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All about the Bass
Dear MonaLisa,
for as long as i have been listening to Rock-n-Roll, i have been fascinated by
the five-string bass.
It just seems to me that a bass guitar isn’t a bass guitar without a B string.
But i can find very few well known bass players using a five-string bass.Good old Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) played a six-string bass – with a C string above (B)-E-A-D-G.
He was considered to be augmenting Jerry’s melody line.Of course John Entwhistle augmented Townsend’s melody line with a four-string bass.Entwhistle said the Who have no formal (rythm) bass player.
And the Doors bass guitar was Ray Manzarek’s left hand.
BTW – Manzarek owes you a thumbs-up for “People Are Strange”.Anyway just a few questions.
1) Does the Wagner household have any experience and/or feeling pro or con about the five-string bass?
2) Do you favor Jazz or Precision basses?
3) Did John Sebastian happen to bring over a baritone guitar when he came for a visit?
I have read that he is very fond of them.
Cheers ladies -
13 Replies
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Hi Thomas,
Since Dad is the main bassist in the house, we’ve passed this question on to him 🙂 -
Hi Thomas,
We learned the hard way that we have a very different taste regarding the ideal bass sound than most bass players. It is almost 180 degree opposite to the development bass sound has taken in popular music.
One of the reasons we like 60s music so much is the bass sound from this era: this humming, pushing bass that you can feel more in your stomach rather than hear with your ears when playing in lower registers. At the same time you would hear lots of infatuating lyrical melody lines. A perfect accompaniment that never interferes with vocals or guitars but supports and enhances the song.
Nowadays basses often get praised for their sustain, how much treble they can produce or how many strings they have. That is perfectly fine when you also want to use them as a solo instrument. Since we care more about how the bass sounds within a song, we usually prefer almost exactly the opposite: a rather short sustain with a distinct and very defined attack, a warm wooden tone. And we prefer short-scale and 4 string basses because of the better playability. We also never missed the only thing you really gain with a 5 or more string bass – the lower notes. If we’d really need a low D we’d prefer to tune the E string down but we never had to.
To answer your questions:
1) As we are not into the style of music where a five or more string bass can shine, like Funk or Jazz/Rock/Fusion, we think it is mostly not the right tool for our purposes.
2) Neither 🙂 It is just not the kind of sound we’re after. Our favourite bass sounds are a great acoustic double bass, a Höfner violin bass, a Rickenbacker 4001 and all with flatwound strings. One of the most important choices regarding sound are the strings. We exclusively use a special kind of flatwounds that have a lot of thump and enough presence to not sound too muddy but still sound like a bass and not like a guitar.
3) He did not bring an instrument but we dimly remember that he might have mentioned his baritone guitar (we talked a lot about instruments).
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Thanks to Rudy for a thoughtful response.
2 minutes about John Sebastian & a baritone guitar
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A 5-string base very prominent in a live recording.
Pablo Cruise had quite following out here – they are still kicking.
This is from 2013
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I love the bass on MLT songs! Something about the tone is just perfect, and the creative playing makes me smile. It really supports and enhances the song and is a real reason to like the song.
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Rudi, the “sound we’re after” is absolutely genius and a huge part of how masterful and engaging the MLT sound is. Love it!
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As a bass player myself, I think the 5 string is overrated, but like Rudi said, it’s really about the sound you are going for. As for sustain, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone get more sustain than I can get playing the open E on my Ibanez 4 string SR 300(it’s 14+ years old, and Ibanez has changed the model so unfortunately, finding one exactly like mine is difficult).
Also, the type of strings matter.
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Hi Jim,
i never picked up an instrument. That’s more technical info than i can process.
I just think open B has a place in Rock-n-Roll sometimes.
You can’t get down to 30.87 any other way can you ? Other than the 2nd white note on the piano.
Cheers
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That is true Tom. Like I said, it’s all about the sound you are going for.
One should also point out that since my music room isn’t sound proofed (and I’m sure I’m not the musician with that issue) playing a note that low through my Beringer BXL3000 amp would feel like an earthquake in the house, and knock every picture off the walls.
I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for the Low B. Just that I don’t find it useful in the music I play.
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I love the bass here. When I first heard it, I thought the bass could be more prominent, but after I listened more (earbuds recommended) there is a lot going on here. It would be a shame to have the bass overpower the vocals and guitars. Don’t you love the stereo mix of Mona’s blues harp at 1:30?
https://youtu.be/h3JnZBz0Zrohttps://youtu.be/h3JnZBz0Zro
There is a new discovery around every corner. Am I late to the party? I just noticed Lisa inhaling an air drop underwater. Click this link. I am trying to post it to begin at 4:40
https://youtu.be/h3JnZBz0Zro?t=284https://youtu.be/h3JnZBz0Zro?t=284
Rudi’s got the bass. I love this one.
JP
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JP, speaking of bass, I also like the way the bass kicks in from the beginning giving an unsettling mood as Noting Is In Vain begins that captures your attention right away. And then I love the way the song ends. Such masterful effects in the song. What about the incredible bass line in Songbird too. It starts off in a minor mode giving a dissonant feel. It provides a melancholic feel at the same time the vocals are beautiful and uplifting, giving a feel of mixed emotions and longing, and then when the harpsichord part comes in later, it catapults your spirit joyfully into the clouds. And those drum parts are like fireworks stirring up your soul. What an emotional journey and brilliant song writing.
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Nothing Is In Vain – 3:40
Alien? Amphibious man? What is that floating in the water?
JP
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JP, oh yes that is the little green alien that made a number of appearances over the years with Mona and Lisa on different occasions. I never noticed that alien in Nothing Is In Vain until it was mentioned by Mona and Lisa in one of the Q and As. I went back to the video and there it is. Sneaky!
There’s also a certain white ghost that made sneaky appearances here and there in different photos and videos, and then there is cute big orange bird.
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