What are the essential differences between guitar and bass

Supportact · May 2022

'It's got too many strings and they're too close together'

- the bass player in my old band while looking at a guitar with obvious discomfort

stickyfiddle · May 2022

Dave_Mc said:

fretmeister said:

Musicman20 said:

Also, I've personally noticed that higher gain guitar is much easier to sound good compared to clean bass.

The best bass sounds have a surprisingly high amount of dirt on them

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It's almost the opposite from guitar, then, guitar (I think!) seems to sound more distorted once it's recorded.

Yeah, less is more with gain on guitar. But you do often want a much more scratchy trebly tone for a mix than when in your bedroom

Dave_Mc · May 2022

stickyfiddle said:

Dave_Mc said:

fretmeister said:

Musicman20 said:

Also, I've personally noticed that higher gain guitar is much easier to sound good compared to clean bass.

The best bass sounds have a surprisingly high amount of dirt on them

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It's almost the opposite from guitar, then, guitar (I think!) seems to sound more distorted once it's recorded.

Yeah, less is more with gain on guitar. But you do often want a much more scratchy trebly tone for a mix than when in your bedroom

Yeah a lot of the isolated guitar tracks on recordings sound awful when listened to alone!

fretmeister · May 2022

stickyfiddle said:

Dave_Mc said:

fretmeister said:

Musicman20 said:

Also, I've personally noticed that higher gain guitar is much easier to sound good compared to clean bass.

The best bass sounds have a surprisingly high amount of dirt on them

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It's almost the opposite from guitar, then, guitar (I think!) seems to sound more distorted once it's recorded.

Yeah, less is more with gain on guitar. But you do often want a much more scratchy trebly tone for a mix than when in your bedroom

I love recording metal with single coils for that reason.

I pretty much set the sound up with humbuckers, and then leave it alone and play it with a strat. Works really well.

Double tracked of course for those tiny variations that do so much. None of that copy-paste crap. There's zero point having duplicate identical tracks.

stickyfiddle · May 2022

@fretmeister ;That sounds a good approach. I'm not a metal guy but I love a Jazzmaster with all the "shrill" top end that so many people hate. Put them in a mix and it's just fatness for days

roberty · May 2022

@fretmeister I discovered this recently. I think scale length and string gauge comes into it as well as the pickups. I've had really good results doubling a G-style humbucker guitar with my Gretsch baritone

fretmeister · May 2022

Thundercat's view

Dave_Mc · May 2022

fretmeister said:

stickyfiddle said:

Dave_Mc said:

fretmeister said:

Musicman20 said:

Also, I've personally noticed that higher gain guitar is much easier to sound good compared to clean bass.

The best bass sounds have a surprisingly high amount of dirt on them

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It's almost the opposite from guitar, then, guitar (I think!) seems to sound more distorted once it's recorded.

Yeah, less is more with gain on guitar. But you do often want a much more scratchy trebly tone for a mix than when in your bedroom

I love recording metal with single coils for that reason.

I pretty much set the sound up with humbuckers, and then leave it alone and play it with a strat. Works really well.

Double tracked of course for those tiny variations that do so much. None of that copy-paste crap. There's zero point having duplicate identical tracks.

Yeah. I don't record, but I tend to leave my amps set up the same way for that reason, too- that way I really hear how the different pickup types sound.

Rocker · May 2022

Interesting that nobody commented on the bass for Johnny B Goode and how I feel it is disconnected from the song and the rhythm. Anyone care to take this a bit further?

fretmeister · May 2022

Rocker said:

Interesting that nobody commented on the bass for Johnny B Goode and how I feel it is disconnected from the song and the rhythm. Anyone care to take this a bit further?

It isn't disconnected from the song or the rhythm at all. It's mostly played on every beat in 4/4 and then in some places as quavers. It is true that the original recording is quite lacking and some bass notes stand out in odd places, but it is one of the most "on time" bass parts ever written. It's just a walking bass line that moves with the chord changes without anything weird going on.

The bass part was played by Willie Dixon. The style is very common for the era and the music type.

This cover version has the bass turned up a bit and has the music on screen.

EricTheWeary · May 2022

I presume the original bass line on JBG is played on double bass, Willie Dixon was a double bassist and I don’t think ever played bass guitar. That would possibly account for the uneven recording (although it’s basically inaudible just on my iPad). I’m not really sure how it’s disconnected from the song.

Jailhouse Rock by Elvis is usually credited as the first hit single to feature electric bass (it had been used in jazz and sound track recordings before then and hadn’t really been taken up by more popular artists) so still having double bass on JBG seems right ( 57 for Elvis, 58 for Chuck).

fretmeister · May 2022

WD never played bass guitar so it has to be a DB.

What a player though.

I didn't know that Jailhouse Rock was thought to be the first electric bass single. That's going in the useless memory bank for the next pub quiz!

EricTheWeary · May 2022

The soundtrack to The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951 has supposedly the first recorded electric bass and Monk Montgomery played it on several jazz recordings in the early fifties. But Bill Black switching from upright to a Precision behind Elvis is effectively the start of its use in pop/ rock music.

First use of fuzz on record? On bass of course…(skip to 1:25 if this isn’t to your taste!)…

https://youtu.be/h-ZD-Zzlfro

fretmeister · May 2022

That's great! Not heard it before.

Musicman20 · May 2022

Sorry I probably should have been clearer!

I mean as in, actually playing a guitar with lots of high gain can be much more simple than playing a very clean and fairly busy bass line......less to cover up.

Most the guys I know who play in heavier bands really struggle with a cleaner tone.

ToneControl · May 2022

ICBM said:

fretmeister said:

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It constantly amazes me that when I hear my bass through my fuzz pedal - which doesn't even have a clean blend - on its own, the bass sounds incredibly gnarly and distorted... but as soon as everyone else is playing, it's only slightly "not clean". I really don't know why!

maybe the bass's distorted components are at the same frequencies as the other instruments (and get less noticeable), whereas the fundamental sine waves are still in their own space

roberty · May 2022

Musicman20 said:

Sorry I probably should have been clearer!

I mean as in, actually playing a guitar with lots of high gain can be much more simple than playing a very clean and fairly busy bass line......less to cover up.

Most the guys I know who play in heavier bands really struggle with a cleaner tone.

A lot of YouTube demos are like that. Shonky clean playing followed by decent high gain chops

roberty · May 2022

ToneControl said:

ICBM said:

fretmeister said:

Youtube is full of isolated bass tracks that sound horrible on their own, but amazing in the mix. They sound much cleaner in the mix too.

It constantly amazes me that when I hear my bass through my fuzz pedal - which doesn't even have a clean blend - on its own, the bass sounds incredibly gnarly and distorted... but as soon as everyone else is playing, it's only slightly "not clean". I really don't know why!

maybe the bass's distorted components are at the same frequencies as the other instruments (and get less noticeable), whereas the fundamental sine waves are still in their own space

I think that too. The treble freqs where the clipping is obvious are kind of masked by cymbals and other treble

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What are the essential differences between guitar and bass

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