Top 3 bass shop tryout riffs - they're looking at you and waiting!

[JellyKnees]

I don't play covers and generally have no interest in playing someone else's basslines, so I normally just play a range of my own things to see how the bass works for my style of playing. I certainly wouldn't try to do anything super technical, even if I had those kind of abilities. Remember, no one likes a show off...

[KevB]

Of the 3 basses I currently have I didn't buy any from a shop and 2 of them were bought entirely remotely without playing either. Interestingly they are the 2 basses I've owned the longest so far. Hardly ever pick anything up to play in a shop any more and would usually put it back before getting as far as actually plugging it in. Pretty much gas free at the moment. I don't play 2 of the 3 I have nearly as much as they deserve as it is.

[jonnythenotes]

A few scales in different positions on the neck. This means you hear the bass as it is, and will not be influenced by how close the sound is to the original version of the riff you are trying to play. Also, knocking a few scales out means you try all strings in all positions on the neck. Play 'Doh Ray Me' etc at with a little bit of speed...(not the mind altering drug,) both ascending and descending and move up a semi tone each time you complete a run, and that will impress people more than kicking the arse out of the riff to Peaches or All right now...

[Jazzneck]

If I try a bass it's usually:

Do I Love You (indeed I do)
Just my Imagination
Living In The Past

and, you young'ns, do not say a dickie bird about the last one......

[White Cloud]

Waterfront - Simple Minds.

Classic riff.

[Woodinblack]

Whatever is on the music stand.. No wait..

[tauzero]

The start of "Highway to Hell", then the whole of John Cage's 4'33" (just the bass clef, of course).

[fretmeister]

Basin Street Blues
Hysteria
Aimless noodle in E minor.

[blamelouis]

Hit me with your rhythm stick or Sir Duke .

[dadofsix]

When I would take one of the pups with me to a music store in days long past, they'd always want to hear me play the bass to a number of songs. Sweet Emotion was one that I remember doing. So was Ramble On by Zep. My middle child liked to hear me play the bass part to Something by The Beatles. Now that they're living elsewhere, when I'm found in a music store I'm usually where the high ticket acoustic guitars are kept, playing something in an alternate tuning. Somehow The Rain Song, by Zep, is SOOOooo much more fun to play on a $5,000.00 Gibson acoustic. And GAS never seems to be an issue when the price tags are that high! lol

<><Peace

[mcnach]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1429601038' post='2752936']
Why would you play anyone's bass lines at all..??
I just noodle with things that I've come up with and I'll be trying to the bass to sound
like it could handle the sounds within the styles that I hear and play.
I kind of laugh when I hear someone playing a standard bassline, tbh..
[/quote]

this.

Or Three Blind Mice.

[Rich]

When I was younger (so much younger than today), if I asked to try out a bass and the assistant insisted on showing off all his slap chops before handing it to me, I used to take great delight in playing two notes, saying "nah, don't like it mate" and giving it straight back.
These days I don't bother going into 90% of music shops, because I've usually got better bass gear than they have

[TimR]

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1429633795' post='2753464']
A few scales in different positions on the neck. This means you hear the bass as it is, and will not be influenced by how close the sound is to the original version of the riff you are trying to play. Also, knocking a few scales out means you try all strings in all positions on the neck. Play 'Doh Ray Me' etc at with a little bit of speed...(not the mind altering drug,) both ascending and descending and move up a semi tone each time you complete a run, and that will impress people more than kicking the arse out of the riff to Peaches or All right now...
[/quote]

That's what I would do.

[jonnythenotes]

You might as well throw in Lessons In Love, The Sailors Hornpipe and Flight Of The Bumble Bee on top of Rythym Stick and Siir Duke...

[Shambo]

MJs ‘Bille Jean’ segued into Wally Coco’s ‘Message to Society’

then Rolling Stones ‘Miss You’ which segues into Cake’s version of ‘I Will Survive’

The idea in my head being something high tempo, melodic and that moves around the fretboard.
I always play the same songs so as better to gauge the difference between instruments, for me, just noodling makes it harder to compare.

