Question Want to get into playing bass

[TonyEVH5150]

After a recent Red Hot Chili Peppers listening spree, I've been dying to get into playing bass. I know relatively little about what to get, other than I definitely want a MM Stingray 4.

I want to keep it simple, so I'm strongly considering a single humbucker model. What I'm not sure about is the type of pre-amp. 2 band?4 band?

I'm also interested in any tips or tricks.

 

[adouglas]

Equipment-wise, you've already answered the most important question. You're getting a premier instrument that will serve you for many many years. Most beginners get something cheap… and wind up replacing it with something a little less cheap… and so on and on until they finally figure out that they should just have bought a decent bass in the first place. I personally went through 13 basses before I finally found the Bongo. It was by far the most expensive bass I'd ever owned… and I've now owned it far longer than any of its predecessors.

2 band/3 band (there is no four-band SR) isn't as important as the fact you're getting a good bass, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Complement it with a good amp. Don't get some crappy little practice amp. Man up, save the bucks and buy something decent. I have -- and really like -- the Markbass CMD121P. It's small enough and light enough to serve well as a practice amp and powerful enough to gig if you've got PA support. I've used this as my stage amp at big events (NY Marathon) and it's been great.

Tips:
- You might want to invest in a headphone practice rig. That, plus and ipod or computer, will keep your neighbors happy and help you learn faster because you'll be able to hear yourself better. There are several good ones. I've personally tried the iRig, the IK Media Stealthplug and the little Vox unit. The one I wound up settling on is the Vox.

- Youtube is a godsend. For any song you want to learn, chances are somebody's filmed themselves playing it. Just google the song name and "bass" or "bass cover"

- If you've been listening to RHCP you've gotten a heavy dose of flashy bass playing. Take this to the bank: Bass is about driving the song FIRST and fancy riffs LAST. The single most important quality in a bass player is to be precisely on time at all times. If you can play a basic I V rhythm exactly on time you'll sound a lot better than if you master that wanky slap riff but can't keep the beat. It's hard to overstate the importance of timing.

- Understand your role. You're there to build the foundation for the house. The singer and lead guitar player are there to hang the curtains. Serve the song, not your ego. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all… LESS IS MORE.

- Practice what's important…. get the song structure right. Get the chord changes right. Get the timing right. THEN learn the fills and riffs. Spend more time on the basics than on the frills.

- Don't overpractice and wear yourself out. An hour in a day is plenty.

- My pet peeve… when playing with others, don't just crash through a song and then move on. You'll never learn that way. Play it, spot your mistakes and play it again. And again. Get it set in your mind. Focus.

Hope this helps.

 

[TonyEVH5150]

Thanks for the tips. I have a Boss E-Band practice rig for my guitars, and it sounds like it will work for bass as well. Just need to find some amp/effect models to work with it.

I'm probably going to head for a SR Classic. I feel like a 2 band preamp is less complicated. If price is a concern, I'll go FOR A SBMM Ray34. At least that will start me off with a decent bass.

I'm looking at Ampeg amps, but the amp is a purchase for much further down the road. I want to get comfortable with what I'm playing/doing before I dive into an amp.

 

[MadMatt]

Coming from someone who started playing only a few years ago... Mr. adouglas is spot on!!!

 

[adouglas]

Tony, does that practice gadget have a place to plug in an mp3 player or computer headphone out? That's a valuable feature.

You mentioned effects. Picking up on the "less is more" angle, it's very tempting to play around with effects. Have at it, but don't waste your time on too much of that stuff. Most of us don't use anything but compression.

If you're anything like me, you're going to go nuts trying to find "that" sound through effects and amp settings. You know, the one like the guy on the record has. It's ultimately a pointless exercise. You're going to sound like you, not like Flea.

Again, focus on what's important… timing and groove.

Eventually you'll learn how to get all kinds of different sounds just with your hands and a few simple twiddles of the knobs on your bass.

 

[TonyEVH5150]

It has the ability to play mp3's on it. It's a trainer, a practice amp, and a recording device all wrapped up into one. It has some amp modelers and effects built in, as well as a headphone output and the ability to be linked to a computer. I've just never tried a bass on it.

Thanks for the tips. I'll give them all a try.

 

[Holdsg]

Wise man that AD, really good advice.

 

[Lynottfan]

AD does indeed give spot on advice, I would however put a caveat, dont be afraid to "hang the curtain" yourself, the bass may have a role, but all instruments have a role, there is to much these days of the bass should only be doing X, screw that, you go for it, if the songs and what you play calls for it(this is important I would stress), this will stop you sounding like every other bass player that noodles a jaco riff or a Marcus slap groove in the guitar shop, play your part, add the groove, but dont be a sheep!

 

[IslandBoy]

+1

AD does indeed give spot on advice, I would however put a caveat, dont be afraid to "hang the curtain" yourself, the bass may have a role, but all instruments have a role, there is to much these days of the bass should only be doing X, screw that, you go for it, if the songs and what you play calls for it(this is important I would stress), this will stop you sounding like every other bass player that noodles a jaco riff or a Marcus slap groove in the guitar shop, play your part, add the groove, but dont be a sheep!

 

[adouglas]

Aw, shucks... thanks, guys.

Tony, Old Man Music just posted some grooves to demo the Game Changer in this thread:

http://forums.ernieball.com/music-man-basses/53901-reflex-game-changer-update.html

Go listen to see exactly what I mean about being on time. He does a great job.

 

[nurnay]

Good advice from AD. If money is a concern, get a used Ray, there's a single H in the for sale thread for $820, I think. I got my first Ray locally on Craigslist for $750. You'll save a lot of money buying used!

 

[MSilvers]

If you're going for an EBMM Stingray (as opposed to a Ray34), you should consider the HH. I got that very early on in my bass playing life, and for the first year or so I almost always kept it in position 5, the same setting as a Stingray H. But then a few years into it I really started to love it's versatility. If you get an HH, in a couple years once you want to expand your tonal options, you'll be glad you have it as opposed to buying another bass. I believe HH's are slightly more expensive than H's but cheaper than Classic StingRays (I could be wrong on that).

 

[nurnay]

If you're going for an EBMM Stingray (as opposed to a Ray34), you should consider the HH. I got that very early on in my bass playing life, and for the first year or so I almost always kept it in position 5, the same setting as a Stingray H. But then a few years into it I really started to love it's versatility. If you get an HH, in a couple years once you want to expand your tonal options, you'll be glad you have it as opposed to buying another bass. I believe HH's are slightly more expensive than H's but cheaper than Classic StingRays (I could be wrong on that).

In my personal opinion, I love my single H Ray much more than my old HH. Probably because of the bridge pickup position (the "sweet spot"). I can get plenty of tones from the H with slight EQ adjustments or hand positioning.

 

[Golem]

In my personal opinion, I love my single H Ray much more than my old HH.
Probably because of the bridge pickup position (the "sweet spot"). I can get
plenty of tones from the H with slight EQ adjustments or hand positioning.

You are suggesting that the bridge H on the dual PU
version is not in the same spot as the single H PU ?



`

 

[nurnay]

You are suggesting that the bridge H on the dual PU
version is not in the same spot as the single H PU ?
`

I thought it was different. Guess I'm wrong? Nonetheless, my single H sounds much better than my HH in bridge only. No idea why, it just does.

 

[stu42]

It could be your Stingray H sounds better, or different, than the HH because some of the HH Stingrays had all of their coil combinations in Series whereas the H normally has Parallel/Single Coil/Series options on the 3-way switch. I'm a huge fan of the Parallel sound myself. Series is cool as well but definitely has a different sound.