Bass solos....

[mc2NY]

Am I the only one here who doesn't really care for bass solos? I think I even prefer a drum solo over a bass solo....and I friggin' HATE drum solos.

I see a lot of posts of YouTube bass solos and songs with bass solos. Out of an entire band, the bass is pretty much LAST on my list of instruments I want to here someone solo with. Usually, I'm just thinking, "if you want to solo....go buy a 6-string guitar and let the band hire a real bass player."

Yeah, SACRELIGE!

I'd much rather hear a bass player who is playing a great groove or hook that he came up with that is instrumental to the song.

I guess I also feel the same about basses that have an abundance of root strings...anything more than 5 strings (a LOW B, being the fifth.) But I guess that most players who have all the extra root strings would likely fall into the "bass solo" category as well, no? Even a 5 with a High-C....um, you are a BASS player, why add higher notes?

Root-octave basses (8-, 10- 12-) to me are just to color the basic root note....sort of like a physical effects pedal....so I feel those are OK....as long as you don't feel you need to play some long solo on them.

I had a fill-in gig once with a band and right in the middle of some cover song, the singer yells "BASS SOLO!" wihtout any advance warning. I wanted to stop playing and just hit him across his head with my bass...but I bit the bullet and did a solo. But afterward in the dressing room I wasn't very polite and "WTF?!?" and "You're an a-hole" were in the conversation.

OK....blast away 

[nofi]

where ya' been. hardly anyone around here enjoys bass solos from what i can tell. uwe probably likes them strictly as a diagnostic exercise.

[rahock]

IMHO , a bass solo should be short and sweet, or not at all, preferably a tight break that remains consistant with the groove of the song. The big tempo change and total escape from the groove doesn't work too well with me. Every now and then the tempo change can work, particularly in something jazzy, but usually it just doesn't cut it. All that being said, I'm not a big fan of bass solos either but I never say never. Few and far between better states my sentiments .
Rick

[ilan]

It works very well in jazz. And in rock when done properly, Glover's solo on Pictures of Home is a good example. Anyway I prefer upright bass solos over electric. NHOP's solos are pure gold.

[Basvarken]

I don't like bass solos either. Especially the ones that don't have any relation to the song they're being forced into. All of a sudden the bass player feels to urge to slap, pop and tap.

The only bass solos that I like are the ones that are sort of incognito. Like the bass solo in Mr. Big by Andy Fraser of Free. From 3:51 on he's doing tasteful stuff there while holding down the groove and structure of the song.





Or Hand Me Down by Robert Kearns of Cry Of Love. At 3:40 he starts to slowly go from just accompanying the band into a more melodic and slightly busier bass part without being obnoxious.

[gweimer]

Listen starting about 6:10.  Paul Goddard was an outstanding bass player.

[gweimer]

You KNOW we have to post this...


In the beginning there was a bass. It was a Fender, probably a Precision, but it could have been a Jazz - nobody knows. Anyway, it was very old ... definitely pre-C.B.S.

And God looked down upon it and saw that it was good. He saw that it was very good in fact, and couldn't be improved on at all (though men would later try.) And so He let it be and He created a man to play the bass.

And lo the man looked upon the bass, which was a beautiful 'sunburst' red, and he loved it. He played upon the open E string and the note rang through the earth and reverberated throughout the firmaments (thus reverb came to be.) And it was good. And God heard that it was good and He smiled at his handiwork.

Then in the course of time, the man came to slap upon the bass. And lo it was funky.

And God heard this funkiness and He said, "Go man, go." And it was good.

And more time passed, and, having little else to do, the man came to practice upon the bass. And lo, the man came to have upon him a great set of chops. And he did play faster and faster until the notes rippled like a breeze through the heavens.

And God heard this sound which sounded something like the wind, which He had created earlier. It also sounded something like the movement of furniture, which He hadn't even created yet, and He was not so pleased. And He spoke to the man, saying "Don't do that!"

Now the man heard the voice of God, but he was so excited about his new ability that he slapped upon the bass a blizzard of funky notes. And the heavens shook with the sound, and the Angels ran about in confusion. (Some of the Angels started to dance, but that's another story.)

