/r/Bass

Photograph via snooOG

Reddit's Loudest and Most In-Tune Community of Bassists

Electric, acoustic, upright, and otherwise.

Community resources, and extensive FAQ for players new and old.

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Rules

  1. Check the sidebar, the FAQ, and search for your answer before making a post. We have lots of common questions with lots of common answers.

  2. New Bass Day (NBD) and Gear posts go into the weekly threads. Posts made outside of the thread will be removed and asked to be reposted.

  3. Don't use the sub to sell or advertise your gear (with very few exceptions, ask the mods). Use r/Gear4Sale for selling gear. Also, do not post links to giveaways where you personally benefit (getting more entries) by propagating (spamming) a link.

  4. No memes, please.

  5. SFW Only (duh).

  6. Resist the urge to start "gig pic" "bass face" and "family photo" threads.

  7. Requests for tab should be made in /r/basstabs and will be removed from /r/bass

  8. Please tag video or audio of you or your band with [Feedback] in the subject line of the post.

  9. Be nice.

We encourage you to report spam posts or posts that violate the rules, but please send a message to the moderators at the same time.

Similarly, please send any comments or critiques to the moderators.

/r/Bass

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1

There Are No Stupid Bass Questions - Nov. 09

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

0 Comments
2024/11/09
14:00 UTC

2

What bass is it played in this song?

I absolutely love the sound of the bass in this song. Can someone guess what bass is it?

Nights over Egypt (Masters at work main mix) - Incognito

https://open.spotify.com/track/6KTnn28titZBQGLzrbRSNz?si=fAixUsuGSNia1FdmJpWzqw&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Aincognito%2Bnights%2Bover%2Begypt

1 Comment
2024/11/09
13:53 UTC

1

Buying a used Warwick

Hello, Im looking to buy a used Rob Trujillo signature line Rockbass. I’ve found one from 2012, in general terms it looks good, just the normal wear from regular use.

Something Im concerned about is the electronics side. This bass has an active pickup system and a MEC 3-way preamp system. I know that it can be pretty expensive to change this if needed. The owner has no problem to take it to a tech to make sure everything is okay on that side.

My question is, do these systems have an approximate lifespan or tend to have issues after some years? Is there any other issue I should be concerned about a 12yo bass?

Thanks in advance.

5 Comments
2024/11/09
12:40 UTC

2

Easy song with Groove !

Unleash the songs!

1 Comment
2024/11/09
11:49 UTC

15

what helps the "my bass doesn't sound as good as other poeple" thing?

I've picked up bass as an adult after giving up as a kid. im trying to take my time and learn theory, techniques, rhytm and have fun learning songs I like, so that i can be a well rounded player.

as most beginners, i sometimes get frustrated when i learn a song but it doesn't sound as good as the original (ghost notes and slap bass are the bane of my existence lol i love love love how they sound but i am struggling to learn how to actually do them).

more experienced bass players, what makes bass go from a beginner sound to a more pleasing sound? is it confidence, expensive equipment, pedals, technique, time and experience, a demon pact, amp settings? did this happen to you? does it just go away after a few years or is it something that still comes up when you learn something new?

44 Comments
2024/11/09
11:09 UTC

0

Tone help?

Howdy yall,

Forgive me, I'm a drummer by trade, but hoping some of you lovely bass players could help me out.
I have a Stingray Sub bass, when I first got it, it sounded gorgeous, good definition, nice and bright - however, it now sounds a bit flat and dull. I've changed the battery (twice!) to no avail, and I'm not sure what else to do. I've only had it a few months, so figured it couldn't be that the strings need replacing?

I've linked some audio here for what the bass currently sounds like vs what it used to sound like.
All tone/volume knobs on full.

Any help is much appreciated! thanks!

4 Comments
2024/11/09
10:19 UTC

0

Need help with a tight budget for an audio interface

I have max like 200$ to spend, both for the interace and headphones, i heard audio intefaces are way better than amps, im just like fairly new to playing bass and i need something to practice with..

1 Comment
2024/11/09
10:10 UTC

5

What to buy my boyfriend?

