I would say that classical guitarists (and even acoustic) are different than the average electric player. I think rhythm and even percussion plays a bigger role in classical guitar because it’s very often a solo instrument. On bass i also spend a lot of time working on “finger feel”, developing my plucking and tone and sure there are a lot of guitarists that do that as well but probably not most and there are a lot of bass players too that aren’t really finesse players either. I’ve been spending more time working with a pick lately too as there is quite a bit of stuff where i do like that tone.
It was just a blanket statement mostly to make fun of electric guitar players
Seriously, when I started this bass journey (so many months ago… ok, 3 months ago) the guitar held some appeal. I was among guitar players who “played a little bass.” Along with bass I was encouraged to learn a handful of chords and barre chords.
And I assumed that’s the direction I would go. Mainly learn the bass but pick up some guitar along the way.
But for now at least, the bass is my instrument. If I feel a need to branch out I can practice some piano.
Early on while shopping for a bass of my own I came across a fabulous deal on a guitar.
I realized if I bought it I’d be hampering my focus on the bass. From that moment on I’ve been all in on making bass (and piano) my only stringed instruments.
It’s a simple case of math for me @thewritescott. I currently practice 2-4 hours a night plus weekends. That’s been cut down recently as I started my own business.
So in the space of a few years I’ve made some steady progress. But to get really competent there’s still a long long way to go.
I like noodling around on my guitar on the back porch but if you play bass for less than an hour a week then you are going to suck for a very long time.
I’ve picked a lane and that lane is bass. If I we’re starting 30 years ago it would be different.
I think I’ve mentioned around here before that my brother is an effing fantastic guitarist. When I first got into bass in the early 90s, he’d already been playing guitar for a year or two. I got really jealous as I was learning simple “bum bum bum bum” stuff and he was throwing down with crazy riffs.
So even though I knew I wanted to play bass, I decided that maybe I should give guitar a go. I sold my bass stuff and picked up an Ibanez Jem77, the early Steve Vai 7-string model. I figured the low B string would help cross over from bass to guitar.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!
Anyway, I quickly got rid of that and got a standard Fender Stratocaster. Here I am playing that strat through a MusicMan tube amp for a captive audience:
It wasn’t long after that I realized that I’m not a guitar player, gave my brother the Strat and the amp, and took a break from trying to play music. Luckily, the call of the bass pulled me back in a year or two later.
