Fender: A Love Story

This week I have a bit of bass guitar history for y’all. You see without a certain little company by the name of Fender Guitars chances are I would not be blogging about music right now.

Back in 1951, shortly after the advent of electric guitars, electrical engineer Leo Fender and his employee George Fullerton got to work designing the world’s first production bass guitar: the Fender Precision Bass (P-Bass for short). This single pick-up beauty had a neck that was bolted on a slab body much like the earlier Fender Telecaster guitar.

1950's Standard P-Bass

Prior to this invention the low end of music was almost always taken care of by an upright bass (double-bass). These massive violin shaped instruments were hard to transport and very temperamental depending on the climate, not to mention the fact that playing them took years of practice. The P-Bass solved all these problems in one fell swoop. It was light-weight, not especially climate sensitive and could easily be picked up by any guitarist.

In the years that followed the electric bass guitar took the music world by storm. Fender’s major electric guitar rival, Gibson, released its own line of bass guitars with the EB-1 and the EB-0 and smaller companies like Rickenbacker and Danelectro released their own takes on the electric bass. Fender continued to rock the industry when they released the dual pick-up offset waist Jazz Bass (aka the J-Bass) and improved the P-Bass with a new “humbucking” split coil pick-up.

A classic 60's P-Bass

Nowadays Fender bass guitars are still an industry standard and undoubtedly the most common basses out there. Most bassists have at least one Fender in their collection and more often than not it is their main go-to bass for gigs, recording, jamming and practice.

Love for Fender also just so happens to be in my blood. My dad has an old 77’ American made J-Bass that is in absolutely spectacular condition with the original case and all the original hardware still intact. It is hands-down the most awesome instrument I have ever played. Even though I love finding strange off-beat and rare instruments a classic Fender bass just feels like home to me. I’ve owned 3 or 4 of them in my time as a bassist and my personal favorite is my Japanese made Aerodyne P-Bass. It has a P and J pick-up configuration, a flame maple top and a bound body that is thinner (and lighter) than most Fender basses. Unfortunately Fender discontinued the line shortly after I bought it so it’s a bit tricky to get your hands on one.

The Monk Montgomery (bass player sitting in between the two drummers in this video) is the very first professional musician to use a Fender P-Bass on tour. Just saying.

Types of Bassists (Part 1)

In order to further my purpose of helping the world understand bassists I think it would be to my advantage to give laymen a guide to the different types of bassists out there.

The Meat and Potatoes Bassist – This is probably the most common type of bassist out there. These musicians generally stick pretty close to the root note, don’t ask too many questions and hold down the fort for the rest of the band. Generally they are the master of a few styles of music and technique though they only get fancy when required. A great example of this type would be Tom ‘Two-Tone Tommy’ Blankenship of My Morning Jacket.

The Picker – This class of bassist is probably the second most common and is made up of the youngest demographic of bassists. These musicians are often converted guitarists who have not learned to play finger-style yet or they simply prefer the pick sound to finger-style. Many older bassists often look down on these players because the pick technique is considered easy (despite the fact both Paul McCartney and Sting used this technique quite often). Personally I rather enjoy playing with a pick when I get a chance. A great example of a modern picker would be Michael Jared Followill of Kings of Leon.

The Funk Master – This class of bassist enjoys playing in a “slap n’ pop” style using their thumb and finger to bounce the strings off of the fretboard and get that signature funk sound (see the intro to Seinfeld if you don’t know what I mean). It is technically much more challenging than picking and finger-style and often takes an experienced bassist to pull off correctly. Most people have probably heard Flea play some slap bass for the Chili Peppers though is you want to hear a true master check out Victor Wooten of the Flecktones. He is probably one of the greatest bass players of all time.

Of course these are many more types of bassists but I will get to them next week with Types of Bassists Part 2.

Jesus Band: Apparently Not All Musicians Are Created Equal

While I am still on the subject of my formative years as a bass player I feel I am about due for another story of discrimination against bassists. You see back at my wonderful sausage fest of a Catholic high school our campus ministry department gave us a quota of “service hours” which we had to complete on a yearly basis. In order to fulfill this requirement I joined the “music ministry” group which was just a loosely organized group of musicians who put together music for the weekly church ceremony.

Now I am not a religious person put this whole Jesus band experience was probably one of my favorite parts of high school. We got to skip homeroom and show up late to all our classes after church on top of the performance experience. Most of the time we spent just dicking around and playing just barely passable versions of the new age-y worship songs the campus ministry department gave us and a few of our own additions.

