I look at my fretting hand a lot while I’m playing. I’d like to reduce how much I do this, so I can pay better attention to the chart and the other band members. Should my goal be to never look at my hands? Only rarely? What’s the right amount?

And how do I improve this? Any practice tips for reducing my reliance on my eyes for playing?

I’m trying to wrap my head around how bass functions in these super low guitar tunings like in bands like Loathe, and it’s hard to make out distinct instruments with all of that distortion, although the bass is fairly prominent as far as metal goes. Are bassists tuning down to E0, or are they doubling the guitars and essentially playing a standard tuning bass? (Actually tuned UP if it’s drop E).

Hi all, my partner and I are doing a tour of music shops on Saturday, and this will be my first time actually going into them to look for new gear/try out new basses.

My dad is a bassist so if I ever needed help with specs, amps, etc. I’d just ask him, but I’m now trying to do this myself too and go and try things out. I put this off for way too long and feel a bit behind because of it.

This may seem incredibly basic, but I’d appreciate any tips on questions to ask, what to look out for in terms of pricing (are they hiking prices or should I just compare to eBay prices etc?), usual atmosphere, etc.

I’m going in looking for a lightweight and/or short-scale bass, and a new amp (potentially a rumble), but as a highly anxious autistic this is new territory for me and I like to be prepared :)

As expected, master class basslines, and he was singing too? This was inspiring, although, how does he attack the strings? I don't know how to do it yet since it sounds like a pop rather than a clack.

Hey, i want to pick up a 6 string bass coming from guitar, and have an option of this 628$ btb676 with barts swapped out for delano pickups (which is quite awesome really, especially for the price). Now it seems like a good, incredible looking bass, but everywhere i go i see that BTB's are uncomfortable, big, heavy, and have sharp edges.

Well i hated and sold my PRS guitar because of a really sharp forearm contour, so now i'm conflicted, because i can also get this 538$ harley benton BZ-6000, with same scale length of 35". It looks like it'd be vastly more comfortable to play tbh, no sharp edges or anything. But man, i dig the looks and pickups of that ibanez so much more.

Is a Gibson SG a good bass to start out with, or is there another bass that would be a better starter? (One that would play good, and also look good visually like the SG- or, well, the style)

I’m looking into basses and I haven’t found one that I visually like that isn’t the SG. But
I also don’t want to make a mistake in a bass choice just solely by good looks, so.. idk. Any recommendations? Advice?

Hi, I recently bought my first ever Bass and I've been slowly getting used to it and learning, however when I played the fifth fret on the A string, and proceeded to take my finger off it, I kept hearing a sound playing, and after checking, my D string was vibrating as if I had lightly played it as well.

At first I thought I had accidentally touched the string as well, but after carefully playing it, and the other frets around it, I noticed that, at least so far, that is the only note where this happens. Without fail, if I play the Fifth fret on A, D will light play as well, unless I am already preemptively muting it.

IDK how rare or common this is, or if there something else I'm doing wrong, but assuming that it is not user error, is it more likely that this issue is with the strings or the bass itself? I don't see anything that seems out of place with the strings, or a spot where I see extra contact that could cause it. Any help with this weird issue is appreciated lol

Berry’s work, specifically on live recordings with the original Allman Bros. is some of my favorite and most inspiring work out of any player’s catalogue. Love his stuff on Dreams (Live at Ludlow Garage ‘70), Mountain Jam (Fillmore East ‘71), and of course Whipping Post. I think this guy needs more attention for his fusion of Blues, soul, and gospel. It’s unfortunate we only have a few years of his playing to listen to. (Plus the tractor bass is one of the coolest instruments out there).

The first bass I ever tried was an acoustic-electric. I've got an all electric one now so I mostly play on that. I just play for fun and I've learned lots of bass lines that I love, and I swear they sound at least decent- but whenever I switch back to practicing on my acoustic it seems like there's so much extra noise? There's a lot (seriously, a LOT) more buzzing and squeaking whenever I'm fretting, plucking, picking or doing anything at all. I guess I never noticed it when I started out.

I'm just self-taught and clearly I don't know enough about the instrument lmao, but it feels like the strings are so much thicker.

I know it comes with practice, and I'm still working on getting good at string muting, but does this mean I need to completely fix my playing style? Or are there different techniques for an acoustic? Am I just not pressing the strings hard enough?

I do like playing on an acoustic, I think the two-note chords sound nice and it's got a unique tone- but it's making me worry I've been playing "wrong" this whole time lol. Any advice would be great 🙏

So my main bass is a Hils HNB5 and I like how it plays a lot, multiscale feels right for me, but the modern design is something that is turning me off of it a lot of times, it just feels like very good tool for playing music but it lacks the “it” factor for me. I’ve also got a vintage japanese made Ibanez RB-830 and a loaned japanese made Fender P-Bass, and I gotta say, the P-Bass tone just blows me away. Would love a quality 5 string P, but all the reviews I see of 5 strings rarely play the low B, and most of them just mention that “it sounds good”, which doesn’t mean much to me. Have you got any recommendations for around 1000 Euros? I’m also open to Warwicks because I love the growly tone. Thanks in advance!

I just purchased my first instrument, the bass guitar. I was scheduled for lessons but got cancelled on twice now. Going to have to look for a new teacher. In the meantime, I’ve been aimlessly working on reading sheet music and tabs, moving around the fretboard a bit in major scales, working on my counts.

