Who here plays bass?

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bass? gimme a break

Is it?

I've always fancied having a go at bass... though all I have at the moment is my 'bad-ass' acoustic guitar and a little karaoke machine I paid 50c for that somehow makes it sound like an electric guitar.

Heh heh heh, Paul plays drums on that as well. Which prompted this conversation:

Reporter: "Is Ringo Starr the best drummer in the world?"
John Lennon: "Ringo Starr isn't even the best drummer in The Beatles!"

His stuff works really well because unless you're actively listening for it, you can almost never tell it's there. But it adds so much - it's not like, say, John Entwhistle or Lou Barlow who have to carry the sound of the band since there's only one guitar.

I have a Fender J-bass. Saving up for a Rickenbacker... one day it will be mine!

A Rickenbacker bass? Awesome. That's one of the basses I want. I played one. Great sound.

Mine:

I can play bass. It was my first stringed instrument (about 30 years ago).

I am going to pick up a Bass Guitar today... woo hoo. I have no experience playing any sort of Guitar though... any tips before I dive into it?

Any online tutorials or something to help me get started?

What bass are you getting? Are you getting an amp? Do you know anything about playing a musical instrument? How strong are your hands? How much pain can you endure?

Handy tips:

Always wipe your guitar and strings down with a soft cloth after you have finished playing it. Flannel is good for the strings and can be used on the body as well as cotton. I prefer microfiber cloths for the body though because flannel can leave small scratches in tha paint.

Make sure that you get it setup before you bring it home. Ask the store to set it up for you. Most will do it for free and some will offer. Don't try it yourself.

Play several of them to see which one feels the best. Do not buy one simply because it looks cool.

Listen to the differences in sound that each instrument has.

Strings wear out. Look at Elixirs, or D'Addario coated strings. They last longer and don't have to be changed as often, but are more expensive. Get nanoweb and not polyweb. Medium, or light guage should be sufficient. If you get the guitar setup and they select the strings for you (make sure you tell them the brands I mentioned) ask them for the package so you will know what guage they used. DO NOT GET really cheap strings.

Bass giutars sound best through amps made especially for bass and preferably ones with 15" speakers. For practice you can use smaller, but the smaller the speaker, the less bass response you will get, so if the sound is really important, go with an amp with a 15" speaker. Get an amp with a headphone jack. You can also get headphone amps for bass. They are fairly inexpensive and should be good for practicing.

Go to Musiciansfriend.com and look at the assortment of things that are available for bass. I will try to answer any questions that you have about anything.

Do you plan to take lessons?

Oh yeah, get an inexpensive guitar stand (about $20.00). You won't regret it.

When I first started playing I had this stuff called Lump Alum. It was like a rock that I could rub on my fingertips when they got sore. You probably have to get it from a drugstore though.

Avoid stuff like FastFret. You don't need it and some people complain that it rusts the strings.

Look for a Gripmaster. It lets you exercise your hands while you are not practicing. I have a red one that I use a lot. It is great for stimming also.

GET a tuner!! ! The type that you plug your guitar into, not a pitch pipe, or tuning fork (they are fine, but may take longer to get used to and you might find tuning more difficult with them - a digital tuner will make tuning very easy, quick and accurate). ALWAYS practice in tune. I can't emphasize this enough. Tuners are a good investment. Get one.

When you tune the string LOWER before raising it higher. If you just crank it higher you could break the string. Lowering it first will give you an idea of how tight the string is already.

Play with your fingers close to the frets and not in the center between them and only press them down as hard as you have to. If your hands start to hurt while practicing: STOP and rest.

I used to try to play a few instruments, but didn't get very far. Piano/cello were the two I tried. I played drums for a while though, and have some very very modest skills that have since faded away. But If I picked it up I could relearn everything fairly quickly. Unfortunatly I have pretty weak hands I think... but I think I can endure a fair bit of pain.

As for the bass I am getting... I am not going to a store and buying a bass. Its a bass that my uncle was given, that has been going around the family for a while. Various people in my family tried to learn to play it. I asked the person who currently has it if he was really playing it anymore, and he isn't, so I am going to pick it up and start learning.

I think he has an amp for it as well.

I don't know what brand or the condition of the strings.

I also don't plan on taking lessons... too much money. And this is really more of just a hobby, and I am pretty good at teaching myself things... with the right guidebooks and such.

You might just want to wander around a music store like Guitar Center. Look through whatever books you may be interested in. They have those "teach youself bass guitar" types of books at places like Barnes and Noble, you might want to check some of them out.

Eventually you will need to replace the strings, so keep the suggestion I gave you above for that time. You should also at least get a guitar stand and a tuner, if the guitar doesn't have them with it already. If it is an older guitar (vintage) and the finish is worn down, DO NOT use guitar polish on it. Just wipe it off with a clean cloth. On painted areas you can dampen the cloth slightly. If it gets any major junk on it that is hard to remove you can either use saliva, or lighter fluid with a clean soft cloth. The fretboard can be cleaned with a piece of 00000 steel wool (the extremely fine stuff). I put a small amount of lemon oil on it with a rag after I do that. That should only need to be done once, or at the most twice a year - with all of the strings off. Which reminds me; it does not hurt the guitar to have all of the strings off of it, it is just easier to change them one at a time - at least for me.