And God heard this - how could He miss it - and lo He became Bugged. And He spoke to the man, and He said, "Listen man, if I wanted Jimi Hendrix I would have created the guitar. Stick to the bass parts."

And the man heard the voice of God, and he knew not to mess with it. But now he had upon him a passion for playing fast and high. The man took the frets off of the bass which God had created. And the man did slide his fingers upon the fretless fingerboard and play melodies high upon the neck. And, in his excitement, the man did forget the commandment of the Lord, and he played a frenzy of high melodies and blindingly fast licks. And the heavens rocked with the assault and the earth shook, rattled and rolled.

Now God's wrath was great. And His voice was thunder as He spoke to the man.

And He said, "OK for you, pal. You have not heeded My word. Lo, I shall create a soprano saxophone and it shall play higher than you can even think of."

"And from out of the chaos I shall bring forth the drums. And they shall play so many notes thine head shall ache, and I shall make you to always stand next to the drummer."

"You think you're loud? I shall create a stack of Marshall guitar amps to make thine ears bleed. And I shall send down upon the earth other instruments, and lo, they shall all be able to play higher and faster than the bass."

"And for all the days of man, your curse shall be this; that all the other musicians shall look to you, the bass player, for the low notes. And if you play too high or fast all the other musicians shall say "Wow" but really they shall hate it. And they shall tell you you're ready for your solo career, and find other bass players for their bands. And for all your days if you want to play your fancy licks you shall have to sneak them in like a thief in the night."

"And if you finally do get to play a solo, everyone shall leave the bandstand and go to the bar for a drink."

And it was so.

[Stjofön Big]

Amen!

[Stjofön Big]

One of my favourite bass players is Phil Lesh in the Dead. Somewhere around '72 the guitarist Bob Weir made his solo album, Ace, with the rest of the entire Dead. In the Dead tune Playing in the band, Lesh goes all the way. It's so fuggin beautiful... from entry to end. You decide yourself:

[Dave W]

I don't like bass solos in general. Not willing to condemn all of them.

Bassists should always be serene and calm and stay in the background, like Frank DiNunzio in this clip. 

[Pilgrim]

Also obligatory:

A scientific expedition disembarks from its plane at the final outpost of civilization in the deepest Amazon rain forest. They immediately notice the ceaseless thrumming of native drums. As they venture further into the bush, the drums never stop, day or night, for weeks.

The lead scientist asks one of the natives about this, and the native's only reply is "Drums good. Drums never stop. Very BAD if drums stop."

The drumming continues, night and day, until one night, six weeks into the trip, when the jungle is suddenly silent. Immediately the natives run screaming from their huts, covering their ears. The scientists grab one boy and demand "What is it? The drums have stopped!"

The terror-stricken youth replies "Yes! Drums stop! VERY BAD!"

The scientists ask "Why? Why? What will happen?"

Wild-eyed, the boy responds,

" . . . BASS SOLO!!!" -

[patman]

If it serves the song, a bass solo can be cool...I always liked Charlie Haden's solo work...

[Big_Stu]

As a 16 year old kid back in '78 I sneaked (way under age) into a night-club to see my beloved Slade. Jimmy Lea had a new custom bass and in the middle of a cover of "Something Else" the lights went down & a roar came out of Jimmy's massive Hiwatt backline ............ from that night on I knew I had to have one.
It's the only bass solo that to me has a unique sound................


Years later the solo was extended and put into one of their own songs...........

........... and may years after that "some guy"  of this forum  did a Victor Kyam and bought a bass exactly like it.
Of course it does help to have the guts of an overdrive pedal built into it - along with two of the then highest output pickups ever made.

[gweimer]

I always liked Andy Fraser's approach, especially with Sharks.  While my favorite song is "Snakes and Swallowtails", which is pretty much a running bass solo, this is another good example of the bass running the song.




And probably my favorite bass line is running underneath this one.  James Jamerson did more underneath a song than most players do for solos.

[Aussie Mark]

The solo in "My Generation" is around the longest bass solo I can tolerate.