Bassists, lend me your ears!

Sharma

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Well as i've been training myself i've been wanting to expand my knowledge of bass styles and such, in the form of other bassists music.

I was watching a band last night performing blues style music and noticed how different the bassist was fretting and finger playing basically.

I was wondering if any of you lot could reccomend any bands/artists for practice basically, I was told "Rush" were a good band to practice on and im wondering if theres any others.

I'm mainly wanting stuff from genres such as Hard Rock, Indie and Blues/country etc.
 

tRoG

Fledgling Freddie
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Definately give some Rush songs a whirl. Geddy is an absolute monster :)
A lot of bands which come from that 70s prog background have very technically able bassists, eg. Chris Squire from Yes.

Also, if you haven't tried any of his stuff yet, give Jaco a shot. He'll soon loosen up those tendons.
 

old.user4556

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Derric

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Les Claypool from Primus is a kinda interesting bass player too. :p
 

Gat_Decor

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Big G said:
For funk/slapping, verging on jazz - try Louis Johnson; fucking master.


From the 'Brothers Johnson' ?


Sharma you might wanna give a listen to some Early Level 42 stuff, Mark King is pretty nifty
 

phlash

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Sly Stone? good for that laid back thing....

I'll get slated :), but Sting in his Police days? Perhaps some chords / riffing tricks from dear ol' Lemmy (Motorhead)? and for reggae try Robbie Shakespeare (along with Sly Dunbar on drums of course).

Back to the 70s with John Entwhistle or even Jack Bruce in Cream!
 

AccidentProne

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Perhaps a bit obscure, but Rob Wright from NoMeansNo is an outstanding bassist. I believe Geddy Lee from Rush rates him as one of the best.
 

shanks

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harebear said:
They kinda suck but Mudvayne's bassist is pretty cool.

Pfft, one of the few nu-metal bands I wont bitchslap someone for namedropping.
 

Gat_Decor

Fledgling Freddie
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The Brothers Johnson got me thinking about other bassists from the 70's-80's Disco era, give some 'Chic' a listen to also (i know its not the genre you're after), Bernard Edwards could knock out a riff or two
 

mank!

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peter hook of joy division/new order.

check out the bass riff from the smiths' barbarism begins at home as well.
 

Doomy

Fledgling Freddie
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Yeah peter hook is good (without shiny leather trouser posturing).

Nomeansno have an amazing bassist. As said above.

Also Kim Deal of Pixes, Breeders and The Amps fame is well worth learning.
 

Bodhi

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Check out Billy Gould from Faith No More. Makes Flea look like the amateur that he is.
 

old.user4556

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Flea? Average?

Come on mate, are you rolling treble strong spliffs today? :)
 

Bodhi

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Big G said:
Flea? Average?

Come on mate, are you rolling treble strong spliffs today? :)

Nah, Billy Gould is just that good he makes Flea look like an amateur. The Chilis always were a poor man's Faith No More anyway, just cos FNM split and the RHCP sold out dont make it any less so.
 

Sharma

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Great stuff all this, having great fun atm and was blown away watching some of the videos on google videos.

I'm looking around my area for a bass tutor now to help along with my technique (Because of those videos im really wanting to master the slap techniques).

As of today i'm now the proud owner of what i've always wanted for a Bass Amp.

Ashdown Electric Blue 180w head + 200w cabinet.

Setup.JPG


Anyone know a lot about tone configs though? I'm fiddling around atm and getting some decent sounds but i'm still a little confused over it.
 

old.user4556

Has a sexy sister. I am also a Bodhi wannabee.
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Not the best in the world, not the fastest, not the most balls-out impressive bass solo in the world, but there is something beautiful about the tempo and chord progressions that I love about this slow pondering ballad.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1878363951912527992&q=bass+solo

Maybe it's my frame of mind at the mo (thinking of a woman lots at the mo)

Edit: love the moonlight Sonata bit, also changes tempo and goes a bit redneck at the end.
 

old.user4556

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Sharma said:
Anyone know a lot about tone configs though? I'm fiddling around atm and getting some decent sounds but i'm still a little confused over it.

