didn't fit at all. I hated the Dan but it definitely sounded 100% better. They even hired in a 1962 Fender P for the album.

I made enough in that band to buy a new Fender Precision, which I played for the next 25 years and still have.

Lessons learned. Never assume you know everything. Never assume the other guy knows nothing. A P bass will get you through any gig on the planet.

[Skybone]

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1487852799' post='3243521']
More traditional? Bring an upright.

In thrash metal anything is used that tickles your fancy, from lethal spikey b.c. rich to firewood fenders, steinberger paddles to rics.
[/quote]

I remember watching a very technical death metal band at a gig, where the bassist impressed me massively, by not only being very good, but also by playing technical death metal very well using a double bass.

[Bolo]

I wouldn't say it is a common sight, but it happens

[radiophonic]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1488063492' post='3245612']
When I joined my first pro band, a 10 piece soul band, I threw away my falling apart and crappy Framus and bought the only "pro" bass I could afford, an old Gibson EB0. I duly turned up at the first rehearsal and was told, "That won't do". They then thrust the singer's old Danelectro into my hands.

I didn't throw my toys out of the pram, I was in Brussels, and had to stay, but when I tried the EB0 on a rehearsal. . . they were right. It didn't fit at all. I hated the Dan but it definitely sounded 100% better. They even hired in a 1962 Fender P for the album.

I made enough in that band to buy a new Fender Precision, which I played for the next 25 years and still have.

Lessons learned. Never assume you know everything. Never assume the other guy knows nothing. A P bass will get you through any gig on the planet.
[/quote]

That cuts both ways though. When I joined my current band they were into the stingray big time (my predecessor had a G&L),but declared the fretless jazz to be 'nice but not for us'. I stuck to my guns on a few songs and eventually a live video surfaced on a club night's Facebook page. I got a text the following morning 'DON'T sell the fretless!'.

[arthurhenry]

Dave Pegg plays a fanned fret Ibanez in Fairport Convention.

[radiophonic]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1488097839' post='3245704']
Dave Pegg plays a fanned fret Ibanez in Fairport Convention.
[/quote]
To be fair, I doubt Dave Pegg cares what anyone thinks at this point.

[Sibob]

Use it as an excuse to buy this?:

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/nmktc7.jpg[/IMG]

Si

[chris_b]

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1488096938' post='3245695']
That cuts both ways though. [/quote]

Yes it can, but as I say my experience is that the guys who give us bad news are not always wrong. As a bass player we should always be assessing ourselves and what we do and how we do it. I've seen so many guys who thought they were great when the rest of the band were plotting to sack them because they weren't.

[LukeFRC]

When I first read the thread I thought they were going to tell you you needed 6 strings and to downtime everything!

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1487794562' post='3243063']
Our front man said what he wrote was for a Precision bass sound so I used a Precision for a bit, then I used my Precision Lyte, he liked the sound of that more! So I used the Jazz for a couple of gigs, he really liked that so I swapped to a CMI Rick, he loved the look of that one but we agreed the sound probably didn't work...now I use the USA Stingray Sub for gigs! He has been persuaded from writing songs with any particular bass sound in mind

I shall probably stick with the Ray now he has stopped imagining he was writing with some mythical bass sound in mind!
[/quote]

To be fair on him it depends on the songwriters ability. I'll use a example from my own work - I work as a graphic designer/art director - if I've come up with an idea for an advert I can define exactly how I want it to look, what my vision for it is. If I work with a photographer for instance I can direct exactly what I want their shot to look like.
What is often actually better is for me to explain to the photographer what we're trying to achieve what I'm thinking and then leave space for them to bring their own ideas, skills and expertise to the party. Depending on the photographer those ideas will either be in a different league to my own, or not. Clever in my book is working with people more skilled than yourself!

So going back to your songwriter - the guy could be Brian Wilson, and the sound is up there in his head- he knows and could describe what each sound would sound like - and our job is to make that a reality.
Or he could be a guy with a few chords stitched together and not much imagination of what the bassline would soundlike and how it should all fit together. Or somewhere between the two.
I would rather play in Brian Wilson's band myself.

For the OP - maybe the band leader has a really good idea of how the visuals of the band should work and fit together? Maybe the Yamaha and PRS ruin that? It's more a question of understanding why that visual look works for her and deciding what instrument fits for it.
IMO as a visual artist image wise it's the fret markers on the yamaha that would annoy me.
Just looking at the video to "heavy situation" the trad style instruments kinda do work with what you're trying to do- it lets the band visually fade into the background a bit.

Bigger visual problem for me is your lead singer's guitar strap being WAY too short to look in anyway cool.

[Krysbass]

As has been said before; if playing in a tribute band where a particular bass is synonymous with that band then yes; there's a strong case for following that.

But other than that; my view is that sound, playability and the personal preference of the player out-guns image every time!

[Skybone]

To misquote a film:

"This is my bass, there are many like it but this one is mine"

[FinnDave]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1488220386' post='3246943']
To misquote a film:

"This is my bass, there are many like it but this one is mine"
[/quote]

"And this one, and this one, and those two over there....."

[Leonard Smalls]

Funnily enough I've just joined my first metal band, and not only are they happy with my Wal, but they don't mind me playing funk and even disco bass lines!

