guitarJ Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Over the years I have noticed I like music with awsome bass lines more than ones with awesome guitar parts. I am more than a little concerned that I may have been playing the wrong instrument for the last 25 years! During lock down, I have tried to record more stuff and am now thinking of playing my own bass lines rather than importing real tracks from BIAB. I have a Henriksen 312 which is a bass amp being used for my guitars currently, so just need a bass now and figured I would try and learn a bit from the wisdom here to make the right call. Also, I have no idea how to play bass, so might need to dig in to technique concepts too. I play jazz mostly and watching Stanley Clarke playing School Days was another reason to consider venturing into the world of 34inch scale lengths! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Hiya GVTDS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldwinbass Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Excellent move, guitarj, Stanley is an inspiration for many. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Good afternoon, GJ, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, guitarJ said: Over the years I have noticed I like music with awsome bass lines more than ones with awesome guitar parts. I am more than a little concerned that I may have been playing the wrong instrument for the last 25 years! During lock down, I have tried to record more stuff and am now thinking of playing my own bass lines rather than importing real tracks from BIAB. I have a Henriksen 312 which is a bass amp being used for my guitars currently, so just need a bass now and figured I would try and learn a bit from the wisdom here to make the right call. Also, I have no idea how to play bass, so might need to dig in to technique concepts too. I play jazz mostly and watching Stanley Clarke playing School Days was another reason to consider venturing into the world of 34inch scale lengths! Well, Stanley Clarke's main electric basses are actually short scale basses, which means referring to him it would be 30" scale length. So that's a thing to consider too. Especially since it might make the transition easier for you coming from guitar. Personally I converted first from guitar to mainly playing 34" scale bass, then to almost exclusively playing short scale basses, though I have continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. The, fortunately less and less common, myth goes that short scale basses are beginner/amateur instruments (what ever that is even supposed to mean (no such thing as beginner or amateur instruments, only beginner/amateur players)), and that they are somehow lesser than regular 34" standard scale length basses, and while there might have been some truth to the latter notion in the past, seen from the perspective of the general quality of the options for short scale basses the market used to have to offer people who wanted to play such an instrument (and how they used to be, and in some cases unfortunately still are, marketed), there are now tons of high quality short scale basses available to chose from, from a wide variety of brands, and absolute top of the game players like Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Mike Watt mainly playing short scale basses ought to be more than plenty evidence in the first place that before mentioned myth in fact has always been nothing but a myth, made up and passed on by ignorant people. Anyway, welcome to the dark side! Edited June 23, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarJ Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said: Well, Stanley Clarke's main electric basses are actually short scale basses, which means referring to him it would be 30" scale length. So that's a thing to consider too. Personally I converted first from guitar to mainly playing 34" scale bass, then to almost exclusively playing short scale basses, though I have continued to play guitar on the side line all along. Am learning already! Thanks BB - I was also looking at 30’s too as unsure how I’d adapt to adding 9” to my normal scale use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, guitarJ said: Am learning already! Thanks BB - I was also looking at 30’s too as unsure how I’d adapt to adding 9” to my normal scale use. Great. I wish you the best of luck. As for adapting, at least I hadn't that much of a problem with it. Think it might seem more of an issue than it in reality is. Way back I personally switched from having guitar to having bass as my main instrument of choice, and I didn't experience any major issues, I actually think it is really mostly a matter of attitude, turned out I had really been thinking more like a bass player all along, and I felt sort of a relieve when I started to play bass, playing bass just came much more naturally to me than playing guitar ever had, and I also started out on a 34" scale bass, and stuck to that for over 10 years, before I eventually had yet another revelation when I first discovered, and then later switched to almost exclusively playing, short scale basses. Also please read my edit/update of the post you quote me for. Edited June 23, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) One of us, one of us! You’ll never regret the move, I certainly haven’t. Edited June 23, 2020 by ezbass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Welcome J. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, guitarJ said: I was also looking at 30’s too as unsure how I’d adapt to adding 9” to my normal scale use Some people experience difficulties in the early days but not usually for very long. Without wishing to appear to burnish my own credentials, I play bass and guitar, and swapping from one to the other no longer involves any thought or adjustment. You just put the one down and pick up the other one, different mindset, different motor skills. This is the case for many people. Logic suggests that going to 30" from 25" should be easier than going straight to 34" but, honestly, it doesn't seem to make much difference, especially if you play standing up. Short, medium, long scale: they're all good. The weird thing is how, over longer periods, alternating between bass and guitar bleeds back into how one approaches each instrument. I've just come off a couple of years of mostly guitar and my bass style has definitely changed as a result. Edited June 23, 2020 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 8 minutes ago, skankdelvar said: my bass style has definitely changed as a result. I bought a 3/4 Valencia guitar a while back, just to dabble with on the sofa, and I’ve found myself playing basslines on the acoustic and chords on the bass, I need to sort things out 😄 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarJ Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 21 minutes ago, skankdelvar said: Some people experience difficulties in the early days but not usually for very long. Without wishing to appear to burnish my own credentials, I play bass and guitar, and swapping from one to the other no longer involves any thought or adjustment. You just put the one down and pick up the other one, different mindset, different motor skills. This is the case for many people. Logic suggests that going to 30" from 25" should be easier than going straight to 34" but, honestly, it doesn't seem to make much difference, especially if you play standing up. Short, medium, long scale: they're all good. The weird thing is how, over longer periods, alternating between bass and guitar bleeds back into how one approaches each instrument. I've just come off a couple of years of mostly guitar and my bass style has definitely changed as a result. I am rather hoping that some bass playing will improve my guitar playing. 2 less strings will help and being forced to follow the changes for the full duration of a tune is surprisingly difficult for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 6 minutes ago, guitarJ said: being forced to follow the changes for the full duration of a tune is surprisingly difficult for me. ... as it is for so many of us 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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