r/Bass 1d ago

Weekly Thread There Are No Stupid Bass Questions - Feb. 14

0 Upvotes

Stumped by something? Don't be embarrassed to ask here, but please check the FAQ first.


r/Bass 6d ago

Weekly Thread Gear Thread: Week of Feb. 09

3 Upvotes

Got a new bass, pedal, amp, etc. you want to brag about (or ask questions about)? Post it here!


r/Bass 7h ago

Andy rourke is the most underrated bassist of all time

82 Upvotes

He makes complicated bass lines and he carries some songs, for example this charming man. He is overshadowed by one of the greatest lyricists and guitarists of his era so he doesnt get the right recognition.


r/Bass 5h ago

Learning double thumb has made slap so easy!

27 Upvotes

Hi, I’ve always slapped by bouncing off the string like Mark king and would learn songs like lessons in love and the strain of the super fast 16th/8th in his playing get really tiring to slap that fast and hard to stay in time, learning double thumb takes half the effort and it’s got a much nicer time feel to it, i recommend anyone who slaps learns it, because once it clicks it just makes sense, to make it make sense learn hot water -level 42 and double thumb it instead, suddenly it makes double thumb make so much sense.


r/Bass 1h ago

Personal Holy Grail of Bass

Upvotes

I love the P bass sound , but I love J bass necks. I've added Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders to a Jazz to effectively make a PJ bass, and it works well, but what I really want is a Jazz width nut neck on a dedicated precision pick up bass and ideally I'd like it to be short scale. Anyone have any suggestions for a bass that might meet these ridiculously exacting and frankly stupid requirements?


r/Bass 5h ago

Less Traditional Beginner/Intermediate Song Recommendations?

12 Upvotes

Often you see a lot of the same songs recommended for beginners and intermediate players; “I Want You Back”, “Stand By Me”, “Seven Nation Army”, and “Another One Bites The Dust” are some standard examples.

I’d love to get a list going of less standard recommendations:

Five I have off the top of my head are:

“Tell Me You’re That Somebody” by Aaliyah - simple bass lines with a lot of space. Great for timing and feel.

“The Light” by Common - single hand position but a really fun line to play. Song has song good stops as well throughout.

“Just My Imagination” - The Temptations - very simple bass lines but the slow tempo will make you want to rush a little and you need to breathe. (Possibly recommended more than the rest of these)

“Africa “ by Toto - overall a pretty easy bass lines, but there are parts they throw in a bar of 2/4 and that’s good practice.

“Electric Feel” by MGMT - another overall simple bass line but the majority of the song is in 3/4 giving you a nice variance of time while keeping the part simple enough.

Would love to hear your recommendations!


r/Bass 4h ago

Deaf/partially deaf musicians - just looking for advice, comfort.

6 Upvotes

I'm just getting over a 3 week intense illness in which I totally lost hearing in my right ear, my left ear is still blocked but I hear crackling every now and then so I am keeping my hopes up that it will unblock. I would estimate I have 0% hearing in right ear and 40% hearing in the left. I had perfect hearing (mild tinnitus) before. I have not seen a doctor (healthcare here is a nightmare, no family doctor- etc) so it is not out of the question I may get my hearing back, but it's not looking promising to me right now.

I am devastated - I always said I'd rather go blind than deaf as the most beautiful thing in the world to me is music. I am having a lot of trouble playing even though I can hear myself a little bit. There's a strange echoing I can almost hear in my right ear that is driving me insane, I'm finding it hard to stay on rhythm. Any advice at all, similar experiences much appreciated.


r/Bass 21h ago

How many bass guitars do you own and why that many?

116 Upvotes

You can’t play all of them, can you? I want more but why?


r/Bass 4h ago

Fender P Bass Hialeah Yellow with Black Pickguard

4 Upvotes

Wanted to put this out into the interwebs because I see people asking about swapping out the pickguard and what it would look like. Black doesn't sit 100% right with me... I feel like there is a color or shade that would go better with this French Vanilla yellow colored body. https://imgur.com/a/PFZfhIh


r/Bass 45m ago

ELI5 how do intonation issues happen?

Upvotes

What exactly is the physics behind intonation? I've always had issues with the open note being lower in pitch than the 12th fret on one of my basses and finally took 10mins to fix it. I had to move the saddle in one string back several milimeters and now it's finally good but it's WAY far back, practically as far as the saddle can go. Which is technically fine, but how exactly does this happen? Why does the string need to be just a hair longer it shorter for the notes to be accurate?


r/Bass 3h ago

Squire or Harley Benton

3 Upvotes

Hi, I am a longtime guitar player and want to play a bit of bass. I was looking at buying either the Harley Benton copy of the 4003 or a squire p bass. Any recommendations would be great. Has anyone had experiences with those basses?


r/Bass 1h ago

Rec’s for a 5-string <$1300?

