Previous AMAs

In this video, Sean Hurley has something clipped on his bass headstock. what is it? Tuner?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekm8kqkyri4

I can only find three or four HS Stingray basses at a time. Are they hard to find?

I mean what is a tool meant for bass that would always be a good idea to own? (besides stuff like amps, input/output cords, a bass, a power cable, an outlet, a tuner, and the tools needed to repair/alter a bass, like the wrenches)

For me, I know some people will think otherwise, but I say a distortion pedal (or maybe a wah pedal), because there's always at least one time where you'll need some badass tone that you can't get anywhere else. Plus, if you bring a distortion pedal (and maybe a wah) with you wherever you go, you could have the next Cliff Burton situation on your hands (for how he joined Metallica), but YOU ARE CLIFF.

Although, a runner up would be a compressor.

Basically the title, I play with unchanged treble, boosted mids and a light boost to bass. I play with my lower pickup maxed (my amp is set to lower volume so it isnt too loud) The only thing I change between types of songs is how far I turn my high pickup and if I play with a pick or not, no amp changes whatsoever. For instance, for a song like reptilia I will turn up my high pickup and play with a pick, but for a song like creep I will have my high pickup on the lowest (off?) And with fingers. Is this bad for a band setting, we plan on making original songs so should I change amp stuff for those? Any tips appreciated.

Hi again,

I put a post up asking about gear for our upcoming musical, footloose. I’m not sure what bass to use: a J or P bass? I was thinking that maybe I bring both, and switch out depending on what fits the song the most… just don’t know if it matters that much. It feels like it matters to me, because I like to nitpick the fine details, but I’d like others’ opinions. My musical director said he doesn’t know, and that he doesn’t know much about bass lol.

Thanks for any help!

I tend to take things very literally -- the bassline of a song just is what it is. Maybe it's a "see the good in the world" kind of attitude, I don't know. But some of my friends (mainly lead guitarists -- you know the type) have criticisms galore for well known songs, "I would have done this here", "this should have been XYZ chord", whatever. SOO I'm trying to open up my perspective, listen more objectively.

What song do you feel the bass line is too busy, or doesn't go hard enough? Maybe the tone is wrong? Or you just think "that ain't it"? AND what would you have done differently?

It has damage in the front, I have a rumble 25 … but I’d love to have something that would shake the ground … any thoughts?

I like what came on the bass with factory set up I want to keep it like that.

Specifically, strings for an acoustic bass. I’ve got a Breedlove Acoustic bass that I really enjoy a lot, and it’s time again to change out the strings. They’re getting cruddy and worn. The last strings I put on it, I can’t remember what they were. They were a gift, and they sounded just okay to me. A little too rigid and twangy maybe. They just didn’t feel right to me. So I’m hoping for some opinions on what might be the absolute best strings for an acoustic.

Hey everyone :D

After having played the guitar for quite a while I decided I wanted to give the bass a go as well and what better way to start out than by building your instrument all by yourself.

I was inspired by the Fender Hello-Kitty Strat and wanted to to something similar in a panda-themed manner. So I purchased the Harley Benton J-Bass Kit and started designing a digital prototype which I would love to get some feedback on.

https://imgur.com/a/kENIN5c

I have access to a CNC mill to cut out the pick guard.

I could not decide on the shape of the headstock yet. Originally I wanted to go with the panda-theme and make it resemble a set of ears or something but I did not like any ideas I could come up with. For the color of the body I chose a dull green to go with the theme and represent bamboo.

Hope you like it and I will keep you updated as soon as I start building and show you the final result.

Hello everybody I started in the fabulous world of bass 10 days ago and unfortunately I have a problem with my equipment. I bought a Rumble 15 and my bass is a Yamaha TRBX174. I have a kind of buzzing/humming noise coming out of my amp when I turn up the volume, which I didn't have at first. Also, the noise is much less or nonexistent when I turn up the volume on my microphone (3rd from the top). The noise also decreases when I touch the jack cable or the strings. I took my bass and amp back to the store and everything worked when the salesman tested it in front of me, the only thing that wasn't tested was the jack cable. Do you have any idea what could provoke that ? Thanks in advance !

Hello all! I'm gonna be getting my order in a few days but after months of saving, happy to say I was able to buy a relatively cheap beginner bass and a 15watt amplifier to start my journey on self learning.