Hi all, I want to get my boyfriend a bass guitar for Christmas. He currently plays an Ibanez electric guitar and wants to get into bass. He likes to play punk/rock music. My budget is up to $700, am I able to get him a nice bass for that kind of money? What should I get him?

14 Comments
2024/11/09
08:56 UTC

3

Sansamp where on this pedalboard

Hi all,

My question is where would I place sansamp bass driver di v2 on my pedalboard. In order, my layout is as follows.

  1. deluxe bass big muff
  2. microtubes B3K
  3. flanger BF3

4.bass chorus CEB 3 And today the owner of a sansamp.

I still have 2 pedals that are not connected to the board and they are.

  1. bass overdrive ODB 3
  2. MXR bass fuzz deluxe

so maybe I should bring this in too. genre is post-punk stoner

4 Comments
2024/11/09
08:55 UTC

0

Is it bad that I sort of like Jazz pickups for rock?

For reference I’ve only been playing since early August and put in a decent amount of time every day to practice and play.

I have a squier affinity pj bass (though I’m thinking of getting a Schecter Stiletto extreme 4 after playing it at guitar center and liking the tone and feel)

I was learning and playing the bass solo (idk if it’s a solo but the interesting part) from Reptilia today and I realized I much prefer using the jazz pickup to the precision pickup. Is that strange for playing rock music? I know that p-basses are more preferred but is using a jazz bass for rock heresy that only Geddy Lee is allowed to commit?

As a secondary question: are humbuckers more similar to p or j pickups or their own thing entirely? (Or can they be either depending on manufacturing?)

13 Comments
2024/11/09
07:29 UTC

0

Bass as electric guitar

I have been writing power chords up high on the neck of my 5 string and it's been sounding so great I thought surely Im not the first. Any bands or artists who use bass as guitar?

18 Comments
2024/11/09
07:14 UTC

1

J/H configuration

This bass pickup configuration is very underrated in my opinion, as it can give you several classic tone options if wired in a certain way. Though it's quite rare, I've only seen two examples, those being the peavey millennium plus usa and the lakland 55 02, ¿Does anybody know any production basses that come in this configuration, maybe on the more affordable side?

5 Comments
2024/11/09
06:14 UTC

2

Please help me decide on a home practice amp

Fender Rumble LT25 vs Orange Crush Bass 25

14 Comments
2024/11/09
05:56 UTC

3

Birthday present for my Student

(This post was made for r/Guitar but the mods keep deleting my posts) I have been teaching Guitar to the son of a family friend (he's like ten years old), for a few months now. I was the one that originally got him into guitar and music in general, so I would like to give him a nice present for his birthday in around one month. He is a close family friend and I really want to motivate him to get really interested in guitar so I was thinking about getting him a pedal or a cheap multi-effects unit to really get him interested in it. What would you guys suggest me getting him, something a kid could play around with but not being too complex. Preferably not too expensive, but I have already made a decent amount of money from the lessons and my parents said they can foot some of the bill so money is not a huge issue. Thanks!

2 Comments
2024/11/09
05:39 UTC

1

Update:: new 51y bass player & band adventure

Hello!

About a year ago I was asked to fill in on bass for a gig w a local punk cover band. At 51, w a few months of lessons and minimal late evening practice, I super reluctantly agreed. The feedback and tips from this community were invaluable in getting me through; I nailed the 10 songs over a few weeks, working out kinks in practice. Then the gig ended up getting cancelled, and I was no longer needed. A total let down.

Fast fwd a few months and I ended up joining the band (returned bass player wanted to be a guitarist), running through practices, working out more tunes (up to about 25 or so), and getting through a good handful of shows. Still feel like I'm faking it to make it, but it has been a fantastic time, w more gigs to come.

Thanks r/bass!

(edit: grammar)

Posted back in December '23

New bass player (6 months now). Asked to fill in on a punk cover gig. Tips?

Hello.

1st actual post here. I started learning bass about 6m ago (at 51!). No prior musical training. I've gotten through a good bit of theory, practice about 20-30mins a day, have had a bit of random jamming w others, lessons every few weeks. I've not really learned many complete songs previously.

