the length of a neck.

[gorham]

i am a guitar player (not bass) and have been for 7 year and i have never EVER had a go on a bass before. the last time i went into a guitar shop i happebed to turn around and see a new yamaha bass. i picked it up and realised 2 things. 1, bass guitars are very light and 2, i didnt ever realise how god damn long the neck is!. i dont know how anyone can go from playing a guitar to playing a bass!

[PhantomLord]

lol yes they are very light (smaller body than guitars) and yes, the necks are extremely long. a lot of times they are the same or thicker than a guitar's neck about halfway up til the end of the neck, with only four strings mind you, and gets quite skinny near the nut. it takes some getting used to but you'll manage...if you buy one in the future or whatever. the main thing that catches me out is far apart the strings are. if i'm playing a fast bass line, i'll go to move down and string and find myself picking open air coz they are that far apart. lol.

[tcook]

I'm just the opposite, played bass first and now regular guitar.
Damn necks are too short, strings are way to close together and doesn't your shoulder get sore holding up this lead weight???? And this "pick" thing....how do you hold this little piece of plastic still?

[Katau]

If I start playing my guitar immediately after playing bass for a while...it is sooooo much easier to run scales and just play in general...not sure why. It's kinda like a batter swinging the bat with a weight before stepping up to the plate...if that makes any sense.

[Peaceful]

I switch between bass, treble and classical. The later has a more parallel neck, the strings are not so close together at the neck end. Also, the Ibanez Gio is a "short neck" i.e. it is shorter than other basses. This makes the switch easier.

But yes, it can drive one crazy. Blaaaaahgibbergiibbergibber...

[PhantomLord]

what exactly is a treble guitar? i've seen you say it a couple of times now? do you mean electric guitar?

[Peaceful]

Yes, I am just being a smartass. Sorry.


Well, hey, it uses the treble clef doesn't it?

OK, I'll only use the term when I mean all such guitars: electric, folk, classical, flamenco, and whatnot, as a kind of generic term. After, all, the bass is king, is it not?

[Tingly]

-----ISSUES IN SWITCHING FROM BASS TO A REGULAR GUITAR-----

"LET'S GET PHYSICAL"

The spacing of the strings and frets is one issue with regard to the difference between a bass and a regular guitar. You have to really cover a lot of ground with your hands on the bass. It's very "physical" and, in the hands of most players, including me, not too subtle. But you are rewarded with tones that hit the listener in the chest as well as the ear.

FRET CLEAN AND MUTE YOUR BUTT OFF!

The other big difference is the clean fretting and muting that you must strive for with the bass.

When I play lead or rhythm guitar, on many songs, I'm happily strumming away vigorously on five or six strings. Especially plugged into an amp, I'm putting out so many decibels, and going so fast, that a minor buzz here or there is hard to hear. It's especially true when playing with a band with multiple guitars.

You can't do that on the bass. You need much more pinpoint control to keep the beat precise. You are usually the only bassist. Especially with a good bass amp and speaker(s), anyone listening carefully will hear your mistakes.

First, you need to be careful to fret each note cleanly or you get a twangy buzz that rarely suits the song and can mess up your timing.

Plus, you have to purposely extinguish the last note you played. Otherwise you will often (not always) get an unpleasant muddy overtone on the next note. One of the tasks of a good bass player is constantly trying to figure out, on the fly, how to mute the bass with either the left or right hand, to keep the sound clean.

[Peaceful]

"Plus, you have to purposely extinguish the last note you played. Otherwise you will often (not always) get an unpleasant muddy overtone on the next note. One of the tasks of a good bass player is constantly trying to figure out, on the fly, how to mute the bass with either the left or right hand, to keep the sound clean."

Yup. This the part with which I am have much trouble. ANy suggestions? (Other than 'practise, practise, practise')

[t_shirtsnjeans]

You gotta notice too that the bridge on a bass is almost at the strap button whereas a guitar is more centrally located with some ground between the bridge and strap button.
The distance between strings is necessary for the reason that they don't hit each other since the 'wave' length is so large.
Also the frets are farther spaced due to the long scale of the strings from nut to bridge.
Yep, gotta spread those fingers to reach different frets vs guitar.

[Ranger]

Wow tingly, I didn't think of that muting thing.

...I wonder what pinch harmonics on a bass are like. Probably like cutting a tree trunk with a pair of scissors, eh?