Been Playing since 1989
Hi All:
I've been playing Bass since 1989 and have certainly learned a thing or two over the years.
I started as a bass player for the Jazz band in High School. U2 was one of the first bands I used to play along with, mainly because the bass lines were soooo frickin' easy. Especially songs like WOWY, etc.
As the years went on and I got better and better I started reaching out and listening to new types of music with different bass players/bass styles.
I really wanted to learn how to play funk / slap bass after hearing guys like Flea rip those bass lines. It took me the better part of 5 years to learn how to slap correctly.
Then I started to listening to bands like Primus, Phish, and others, where the bass player is more of a main member of the band and less of a "rhytym section member" of the band.
I do have to say that Mike Gordon of Phish is probably my biggest influence now.
He plays all styles. From traditional rock bass like Adam Clayton, to Funky Bass like Phish. He is also a tremedous soloist and is great at improvisation. Gordon really got me into learning about the instrument. You see...he won't just play the same 4 notes over and over again. If there is a Guitar solo, he is listening to the guitar and is basically soloing with it building with the solo, responding to it, etc. Truely amazing.
Gordon was also the first bass player that I ever heard use effects. That got me down a whole other road. He uses distortion, delay, and has probably the best effect of all...an envelope filter (basically an autowah much like the effect edge uses on Mysterious Ways)
As far as guitars...I started out with a 4 string Washburn. (Washburns are the best to learn on in my opinion). I now play a 5 string Yamaha. I also have a 4 string washburn acoustic bass.
My amp is an older Peavy stack with 18" woofer and 2 8" horns. I am looking at getting a new Eden stack. They are sweet.
For effects, I currently use a Digitech Whammy II pedal for pitch shifting, A Boss Otive pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron envelope filter, an Ibanez Tube Screamer (Distortion), a Boss BP-6 multi effects processor (used mostly as a preamp, eq, and delay), and Line 6 delay box (used mainly for sampling and loops), and a Boss loop station.
I really don't play much U2 bass anymore, even though they are one of my favorite bands. It just isn't challenging anymore. I can learn Adams licks in usually a few minutes. I do, however, play some of Edges guitar parts on my Bass.
I started getting into playing 2 and 3 string chords about 5 years ago. Once you start playing chords on bass, it is hard to stop. So...since I knew chords and had all of the effects, I would start to learn Edge's guitar parts and play them on my bass. As of now, I can play Bad, WOWY, UTEOTW, Mysterious Ways, and ISHFWILF, among others.
If I am ususally playing along with someone on CD, it is usually phish, since the music is very bass intense. Some songs I'll use several different effects, play chords, slap, and play traditional bass all in the same song. What bass player wouldn't want that?
I also like listening to Les Claypool. They guy is crazy...but amazing. I have to say that Victor Wooten from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is hands down the best player out there in the music industry. I can't even begin to do what he does. It is rediculous.
Anyway...just thought I would put in my two cents.
For you newbie bass players out there, check out "Down with Disease" or "Free" by Phish and you'll see what I'm talking about. "Tweezer" is also good.
bostonfan