I've been asked to fill in on bass for a punk cover gig in about 10 days (about 10-12 songs - all familiar: clash, old bowie, ramones, stooges, etc). I've pulled down the tabs and started trying to work the fingering out and memorize bits, will soon just start trying to play to the tracks. Some practices are planned (but I'm not sure how many). I'm trying to fit the tabs to the mode or scale that I know in my head (this one's in B minor, that one's in A major, etc). And now trying to practice and commit to memory.

My question is, are there good tips, processes beyond what I'm doing for undertaking learning a set of songs rather quickly (at least for me).

I said 'yes' to this, but had some reservations about being able to pull it off - Part of me wanted to just push myself. Right now, pretty darned terrified (but perhaps equally excited).

---

4 Comments
2024/11/09
05:36 UTC

0

Did Youtube Just Pay Us A Compliment?

So we (cover quartet) are in the process of figuring out what we need to learn in order to film/stream some material. I finally manage to pop out a simple 4 cam splitscreen of myself playing along to 2 minutes of last week's rehearsals, and upload it to YT for the rest of the band to see.

Not one second after it finishes uploading, YT says COPYRIGHT DETECTED, SONG x BY y (author allows use etc.).

Guess we sound better than I thought??!?

(Weekend light hearted shitpost - I expect it is easy enough to detect and this is the normal experience (is it?))

0 Comments
2024/11/09
05:12 UTC

2

What else can I do

I am modding a sterling ray 4 sub and so far I’m getting the pickup and preamp swapped and I was wondering what else I could do to it

8 Comments
2024/11/09
05:00 UTC

41

Do all bands jam?

A bit of a weird question, but do all bands expect their members to jam together? My background is in classical music, so I'm used to ensembles that just learning pre-existing music and rehearse it. I thought a band would be similar, but jamming seems to be brought up a lot in online forums. I'm starting to wonder whether it's the norm for members of a band to jam in addition to learning sheet music.

On a related note, how much does it limit my ability to find a band to join if I want to avoid jamming? I've never been great at improv -- mostly because I've rarely tried -- but still, since I'm relatively new to bass, I'd feel more comfortable joining a band where I only have to focus on getting better at bass, not improvising too. But if jamming is a prerequisite to being in most bands, then I'll start working on it now alongside just getting better at bass.

Edit: my interest is in rock music, not jazz if that matters

83 Comments
2024/11/09
02:58 UTC

6

Is it difficult or a bad idea to mod the Tony Franklin pickup selector switch to a blend knob?

Or to a volume knob per pickup? I'm personally much less interested in merely a 3-way switch, but theres a good price for a Tony near me, and I know it's described as very high quality.

3 Comments
2024/11/09
02:16 UTC

1

Broken power switch on Hohner Steinberger bass

I recently hit my bass on accident, which cause the switch to be pushed in. Unfortunately the switch does not work anymore. If the switch does not work I can not connect it to a audio device and hear my bass. Fortunately the pickups and knobs work. Does anyone have a solution to bypass the switch

2 Comments
2024/11/09
01:59 UTC

3

Cab advice

I've been moving away from my DAW with a (faint) hope of maybe joining a band again in the future. After some second hand market shopping I have a lovely Squier VM Jazz V and a Darkglass Microtubes 500 v2 but I'm a bit lost when it comes to cabs.

My original plan was to get a 250W 8Ω 2x10 cab for playing at home that I could extend later. I like the idea of vertical stacking, so I thought the TC Electronic RS210 would be a good start, but they stopped making them for some reason. Next I looked at the Ampeg SVT210AV, but realised they're only 200W max, and I'm not sure if that might end up being a problem later if I ever get into higher volumes.

So now I'm not sure what to look for. Shopping for second hand cabs is difficult where I live, and to make things even more confusing the physical manual that came with the amp says its max output is 450W @ 8Ω, whereas the Darkglass website says it's 250W @ 8Ω. (I assume the website is correct, but it's not helpful to be uncertain.)

I'd really appreciate some advice and suggestions on what to look for.