Just one question since I can't afford to be noisy, how do I setup both my bass and a mobile phone to both output in the amplifier so that I can both hear my notes and hear the backing track from my phone when practicing all under one headphones?

My band director has me on a feature in our indoor percussion show this year, and he wants me to figure out ways to play Clair De Lune, as well as Moonlight Sonata movements 1 and 3. Any ideas? I can't find any arrangements out there so right now I'm just painstakingly figuring it out by ear. I'd consider myself an advanced player, the only thing I can't do is slap. I also have 6 strings.

ADDED NOTE Because I know Indoor Percussion isn't a very widely known thing- it's like a marching band show, but with just the Drumline and the front ensemble. It's performed in a high school gym, and my school's group goes to compete nationally as well.

Ok, hear me out. I know it sounds crazy but I have been spending hours exploring harmonics and creating lots of harmonic textures around the top end of the fingerboard and now suddenly my bass seems to be much more susceptible to doing the thing where you don't have enough bow pressure and it plays some kind of overtone instead of the note you are fingering.

I have heard people say that you can 'play out' wolf tones sometimes (aka play them a lot to get the instrument 'used' to resonating at those frequencies) so I am wondering if anyone knows anything about that potentially happening with harmonics? Is it possible that my bass has been 'trained' to respond to harmonics more than it used to? It sucks and I have a jury in a few days :(

Does anyone have the tabs for the bass intro Flea plays before Around the World on Slane Castle Live?

Ok so I bought a Bass War, the bass version of Death By Audio’s Fuzz War and it’s really cool and all but it definitely does not hit the same as the original Fuzz War. In my honest opinion, the Bass War sounds very farty with less sustain. I tried really hard to like it but it’s just not happening. So this leads me to my question. Should I get a line selector and have a clean single with my compressor and blend it with my fuzz war using the line selector? In my head, I get to keep the low end I want but I still get the fuzz I want instead of settling for the bass version of the pedal. If I’m wrong, please teach me haha. If my idea is good which line selector would be best for what I’m describing?

I’m looking at buying a used 2010 Ibanez GSR200 online for £110. It seems to be in great condition however it has been uploaded for 4 months and nobody has bought it which slightly concerns me.

The description states it has new wiring, Jack socket and strings.

Any advice would be much appreciated :)

Has anyone tried that? I play both bass and guitar and before I head out to buy another piece of gear, I'd like to check if its possible to effectively use B6 as and Guitar multieffect - I mostly would like to make use of amp sims and IRs for guitar cabinets, for starters.

Is that a good or bad idea at all ? Where and how to start ?

As far as theory goes, I don't have much knowledge about differences between guitar and bass amps. Are they THAT different?

Hey everyone!

I was hoping someone could help me with some beginner questions.

I’ve played guitar my all life and recently I’ve been asked if i’m willing to play bass in a band. The offer interests me quite a lot however I’m concerned about tuning, let me explain, they use 8 strings guitars tuned down to drop E so i would have to tune down the same.

I was looking around for an instrument to get started with and found a nice and cheap fanned fret 5 strings bass, 34.5"-36.25" scale length.

Would the tuning be achievable? What string gauge would you recommend? Would it be better to go drop F and pitch it down with a pedal?

Thanks a lot!

i only want people who have actually bought from there to answer please

anyways i also have some general questions:

• 1: what happens if the product turns out to be fake or in bad condition without the seller indicating it? will they get a guaranteed refund?

• 2: are scams common? and if a scam happens is there any assurance?

• 3: meow

I play in a rock/metal band and I needed a better bass. I'm looking for cheaper models and found these, now I'm in doubt between the two. Which one do I get?

Hi, I'm very new to reddit And I just want to ask you guys about what bass should I get Currently I'm pondering between a jackson bass or a short scale bass (examples: gretsch g2220, stingray ss4, sire u5, etc.) I have fairly short fingers and hands as well as I feel like as the lead vocalist of my band, playing a short scale would give me an easier time But as far as my knowledge goes, short scales tend to be bad when it comes to lower tunings, and my band plans to make hardcore, post hardcore and shoegaze as well as some crossover thrash and/or sludge metal (stuff like narrowhead, deftones, julie, pest control, turnstile, black flag, title fight, modern color, gouge away, etc.) I'm still a beginner with my yamaha trbx174 It would be greatly appreciated if i can have some feed back from you guys, thank you!

