Starting out on Bass Guitar

[offthewall]

Another important point which is often not mentioned is to remember that you are 'the rhythm section'.
Get to know your drummer's style and work with him. Vital.


James.

[cryophonik]

I'm in the opposite situation - lifelong bassist who is now trying to become more proficient at guitar. As far as choosing a bass goes, I agree with some of the replies above - go to the stores and play as many as you can until you find one in your price range that plays well and sounds good to you. With regard to the Squiers, they're quality basses and tough to beat in their price range IMO. One issue that you may run into is weight - basses tend to be much heavier than guitars and some of them can get quite heavy. Personally, I prefer a heavy bass, like my G&L L2000, but whenever I hand it over to a guitarist (and even many bassists), their first response is something like "whoa, that's heavy!" So, be sure to try the basses out with it strapped on, not just sitting down, to make sure the bass is comfortable and feels balanced before you buy one.

String gauge, composition, and windings (e.g., round vs. flat) can have a huge effect on bass tone and playability, so keep that in mind, too.

Pick, finger, slap, really just depends on what sound/style you're after. For example, if you're doing metal or country, you probably don't need to spend much time working on slapping, etc. Personally, I would recommend focusing on finger style to start out, just because it's so versatile, but don't shy away from using a pick. I use all ten fingers and I also like to use a pick, especially when I want a crunchy bass sound.

[bobbackwards]

Another important point which is often not mentioned is to remember that you are 'the rhythm section'.
Get to know your drummer's style and work with him. Vital. 8)

:wink:
James.

QFT

Playing with a real live drummer is one of the best things you can do to become a better bassist. It should be obvious that developing a feel for the groove and rhythm is MUCH easier when you have a human being to interact with. I know that we are all to a greater or lesser extent ITB players on KVR and being able to practice technique at home and at any time is a plus BUT I never really progress as a player except when I have the opportunity to spend time in a live band situation. Of course very much IMO...

BTW There is some great advice in this thread!

[cryophonik]

Another important point which is often not mentioned is to remember that you are 'the rhythm section'.
Get to know your drummer's style and work with him. Vital.


James.

Yeah, another +1. But, if you're only planning on recording yourself in your home studio, it's a good idea to practice not only with a metronome, but with some good drum grooves. If you have a good drum sampler (e.g., SD2, SSD4, BFD2), then you've got a good selection of grooves to practice with. Some other third party grooves (e.g., OddGrooves) could be useful as well.

[taijiguy]

Lots of good info here for someone who's moving from guitar to bass. Although they share some similarities, they are not at all the same. Guitarists tend to keep playing the guitar when they switch to bass; in other words, overplay. It's most often a rhythm instrument, so it's important to have a good rapport with the drummer, if there is one. If there is none, then you are the rhythm section.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is bass amplifiers. A guitar amp isn't going to do. You can have a great bass guitar, but if you don't have a proper amplification system, no one's going to hear or feel you. You're going to have to put down some $$$ on one, so don't spend it all on the bass.

[ghettosynth]

The biggest challenge for me was dynamics and timing. Getting nice consistent dynamics and tone across the strings was a bit of a challenge, as was hitting the beat (especially with a low flabby b string!).

Yeah, I found this as well. I have found it really difficult to hold a consistent tone with my fingers. I found it much easier with a pick but always felt a bit like I was cheating. In any case, I want to learn finger style this time, not just rely on using a pick. I was reading an article that said using just one finger rather than alternating helps with this. I don't know.

I'm going to just stick with a 4 string for now, I'll save the flabby B-String experience for later.

[ghettosynth]

Another important point which is often not mentioned is to remember that you are 'the rhythm section'.
Get to know your drummer's style and work with him. Vital.


James.

Right, so this is something that I know intellectually, but that I want to know intuitively. By that I mean, I know that it's true, not that I know or undersatnd intellectually what it means. It's a key part of why I want to play bass this time around. ITB I'm into house music and I find that basslines are my Achilles heel. That said, I want to get out and play with people, even if it's just at the garage band+ level, that's part of what I miss.

[ghettosynth]

On bass every note carries meaning. If you start tossing off flurries of notes as on a guitar you'll sound like a frustrated guitar player. Work on playing one note per measure and play it like you mean it. I'm playing with a middle eastern / latin american fusion type band these days, and it's all pretty much root-fifth, but I get a kick out of making that groove as much as I can.

More formally, there are a million bass books on the market, but this one is unlike all the others:



He also has this one which might be up your alley:



Instruments: Fenders are boring. I've owned an Ibanez, Steinberger, Godin. But it all depends on what sound you're going for.

Victor.

Thanks for the book recommendations. To be clear, I'm over playing lead guitar, I'm wanting to embrace the bass seriously. At the risk of sounding a bit corny, I want to get my head inside the groove and understand more explicitly the drum and bass relationship in creating a groove.

