Hey! Well can anyone tell me about Bass Guitars? I dont really know about them? Theres 4 strings, correct? And like...do bass guitars usually play with an amp? Any other information? im kinda..pretty clueless. Are they easier and more simpler than guitars or what? Thanks!
You are correct about bass guitars having 4 strings. But there are also 5 string, 6 string, 7 string, and 8 string basses. With the 4 stringer you have your basic strings tuned to E-A-D-G. Most five strings are tuned to B-E-A-D-G with the B string being deeper than the E. Although some people use the tuning of E-A-D-G-C with the C string being higher than the G. 6 string basses are usually tuned B-E-A-D-G-C. 7s are B-E-A-D-G-C-F. If you have one of the 8 string basses that are for octaves then you'll have two strings tuned to the four basic notes, but if you have one of those rare straight up 8 string basses then your tuning would B-E-A-D-G-C-F-A#. And yes you would play a bass guitar through an amp. Bass being easier than guitar depends on what kind of music you are playing. If you're into Alternative, Punk, etc. then bass is easier. But if you get into Jazz Fusion, Contemporary Bluegrass, or some Funk then bass is just as difficult to perfect as any other instrument. If you listened to some Bill Dickens, Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorious, or Tom Kennedy you will see that bass is an instrument that can go to all heights. If you think you've got the rhythm then grab a bass and join the team.
Doesn't always have to be electric bass, though, yet you can make the same pickup that fishman sells out of piezo crystals from radioshack, a 9 volt, some wire, soldering and such... simple stuff.
if you want to here some wicked bass listen to something by Les Claypool (primus, frog brigade, c2b3, sausage, oysterhead and so forth) or of course there's the chili peppers with a funk/rock sound. but there are many many more bands that have crazy bassists. (i strongly recomment checking out claypools stuff though)
if you end up going with an electric bass, make sure you get a bass amp. if you use another amp you will fry it out, and maybe burn out the electronics in your bass. an acoustic bass guitar is rarely loud enough, and highly expensive, the cheaper ones tend to break or warp quickly. and upright bass, although very sexy on a woman, is tuff to master, but plenty loud enough. i suggest you play one of these, although harder, much cooler and will make you a better musician. electric bases are very heavy. but Kay makes one that is vey light and sexy, and Kay's tend to last forever and are really inexpensive. make sure ryou get a bass amp though, anything else will get ruined after a day or two.
generally, bass guitars are electric basses. The bog-standard bass guitar has four strings. Here's a fender jazz bass, which is pretty much a normal bass guitar: This needs to be plugged into an amplifier. There are however, acoustic basses. some of which have pickups, some of which don't. There are also many variations of the bass guitar. Multi-string versions are available, with 5, 5, 7, 8, 9 string basses, and even 12, 15 and 18 string basses. But the standard run-of-the-mill bass is a four string one, tuned GDAE.
Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Flea, Les Claypool, and John Paul Jones are prime examples of bass players getting down and shredding...go Bass!
If i were to describe guitar and bass, a guitar would be a cat. A delicate animal that should be taken care of, and the bass would be a fucking lion! I'm an acoustic guitarist, but there's something i love about the bass guitar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's the fact that the bass empowers you to give a song some mood.
I've never played the bass or attempted to learn anything about them but I do know that 8 string basses have 4 strings for bass and 4 strings for guitar. That might be worded a bit wrong but it's basically what my friend (who plays bass) told me today.
That would be right. I haven't seen an 8 string bass, but my view on a typical 8-string would be that it works on a similar principle to a 12-string guitar, whereby you have four courses (pairs of strings) whereby four strings are tuned like a standard bass guitar and the other four are tuned one octave higher (like a standard guitar) The result from such an instrument in terms of sound, would be quite good to hear! I like 12 string guitars, in fact, I've got one on my lap right now! So I'd definitely love to hear an 8 string bass.
mando-bass ... I think Gibson makes a firebird like that... haven't looked into it much... but gibsons don't have a very good rep in bass terms.
Also, Basses have 2 variations of being played like the guitar, you can use the two fingerd method or use a pick. And also, a bass tends to play in time with the drums, its kind of, in some genres, more like a second type of rythum(sp). But of course you get the odd fucking AWESOME bass solo! Oh Yeah! Check out the bassest dude from Tool aswell. he kicks ass, and the Bass solo in the song Orion by metallica, Flea is a bloody excellent bassest also, Les claypool is A+. So i say check them out, even try and get some dvds of bands playing to see how different the style and technique is between each Bassest. I LOVE BASS GUITAR!
I can't stand the same thing over and over so I end up being the equivelent to a rhythm guitar when I play bass, with a few lead solos here and there. I finished building a precision bass yesterday.
I have just began to play the bass but i've been wanting to learn for ages...I wouldnt say it is easy, but it's not too hard to begin playing some cool basslines...anyway, I bought a sexy yamaha rbx270 (4 strings) and a small peavy 10w practice amp, which is good enough for me as i've just started. My bass is not heavy at all, it's really light and it's got a p-neck which is great for people with smaller hands, though it's not my case but it's much comfortable for me. I love the bass sound, i just hope to get as good as i can.
The biggest difference that i've noticed between bass and guitar is how your fingers are used. most guitar players i talk to wonder how I can easily go from the top g string to the bottom e and back and all over again. Also how you hold and or jump from frets with your left hand. But I'm the opposite with guitar... I can't comprehend how to make my hand strum with a pick and only hit 2 or 3 of the middle strings. Or mashing all my left fingers together to hold them in some spider related position. So I guess like zeppelina mentioned, hand size, strengh, and flexibility would be part of determing which one to give a whirl. I Bet if you bring in X-rays of your and your parents hands to a music store they could tell you what instrument you have the best chance of mastering...
