Bass Question

[hey_joe]

A thought that struck me today.

Is there a reason why basses neaver seem to have tremelos/ floyd roses?
Or pickup selectors??

Just wondered if anyone knew :confuse:

[Cashew_halves]

I think the pressure it too much? And I dont know about the pup selectors, I think it would be cool to have a guitar with just a blender switch like on most basses though.

[Vangogh1129]

Les Claypool puts a bunch of tremolos on his basses. I guess most people just don't get into it or don't do so much lead work with basses that it would be necessary I guess. I don't know, I don't even play bass...

[t_shirtsnjeans]

I think that the human ear wouldn't notice the fluctuation as much on a bass since it registers so low.

I could be wrong, but since I'm right most of the time the chances are good that I am this time too. :D

[thunder_bird]

Yeah Les Claypool uses a trem on his bass. As for pickup selectors, some basses have 'em but most basses with more than one pickup and i find with bass that i don't want to solo a pickup completely so you use the volume controls to mix the pickups to get the best sound for you. Also most active basses have a pickup blend control.

[Maverick Blues]

There are a few bassists who use wang bars. Vangogh1129 and thunder_bird mentioned Les Claypool; Vic Wooten also has a whammy on at least one of his basses. You can definitely hear them in action; the low registers aren't an issue or bassists wouldn't bother with string bending or finger vibrato either. :)

As to why you don't see them very often, I can offer a few guesses. For one, the electric bass is a newer instrument that the electric guitar, so it's had less time to evolve. For another, we bottom-dwellers mostly played a supporting role for so many years that the concept of bass soloing is newer still, and it seems to me that wang bars aren't as valuable outside of that territory. The higher string tension might be a technical issue, too: I once read a dissertation on a new bass vibrato bridge that only bent downward in pitch, and the comment made about wanging upwards on a bass was, "Good way to break a neck."

I think as more creative people explore the bottom end, we'll see more bass innovations, as well as more adoption of tools and tricks that used to belong only to six-shooters. Whammy bars being among them, of course. And slide bass -- unheard of not that long ago, but a few people have made it part of their "thing," and it will probably become less surprising as more and more players do. So who knows, you might not be able to ask your first question in five more years. :)

Regarding the pickup issue, I don't even have a reasonable guess, so I'll leave that one in the hands of those who have a clue. ;)

'rick

[thunder_bird]

I think the reason you don't see bass wammy bars very often is simply that they would cost alot more than a guitar whammy because they have to be alot stronger

[fenderpaw]

They do make whammys for bass. Hipshhot makes them and they are available from www.warmoth.com