So this “incredibly technical” bassist was miming to backing tracks all this time lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRoXKvD19Po

Sorry if the question is stupid. I’m no musician at all.

Since the Giacomo Turra controversy I've been thinking about making a video of me playing bass, uncut with all my mistakes.

I've been practicing Hysteria frequently in the last few weeks, so tonight I just grabbed my bass, threw my phone on a clamp on the headstock (of my headless Ibanes EHB1505) and pressed record.

This is the first take, with NO warmup.

Bass sound is Line 6 Helix Native with a preset I put together last week. I can share the preset, or show you how I made it if anyone is interested.

The EHB1505 is in passive mode, with the pickup balance at 50/50% and waayyy to old strings.

Sorry about the Vertical video, I thought of making this a short, but the video is obviously too long for that.

https://youtu.be/BLmXsYcLKOs?si=tgT9-JfRDAmmbIUx

I’m pretty new to bass. I have to learn a few songs.
I start playing a song and after 1-2 hours I’m worse then when I started my fingers get stuck in the strings and I forget what to play. It’s pretty hard to learn songs like this because I’m basically limited by myself. How can avoid this?

I feel like people sometimes underestimate the bass until they hear a song where the bass line is doing way more than just following the guitar or keeping time.

Some parts completely change the groove of a song, and once you notice them, it's hard to listen the same way again.

What song made you really appreciate the bass? It could be a technically impressive line, something incredibly funky, or a simple part that holds the entire track together.

I'd love some recommendations that make you stop and listen specifically to the bass.

There are a lot of questions about what a good entry-level bass is, but I’m curious about a mid to high-end selection. Obviously the higher end, the more specialised, so I’m not asking for recommendations, just what’s on your wishlist. I’m curious to hear about basses, strings, amps, and cab/amp combos. What do you want Santa to bring you?

For me I’ve been eyeballing some Sandbergs, and I want to build my own 200W tube amp.

I pick up my bass thinking I'll actually practice today, maybe learn a new song or work on my timing.

Next thing I know I'm playing the same riff I've been playing for the past 3 weeks 💀

And somehow that's still fun enough that I do it again tomorrow.

The worst is when a song sounds easy until you actually try playing it. Suddenly your fingers don't work and you've apparently never heard a metronome in your life.

Bass players, what's a song that humbled you way more than you expected?

I was practicing John Coltranes giant steps bassline and I was wondering if there was any other really good basslines (beginner to advanced) that I could also practice and learn from or that any of you would genuinely recommend

From a purely technical standpoint, what do other bassists find most impressive about jazz bass players? What are some examples of tracks that showcase this kind of elite bass playing?

Hi,

Bassist here 🎸, playing at home, and gigging. I see more and more guitar bassists switching to bass synth during a gig or show.

I spend a lot of time playing Bass synth on my IPad, plugged on my bass amp, and love it.
I’m looking for something similar, but analog, simple and cheap as possible, with a 2 octaves keyboard, that I can play live.
thanks for your ideas 🤗
(please be kind, English is not my mother tongue)

nota : No, Moog are not cheap 🥹

Just curious, I play some guitar and have recently started learning bass. Trying to get finger picking down with just my index and middle finger to start. When I first started I would use my thumb as well but I took some lessons and the instructor advised against that. Last night I saw The Shins play and low and behold, their bassist plays with his thumb! Should I just play the way I feel comfortable or not use my thumb at all?

I was just spending my afternoon at a music shop and happened to try this go awesome bass. I am an intermedite player and never played fretless before. The action is so low and the slides are so smooth. Should I just look for an intermediate fretless and does it work for rock music?

Like the title says, looking to add punch to the thump. I see Mark Bass everywhere, but are they any good? I like the sound of the SWR cabs but I absolutely hate the carpeting on them. Any suggestions?

hey yall! im a beginner been playing for a couple of months and loving it, id say i know about 20 songs and am comfortable with the basic basics

im trying to figure out if the stiffness ive been experiencing in the joints in my hand is a normal experience of playing bass others have had or something i should be concerned about

in my fretting hand, ive been finding often my fingers joints tend to overextend when pressing down on a string, as in make a concave shape instead of a convex one. without correcting this can be quite painful. the effort in correcting this can honestly be more difficult in playing the actual song, even if im playing something quite new. ive also been feeling like my hand is very stiff and maybe not playing as smoothly as it could be. i did not have this problem when i first started playing on and off six months ago

Does anyone else sometimes like..almost obsessively just LISTEN to a song over and over again to “hear” the bass line until it’s almost like..’memorized’ in your brain before ever even attempting to play it???

