At Best Bass Gear, we (as well as our viewers and customers) love seeing entries for Bass of the Week. You can submit yours right here.
The vast majority of the time, just about every entry we get eventually will make it as a feature.
What disqualifies a build or a mod from being featured? Things that don’t have anything to do with the bass at all, but rather how it was submitted.
These are the top reasons an entry won’t be featured:
1. Blurry photos
Bass builders and modders usually aren’t photographers, and that’s fine. But nobody wants to see a blurry photo.
The above example is a great build, but the photo isn’t.
This is a piece of the photo at native resolution that the submitter sent:
We didn’t do this. This is how the photo arrived. The instrument could not be featured because of the blurry/distorted nature of images sent.
2. Photos that are too small
The above is one of the original photos sent for this modder’s build. The guitar looks cool and was modded great, but what you see above is what we got. The photo is just too small. There were other photos along with this one, all the same too-small size.
Had this been sent to us in full, high-quality resolution (a bare minimum of 1920×1080 or greater), it would have been featured.
3. Not including stuff the audience needs to see
The above is another fantastic build and very well done. So what’s the problem? The submitter did not include a full shot of the bass, nor did he include a photo of the headstock. Every photo sent was great, but… no full shot and no headstock shot.
This one would have made for a fantastic Bass of the Week feature. Simple, elegant, great grain lines visible, etc. Total feature-worthy material. This bass has it all… except a full photo of it. For that reason, it couldn’t be featured.
“Not-so good photos are the main reason a bass doesn’t get featured?”
Yes. If the photo is too small, too blurry and/or doesn’t show enough of the bass, the entry can’t be featured because the audience – meaning you, the readers – want to see the whole thing in clear view. And that’s totally understandable.
Follow these photo guidelines to give you a HUGE advantage to getting featured for Bass of the Week
We do not expect nor require any builder or modder to be a master photographer. You don’t have to have fancy camera equipment or anything like that. Use whatever you have available to you, such as your smartphone, digital camera or whatever you have. But when you do, follow these guidelines:
All photos must be LARGE. Large means 1920×1080 minimum. If you have no idea what that means, it means to have your photos at least 2 megapixels in size. Do not resize your photos. Just use the big, original versions as they do work best.
All photos must be in focus. If it’s blurry/out-of-focus, the photo can’t be used.
Have at least one photo of THE WHOLE BASS. Put the bass on a stand, stand back and take a full photo of it. Yes, it’s that simple. If there’s not enough light inside to get a good photo, take the bass outside during daylight hours, put on a stand, take your photo.
Side note: Outdoor light is great and shows off wood and shiny steel parts best, but nobody cares about the scenery. The subject is the bass. Not trees. Not grass. Not sky. The bass. Just the bass. If you place your bass on a stand on a concrete driveway in front of a white garage door and take your photo that way, that’s fine. Yes, the garage door and concrete driveway is boring. But nobody cares about that. The bass is what matters. Always. And remember: Most cameras – especially of the cheaper variety – “like” outdoor light best.
Show a photo of the body area. Our readers like seeing closer shots of the bridge and electronics area.
Show a photo of the headstock. Many of our readers like seeing what tuners other builders and modders use. Show yours.
Show a photo of the fretboard. Readers like seeing this to check out the fretboard wood and inlay work, if any. No, you don’t have to show the entire fretboard, but try to get as most of it in there as you can.
Show photos of the BACK of the bass. Our readers really like seeing this, usually because it’s where the woods used can be shown best. In addition, our readers enjoy seeing what the builder/modder did for rear cavity controls, battery box areas and so on. You may not find that interesting, but our readers do.
If your camera is awful at close-up shots…
…don’t worry about it. We know how to crop photos to make your photos look best and do it often.
For closer shots, just get as close as you can while still staying in focus, take the shot and use it when submitting for Bass of the Week. We’ll take care of the rest.
Remember, all the bass entries above are GOOD…
…but they couldn’t be featured because of not-so good photos.
Submit your Bass of the Week entry
RIGHT HERE
We really want to show more of what you build.
But we need the proper photos to do it.
Now you know how.