Throughout my years in the group we had a few different six-string slinging student band leaders (and the occasional 12-stringer). Usually they would organize all the music and bring it with them in the morning and even if things fell apart it was all in good fun. Like the rest of us they were not always the best musicians, but that just made everything more laid back. As the last one was poised to retire at the end of my junior year I was ready to pick up the torch of band leadership.

I felt I was perfectly positioned to be the band leader. I was on good terms with the campus ministry department, plus I had seniority over all the other members. I had perfect grades; perfect attendance and I could play all the music forwards and backwards in my sleep. Unfortunately there was one factor that I overlooked: my instrument was two strings short and an octave low of a guitar.

It turns out that the administration felt the position of band leader should be passed down to the senior member of the guitar playing line of the Jesus band much like the obsolete patriarchal succession of the monarchies of old. Now I try not to judge the senior guitarist too harshly, I mean it is not like he even asked for the position, but there could not have been a worse match for band leader.

My entire senior year in Jesus band can be characterized by me hauling equipment from my house to school (thanks to the draconian ruling of the band teacher which I will discuss in a later post) at around six in the morning and setting up the drum kit, music stands and microphones alone until our fearless band leader showed up an hour late without the music. He also had this mental inability to start a song that was in the time signature 6/8 which just happens to be about 50% of all church music. To make matters worse his guitar was made of ply wood and he had a tiny amp that we nicknamed the “T-Rex” because whenever he turned it up it had a distorted signal that might be desirable in some forms of death metal.

I did everything in my power to try and convince campus ministry to let me be leader. I came early and organized all the music. I led the regular band meetings. I even brought my own guitar amp to prevent the use of the T-Rex. No matter how much I pleaded with the administration they remained adamant that a guitarist was more suited for the position. They literally told me “we just don’t think that a bassist can start songs like a guitarist can.” As the cherry on top of my enduring the weekly humiliation of bad performance after bad performance they give this guitarist twice the service hours because he had more “responsibility” as a school “leader.” It was at this point in my life I decided I needed to start standing up for my people.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Singing Bassist

Early on in my quest to start a band and woo the fairer sex I realized that bass players go unnoticed more often than not and I set out to figure out what I could do to remedy this. In my research I discovered a common factor that connected all the famous bass players (with the exception of maybe Flea): every single one of them sings. Therefore the only way I could achieve my goal was to become that rare species of singing bass player. Unfortunately for me, it did not take long to realize why singing bass players were so uncommon.

Now I’m sure everyone has seen somebody sing and play a normal guitar. I’d say 80% of singers can sing while strumming a few chords or maybe playing a bit of piano, though rarely is one seen hanging out in the low end and the melody. I thought bass is just like guitar right? This should be easy. You just play notes and sing and next thing you know you are famous right? Well it turns out playing bass and singing is akin to playing operation without looking while reciting Shakespearean verse. If you don’t believe me try it for yourself.

I attempted song after song, but it was to no avail. I figured maybe I’m just not good enough. To test my hypothesis I picked up a guitar and learned a couple chords and literally within 15 minutes I could play and sing any song consisting of the chords G, C, D and E minor which any musician would tell you is the chord progression for just about every song ever.

I was completely baffled at this point. Why couldn’t I just sing while playing music like all the guitarists out there? The answer lies in some technical music mumbo-jumbo which basically comes down to the bass part of a song counters the melody (the sung part) of the song and the brain has quite a bit of trouble doing two opposing actions at once. So now the real question is how in the world do these people do it?

Thus began my obsession. I poured over hours and hours of Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, and Sting with a new found respect for what they were able to do. All three of them completely blew me away with their abilities. Then a girl by the name of Esperanza Spalding came in to my life. This Grammy winning jazz singer and bass player absolutely obliterated what I thought was possible in the realm of singing and bass playing.

With the divine inspiration I received from these bassists and their styles I painstakingly taught myself to play and sing. It eventually just came down to learning a song to the point it was muscle memory. After 5 or so years I could finally do it consistently. Even today after doing it for years I still find it challenging, but my bass heroes are testament that it is indeed doable.

Bass Player Origins

Before McCartney was coming together with Lennon, Harrison and Star on his trusty left-handed Hofner he was a rhythm guitarist. Before Sting was sending messages in a bottle he was playing piano with his mum. Before Flea was slappin’ the bass with the Chili Peppers he was playing jazz trumpet! Notice a pattern here? My point is bassists who started out on the low end of the musical spectrum are few and far between. It also just so happens that I am one of those few bassists who took the low road right of the bat.