[radiophonic]

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1488222283' post='3246975']
Funnily enough I've just joined my first metal band, and not only are they happy with my Wal, but they don't mind me playing funk and even disco bass lines!
[/quote]

Didn't Newstead use a Wal with Metallica? I'm sure he played both 4 and 5 string Wals when I saw them on 'Justice', and on the 'One ' video.

[CamdenRob]

I have a character flaw (among various others) where the more I am told I must do something (outside of work) the less likely I am to do it...

I've left a few projects where I've been expected to play a certain bass... Being asked to play a bass other than the one you have chosen seems to have as much to do with asserting the authority of the person asking as it does anything to do with the aesthetics of the band.

If you cave in it's basically saying someone else's opinion of what your playing is more important that your own... and what follows that? "Hey mate maybe you should try playing that bassline like this instead..."... its a downward spiral...

[CamdenRob]

Having said that, if I needed the gig for money I'd play / wear anything in whatever style the band leader wanted...

[chris_b]

I've been asked not to play a particular bass (Gibson EB0) and I've been asked to play one (Wal Mk3 Custom). I was fine with that because I understood exactly the objective of the request.

For the same reason I'm putting on a Tux for a function next week.

[ivansc]

And in typically PC fashion we are all studiously ignoring that as usual this is The Female In The Band trying to assert dominance via a trivial meaningless "sticking point"

Bless 'em.


I have only ever worked in ONE band where there was a female member and no aggro. And she, of course, was the bass player!

Edited March 2, 2017 by ivansc

[Wolverinebass]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1488446969' post='3248956']
I have a character flaw (among various others) where the more I am told I must do something (outside of work) the less likely I am to do it...

I've left a few projects where I've been expected to play a certain bass... Being asked to play a bass other than the one you have chosen seems to have as much to do with asserting the authority of the person asking as it does anything to do with the aesthetics of the band.

If you cave in it's basically saying someone else's opinion of what your playing is more important that your own... and what follows that? "Hey mate maybe you should try playing that bassline like this instead..."... its a downward spiral...
[/quote]

My thoughts are exactly the same. It's a downward trajectory of the assertion of power that they can make you do something. Absolutely nobody will tell me how to play a song as that for me is Defcom 1.

I have the exact same "flaw" in that I will not be "told" to do something though if it's "suggested" I'll think about it.
Only over the course of my life has this dawned on me that this isn't a flaw per se but a byproduct of growing up in a fairly rough area of Scotland where being told to do something would inevitably have negative consequences. So my reaction is ingrained behaviour. Invariably it's the correct one though there have been a few great opportunities I've screwed up because of this where the more someone has persisted, the more I've dug in. Whether it's been worth it as a price to pay for not putting up with being stepped on is something I've never fully decided.

[chris_b]

All you guys who refuse to be "told" anything must be the band members from hell for the other guys in the band.

[radiophonic]

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1488490245' post='3249495']
And in typically PC fashion we are all studiously ignoring that as usual this is The Female In The Band trying to assert dominance via a trivial meaningless "sticking point"

Bless 'em.


I have only ever worked in ONE band where there was a female member and no aggro. And she, of course, was the bass player!
[/quote]

Then your experiences are very different to mine. The last three bands I've been in have been mixed and when conflict has emerged there's been no correlation with Gender. Usually it's been a non-instrumentalist lead singer throwing their weight around or somebody deciding they want a more prominent role in the decision making process. I can't remember who this quote is from - 'A band is a democracy, comprising a limited number of dictators'.

[TimR]

Classic Passive-aggressive behaviour.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive-aggressive_behavior

[fftc]

It's early days for me as a bass player so this might not be worth the pixels it's written in, or it could be wisdom from a fresh perspective. Who knows?

I'll play anything with four strings that someone will give me. I'm not going to buy a new bass unless I want to, and whatever I'm playing I'm going to try and make it sound like me. If that is not what someone is looking for then so be it.
As a hobby it's supposed to be fun, and trying to be something you are not to please others is not my idea of fun. YMMV and all that.

[mcnach]

[quote name='fftc' timestamp='1488534252' post='3249689']
It's early days for me as a bass player so this might not be worth the pixels it's written in, or it could be wisdom from a fresh perspective. Who knows?

I'll play anything with four strings that someone will give me. I'm not going to buy a new bass unless I want to, and whatever I'm playing I'm going to try and make it sound like me. If that is not what someone is looking for then so be it.
As a hobby it's supposed to be fun, and trying to be something you are not to please others is not my idea of fun. YMMV and all that.
[/quote]


there's something there about wanting to be yourself etc... for sure, don't be a pushover. But a band is a group of people and that is going to mean discussion and compromise, unless you're all clones and think 100% alike all the time, or you're all hired hands (in which case you'll do as told,, full stop, and smile for the cameras if they want you to ).

I think many hobbyist musicians (like myself) can get a little too precious about their gear and what they play. I've seen this coming from insecurity in some cases, from sheer bloodymindedness in others, selfishness... and a few times because their artistic integrity was superior. In other words: I've never experienced that attitude to be a positive thing. Just like being a pushover will also not take you to anywhere nice either.

It's a balancing act. You have your preferences. Others have other preferences. Together you push and pull and discuss and sometimes even argue, why not? an argument does not have to be something where someone is trying to subjugate another... in the end, if you have sufficient in common, you end up moving in a direction you've collectively decided, and carry on. You need to be flexible. And balanced. Leave your egos in a pocket of the gig bag, locked. You'll have more fun.