E2A, and some scales obviously.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Shambo

[JTUK]

A lot of lines are going to sound lame without drums... so
I'll play a solo type piece that I've been working on...
then I'll try a few things that are technical to see if the bass
can do it...or I can do it on that bass. If I can't then why would
I want a bass that isn't as playable as ones I already have.
I can sort the sound out in a few mins..for my purposes.

[molan]

As someone who works part time in a bass shop I get to hear a lot of people trying things out.

There's no real uniformity at all. Some people play recognisable stuff, some noodle around and some play very short sections all over the board listening for uniformity of tone and clarity etc.

Very few people slap these days and hardly anyone plays with a pick.

For a while we heard There's Nothing Like This by Omar a lot but that seems to have subsided now.

It's interesting to watch serious pro players. They often have warm up riffs that they use before going on stage and they'll play these when trying a new bass. We have one regular pro customer who always plays acoustically first and then maybe just a few notes down on first three frets, across all 4/5 strings to see how they compare and then that's it.

There's certainly no judgement of whether anyone is a 'good' or 'bad' player. The four of us in the shop are all of various standards of technical ability but never think of ourselves as being 'better' than someone. As has often been said here on BC, there's no real definition of what makes a good player.

[spacey]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1429567639' post='2752789']
Down In The Tube Station & It`s Too Bad by The Jam, Nice & Sleazy by The Stranglers.
[/quote]

You get a discount...

[No lust in Jazz]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1429565554' post='2752762']
I just play [i]The Enormous Room[/i] by Michael Manring - always gets a mixed reaction...
[/quote]

That is so funny its hard to believe it's on the internet...

Edited April 22, 2015 by No lust in Jazz

[vsmith1]

I still get intimidated, but with perseverance I try some baselines from out current set list - as long as I can remember. These usually include Come Together, and some I-IV-V stuff.

As personal fretting favourites I like to try Taxman, Come As You Are, and try some picking.

I like the idea of trying without plugging in first then plugging in later. First for the feel of the instrument and some natural acoustic sound. I also end up trying, particularly with more complex pickup and EQ sections to try the same bass lines with different settings. For example, I tried a G&L M2500 and just couldn't get the amplified sounds I wanted - my little brain just couldn't cope with all the switches etc.

[DaytonaRik]

Get the Funk Out, Emerald and my fave - the original version of Fool for your Lovin' with Neil Murray's bouncing bass line!

[Woodinblack]

It is a good question as for many years I wouldn't actually try a bass in a shop as I didn't want to play anything publicly. So I got all my basses online. Now I don't have that problem, but I still find that it is easier to buy online!

I do however always play the things I am interested acoustically before i plug it in, as if they don't work acoustically, then there is not much you can do electrically to improve it, and if it is bad electrically then you can fix that. Thats why I have the squier CV precision rather than the Mex Precision, acoustically there was no contest.

[notable9]

Rythmn Stick.....I know its a bit flash but hey I just love the reactions as I look up...

[Twincam]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1429695659' post='2753964']
It is a good question as for many years I wouldn't actually try a bass in a shop as I didn't want to play anything publicly. So I got all my basses online. Now I don't have that problem, but I still find that it is easier to buy online!

I do however always play the things I am interested acoustically before i plug it in, as if they don't work acoustically, then there is not much you can do electrically to improve it, and if it is bad electrically then you can fix that. Thats why I have the squier CV precision rather than the Mex Precision, acoustically there was no contest.
[/quote]

I don't get this electric basses aren't acoustic instruments, and electrics is a major factor in sound. Lots of basses sound not great acoustically, say for instance a small body headless, but will sound huge when plugged in.
If a bass sounds good acoustically but has crap electrics then its going to sound bad unless you replace the entire electrics and even then the pickup placement choice might be not well thought out so your stuffed, unless you fill and re route new cavities. You might as well buy a different bass.

Electric bass in my view electrics first, acoustics are a factor but a secondary one.

[Bassnut62]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1429602403' post='2752955']
My bass demoing technique is nothing compared to my guitar try out routine...I clear a space in the shop by moving the other guitars to one side and play bendy rock solos on my knees with the amp on max volume and cathedral reverb setting... sometimes I cry through the sheer beauty of what I'm playing and let the tears roll down my face...
[/quote]

Ha! That's what I do too.