What sound are you going for?

A lot of "getting the sound" is experiment, and trial and error. I've been playing guitar/bass for nearly 10 years and i'm still seeking new sounds and tweaking what i've discovered. I've added digital delay to my mix of effects and that's opened a whole new set of sounds up.
 

tRoG

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Sharma said:
Anyone know a lot about tone configs though? I'm fiddling around atm and getting some decent sounds but i'm still a little confused over it.

Turn all the EQ knobs to centre and adjust slowly from there, as needed. You don't need to twiddle everything: I find EQ to be a case of less is more. Too much just makes the sound really artificial and horrible.

I normally boost the mids so that I can be heard better, then cut or boost the lows a tad depending on the room.
 

Trem

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Tim Commerford from Rage Against the Machine is awesome.

Also have a look at Alan Partridge in series 2, he fucking owns the air bass.

:D

Also I totally and completely agree with what Bodhi said, FNM pwn RHCP in every way. Flea ain't an amateur but hes a baby compared to the FNM bassist. Also what Mank said is the truth.
 

Sharma

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Well, things are looking up atm.

I have finally found a tutor which teaches a brilliantly well rounded knowledge base, 20 years past experience playing an incredible amount of different styles ranging from Folk to Blues to Jazz and all the way to pure death metal!

Steve Hoggart is the guys name, he's a brilliant guy as well, very patient.

So im hoping this time next year I should at least be starting on the advanced level playing, he has said that within a year he'll be starting on advanced slapping and tapping techniques, i'm very confident that i'm going the right way about things as far as my bass playing is going.

On a side note I have recently aquired an Envelope Filter and a Zoom B2 FX pedal, both amazing pieces of kit to transform the sound of the bass, I have yet to twiddle around making my own effects yet but I am going to start having a good mess around soon enough.

I'm also looking at one of these Line 6 Bass XT pods, anyone used one before?

Have talked to a mate who's used one before and he said it took his Bass from standard sound to professional level with a fantastic edge.

I'm still looking for my bass tone atm, I have the amp I needed as per the picture I posted earlier but I think the Bass Pod XT is what I need.

Basically what im after is a mellow tone while playing tapping and finger plucking but with an edge for when I play slap/pop. From what I can tell it's a hybrid sound between Flea/RATM but with a mellow edge but clean sound.
 

Jupitus

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Sharma said:
Well, things are looking up atm.

I have finally found a tutor which teaches a brilliantly well rounded knowledge base, 20 years past experience playing an incredible amount of different styles ranging from Folk to Blues to Jazz and all the way to pure death metal!

Steve Hoggart is the guys name, he's a brilliant guy as well, very patient.

So im hoping this time next year I should at least be starting on the advanced level playing, he has said that within a year he'll be starting on advanced slapping and tapping techniques, i'm very confident that i'm going the right way about things as far as my bass playing is going.

On a side note I have recently aquired an Envelope Filter and a Zoom B2 FX pedal, both amazing pieces of kit to transform the sound of the bass, I have yet to twiddle around making my own effects yet but I am going to start having a good mess around soon enough.

I'm also looking at one of these Line 6 Bass XT pods, anyone used one before?

Have talked to a mate who's used one before and he said it took his Bass from standard sound to professional level with a fantastic edge.

I'm still looking for my bass tone atm, I have the amp I needed as per the picture I posted earlier but I think the Bass Pod XT is what I need.

Basically what im after is a mellow tone while playing tapping and finger plucking but with an edge for when I play slap/pop. From what I can tell it's a hybrid sound between Flea/RATM but with a mellow edge but clean sound.

Has your bass got active pickups ?
 

Sharma

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Indeed it has...Which is why I shake the house at full volume! :D
 

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