When refurbishing or restoring a vintage bass, sometimes it’s necessary to use new parts because the old parts have simply worn out or have become unusable from sitting too long and not being used enough. This is an instance where new parts were used on an old bass, and it worked out quite nicely. What … Read more
There are many bass players who go “all in” when it comes to string type. Some will use nothing but roundwound while others use nothing but flatwound. Which is the best? You can listen to a video below to hear the differences between flat and around both with pick and fingers to decide that for … Read more
A few things to point out up front for those that care about the technical naming details of this: The proper name for this type of thing is a vibrato system. Fender for a very long time has incorrectly called it a tremolo system. The reason it’s incorrect is because a tremolo effect is produced … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here The feature bass this week boasts a handmade bridge out of brass! Builder Angelos from HMG writes: Wood carving is a special art & in this unique instrument is the main element. The “teacher” gave us a hand in the inner designs and we cut the … Read more
“Walk This Way” is one of Aerosmith’s greatest hit songs from the album Toys in the Attic. There have been countless thousands of bass players who have covered this song. While there’s nothing wrong with that, many players tend to overcomplicate the song when covering it. Why do bassists overcomplicate the song when playing it? … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here The feature bass this week shows how much you can save when you do it yourself! Builder Alan Gruskoff writes: I bought an unfinished bass guitar body made of solid mahogany with a spalted & flamed top. After much sanding, I applied two coats of Behlen … Read more
Continuing on with the theme of 6-string basses this week, below are a few examples of how good the 6-string bass can sound. In this first example, we hear a classical piece by Bach. Generous use of the higher frets and treble strings are played. In this second example is one of the 6-string’s main … Read more
Below is a video by Janek Gwizdala published a few months back on what it’s like to pick up and play a proper 6-string bass. And “proper” means one that has been set up correctly with an appropriate string set of the correct thicknesses, string saddles with correctly set height, a neck that has had … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here The feature bass this week was built as a gift, and what a nice gift it is. Builder Darryl Cameron writes: This bass was built as a Christmas present for a friend. She has played bass for years and I wanted to build a bass so … Read more
Carrying on with the theme of thumb rests for bass this week, below is a video showing how unbelievably easy it is to install or remove a Zero-Mod thumb rest to a Rickenbacker electric bass (which by the way is also available for the Music Man Stingray, Telecaster Bass, Jaguar Bass and others). This is, … Read more
