5 Ugly Truths About Being a Bass Player

1) You Have The Heaviest Gear

Everyone's least favorite thing about being a musician is moving gear. If you've ever moved a piano you know what I mean. Instrument are some of the greatest things that grace the earth, but packing them up and hauling them across town can be a nightmare. If you are like me then you have your rig set up and tuned-in to sound perfect in your particular room. Depending on your gear and the distance you have to travel, packing up some of your most treasured possessions may mean a few minute or a couple hours of work. A drummer probably have the most pieces, if you count a pedal board as a single piece, but the weight-per-piece for the bass tops the list. Bass gear is very similar to a guitar rig, only heavier. If you play bass you'd had better start working on your muscles.

2)Chicks Dig Guitarist, But Not Bass Guitarist

This I know from first hand experience. No, not because I was a bass player and didn't get a girl, but because when I was in a regularly playing and traveling band, our bass play didn't. Poor guy. Why is does this happen? It probably has something to do with the previous point. Of course everyone notices the singer. They are the one whining into the microphone. There is something that the ladies respond to when a "grown" man "sings" into a mic about what someone else in the band wrote. The guitarist has his solos and dominates the musical attention. Drummers are noticeable, but are quickly dismissed because of their tendency to be repetitive. No disrespect to drummers, not that they can read anyways, its just that they are limited to the number of pieces they have in their set. Its sad that the foundation of the sound doesn't get much notice. It would be missed if it wasn't there. It like a concrete foundation, it is important, but its not sexy.

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I'll just leave this here.

3)No One Really Hears The Bass

As I've stated before. The bass is the foundation of the sound. I appreciate the contribution that they make, but unless you lesson for those particular frequencies, all that people will think of the bass players performance is, "meh". So the years of practice and perfecting skill adds up to an underwhelming sigh. Sorry bass players. There is one exception to the rule. Flea. Flea has been able to break the plain. Even non-bass players will respect the skill of Flea. Try to imagine The Red Hot Chili Pepper without his iconic bass lines. No one would lesson to that mess.

4)No One Likes You

So lets recap. You have heavy gear that no one wants to help move. The chicks don't dig you because they are too busy connecting to the singer over the song that you wrote. Your bandmates have no idea what you are doing over there during a gig. Face it, no body likes you. You are late to rehearsal because your gear weighs as much as the vehicle that you used to get it there. The sound guy tends to make the bass sound more like the parents and teachers of the peanuts cartoons than a musical instrument. Forget about solos. The fact is that most people just think that you are a guitarist that didn't quite make the cut. Sorry guys, the truth isn't pretty.