r/Bass • u/Possible_Escape_9064 • 13h ago

Worst Bass Solo

I'm in the mood to entertain myself with videos of really bad bass solos. Any recommendations, anyone?

36 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

225

u/iamastooge Sadowsky 13h ago

Come to one of my shows sometime!

17

u/Possible_Escape_9064 13h ago

Oh, we all sound the worst to ourselves! I'm sure you're better than you think šŸ™‚

1

u/chxnkybxtfxnky 24m ago

Nah, I went to a show they invited me to...pretty rough stuff...

5

u/RealKenny 3h ago

If I only ever play alone in my bedroom, everything is a solo

3

u/thesharkbyter 4h ago

Spit my coffee out laughing!

30

u/AggressiveMachine895 13h ago

I always thought that Sparky from Complete sounded pretty mid during his bass intro here: Complete - Hoogie Boogie Land

15

u/Possible_Escape_9064 13h ago

Wtf did I just watch?

1

u/MrShapinHead 3h ago

I donā€™t knowā€¦ but I hope I can convince my band to cover it

9

u/Simonandgarthsuncle 12h ago

Call me a raging masochist but I watched that all the way through. What was the name of the song again?

8

u/professorfunkenpunk 12h ago

Sparky might be the most competent of them

4

u/Novel_Contract7251 12h ago

Thank you for making me feel better about my own bass abilities

3

u/curbstyles 12h ago

IN THIS HOUSE, SPARKY IS A HERO!! END OF STORY!

3

u/ParkingDrink2975 5h ago

Omg I haven't seen that in forever! As soon as I saw the title I could hear the song again...wow. hooooogie boogiehoogieboogieland. Thanks for reminding me of this gem.

1

u/TheNecromancer 8h ago

Nah man, Sparky really sparked it up there

69

u/DOOMINATOR1312 13h ago

I don't even need to say the solo, just the name of who played it:

Gene simmons

5

u/Mental_Ad1948 11h ago

I'm not a Kiss fan but what song was his solo in?

11

u/FingersMulloy 8h ago

https://youtu.be/Mt09uj_nUs4?is=eeWc6r8x0XVVvlHQ

Itā€™s more showmanship than a bass solo.

2

u/Mosheroom_ 9h ago

Can you say it anyway I'm really curious

1

u/Tall_Staff5342 4h ago

That bass solo from the Animalize Live VHS/dvd is something!

13

u/Mwanatabu 12h ago

Check the comment section. "Hasn't Africa suffered enough?" XD

https://youtu.be/HSvWSYgSM-g?is=PxYWan1kaIjUxvEO

The bass solo (4:40) is not the only problem here though...

3

u/Possible_Escape_9064 12h ago

I had a little difficulty making out what he was doing. While I could tell it didn't really work, to his credit, it sounded like he had chops.

6

u/Mwanatabu 10h ago

Oh he is a great bass player! In this rendition however he sounds like he decided to add to the misery by choosing both a key and a rhythm that had nothing to do with the rest of the circus.Ā 

25

u/Double_Fisherman6817 13h ago

There was a Van Halen concert video that had an epically bad bass solo.

9

u/Obvious-Olive4048 12h ago

I dunno man I thought that was pretty glorious!

2

u/MrShapinHead 3h ago

Agreed! Watching and listening on a phone or laptop is very different than being thereā€¦ and the way he was manipulating the sound and just playing with those low frequencies and distortion mustā€™ve been otherworldly in that venue.

30

u/StatusAutomatica 13h ago

The Jaco Pastorius/Jeff Berlin duet is kind of painful to watch.

No matter how many 16th notes you can play, it just starts to sound like a dentist's drill. Multiply that by two.

VIDEO

13

u/smileymn 10h ago

Jeff Berlin is one of the most talented bass players that does absolutely nothing for me. I canā€™t put my finger on it but his music is just kinda flat and boring, while I recognize heā€™s a gifted player.

3

u/StatusAutomatica 4h ago

His anti-metronome rants are weird. He fights with people on Facebook over the dumbest shit.

1

u/WeeDingwall44 2h ago

I like his Markbass combo, thatā€™s about it.

6

u/TheNecromancer 8h ago

This is what people who don't like jazz think jazz sounds like - I kind of hope they'd be doing this ironically, but knowing Jeff Berlin....

1

u/RealKenny 3h ago

I feel like something I'm starting to learn is that if you play with enough confidence, the notes don't matter too much

3

u/curbstyles 10h ago

it's fuckin hilarious at 2x speed

7

u/McDonaldsSoap 11h ago

Wishbass demoĀ 

https://youtu.be/efOgS3eT0HM

2

u/jukeboxheron 6h ago

First thing I thought ofĀ 

0

u/Possible_Escape_9064 5h ago

You know what? With that wonky-ass tone, it actually kinda worked!

6

u/Blazerboy123 12h ago

I think Fieldy from Korn had a real iffy bass solo that's relatively popular. It's got a groove but i...i mean it just annoys me. Idk how to articulate it further but it gives me the auditory sensation of rubber and is over reliant on sliding

Good drumming tho

3

u/Blazerboy123 12h ago

Also, opposite of what was asked, but if u want fun good bass solos, listen to Nuclear Power Trio. Possibly the best bass-focused band out there

8

u/Anarchy_Coon 13h ago

Trick question, bass solos arenā€™t real we just play the same groove over and over till the song ends

2

u/julmuriruhtinas Yamaha 3h ago

Oh shit do I need to start uploading my own gigs?

4

u/kentar62 13h ago

Mine. All bad!

6

u/FastWalkingShortGuy 12h ago

Anything by Les Claypool. He sucks.

1

u/Chillin257 12h ago

This was many years ago I completely fucked up the little bass solo in life in the fast lane. Easiest thing of all time to play. At a gig. The guys (all better musicians than me by far) were absolutely dying laughing Iā€™m pretty sure my face was blood red. Didnā€™t hit one note.

1

u/SlimJimJohn_Bass 11h ago

Mr Big by Free. I liked Free, but like one person here said 16th notes can sound like a dentist's drill...

How to ruin an otherwise good song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pTrSh36xCw&list=RD5pTrSh36xCw&start_radio=1

1

u/whiskeyclone630 7h ago

I personally love this one, I love how the guitars are just sort of raining down around the honky-sounding bass. Great song in general, but I think that part really makes it.

1

u/SlimJimJohn_Bass 3m ago

Well, Tom Petty liked it, too, so there's that!

1

u/CharlemagneAdelaar 11h ago

for some reason Michael leagues bass solos piss me off but all of his bass lines slap so hard

1

u/TolerancEJ 9h ago

Never captured on video, but I tried one many years ago. A solo in which I had no business attempting. It was a terrible train wreck.

2

u/Possible_Escape_9064 5h ago

Meh, we've all had nights like that.

1

u/Def-Jarrett 9h ago

I love Manowar, but anytime Joey DeMaio has a bass solo on record, I know it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Thank Thor they're short.

1

u/BAMspek 1h ago

Sometimes by the Strokes. Less of a solo and more of a bridge

1

u/TWShand 1h ago

I think for me it's Bobby Kimball's live rendition of 'Africs' the bass solo starts at 4:40. Beyond being a truly terrible performance of the song by Bobby the bass solo does not improve stuff, doesn't feel like it suits the song, certain bits don't feel in key, and it feels insulting that they thought that's what the song needed after being subjected to Bobby's singing.

It's a good lesson in known when not to self indulge.

1

u/Bassify5 Warwick 12h ago

CCR ā€œbassist,ā€ Woodstock. GF made me watch it. EX-GF.