The Bass thread (funk, Paul McCartney, guitar)

[mr dave]

Originally Posted by jkloring

okay, ph34r:
i saw this video today:

and i almost shat in my pants.
as of right now, there is nothing i want to do with my live other than strings and bass. so, anyone have good recomendations on bass gear? im starting today, and i need a bass ( i think 2 hundred watt speakers and a gutiar amp should work for a while ) but i have 2 or 3 years of gutiar experiance so im not totally in the dust. but the bass... its just so... so... i dont even know.
like when the groove slows and the pump rolls.
then the bass grows.
and some basic info would help, like,
do bassists in rock bands usually use distortion like the guitarists do?
what diffrent about the way the right hand manipulates the intrument?
are the huge fret spaces difficult to work with?

(ps. im not giving up guitar or any other intruments to learn bass, im just adding bass to the list)

yawn... check out some live squarepusher if you want pants pooping bass action. this guy is alright, his right hand technique is top notch, but overall meh.

do NOT run a bass through a guitar amp. you can run a guitar through a bass amp but you're asking for problems if you go the other way around.

as for the basic info you wonder about....

distortion? depends on the band, when it comes to bass less is usually more. i run mine through a russian big muff.

right hand action? entirely dependent on you. i used to slap and pop back in the late 90s, it's not something i do anymore. that's the technique buddy is using in that video, you slap your thumb on the strings in a percussive way and the noodley bits are done by pulling the higher strings with opposing fingertips so the string slaps against the fretboard. you'll notice that he's really only playing 3 octave patterns over and over for this clip until the very end.

the only time i use my right hand thumb on my bass strings now is a weird double slap thing i sometimes do in tandem with my little finger. my main technique during the last jam room was 3 fingers or a pick. there's no real limit to what you can use to attack the strings with.

fret size? never was an issue for me. the biggest issue i found when going back and forth between instruments was my reflex shape for certain chord shapes became warped after playing the bass for extended periods. you'll find you've got more finger strength and a greater reach when you go back to those puny little guitar necks hahaha