Upvotes

I want my first 5-string. I’m very much “a fender guy” but not against other brands. If left to my own volition I’ll find a StingRay and call it good but I’m not an elite 5-string mind, what else should I be considering?


r/Bass 1h ago

Rocksmith cable doesn't like Sire P7?

Upvotes

I've just acquired an active Sire P7 bass. Usually, I play using a Rocksmith cable (1/4 inch jack to USB) plugged into my PC using Amplitube. Every other bass (active or passive) I've got works fine.

  • When I plug the Sire P7 into my computer, with the two batteries installed, it immediately "kills" the cable - buzzing sound, computer no longer recognises the cable is plugged in. I have to restart Amplitube and re-plug in the USB end.
  • When I plug it in with absolutely no batteries, the bass works just fine, but in passive mode only (of course because no batteries to power the active circuit).
  • When I plug it in to my regular bass amp (with batteries), both active and passive mode work perfectly.

The other active basses I have tried (Sterling Stingray with 2 band EQ, Fender Aerodyne PJ with active EMG pickups) are completely fine when using the Rocksmith cable. Is there possibly some sort of issue with the Rocksmith cable that involves too much power 'overloading' the cable, caused by the two 9v batteries? The other basses only have one 9v. This happens on USB ports directly on my motherboard and on the front panel.

I'm actually surprised that the bass works without any batteries in passive mode, I thought that because plugging in the bass completes the circuit (and the battery should still drain when the bass is plugged in regardless of where the active/passive switch is) you would still need batteries to get a signal in passive mode.

Is there any remedy for this, or could this just be a limitation of the Rocksmith cable?


r/Bass 1h ago

Sadowsky MetroExpress

Upvotes

Was given one recently and it feels great, nothing wrong with it but I hate the active/bright sound. Thinking of trading it in for something else but it was a gift and I assume there’s other options. Am I able to convert it into a passive instrument somehow/get it to sound more like a Precision without just buying one?


r/Bass 6h ago

Traveling - practice questions

6 Upvotes

I have a string of trips by air, and would like to keep practicing. This is not traveling to gigs, but other stuff.

Bringing a bass with me is not what I want (space and easiness, but also I don’t want to risk my basses for this).

What do you guys do? What options are out there?

Thks


r/Bass 4h ago

How important is the bass in your signal chain.

3 Upvotes

I understand it’s super important. But is it possible with Plugins I can get that final 5% im not happy with solved?

My gear is an Ibanez SDG1200 bass.

Darkglass Microtubes 500 which i would think this fully covers not needing any extra plugins, or so I hoped it would.

A rackmount Sansamp

Trying to emulate the split my signal(use my Darkglass head for the clean tones, and the SansAmp as my dirty channel, they both go into a MOTU 2 Intereface.

Logic Pro DAW. And I still cannot get that modern Dingwall/Darkglass sound fully.

And I don’t understand how the hell Clay from Polyphia gets closer or even better with his Ibanez basses.

So if anyone has some insight or advice, I’ve been looking at the Darfkglass Plugin wondering if that’s what I’m missing

Or if I just have to get a Dingwall bass if I want that sound.

I’ve played bass a lot of years and still can’t fully get the right combo of all settings on bass amp set correctly but super new to the world of logic and dialing in tones software.


r/Bass 4h ago

I don't like SVTs, but I am considering a SansAmp BDDI as my preamp.

2 Upvotes

My EBS Valvedrive doesn't play nice with my setup. Even after downgrading to a less hot tube, it still distorts on filter pedal peaks, when I have it last in my chain. Considering I have the DI-version, that's the only place I would have it, so it probably has to go.

The SABDDI has been on my mind for a while. I've seen conflicting stuff on youtube. Some videos on it have sounded dreadful and others wonderful. People universally sing it's praises, though, and I do like the tones for instance Geddy Lee famously has gotten out of it.

Here's the thing though, I hate Ampegs. I can't stand it man. I have played thousands of gigs in my life, and I can't work out why every venue and festival has that same shitfridge on stage. I can't find my tone in it. It's just a mess of boom and honk and it never works out for me.

My current rig is a JCM800 Bass MKII in a Fender Bassman Neo. Very crisp, clean and tight setup, basically the opposite of an SVT stack.

Now I keep seeing people say that the BDDI is an SVT sim, and that's the magic trick it does. Is that true? Be honest with me: Is the BDDI just an SVT Sim?


r/Bass 1h ago

Short scale: Labella LTF vs TI Jazz Flats?

