Wrong bass for the job

[Beedster]

A singer I worked with certainly thought so, and pretty much tried to ban me from playing my Ric 4003 in a 3-piece indie/post-punk outfit in which both myself and the guitarist agreed the Ric worked way better than my Precision which the singer favoured. 

Playing Graceland tracks on a Fretless Ric feels wrong, playing on a Fretless Precision or Jazz feels right. Playing RHCP tracks on a Precision feels wrong, playing them on a Jazz, Ray or Modulus feels right. Playing Motown on a Modulus feels wrong, playing it on a Precision feels right. But in each case it has nothing at all to do with the sound the bass is making, because to the punters, and most of the musicians, the differences are insignificant.

But wow the differences are important to the bassist

[chris_b]

I've heard guys sounding fantastic playing MM Bongos, so anything goes.

[MacDaddy]

things change though.

When flying v's and Explorers first came out, it wasn't unusual to see them in country bands.

[gjones]

20 years ago my P bass got stolen and I had no choice but to go with the cheapest option in my local music shop, which was a secondhand Charvel by Jackson.

It was a 'Hair metal' bass and actually sounded great! But the pointy headstock and bright red paint job got a lot of snidey comments from the guys in the Blues band I played in and unfortunately it had to go 

[MacDaddy]

5 minutes ago, gjones said:

20 years ago my P bass got stolen and I had no choice but to go with the cheapest option in my local music shop, which was a secondhand Charvel by Jackson.

It was a 'Hair metal' bass and actually sounded great! But the pointy headstock and bright red paint job got a lot of snidey comments from the guys in the Blues band I played in and unfortunately it had to go 

those were great basses, sound like a P on steroids!

I only let mine go because being a shortarse I suit mid scale necks better.

[Woodinblack]

31 minutes ago, Beedster said:

But wow the differences are important to the bassist

Think it probably depends on the bassist!

[Beedster]

1 minute ago, Woodinblack said:

Think it probably depends on the bassist!

I was referring to me, so yes

[Beedster]

[Guest MoJo]

45 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

I must admit, I do like the instruments played to match the band style..... but a lot of models e.g.  precision can fit a lot of situations, whereas cricket bat bass has limited application for my money.

I need to like the look of my instrument and like it to fit the band.

I’m the same and went out of my way to find a Precision that closely matched our guitarists Buttercream Strat

[Rich]

3 hours ago, MoJo said:

Someone playing a 7-string Conklin in a blues band
 

Funny you should say that... way back in the day, the bassist in Chris Duarte's trio played guess what...  there used to be vids of them on youtube but I can't find them now, everything on there is far more recent.

[Huge Hands]

1 hour ago, Rich said:

I saw "The Commitments" (only 2 of the original lot were in the band, including the guy who was the mad drummer in the film but was now doing lead vocal, and not much cop at that sadly) some years ago... the bassist was playing an Alembic Mark King with a huge Trace stack, and yes he took a slappy solo. I do remember looking at my watch a few times.

 

I worked with them as a sound engineer on a one off gig around 2002/2003 with 3 original members.  The "mad drummer"(Dave Finnegan) was singing, the ginger drummer that quits in the film was playing drums, and the bass player was playing guitar.  I think the same Alembic guy was with them then and I didn't think it sounded right either.  My friend worked with them about 5 years before me and it was most of the origInal film band but with the singer Andrew Strong's dad.  He said dad was an even better singer than his son....

Dave Finnegan currently tours the UK with his own band doing Commitments stuff as the singer. A former bandmate of mine plays keys with him.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Huge Hands

[julfam]

I play Spector and no metal at all (not even rock). Never understood why those basses aren’t more popular in the non-violent world of music (even though I perfectly understand why they are popular in angry music)

Edited June 29, 2020 by julfam

[chris_b]

2 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I must admit, I do like the instruments played to match the band style.....

A few years ago I was thinking along the same lines. I was playing with an acoustic guitarist and an original rock and roll band so when a "double bass sounding" Rob Allen bass came up I jumped at it.

IMO it sounded pretty fantastic and perfect for both bands. The only reaction I got was indifference, and lukewarm indifference at that! I sold it shortly after and neither band noticed I'd changed back.

My main basses are a P bass and a Jazz so they fit in anyway, but that's the first and last time I spend money on trying to get a better fit for any band.

[dudewheresmybass]

I used to regularly play one of my bc rich warlocks in church, and in fact I did so on tv 😉

don’t know if there’s any video of it though 🤷‍♂️
does that count?

[Cat Burrito]

4 hours ago, No. 8 Wire said:

I wonder if that's where Alex Lifeson got the idea from.

That's actually better, in the sense that at least the Les Paul looks a bit more modern. Ace was playing an early 70s Les Paul with a late 80s Floyd Rose. At least with that design they look like they have tried to meet in the middle.

[Maude]

John Entwistle played a few basses you wouldn't expect to see in The Who, but as soon as he did you totally expected to see them. 

[Angel]

Not a personal experience, but I never thought that Rhino's status bass looked right with Status Quo. 

[Merton]

I play in an original pop/punk type band and our singer keeps on at me to get a Fender P. As far as I'm concerned I've scratched the "Fender-sh" look with my Zoot Funkmeister so that's the bass of choice onstage.

 

EDIT: the first gig we did with them I did actually play my Finn 4 which is a natural ash body/maple neck. No-one passed any comment whatsoever. Except the singer saying "it'd be better if it was a Fender". I keep threatening  to buy a double necked Overwater or something

Edited June 29, 2020 by Merton

[Guest MoJo]

42 minutes ago, Angel said:

Not a personal experience, but I never thought that Rhino's status bass looked right with Status Quo. 

Perfect example 

[Beedster]

Could someone who is competent with Photoshop and is also furloughed produce some images of, for example Flea with a Rickenbacker, Mark King with a......... Rickenbacker, in fact pretty much any bass player other than Macca, Lenny, Lee, Squire or Rick James with a Rickenbacker  

Or Lemmy with a Status? 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Beedster

[paul_5]

9 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Geddy lee played a steinberger for a while. That never looked quite right

Yeas, NOBODY looks good playing a Steinberger.

[MacDaddy]

18 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Could someone who is competent with Photoshop and is also furloughed produce some images of, for example Flea with a Rickenbacker, Mark King with a......... Rickenbacker, in fact pretty much any bass player other than Macca, Lenny, Lee, Squire or Rick James with a Rickenbacker  

Or Lemmy with a Status? 

Steve Harris is clanky at the best of times, imagine the awful racket if he was playing a Ricky 😝

[Guest MoJo]

26 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Could someone who is competent with Photoshop and is also furloughed produce some images of, for example Flea with a Rickenbacker, Mark King with a......... Rickenbacker, in fact pretty much any bass player other than Macca, Lenny, Lee, Squire or Rick James with a Rickenbacker  

Or Lemmy with a Status? 

Sounds like a challenge 

[jacko]

I play my fretless 5 string alembic in my blues trio. Couldn't give a stuff what anyone thinks.

[jacko]

10 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Geddy lee played a steinberger for a while. That never looked quite right

I disagree. It was the perfect bass for his crocket and tubbs 'big money' video.