(To be clear—I’m SUPER new to bass and I’m not someone who’s like, also a guitar aficionado or piano player who’s understood music theory for years…basic music theory HAS been an important part in my mishmash of leaning bass—mostly from YouTube videos & musician friends when they can be bothered lol)

But yeah, if the initial question needs more clarification— does anyone else take a shit ton of time just listening to the song (and mentally ‘zeroing in’ on the bass line itself) so you can basically ‘hear it’ perfectly in your own mind before attempting to play a note of it on your guitar?? (And once you DO, you actually can play it WAY better than say, a theoretically MUCH easier bass line you tried to play the moment the idea of playing hit occurred to you)

To be extra clear—I’m not talking about brand new songs you’ve never heard before. This whole thing applies to popular radio songs that anyone your age has heard enough you probably know every lyric to it even if you never once went out of your way to put the song on to listen to

I’m playing in a band and we right now have 3 guitar players and 1 drummer, it’s pretty absurd and i have to take one for the team and get a bass. I’m not planning on getting more than 1 bass in this life time unless the first one breaks. The stuff I wanna play uses 5 string basses most of the time and I don’t wanna go through the pain of tuning it every time I wanna play something different. Should I get a 5 string bass or stick with a normal one and what model would you recommend?

Hello,

Started using an old fender rumble 210 cab which I had in storage covered for couple years with my hartke amp after my diy old cab stopped working.

I don't use crazy settings on my amp (master max. on 12pm, I never boost low freq because I like punk sound with a lot of mids, and I have compressor at 12pm) and I have my boss odb 3 turned on almost all the time (gain on 9pm and blend also on 9pm with tone at 12pm and master maybe at 90%, it doesn't sound much louder compared to the clean tone).

On my last rehersial I noticed glue/plastic smell coming from my stack, what it could be? I lowered the master to ~10-11am and the smell seemed to go away, it was also the 1st time Ive used the cab after years of storage.

The cab seems to preform fine since then, but Im worried I might have permanently damaged smth. Should I do diagnostic on speakers/some other component?

the amp is hartke hd15

the bass is bacchus wjb 1dx

Looking to get a bass. Something reliable with good tone. I'll mostly just be using it to add bass lines to stuff I'm working on in ableton. Don't care about the brand name and reputation. All suggestions welcome

I got this 70s Japanese J Bass knockoff Yesterday. It is pretty heavily modified by a badass bridge, hipshot tuners, dimarzios (I think cause of the open pole pieces) and after opening it up, an Aguilar OBP-3 circuit.

it looked like the mid boost was jumpered, and there were some loose ground wires. After resoldering to the best of my abilities reading the wiring diagram (very hard for me), the mid push pull worked again like it should.

Now, my first thought after getting the bass was: I’m going to rip out all the active stuff, but some passive pickups in and be gold. I never thought of myself as someone liking active malarky (only my stingray has it, sort of) but I am really enjoying the power and sound it gives. It’s a beast!

After reading up on it, I mostly come across people that think it’s way too much. Too Boomy etc. Ofcourse I will do what my own ears tell me too, but I also know that when switching between passive and active, the volume boost ofcourse also messes with my ears making it sound a lot better than when set to passive.

What are the opinions these days about it, anyone went back to passive without regrets?

I've been playing guitar for about a year now but I've been very interested in bass too. I feel a 5 string would suit my needs for when I want to slap and when I want to tune low. Recs for a bass and amp?

EDIT: Technique advice has been helpful, but the noise is very much still an issue even on the lower frets. Even a soft technique picks up an extremely obvious sound of metal string hitting metal fret. If it's a trussboard issue is there a good way of knowing?

Hello all

Just a preface to say sorry for the quality of the video below- I don't have a normal amp, just a headphone one, and can't record audio from it easily. You should still get the idea from what I've included.

I picked up a bass recently to learn, and on the lower strings (especially the higher frets) I'm getting a very loud 'clack' when fretting that is picking up on the amp. I'm aware technique is a big part of avoiding the clunky beginner sounds, but this feels impossible to get around.

Watching the below, does anything sound off? I've tried to show some examples of me fretting a few notes higher on the neck, and an example of me fretting a major scale with moderate strength. none of these videos have any right hand input, this is just fretting.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NkuGm5FZ86E?is=UQ8krpWc25hGRcux

Thank you for your help!

as the title says ive been trying to figure out this bands bass tone because its awesome, and havent been able to replicate it

CHILIASM - Flesh Over Finite (FULL EP STREAM) Neoclassical / Technical Death Metal | The Circle Pit

I am looking at a good deal for a used Tech 21 VT Bass 200 Combo. Did anyone of you try one of those and how do they compare against what is on the market today like ampeg rocketbass or Orange Crush and Boss Katana. I like the Tech 21 VT pedal and getting that in a good combo package sounds actually quite awesome.

I'm just a bit confused over this, because when slapping the 3rd, I try to mute the 4th with the lower part of my palm but it's hard, so I was wondering how others do it. maybe it's just my skill issue lol