The Guitar Thread
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- stoplying0
I'm trying to get a better understanding of how to write bass lines that don't entirely mimic the guitar part. I've watched youtube vids but nothing has really sunk in for me. If any of you happen to know of any explainers that work for you, please share.
I think I know the theory that if you're playing a C G D chord progression, you could play any note in the C chord on the bass, then any note in the G chord, and D chord. Right?- concentrate on the root scale, most pop music if the song is in C maj you're using the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B. When it doesn't work it should be obviouskingsteven
- but yeah, chord shapes are important to me. like if i was playing in Cmaj I'm thinking about 3 places i can play a Cmaj chord and work around them but alsokingsteven
- C maj has the same notes as A min (circle of 5ths) so you can double your 'boxes' - a good cheat if you are familiar with chord shapeskingsteven
- Cool - thank you ksstoplying
- Focus on following the drums more. Start by playing a note on every kick and snare, then switch up the patterns (skip a snare, play two 1/8 notes on the kick)section_014
- In terms of the actual notes, lots of basslines are just root - 5th - octave. You can get pretty far just by using those.section_014
- play with the kick not the guitardoesnotexist
- Rhythmically, yes I play with the drums. But notes wise, these comments are great - thanks all.stoplying
- Never forget the rhythm of what you play too, move around the guitar and accent the drum — even one note can sound great.robthelad
- Fuck it, start by writing a really nice bass line with the drums and make the guitar fit around that.
youll probably have a better sounding track :)woowahesque
- theonlyengineerhere1
Probably timeline, but I don't care. Even stubby fingers can play with practice.
Richard Smith
- Met him a few times. Bloody lovely guy. And this is a video of him looking slim. The way he plays though, he's a modern day Chet Atkins.ShaneHolley
- kingsteven2
The best tone debunking demonstration i've seen
- Didn't Eddie Van Halen prove all this in the 1970s with his Frankenstrats?boobs
- Frankenstrat is a strat with tape on it lolkingsteven
- Big gimmicky but this guy has another great vid (the opposite phenomenon) where he demonstrates that tone is mostly the guitar cabkingsteven
- Weyland0
- metalApeRobot
- I'm a glass man mostly. Sound too messy with the brass one I've got.sausages
- yeah, I still use and like this one the most, I like the messy harmonics actuallyWeyland
- I really like ceramic slides. Sounds like glass, but they don't glaze the inside so there's raw ceramic...feels a little grippy, you have a little more control.JackRyan
- https://tinyurl.com/…JackRyan
- Glass, or socket wrench.boobs
- lnu8
- Nice, built an XII years ago and probably should have waited for one of theaekingsteven
- I could suck twice as bad on that thingscarabin
- Very niceYakuZoku
- Nice one! 1+futurefood
- Deserves 12 upvotesstoplying
- Have fun tuning it.boobs
- Longcopylover2
If a normal guitar is too basic for you.
- shapesalad-1
- Andrés Segovia - Concert at the Alhambra ( 1976 )shapesalad
- ok_not_ok3
- oh jaysus. incredible... was thinking if this was around £250 i'd get it. £450 eekkingsteven
- Treat yourself. It''ll only go up in value. A good place to park yer moneyzardoz
- already selling for over a $1000 lolfuturefood
- haha, shoegaze lawyerskingsteven
- Calderone20005
- Really want to try the Strymon DECO pedal.futurefood
- I really like it @future. Slapback delay, flanger/chorus like sound, the tape compression... it's all pretty subtle, but very versatileCalderone2000
- I eventually picked one up! It is so good. really belongs on every pedal board :Dfuturefood
- _niko5
My 16 y/o just asked me if he can get an electric guitar! so excited, he'd been making music electronically for the past 7-8 years and played acoustic when he was a kid.
I'm so stoked, and not sure why!
I have no idea about theses things so my question is what is a good one to start him off on? I'm guessing something used?