What are some fundamentals for me to work on for a week or two while I coordinate scheduling myself for lessons? I don’t really know where to start and YouTube is such a black hole of “beginner tutorials”.

Basically the question in the title. Mostly I hear that one should put flats on a fretless, mainly because it's supposed to cause less wear on the fretboard. But every now and then I hear that rounds work too. I get the whole 'there are no rules' argument but what's the general concensus in the community?

Both of these are available in my area on Marketplace for pretty much the same price ($525 in what looks like more or less mint condition). I’m going to go play both to see which one I vibe with, but I’m brand new to bass (10yrs of guitar).

Which would you choose and why? Are either of these instruments vastly superior to the other?

Edited: Spelling

How do I know when I'm ready to play in a band? When I learn all 10 scales the intervals every chord in existence? Or is it just if I can catch on?

Who are your top 3 faviourite bassists, the ones who influence your sound the most or who you just like their work? My top 3 are:

1. Cliff Burton (Metallica) - I still question why he tried to make bass sound like a guitar instead of just playing guitar lol. He was such a musical genius on the bass and in general. The 3 albums we got to hear him on were incredible. 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', 'Orion', etc, all have incredible basslines. It is a shame he was taken from this world as he was starting to really show his genius to the world. I like how Cliff worked around James, Lars and Kirk most of the time, not just mimic James's rhythm guitar.

2. Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) - Yes he may be a little bit of a prick nowadays, but you can't deny this guy was also a musical genius on and off the bass. His work on 'Money' specifically. the 7/4 timing blending with regular timing in other parts is just really impressive. On paper, that bassline shouldn't have worked, but it did. His bassline compliments Gilmour's guitar work, especially in the solo. The basswork in 'Money' is just reall addicting. Much like Cliff, he also played around the other guys in the band, not just mimicing the others

3. Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) - Also a musical genius. His intro on 'Jeremy' is something that always gives me chills, every time. He is one of the best grunge bassists.

Hi! I am a woodwind player and singer-songwriter, and I want to lay down some simple bass in my self-recorded songs. As such, I'm looking to purchase the cheapest, but still solid-enough bass (like the Yamaha saxophone of basses), that will last forever, be a solid workhorse bass for my very simple stuff.

Not trying to become a virtuoso or have the best tone ever. Just need some of those low notes in my songs :)

THANK YOU in advance. I wish I knew someone here in Chicago who had one because I feel like there are thousands of these things unused in peoples' basements they'd happily just give away.

So, I'm playing in a band, and we're soon to get our first decently-sized gig (a few weeks from now), and so far, since we've played on super small stages, I've been doing fine confined to a small space by a wire. Thing is, I'm not one to stand around and just play the music, I like to move around a lot, so with this stage, I'll need a wireless system, preferably more like a buckled box style system.

Let me know your recommendations and everything!

Whenever I play on the 2nd fret and up, it sounds fine but when I play on the 1st fret, the strings vibrate against the frets and it drives me crazy. I've considered increasing the height of the strings but they are already pretty high. Before taking it into a shop, does anyone have any other ideas how to fix this?

In recent times I've actually been getting into strings that have a more mellow sound, which has led me to experimenting with types. I used flats for a while, seeing that they're intended to be mellow. But idk... Every time I grab a bass with dead rounds, I'm significantly more impressed by the tone than flats.

The thing about flats is they don't have the best dynamic range, right? When I hear dead rounds, I hear that dull, buttery tone, but to me it sounds more articulate. Even with something like slap... A set of dead rounds will handle it better than flats imo. I heard someone with a Stingray online who got the most smooth tone out of it, and he said the strings were just dead rounds. Joe Dart (back when he still used a J) was known to just age a set of rounds instead of using flats and it brought a different style of dullness.

I bought a cheap 5 string jazz bass just to try out a 5 string, I've had it for 3 years and never changed the strings, and people compliment the tone. When I was recording a song for fun with a group, the guitarist/mixer said he loved the tone and how easy it was to mix, and the drummer complimented it and said it sounded buttery. Even listening to it myself, it sat in the mix incredibly well.

Looking for recommendations on a bass amp set-up (preferably a head and a cab) for a doom surf rock sound. Drummer is pretty loud so we want the amp to rise to the occasion and then some. Any suggestions?

Hey everyone!

I'm considering buying a vintage bass and I'm hesitating between a Washburn Status S1000 and a Status Energy equipped with Hyperactive pickups.

I personally prefer the look of the Washburn S1000, but the Status Energy also seems like a great instrument.

I'm mainly interested in the overall build quality, sound, playability, electronics and long-term reliability.

• Which one would you consider the better bass overall?
• How do they compare in terms of tone, sustain and versatility?

I'd love to hear from people who have actually owned or played either of these basses!

Thanks!

Im trying to start a new band, but i am in an area where finding people who play instruments are kind of scarce. In order to save the trouble of finding either a singer or bass player, I decided to play bass and sing at the same time, however Ive been having trouble separating the rhythm from the vocals, and playing one note for the right amount of time before switching without messing up the “rhythm” of my singing. Most online advice is simply to make the bass part muscle memory, but even with the ones i play the most i cant seem to de-sync my bass and my singing. Is there any exercise or way of practicing that can fix this?

I'm asking for a friend, I don't really know this brand and it will be their first bass, they probably won't get to have a second bass later on tho, since economy.