Hi Guys,

Wondering how you would organize these pedals (and the reason why ofcourse). I'm kind of new to using pedals as I mainly used a tuner, compression and a preamp before. In the band I'm currently playing I'm opening up to some more effects (I had all pedals listed below already) to sound well on cover songs.

Pedals:

• TC Electronic Polytune 3
• Empress Bass Compressor
• Genzler Magellan Preamp/DI
• EHX Bass Clone
• EHX Bass Big Muff Pi
• TC Electronic Sub'n'Up Octaver
• MXR 82 Bass Envelope

If someone can give some more theory about the electronic behind the pedals it's always appreciated :).

I’m considering picking up a Dunable Gnarwhal DE and hoping for some feedback on a few details. I haven’t been able to line up a chance to try one, so I’m here.

How are the pickups? Any different from a standard set of P style p’ups? How does the bass hang on a strap and how high/low do you have it? What tuning/gauge of string are you using?

My band plays in drop-a and I’m using a 34” scale bass with Rotosound RS66LH+ (85-175) strings, and I’m after a 35” scale for extra playability/sustain and everything else that comes with that. I’ve considered going to a 5 string, but it’s not for me.

TIA for any insight!

Apologies if this isn’t the right place to ask. I’m planning on swapping the neck pickup on my Danelectro Longhorn bass for an Aguilar 50’s PBass pickup. The pickup looks great, but it would look pretty sweet to have a telecaster style pickup cover on it to match the lipstick pickup in the bridge. Do pickup covers exist for that pickup? Is it the same size as a telecaster neck pickup?

I have a '07 MIM Standard P Bass that I am looking to have some work done on. It mainly has an issue with the jack making noise, but I'm thinking while the tech is working on that might be a good time to have some new pick ups thrown on it.

My question is how do these '62 pickups compare with the standard pick up for mid 2000s MIM basses, as well as the other offerings fender has like the pure vintage '63 or the custom shop '62s.

This bass is set up as a Motown machine, with Labella Deep Talkin's, and I love it as it is and plan to keep it for that purpose. Would one of these "vintage" pick up offerings from Fender do much of anything different for the sound? Any guidance on the world of Fender replacement pickups is greatly appreciated!

My situation: So a friend loaned me a bass and I'm loving it, but I don't have a dedicated bass amp. I have a guitar amp (I can get a tone, but it sucks. Yes I read the FAQ!). I also have a home stereo, but no way to process the instrument output (no audio interface, and I don't really want to commit to opening a DAW every time I practice).

Being on a budget of roughly zero dollars, my search has lead to options like headphone amps and small modeling / fx pedals. This seems like a better move than a ratty, beat up 15w practice amp.

My question: Rather than running the output to headphones, would it work well to send the output from one of these things into my home stereo via line-in? The home stereo is a vintage receiver powering a Polk Audio 2.1 sub + bookshelf speaker set (I also have a small desktop analog mixer ahead of the receiver, so I can keep an eye on gain and EQ at that point). If I'm thinking this through correctly, the headphone amp or modeling pedal will provide an output that any home stereo can safely handle, right? If the output is good enough for headphones, it's good enough for a line-in to a stereo system, right? Right? 😆 What am I missing?

My goals: Strictly for practice at home, with easiest use. I'm not planning to join a band, or gig.

Hey Guys,

So I owned an Ibanez SR305 earlier and even though I loved the sound and the comfort, I had to let it go, because the balance was a bit off and it felt a bit head-heavy. My ultimate dream bass would be an SR505 but I'm afraid I would face the same issue with it. Since I'm a left-handed player, I can't find a place where I could try it, so this question remains open. In the meantime I cast an eye on the Sterling StingRay 5 model, and I'm wondering what kind of difference there is in terms of balance between the two. Does anyone have an experience in both these basses?

Thanks in advance!

This topic could be out of normal discussion on this group..

Let’s say you want to publish bass cover on YouTube, what is legality?

Any general guidelines? Have you guys done it with following some guidelines?

If you add some content (like bass tabs), would it make it better?