Guitar V.S. Bass

Originally Posted by: chucklivesoninmyheartNo,I won't because the bass cannot transfer subtle articulations as well as guitar can.Where is Lordathastrings to talk about frequencies and such?

Well, you can't fret an open E Major and bang away at the strings and expect anything but unintelligable moosh to come out. Then again, the same thing happens with a guitar if you strum it too hard.

That said, a little more refined touch on the picking/strumming hand and you have a nicely articulate chord (one of the many reasons I refuse to use a pick with bass -- I find it much easier to go easy on some strings while I'm putting a little exta sauce on others with my fingers rather than a pick). Of course, the further up the neck one goes, the less of an issue this becomes.

In fact, I find bass chords to have a richness and "density" to them that guitar simply cannot approach -- especially when mixing fretted notes with harmonics.

All it takes is a little dynamic control.

Originally Posted by: chucklivesoninmyheartNo,I won't because the bass cannot transfer subtle articulations as well as guitar can.Where is Lordathastrings to talk about frequencies and such?

[font=trebuchet ms]Actually, I find that there are more subtle overtones available on bass than guitar when playing clean, which most bass lines are.

I still use a pick a lot, because it's more comfortably familiar, but I see the value in using fingers instead. The biggest advantage I see right now is the way that allows both hands to take care of the muting duties. And I find that muting is much more important on bass than on guitar. I play stuff that was Top-40 when I was young. You guys call it Classic Rock. I'm developing a greater appreciation for the genius of John Paul Jones every day! Jones and Bonham were the solid, consistent players in their band.[/font]

This certainly did get in depth over the weekend. But music wouldn't be the same without a bass. Well... maybe Slayer's music would still be the same (notice that I covered my ass with a "maybe"), but to say that bass doesn't express anything in music. Guitar is the top end that bass can't reach and bass fills in that deep gap that guitar can't get to. They scratch each other's back. To argue over bass' expression is to say that guitar is more important. But without the bass the guitar would be lonely, empty and less moving. To say I've never heard an expressionless bass though, that's pure and simple BS. I hear them all the time, especially in lesser quality metal bands where all they do is follow the guitar's movements. But take a higher quality one with an actual, talented bassist and you'll find worlds of exploration within those 4 to 6 strings. Take Primus for example, you remove the bass from that and what do you have? You've got nothing. Most importantly, you no longer have the weird expression that is Les Claypool's bass.