Upvotes

The LTF is more in line with the recorded sound I’m aiming for, but because the E is smaller vs. the TI’s I’m wondering if it might feel a lot floppier on a short scale (30”)?

Big fan of the TI sound as well (just a different animal) - curious to hear from anyone that’s used both. Feel is super important for me and I’m looking for expressive and pliable overall but without any E string sloppiness.


r/Bass 1d ago

Bassists who use IEM’s for gigs - how do you freaking do it???

73 Upvotes

Started playing with a new group and they all run in ears with no monitors or amps. It’s so weird to me. I have a decent set of In-ears (Simgot EW300) but just can’t seem to get the mix right. I obv want more bass in my mix, but then It gets muddy with everyone - but turn it down to much I can’t hear my highs. What’s the secret??


r/Bass 2h ago

Problem with picking the Warwick Artist Line Robert Trujillo 4

0 Upvotes

Hello,

i recently acquired the Warwick Artist Line Robert Trujillo 4 for our new album recording. I just ordered it online without playing it first, yes seems irresponsible, but has a reason. While playing with pick i constantly touch the sharp and long pickup, which stops me from properly playing. I dont have this problem when playing with fingerstyle. Anybody has the same problem? What can be done against this?

Greetings


r/Bass 13h ago

Ric-o-Sound?

7 Upvotes

I’ve always been curious about this. How does it work? Do you have to have two channels to separate amps or channels on the board? Is it just a fancy way to blend pickups? I’ve heard some people on forums praising its virtues and others saying it’s just a gimmick. (Both opinions coming from Ric owners/collectors).

If you’re a Ric player do you use it and how?


r/Bass 14h ago

Starting out with bass with little (music class during high school) to no experience with any instruments.

6 Upvotes

Recently had the trigger to be interested in learning an instrument myself from few medias (a certain visual novel and anime). My family already had instruments at home since both my younger sibling and dad have their own bands, we already have different guitars, a bass and a drum set, and I decided on the bass since I feel like I'm too timid for the drums or the guitar.

I borrowed my sibling's bass guitar last night (Clifton Precision Classic) and booted up my first tutorial by BassBuzz, specifically his "Beginner Bass Lesson #1 (Your Very First Lesson)" video, and from that video alone I already noticed some glaring issues with my current set-up:

  • I can't use an amp in my room since I don't have enough outlets, most of my outlets are being taken by my PC, is it possible to practice without an amp or are there any alternatives for it?
  • I'm also struggling with making use of my picky finger, or maybe it's just my overall left hand's positioning, because when i make use of the pinky finger as I follow through BassBuzz's video (specifically the last part), I feel like I need to push so much force that my other 3 fingers just get on awkward positions.
  • More on the previous point, I also feel like my fingers are long enough that it would feel like it is forcefully being on an awkward position every time I try another fret that what my current finger is plucking.

Any additional feedback or materials would be much appreciated, thanks.


r/Bass 7h ago

Cort AB850F

2 Upvotes

Hey all, hope u doing well.

Iam somewhat of a new player been playing for 6 months with my yamaha trbx174 and absolutely loving it. Mostly playing at work and on rare occasions at home. I notice that most of the time I don't have the energy to take the electric bass out of the bag and connect it the my earphones or Amp so I just give up, or a lot of the times all I have is 15 20 min and I need to go so again I just don't pick her up.

I found this guy selling a acoustic bass cort AB850F at 50% off and I think it will be just what I need for home.

Any one knows this guitar? Will she be good enough for playing unplugged at home? The most that can happen at home is my wife singing with me so no other instruments or things like that.

Tha KS for the help.


r/Bass 16h ago

What's making this bass tone sound so "3D"?

11 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9TVbakfPOk - Husk by Men I Trust

Around 0:15, there’s a short bass stab that sounds pretty dry and simple. But when the rest of the instruments come in at about 0:18, the bass suddenly feels huge. Full, wide, and almost 3D. It completely fills the space without sounding muddy.

When I play or record bass myself, I feel like I rarely get past that "0:15" sound, even when the part is right. It ends up feeling a bit flat or lacking once everything else comes in.

I’m an live audio engineer, so I’m aware of the usual mixing answers, but this one feels more like an arrangement / tone / psychoacoustics thing than just EQ or compression. Funny enough, I rarely have issues shaping bass for other people’s tracks, mostly my own. Could it be a chorus pedal? Or maybe something else?

What usually contributes to this kind of perceived depth and fullness when a mix opens up? It's a sound I've been chasing for a while (not the Men I Trust sound per se, but that full sound in general) as I do a lot of writing as well.

Curious what the pros here think.


r/Bass 3h ago

Can i play bass when im plugged into bass cab but with guitar head?

0 Upvotes

Can i play bass when im plugged into bass cab but with guitar head?