Crossed-Over Bass Players

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:08 pm

I vote for the 12!

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:40 pm

I was thinking over all. Brand model and all that. Whats some bands that used the 660? Cause id like to hear some examples of it. Im not getting a 12 string. Iv never had a guitar and the only time iv played one is like 2 or 3 times when my friend came over. I think it be better to start on a normal guitar. I dont really care to get real into it at the momment. Im more worried about my bass. But Im gonna teach myself guitar so i can write some with it. I dont have a guitarist really at the momment. But i can find people to play with. My singer plays guitar but not very well. They dont write anything either. So i was gonna write both the bass and the guitar. We still have to find other people. But i figured for the time being i can use my drum machine and write songs on the bass and guitar.

I want a guitar i can get alot of different sounds out of. I listn to blues, rock, metal, hard rock, jazz (havent heard any jazz guitar i dotn believe). I just want something that i can cover a wide variety with.

ratso · Post by **ratso** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 6:01 pm

Bassist with a yen for Beatle guitars. Besides my Ric 4001, I have a 360/12V63 and a couple of 325's (1958 and 1966)!

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 8:12 pm

I'm primarily a bassist who dabbles in guitar for songwriting and campfire singalongs, etc. I have 4 Rick 4003 basses (and a couple of non-Ricks) and one Rick 660/12 guitar, along with a couple of non-Rick electric and acoustic 6-strings. The 660/12 is a slam-dunk easy call as the best guitar I've ever played. My next 6-string guitar will be a 660/6, no doubt about it.

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:35 am

Although I consider myself a bass player, I also play guitar, and in fact, started out on guitar back in 1968. A year later I took up the bass. My wife is always saying "you play both!" She's right, but doesn't understand I take more pride in being a bass player!

I currently own about 15 instruments. For basses, I have 4 5-strings (one is fretless), and an 8-string bass I built myself. I own two 4001's. One is a mapleglo I bought new in 1972 (cost me about $274!) and the other I picked up used back in the 70's, is another mapleglo 4001. from the serial number it is a mid 60's model. They have been modified way too much, I hate to say, but I plan on restoring them real soon...

I used to own two Mosrite Ventures basses. I sold one of them. The other was never in playing condition. I had a Hondo II P-bass copy I made into a fretless P/J bass with a whammy bar, but I got rid of that a couple of years ago. I still have my Ibanez Soundgear 5, which I'm going to give to my 13 year old son. I also have an old King upright bass.

For guitars I have a '72 Mustang, a hybrid Tele/Strat/Paul I built (think of a Tele with a thick body, carved maple top, and three pickups), a frankenstein Charvel strat with a tele neck and real old Overland EMG mini humbucker and one EMG strat PU, another parts guitar strat with weird paint job, a lucite Danelectro longhorn copy with a Dano neck I made back in 1980, and a hand made nylon string guitar. I had an '81 Les Paul Standard, but it suffered a fall and got a cracked neck, which I fixed, but it never played the same, so I traded it for an Oberhiem Matrix 6 keyboard. I also had a Vox Phantom XII Stereo, which I sold a few years ago.

I've always wanted a Rick guitar, but the necks are too narrow!

Most of the time I play my zebra wood top 5 string and either the frankencharvel or the tele hybrid.

jps · Post by **jps** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:21 pm

660s are not too narrow, try one!

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:12 pm

How much are the 660s going for? Ill probly get a used one or something like that. Thing is im not looking to spend as much on a guitar as i would on a bass. Im just looking for something that isnt horrible. 500-1,500 is probly it. It depends on how much i can push out for Xmas, and how my savings is doing. Probly not good cause im getting a Ric 4001-4003(not sure which) asap.

jps · Post by **jps** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:35 pm

Jacob,
E-mail sent about a guitar for your consideration!

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:46 pm

Thanks for the Email. I sent one back. I gotta work things out with my parents to do anything. So I cant do anything yet. They have final word on anything. Sadly.

jps · Post by **jps** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 4:59 pm

Not a problem!

I have time, it's not going anywhere.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:44 pm

I am always worried about guitar players who started playing bass. They usually play it like a rhythm guitar! Of course, they play the guitar part to Smoke on the Water! It could just be a nasty prejudice on my part so.........

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:12 pm

Charly i dont care for many guitarist at all. Is that bad on my part? Yeah probly. Most of the ones i know are just show offs. But maybe ill change my mind once i get into it.

edski · Post by **edski** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:35 am

Hey, ALL musicians can have a tendency to be, let's be charitable here, "odd".

Singers - know nothing but have huge opinions on "how it's supposed to sound"

Drummers - Flakes who have suffered "contact concussions" from years of pounding.

Guitarists - Flashy showoffs who don't know when to stop their riff/solo.

Lord knows what they say about bass players!

Actually, the guitarist I've played with for years is not at all a flashy showoff, but he does have some sterotypical "guitarist" tendencies. Especially being too damned concerned with his "tone". Seems every week his effect chain is different, and he wonders why the heck it doesn't sound "the same". Ugggg

He suffers from the overplaying at times, and then at times goes into a shell. He's gifted at ripping out a lead, but when it's a new song he's not comfortable with it's "I don't know what to do".

Joe's tried to learn a bit on bass...I tell him there's not much for him to "learn", it's just a matter of doing it. What, after 20 years of guitar playing I have to tell him where an E note is? I guess I can try to communicate some of the common tricks we bass players use, but most of that is either 1) already known by the guitarist (if they know a shred of theory) and 2) really only refined by experience.

When it comes to string instruments, I played bass well before I could manage a guitar. My guitar "style" has been described as "angular" by some, and I feel more comfortable playing rhythm parts, but honestly, I weave enough licks into my guitar playing that I avoid the constant pounding out of block chords. And I won't spend two measure on any given chord without slipping in some other inversion to break the monotony. Bass playing guitarist? I guess I am, but in the six years (99-04) that I was exclusively on guitar (well, about 99%) no one ever said to me at a gig "hey did you used to play bass? I could tell"

So I feel that I'm equally at ease with either bass or guitar. It's funny, I've played piano the longest (since I was about 3 or 4) but I've NEVER felt comfortable playing keys in a rock setting. So go figure.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:26 am

Most guitarist i know concider destortion their best friend. I wounder why. You dont even have to play the right thing just get it close and no one notices. Look at Nirvana.... I like them but they suck. A guitarist i was gonna play with loved them. After awhile i got tired of everything he wrote sounding like Nirvana. He couldnt write anything to my bass lines either. So im learning guitar so i dont have to deal with that again. Ill write the bass and guitar line. If the guitarist writes anything ill write a bass line to it too. But im not depending on them.

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:34 am

Talent is not judged by the number of chords you know. A million notes a second doesn't make you a good musician. In fact, no one is a good musician until they understand where their place is in the mix, and 99% of the time that doesn't require overcomplicating matters.

Guys like Yngwie or any of those other "look at me, I have technique!" cats aren't musicians, they're jocks. I would much rather "suck" in some terms than have to deal with someone putting me down behind my back or to my face because what I play isn't up to their standards of what defines being "good".

I got away from sports in part to leave behind that kind of attitude. It's a shame that "art" is infected with it as well.

Rant over.