See really I owe my love of the bass guitar to my dad. When I was younger he was the bassist in a country band called the Wooden Nickel. He never thought to make me or any of my brothers take music lessons like many musician parents. He instead went with the philosophy that we had to want to play music in order to learn.

This philosophy paid off when in my 12^th year of existence on this earth I had an epiphany: I like girls and girls like musicians… I should be a musician! And so my quest began to woo the fairer sex with the charm and, dare I say, swagger of an artist.

The first step was choosing my instrument. As this was an important rite of passage in my family my dad sat me down and laid out the instruments I could choose from. He was a multi-instrumentalist so I had the option of piano, guitar, banjo, drums, and of course the bass guitar. Piano was fairy boys; one third of the kids I knew played guitar; banjo was for inbred hicks and drummers have an alarming mortality rate.  Plus I was a pretty shy kid so choice was more than obvious. It also helped that my dad had a healthy collection of bass guitars to choose from.

After that fateful day I became absolutely enthralled with my 4-string wonder instrument. I promptly started a band with one of my guitar playing friends and started taking lessons at a local music shop. I realized at some point that I could substitute practicing music for doing homework without any domestic penal repercussions and voilà I was the best bass player I knew (I was also the only bass player I knew). And then there was high school, but I’ll save that story for next week. Until then checkout this amazing young bass player whom I will be talking about next week:

Though You May Forget the Bassist, the Bassist Remembers You

As I said the first week I’m writing this blog to help bring marginalized bassists into the spotlight and to get things rolling I want to address a certain issues that has been bothering me quite a while. Back in high school I had a very beloved English teacher who the students had nicknamed “Daddy.” Now one of the reasons he was so well liked by my classmates (who were all guys being as I attended some hoity-toity private Catholic school) is that he felt that in order for students to grasp literature they also had to grasp music. Every Tuesday he would introduce the class to a new artist and have us analyze the lyrics.

For a bro from Michigan Daddy actually had a surprisingly diverse music taste ranging from classic rock to hip-hop to obscure indie-rock. Given my music background I absolutely loved these Tuesday forays into the music world until one fateful day when he decided to crash into some DMB. Now I have nothing against the one and only Dave Matthews Band, in fact, I think they are some of the greatest touring musicians in the world, it’s just Daddy made a fateful omission that left my bassist senses tingling, and not in the good way.

So I’m sitting in class content as humanly possible and he begins his discussion with his signature “Aah-kay class. Today we have one a band that I have personally seen 30-odd times” (as only can be expected given his heritage), “This band is made up of the virtuoso violinist Boyd Tinsley, the world’s greatest drummer Carter Beauford, and of course the brilliant Dave Matthews.”

At this moment my mind is racing. Every fabric of my being wants him to remember that he had forgotten to at least mention Stefan Lessard, the genius bassist and fourth member of the band, but alas it is all for not. Daddy continues unhindered to talk about the recently deceased saxophonist and some mind-numbing story about throwing frisbees at one of their shows completely unaware of the spite he has just cast upon me. I’m heartbroken. How could this happen? Even “Grey Street” can’t keep the rest of the class leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

This, my friends, is exactly the marginalization that I am fighting to end! Bassists are just as much a part of the band as any other musician so people should treat them like people! Viva la Revolucion! Okay maybe I’m getting carried away, but regardless us bass players could use a bit more respect. In the mean time watch Lessard tear it up.

Who Needs a Bassist?

Last week I spent most of my time talking about the difference between a guitar and a bass guitar so this week I am going to talk about why bass guitars are important. I am sure some of you are wondering why is it that even though many musicians look down on basses and bass players they are in a majority of bands and recordings? You see as I said the first week the bass guitar has a very special place in music. Musically it occupies a space between percussion (drums) and the other instruments like guitars, horns, etc.

Without the bass a band with both drums and guitars would sound hollow. Take for example the (now disbanded) rock group the White Stripes. This duo is the only band I can think of off the top of my head that lack a bass player and don’t play with one live. Now let us compare the White Stripes to the Raconteurs.  Both bands include singer/guitarist Jack White, yet you will notice the difference the bass player makes in the overall sound of the group. The bass really helps to bring all the instruments together.

