If you encounter wrist pain when you buy a new bass guitar that has a different neck compared to what you’re used to, this is absolutely not something that exclusively happens to the over-40 crowd. Far from it, actually. Anyone can get wrist pain from a different style of bass guitar neck. Common pain description: … Read more
The week’s BotW that was sent to featureme@bestbassgear.com comes from the wild woods of Texas where tones boom low and bass guitars like to get outside and go tanning. Paul writes: This bass that I dubbed “The Bastard” is a Telecaster/Jazz bass hybrid body shape that I designed. I wanted this bass to look very … Read more
There’s a lot of debate out there as to what The Most Important Thing is concerning what a bass player should know above all else, and opinions vary wildly on this subject. Some say the most important thing is to know your scales, while others say you should know what’s known as “perfect pitch” (and … Read more
On the heavier, grittier side of bass tone is stoner rock. Definitely not a mainstream rock sound, not exactly grunge, not exactly heavy metal, not exactly blues… it’s just a decidedly “dark” hard driving sound. Stoner rock isn’t necessarily slow or fast tempo and it goes all over the place. Early stoner tone Some say … Read more
Before starting this one, I have to define what “kid” is in the context of this article. Kid in this article refers to children between the ages of 8 and 12. If your child is interested in the bass guitar, you’re most likely not going to want to put a bunch of money into an … Read more
A bass that sounds “piano-like” isn’t a term that’s used very often, but it’s a good one to know to understand why some bass players hate new strings so much. You know that there are some players out there who purposely prefer old, used strings. Part of the reason for that is to avoid the … Read more
See Jeirn’s business listing here This BotW that arrived to featureme@bestbassgear.com is being featured this week for one reason: It has a cool name. Last week, I said that it’s helpful if you builders/modders out there actually name your basses when you submit them, and Jeirn’s bass without a doubt had the best name. Jeirn … Read more
Note up front, yes, we sell this, but that’s not the reason for this article. When it comes to envelope filtering, you have two ways of going about it. Either you use a manual bass wah pedal that you rock back and forth with your foot, or you use an envelope filter pedal. At first … Read more
Most bass players new to building a bass don’t actually scratch-build the instrument but rather modify an existing one, and that’s fine. However, when the modding starts, sometimes it can end up in disaster where the bass becomes ruined and unplayable from modifying too much stuff. That’s also fine because sometimes the best way to … Read more
In order to be a true bass snob to separate yourself from “the little people” (or to be an a**hole just for fun), one must practice the following 5 rules. 1. Hate Fender All bass snobs must hate Fender in all forms. Here are a few lines you can use: “Fender hasn’t made anything good … Read more