You may still want to take it to get it setup (most places charge very little for a setup). They can clean it and make any adjustments that it needs. A guitar that has been sitting around for a while wil probably need cleaning, a neck adjustment, new strings and the intonation set. The may also dress the frets if they need them. I don't recommend trying yourself. I had a professional tech show me how to do this stuff when I was a teenager, but I won't try to do anything to the frets myself. It isn't hard to do, but if you don't know what you are doing you can seriously damage the instrument.

The gripmaster would help the weak hands, as will lots of practice. Forearm strength is important too. The pain would be from trying to play with blisters. Sometimes when I am recording, or practicing I get blisters in odd places from doing odd stuff and don't even notice them until the skin is completely raw.

Most of what Deepthought has said is good advice, but there are I few things I disagree with.

1: Do your own setup, it is an invaluble skill. This site will teach you how.

2: Strings don't really wear out, they go dead, this means that they sound less bright and more muddy and bassy, not everyone likes very bright strings, some very accomplished bassists (Me'shell Ndegeocello for one) play with 30 year old strings.

3: Speaker size does not equate sound, in fact many 15"s have little bass and are very midrangey. The ampeg 8x10 is one of the most popular cabinets ever made.

I reccomend DR strings, and no oil, fretboards don't need to be oilled in any but the most extreme cases.

For any more bass related questions go to www.talkbass.com, you'll get more and better answers.

I have been playing guitar and bass for 30 years and have learned some lessons along the way. Ask any professional tech if any of the advice I gave is wrong. Shoot, even pro guitarists usually have techs do their work for them.

I did say that you CAN do your own setup, but if you try it and you break the truss rod because it is already maxed out and you turned it the wrong way, you can't say that I didn't warn you. I do my own setups, but won't mess with fret jobs. I had someone show me how, which is easier than trying to learn it from a web site. I also have a book that covers things I didn't learn when I was a kid.



If you want the sound of old strings, playing with them is fine, but most artists change strings before each recording session and performance. By wear our I MEANT, go dead, as in lose their finer tonal qualities. The difference in sound between old and new strings is oobvious. They can also rust and get visible wear in certain areas. I have been recording guitar for over 20 years in big and small studios. Old strings can sound good if that's the sound you want, but mostly new strings are put on prior to a session.



I doubt he is going to be getting an Ampeg 8x10 with his first bass.



Oil provides moisture and conditions the wood. Wood has to have moisture. Lemon oil also helps clean the fretboard. Strings are always a matter of personal preference.

You might want to look for a book called How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great by Dan Erlewine (both of you), as it is an excellent resource for anyone interested in working on their own instruments and supports every piece of advice I gave.

If he follows the instructions on Gary Willis' then he won't break his truss rod, he'll save $40-$60 a set-up and he'll be able to learn what kind of setup he likes and so his bass will play better for him

[qoute]By wear our I MEANT, go dead, as in lose their finer tonal qualities. They can also rust and get visible wear in certain areas. I have been recording guitar for over 20 years in big and small studios. Old strings can sound good if that's the sound you want, but mostly new strings are put on prior to a session.[/quote]

I realize that is what you meant, I merely wanted to clarify that he doesn't have to change his strings when they go dead, to say they wear out implies that they break somehow and absolutely require replacment.



No, but he should know that 10" 12" and even 8" speakers can make fine cabinets.



Yes it does, but newcomers (and some not-so-newcomers) to bass often over do it, in milder climates it is rarely needed, and when needed only a small amount should be used.



No thank you, I know quite enough about my bass.

Again, I don't think your advice was bad. I disagree with you on a few points and wanted to provide a second opinion. On other things (like strings) I just wanted to clarify and expand on what you said.

I am having a bad moment... oven repair guy is here and he is seriously getting me aggitated.

Strings do break, although not as common on bass as on 6 strings.

It sounded like you were disagreeing with certain things to the point that you were saying I was wrong, but in your last reply you were more specific about what you meant.

I agree that every guitarist should learn the basics of maintaining and adjusting an instrument. I prefer to do my own setups because the techs have no idea what I want. It is also impractical to take a guitar to a tech every time you want to make a minor adjustment. HOWEVER, I also don't think that he should worry too much about trying to get his new bass (to him) setup perfectly, unless the neck is obviously bowed, or something. I think setups are good to learn after you are already comfortable with the instrument itself. He doesn't even have the slightest idea how he would want it setup, so he could spend quite a bit of time making adjustments. I recommended he take it to a pro because it would be easier to say "I have never played bass before and I would like it setup." Then the tech could do something with the instrument to give him a place to start. Later, as he progressed, he would know if he wants a different gauge of strings, or if he wants the action different, or whatever. I just don't think that the first thing he needs to learn on his first bass ever is how to set it up. Get it done by someone else the first time if it needs it (he may not even know if it needs it or not) and then later, learn to do it yourself.

Speakers/amps are another matter of personal preference. Every bass amp I ever used had 15" and I was fine with that. I have also known bassists that have used other configurations.

As far as the oil goes, yes it can be overdone. Knowing when to do it and how much is important, otherwise it can do more harm that good. I wasn't suggesting that he do that right away, in fact I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it, but when he said the bass had been passed around a lot I just visualized a grimy fretboard with tarnished frets. If I were getting the bass, cleaning it and setting it up would probably be the first thing I did after making sure that all of the electronics worked and it didn't need anything major like a fret job. Again, if he does take it to a tech, the tech can do all of that if it needs it.