I am not saying I dislike the White Stripes, I just think they illustrate just how much sonic space is left open without a bass guitar. In a few weeks I will have a better example of this with a few samples from a recording I am working on with some friends. I’ll post it with and without the bass so you can a direct idea of the effect it has on a single song.

I could babble on for hours about the bass’ role in creating chord foundations and all that fancy dancy music speak, but for now all you need to know is that the bass serves a very important sonic purpose. Now that all this wonderfully boring official intro-to-bass-ology stuff is out of the way I can finally get to the fun stuff. Until next time check out this song by the White Stripes which features an actual bass line. It also happens to be their most successful song. Coincidence? I think not!

Guitar vs. Bass

Last week I mentioned that many people look down on or ignore the bass guitar which is, I believe, due in part to an overall lack of knowledge on the subject. To remedy part of this problem do not know the difference between a bass guitar and a normal guitar. In order to lay this question to rest I decided it would be best to show a side by side comparison of the two instruments to really give the musical layperson an idea of how different these two instruments are. The bass guitar is on the left and the normal guitar is on the right.

The most obvious difference that one might be able to see is that the bass guitar lacks the B and e strings of a normal guitar (the two highest strings) and has a neck that is quite a bit longer than that of a guitar. If you are ever in doubt which is which just count the tuners on the head of the guitar. If it has six it is most likely a guitar. If it has any number less than six (usually four) it will undoubtedly be a bass guitar.  Now bear in mind there are exceptions to this rule, but they are rare enough that it should not be a problem.

Now that you know the difference between how the two instruments look, the next question is probably how do they differ in sound? One of the more subtle things that you probably cannot pick up from this picture is that the strings on a bass guitar are much thicker than those on a normal guitar. The combination of longer string length and larger strings gives the bass a much lower range of notes. Lower range of notes? But BassRespect my non-musically inclined brain cannot fathom the sound frequency differentiation of which you speak without concrete examples! If only someone could give me some sort of side-by-side comparison. Fret no more reader, for I have already prepared such a comparison!

Hopefully this shed a bit of light on the subject of sound.

Now that you know the difference between the two instruments in general looks and sound the next major thing on the agenda in my quest to enlighten the world is the argument for why the world needs the bass guitar, but just does not know it yet. If you want any further bass listening check this out:

My Morning Jacket: Holding on to Black Metal

Stay classy and don’t forget to respect the bass!

BassRespect – The Mission

Bass players, that shy species of musician who, unbeknownst too much of the western world, have been holding down the low end of the music you listen to, dance to, love to, cry to, and all manners of verbs to every day. I proudly count myself amongst their ranks just as my father before me. The unfortunate thing I have found is that, despite being in almost every form of western music imaginable, we, as a certain Mr. Dangerfield once said, can’t get no respect! It seems every time the musician question comes up (OMG you’re a musician!? What instrument do you play!?) I get one of two distinct reactions when I state that I am, in fact, a bassist. The first of which is the typical drop in excitement and the polite “Oh… that’s cool I guess” or the classic “what’s that?” Other musicians and many laymen, especially those who have experienced the unbelievably boring bass mode in guitar hero games, would say that we are simpletons. Needless to say, the stigma involved with my instrument of choice has brought me to the breaking point. With this blog I am setting out to conquer the adversity that has befallen bassists across the globe. I am making it my mission to raise awareness of this misunderstood and down trodden race.

It is not like the bass is some obscure instrument like a daxophone ( no offense to all the daxophonists out there); though for some reason the bass has taken on the role of the quiet, backstage player in modern music. Maybe this phenomenon is caused by the fact that to the untrained ear it might be a bit hard to pick out of the mix; though I can guarantee that if it was not there you would here that open space. If I asked you right now to name the lead singer or the lead guitarist of a band I am sure almost anyone could rattle off hundreds of names right of the top of their heads. Now if I asked the same question about bassists I would get blank stares and maybe a “Flea” or “McCartney,” but I am almost positive that’s as far as the list would go. Sorry folks the ignorance ends here.

As one might be able to see I have a very large task set in front of me. Next week I am going to start tackling this beast with an introduction to the instrument in question. I am also going to feature one bassist a week to get world familiar with the low end. Also for all my fellow bassists I will start gear and music reviews for you in the upcoming weeks. For now here is some recommended listening to familiarize all the folks out there with the sounds of the bass:

The Jackson 5: “I Want You Back”

Rick James: “Super Freak”

Stay classy and don’t forget to respect the bass!