Bass heaven, bass hell

[Norris]

Heaven - a decent music venue packed with punters and a great sound

Hell - a boomy village hall fitted with a sound meter that cuts the power if anybody speaks above a whisper

[SH73]

Heaven- you can hear bass in Iron Maiden albums 

Hell- Lars Ulrich instructed that bass is muted almost to the point you can't hear it in ...and justice for all

[Barking Spiders]

other bass heavens and hells 

heaven - basslines loaded with 16ths played fingerstyle a la Rocco Prestia

hell - solo bass stuff when whatever's being played might as well have been done on a guitar

[Pow_22]

Bass Heaven - Old P bass with flats through a B15 (Babbit, Dunn, Jamerson)

Bass Hell - New roundwounds and a million miles an hour slap and pop rubbish

Edited February 5, 2018 by Pow_22

[EliasMooseblaster]

Heaven: walking into a shop like the Bass Gallery, and seeing all the beautiful instruments lining the walls, which quickly becomes...

Hell:...when I see the price tags hanging off them.

[Bilbo]

Heaven - Decent charts and a band that can read 'em and play.

 

Hell - too many rehearsals because someone/no-one can read.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Bilbo

[ellie]

Bass heaven: playing with a tight three piece band

bass hell: playing with drummers I can’t lock in with

[NickA]

For me: 

Bass heaven = The Enormous Room played by Michael Manring on his Zon hyperbass; Jaco's basslines on Joni Mitchell's Hejira; Percy Jones weaving beautiful chaos on Noddy goes to Sweden .. and you know, now and then, Mark King playing Sandstorm.

Bass hell = some bloke, in a covers band, thumping out roots and fifths on a (relic-ed) passive precision fitted with flats

But it strikes me that we're arguing more about tastes in music than about what bass players should do.  If you like Jazz you want to hear a complex,  ever moving bass-line that weaves around the harmonies of the music.  If you like Rock then you probably want to hear a solid foundation with few frills or thrills - and doing either really really well, is heaven in its way. 

There are of course people who manage both kinds of playing almost simultaneously, for which I finger Richard Sinclair, Tony Levin and (a little left field) Steve Swallow - who's playing is never flashy and often harmonically weird, but all the same, somehow very special.

[JBP]

Bass heaven= Finding a bass that looks great, sounds great, and feels great to play...

Bass hell= dropping it 

[cetera]

Bass heaven = A grinding, growling Spector (a la Eddie Jackson of Queensryche on Operation Mindcrime/Empire albums). Melodic, supportive grooves and basslines of classic 70's bassists like Peter Cetera, Tiran Porter, John Deacon, Paul Goddard, Dee Murray, Rutger Gunnarsson, Joe Puerta, David Paton etc. Active PJ style basses. Beautiful mwaaahhhing fretless tones.

Bass hell = 6+ string basses, slappers demoing gear and making it sound like they're falling down the stairs, players more concerned with showing off technique/note count than locking the groove.

Edited February 15, 2018 by cetera

[Burns-bass]

Bass heaven - a desert gold limited edition Stingray on the music stand

Bass Hell - a 16 month old baby about to smack it with a TV remote control (I managed to stop her!)

[Monkey Steve]

Bass Heaven - writing a really satisfying bass line for a new song, complicated enough to keep it interesting, hitting all the right melody and drive, locked in with the drums and supporting the song

Bass Hell - the guitarist saying "just play A"

[Mykesbass]

20 hours ago, NickA said:

But it strikes me that we're arguing more about tastes in music than about what bass players should do. 

Ooh, can't really agree with you on this - many of the posts are criticising specifics, not attacking different genres. My post was about inappropriate bass playing - one highly skilled and respected player doing the wrong thing in the wrong song.

[neilp]

On 05/02/2018 at 15:07, Barking Spiders said:

other bass heavens and hells 

heaven - basslines loaded with 16ths played fingerstyle a la Rocco Prestia

hell - solo bass stuff when whatever's being played might as well have been done on a guitar

16ths are called semiquavers in the real world...

[LegateNaarifin]

Heaven: mids

Hell: no mids

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, neilp said:

16ths are called semiquavers in the real world...

I think you’ll find that quavers in the real world are a processed food snack flavoured with cheese.

[neilp]

I think your real world must be different than mine. What is this "snack" of which you speak?

[Burns-bass]

3 minutes ago, neilp said:

I think your real world must be different than mine. What is this "snack" of which you speak?

They’re like a poor relative of Wotsits.

I reckon if you took a straw poll of the ‘great’ British public the majority would mention cheesy snack than a musical note.

As an old man it’s another reason to shake my head.

[neilp]

You may well be right. I'm on a mission to change that in my little patch of the UK though.

When did I last eat a Wotsit? Long time ago....

[Hobbayne]

Bass Heaven - Ska, Early 2 Tone

Bass Hell - Root note plodders (often played by guitarists) 

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

I think you’ll find that quavers in the real world are a processed food snack flavoured with cheese.

A Semi-quaver is a half eaten one 

Edited February 15, 2018 by dmccombe7

[musicbassman]

Ah - that explains the old Tower of Power favourite..........

...........What is Chip?

 

......sorry............

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, musicbassman said:

Ah - that explains the old Tower of Power favourite..........

...........What is Chip?

 

......sorry............

Deep fried or Americanised crisps

[razze06]

Heaven: Groove

Hell: Bass Solos

[PaulWarning]

heaven, bass below the waist played with a pick

hell, bass just under the chin played with fingers, I'll get my coat and put my tin hat on