- Sounds to me like he's serious about music, so I'd push the boat out. A Les Paul (or its ESP equivalent), maybe a 7 string Ibanez for extra chunky goodness.Continuity
- If he was just fucking around and you knew he'd give it up in six months, then some used cheap as chips Yamaha thingy.Continuity
- Thanks Continuity, yeah more on the serious side something like this? https://cosmomusic.c…_niko
- or this? https://cosmomusic.c…_niko
- I guess he should just go to a shop and try a bunch for feel?_niko
- That Epiphone is very nice, and a really good starter guitar, imo. It's not top of the range Gibson/Epiphone, but still solid.Continuity
- And yeah, make an occasion out of it. Let him chug and shred to his heart's content until he has an idea what he wants.Continuity
- (I guess kids these days will want something that can be tuned to C or B standard without the strings going all slack, anyway)Continuity
- (If they're into metal)Continuity
- awesome, thanks man!_niko
- Don't take my word for it, though. QBN has far, far better guitar players than me!Continuity
- I got my kid the epiphone les paul. Good starterGnash
- https://www.long-mcq…Gnash
- its a bit of a minefield, if you know what guitarists he likes thats a good start.kingsteven
- thanks Gnash, there's a L&M not too far from me_niko
- if you know any good guitarists locally ask them to have a look on local classifieds. if you know what you're looking for you can find guitars with £500 ofkingsteven
- upgrades for the original price of the guitar... pickups, tuners, cases and 'played in' setups - stuff like light sanding the neck makes a professionalkingsteven
- instrument from anything. saying that aesthetics really matter, you have to want to pick up a guitar first, then continue playing it...kingsteven
- and you wouldn't want to go too metal (like my first guitar) and then have to sell it to play in an indie bandkingsteven
- ^ someone started with a BC Rich Warlock, didn't he? :DContinuity
- Dean ML ffs R.I.P. Dimebagkingsteven
- let him find the one he wants in the classifiedsdoesnotexist
- My first guitar was a warlock. It was so cringe learning and sounding like shit on such a cool looking piece. Switched to a les paul epiphonescarabin
- I'd take a Les Paul over a Warlock any day of the weak.
Now, an Explorer shape ... drool.Continuity - *weekContinuity
- Take him shopping you silly boy!robthelad
- niko, what did you end up buying him, man?Continuity
- stoplying0
How do you all string your guitars up?
Wrap and through?
or
Through and wrap?
- i twist the windy things for a bitdoesnotexist
- split posts are the businesssausages
- only have one guitar without split posts and do the old: through, wrap over, wind under.kingsteven
- i have a hofner that has split posts AND the hole comes out the back of the tuner so you trim at the back of the headstock, vorsprung durch technik!kingsteven
- A guy I worked with found a hofner 12 string at the bottom of a river in PNG many years ago and it still plays wellsausages
- i'd get the homeless guy with guitar to do it for me.pango
- kingsteven2
Not sure why it took me so long to try Dunlop Jazz III XL picks, I've been using 1mm Tortex IIIs or Ibanez Steve Vai for years (normal pick shape with a pointier Jazz III tip). But these are really something else: the grip, the bevel and the shape and size are all an improvement and they're less clacky than Tortex so a better all-rounder for lead and strumming. Seems I'm about 20 years behind on pick technology.
These 'Primetone' picks seem to be similar to the material used on Dunlop big stubbys but are a lot stiffer without the indented grip, 1 was expecting it to be floppier so bought 1.4mm. Seems perfect but going to try moving down a thickness and the same shape in Flow and Ultex in the name of science.
Boring post but worth thinking about if like me and every guitarist I know you've been using the same picks for 20 years!
- I've tried every pick out there it feels like. Keep coming back to a worn down Fender medium.section_014
- I’ve not seen that pick before. Always been Dunlop mediums for me.Gnash
- got the .88 primetones and love them too. probably a better all-rounder tbh.kingsteven
- Funny enough, I went down this same rabbit hole as I'm getting back into playing electrics after a long hiatus, and I ended up on the 1mm Tortex IIIs... for nownocomply
- I was previously a .88mm standard tortex guy. It's amazing how much more cleanly I can pick through the strings with the pointy Jazz III tip.nocomply
- I liked the regular Jazz III XL shape too. Maybe I'll give these Prime Tone ones a shot.nocomply
- kingsteven5
obligatory new bass day photoshoot in the garden
her name is Dr Pepper
arrived last week but committed this morning by taking wire wool to the nitro paint job on the neck, now plays beautifully and sounds incredible. got a new babicz 3-point bridge arriving this week and then she's getting slung down to B standard (and drop A!) for a new project.
- Sweet :)
isn’t that a guitar amp?Gnash - amp is amprobthelad
- bass amp is bass ampGnash
- Fender Bassman :D people use them for guitar but this one is a late 70's 135 - possibly the best vintage fender amp for bass. very clean.kingsteven
- nice :)Gnash
- Wow! Digging those pick ups toofuturefood
- Did that guitar originally have a pick-guard like the fender jazz ?Gnash
- Nice...I like the red. Love the Bassman too...killer amp.JackRyan
- Sweet :)