If it's helpful, I tend to play heavyish post rock stuff and I live in the UK.

Thanks lots!

7 Comments
2024/11/09
00:37 UTC

9

String suggestions, please?

I have been on flats for so long, but I am doing some session work for a modern rock/funk band and the flats just don’t cut through enough for the sound I need. I really love the feel of flats, does anyone use the semi flats or tapes and do they cut through the mix at all? Looking for recs for strings that give me flats feel but a little bite to them. I play a fender jazz bass 5 string mainly but want to deck my jazz 4 string out with this new string type. Fire away for your favorite brand and type!

22 Comments
2024/11/09
00:35 UTC

22

What are the greatest songs that don’t use standard EADG tuning?

Will those songs still sound great if you play them using standard tuning?

95 Comments
2024/11/08
23:37 UTC

12

Drop B tuning on a 4 string requires...

I figure if I buy a 5 string set of strings and throw out the smallest, I can get BEAD. But drop B will mean tuning UP the 1st 3 strings. What guage strings would you reccomend to do so? Thanks

44 Comments
2024/11/08
23:00 UTC

3

Getting back into the swing of things. What's the new hotness?

Hey all, I was fortunate enough to be able to buy the bass of my dreams (dingwall combustion 5) a month ago, and I've been picking up the bass again and trying to freshen up my amateur playing from years ago.

- What's the latest on tabs and software for ipad, for learning /playing / drills / etc? I got Songsterr, which seems decent - $9.99 / mo is a bit steep but the free seems ok for now.

- I have garage band and a copy of FL studio but I'm looking for a good setup for playing along to music (spotify? youtube?) while plugged into my computer to record for fun / etc. I have the new Line 6 bass pod thing and it seems to be neat, but I need to play w/ it more. Trying to get my bass audio and music audio through headphones on my computer for play-along fun and brushing up on songs.

- any new tuners / gear / electronics stuff I should check out?

- Any recommendations for a hard case (airline safe) for a Dingwall combustion 5? I found a place in the UK that makes one but they don't ship out of the UK. :/ SKB, pelican?

This subreddit is a great resource for bassists and I love reading the threads here. Thanks in advance.

6 Comments
2024/11/08
22:51 UTC

0

Fretless Wishbass Strings

Anyone know what strings come on the fretless Wish basses?

1 Comment
2024/11/08
22:24 UTC

2

Which headphones for bass practice at home

Hello I'm in the market for buying headphones to plug into my bass amp so I can practice without disturbing others. I live with roommates.

I read that beyerdynamic dt770 or dt990 are good choices depending on if I want closed or open back. I am a little confused about the distinction here. I'm not really interested in recording or mixing anything, but if I were to buy a looper pedal in the future I would like my headphones to be compatible with that. In general, I just want high quality headphones for my practice. I also do not want the sound to be heard by roommates if possible. I practice in my bedroom and am wondering if open back headphones would mean the sound could be heard in adjacent rooms. Would you recommend open or closed back for me based on my preferences? Thank you for your advice! :)

6 Comments
2024/11/08
22:08 UTC

1

Yamaha TRBX 305

Hello friends, I’m thinking about buying a Yamaha TRBX 305 bass, but before buying it, I want to know the weight of the bass because I’m going to ship it internationally. Google says it weighs 9.5 pounds, but I want to confirm that with someone who owns it.

6 Comments
2024/11/08
20:55 UTC

0

Bass Buzz

I recently got a used bass and it holds up on standard but on drop A and B it has a really bad buzz on an open B. The strings have been used for a long time and I don’t think they’re a super high gauge. Any tips to get rid of the buzz before I get a new pair of strings?

2 Comments
2024/11/08
20:43 UTC

1

Phil lesh flavour

I have been playing in a folk/folk rock context and I want to add some more interesting flavour to my playing, I have been listening to a lot of Phil Lesh and I am wondering if anyone has any advice on writing lines in a similar way (of course I will never match his ability), and how I can achieve something close to his tone on my jazz bass, (eq settings and pick advice).

1 Comment
2024/11/08
20:43 UTC

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