As far as lightweight, what features do I look for, because, yes, I'm one of those lazy guitarists that hates heavy guitars. For now, I'll suffer through any tone/playaiblity concerns and sacrifice them for lighter weight.

[vespers75]

There are some pick styles that are just impossible without one. Tremolo picking for a start - try that with just your fingers

That actually can be done to an extent. There are a few guys that can pull it off. Steve DiGiorgio for example. I used to be able to do it smoothly many years ago, back when I actually practiced and gigged...it took a combination of practice, more practice, and using a 3 finger picking technique.

[ghettosynth]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is bass amplifiers. A guitar amp isn't going to do. You can have a great bass guitar, but if you don't have a proper amplification system, no one's going to hear or feel you. You're going to have to put down some $$$ on one, so don't spend it all on the bass.

Thanks. So, the amp is something that I'm not concerned about at all at this time. My experience with this in other bands has been that I mostly need whatever I need to hear myself on stage and a direct out to whatever PA that we're using. I have some PA gear that could be pressed into service as on stage gear for myself and that is certainly adequate for monitoring. For example, I have a wedge with a 15" driver and horn that takes a few hundred watts and amps that will turn it's cone into toilet paper.

I get that guitar amps are not appropriate. But what I recall from my band days is that what you need as far as on stage gear is, in part, a function of what kind of band that you're playing in. When I was cover bands our bass player used very little gear on stage and mostly relied on the PA. So, for now, I'm going to just use what I have and focus on getting a bass that I can play.

[offthewall]

At risk of being shot down in flames by all these modern GAS guys.
Back when I started playing bass in about 64/65 my first bass was a little short-scale Burns. I moved from this to a '56 Fender Precision and, after a few weeks gigging 5 nights a week my fingers were bleeding between the joints. Had done it all too quickly!
Anyway, to the point. A few years later I had to sell off the Fender (wish I still had it 'for what it would be worth' now) as I was stone broke and moving into folk and blues with an acoustic bass. Now, although I don't gig anymore, I have a Westfield P-bass copy and have to admit that it is as good as the Fender. Tone and playability are equal. Only 'status' that is not.
If you can find a Westy then I would say get it. Otherwise I agree with past comments about the Squier range. For the money they can be great instruments as long as they are properly set-up.
As for amps ... I been out of live work for generations so don't know what is being used these days,but I do feel that using PA gear for a bass is going to be counter-productive. You not going to get the bottom end that you need. Get a dedicated bass amp and especially bass cab.
But ... please work on that drummer thing. That is the secret if you are in a band. Team work, no heroics.


James.

[james0tucson]

On bass every note carries meaning.

According to Flea, you must play every note as if someone has a gun to your head.

My wife plays one of these (Schecter Diamond P)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/sch ... 4000001000


I don't know about Schecters in general, but this one is just great, in terms of tone, playability, sustain, action, balance, you name it.

[farlukar]

As far as lightweight, what features do I look for, because, yes, I'm one of those lazy guitarists that hates heavy guitars. For now, I'll suffer through any tone/playaiblity concerns and sacrifice them for lighter weight.

You might want to test some of the fancier Ibanez soundgear models then...

[ghettosynth]

As for amps ... I been out of live work for generations so don't know what is being used these days,but I do feel that using PA gear for a bass is going to be counter-productive. You not going to get the bottom end that you need. Get a dedicated bass amp and especially bass cab.
But ... please work on that drummer thing. That is the secret if you are in a band. Team work, no heroics.


James.

I appreciate the input, but guitar players say the same thing, and although I'm open to good reasoning, it's not really clear to me that this is true. In particular, this is changing somewhat for even guitar players who are using full range powered monitors on stage with amp modelers. Having gone through the "tone-quest" with guitars and spending too much money on stuff that ultimately didn't matter, I'm almost certainly going with the 80% solution here. This is something that I feel is very band dependent. If I was playing guitar and in a metal band, I'd probably still want at least a half stack. A blues band, I'd get a deluxe reverb, tilt it back and stick an SM57 in front of it. A cover band, I'd get a line 6 modeler and feed it into one of my powered speakers in monitor mode.

Since I'm looking to play in some sort of cover band I'm almost certainly just going to buy a modeling preamp and call it a day. My wedge with a 15 will kill any practice amp that I would buy so I'm just going to delay any amp purchase until it proves necessary for a particular performance situation. I might build a small bass cabinet as I've been getting into cabinet building lately for PA speakers, but my mackie power amp with a modeling preamp will do the job for amplification.

In fact, for now, my Roland VF1 has bass presets. So, before I spend money, I'm going to start with that. When I can't get the tone I want out of it, I'll consider what's missing.

[cryophonik]

The Schecters mentioned above are pretty lightweight. A bottom-line Lakland 44-01 is an excellent bass and is also pretty light.