Topic: recommendation for a bass guitar

[Goldentony]

we play in A, C, A and B and don't really change much about anything , but then we're a noise band so everything sounds shit

[thugler]

Agree on the fender classic vibe range or Yamaha. I also have a Japanese fender 70's Precision as well which is really nice, better than the Mexican stuff (I had a mexican fender that got stolen, but before that the bridge was an absolute piece of shit and i had to replace it). Squire I have heard both excellent and bad things. Would suggest get a cheap bass and then upgrade the pickups down the line if you want it to sound a bit nicer.

[BeardFaceMan]

Avon: The bass could all be done on an a standard 4-string tuned conventionally, he's even playing a lot on the D & G string several frets up the fingerboard, so not even low for standard tuning.

No One Knows: drop down to C, but as I said it's only harmonics of the full timbre you're hearing, not the fundamental low C (33Hz!). You're basically only hearing the "twang" of a note that low, albeit a growly twang, like a child trying to sing a low note; none of the thump. He often rises up from that low pitch when emphasis in the bass is needed.

Heh sorry to keep going on, but what about Mexicola? That has a nice, clear bass intro and when I go and look up tabs for it, it says the bass is tuned to C F Bb Eb.

[NoSleep]

Low but twangy again; the higher frequencies from overtones are what you are hearing mostly.

[BeardFaceMan]

Ok, I think I get you. Like with Korn, who tune down to A, there's no low end noise coming from the bass guitar, it's all twang?

[NoSleep]

And adding distortion to bring out those overtones. Bit like a singer adding rasp or growl to their voice to give it more presence. It still gives you the sense of a really low note even though the fundamental frequency is likely inaudible.

[PlanktonSideburns]

I think they might play some stuff in normal tuning on their newer albums, but their early stuff the guitar is tuned down to C. So what do hardcore or metal bands that tune down to C with their guitars do with their bass? Are they playing it in standard tuning?

I've got a normal bass that's tuned BEAD for that kinda stuff, if your mostly in downtune town that can be an option

[OnlyRegisteredSoICanRead]

Ok, I think I get you. Like with Korn, who tune down to A, there's no low end noise coming from the bass guitar, it's all twang?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94p5N0OGoHM

[NoSleep]

I've got a normal bass that's tuned BEAD for that kinda stuff, if your mostly in downtune town that can be an option

Looking into this a bit further, you could probably find speakers for a bass cab that just about reach down a low C (30Hz-ish), so the best way to experience that sound would be to see that bass player in a live situation.

Having one of those hifi subwoofer setups would probably assist listening to recordings a bit, too. I'm not sure whether it's common to go to the lengths of having an 18" sub woofer to reproduce sounds down at that frequency.

It's probably more common to create "fake" bass using plugins like Waves MaxBass or RBass that actually create an illusion of lower frequencies that can even be heard on smaller speakers.

[BeardFaceMan]

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbp90bk_shortscale_ebass.htm

I think I'm going to get this one, would this be good for a beginner? Just want to something to learn on really, decide if i like the instrument or not, then I can worry about spending some decent cash on a decent one.

[Bently Sheds]

To be honest, you can't go wrong for that price. The reviews look good & HB have a reputation for decent quality at low price points. The downside is that it has no resale value if you decided to jack it in. BUT. The upside is you have a cheap bass that, if you upgrade to a better instrument later on, you can use and abuse as a modifying/experimenting platform.

[DrGreggles]

Haven't played for years, but I agree with the Yamaha shouts.

[BeardFaceMan]

To be honest, you can't go wrong for that price. The reviews look good & HB have a reputation for decent quality at low price points. The downside is that it has no resale value if you decided to jack it in. BUT. The upside is you have a cheap bass that, if you upgrade to a better instrument later on, you can use and abuse as a modifying/experimenting platform.

That sounds just the job.

[kngen]

My old band used to tune to B. Getting a recorded sound that replicated the live sound was a struggle, but it's just about manageable.

[BeardFaceMan]

I don't play a lot in drop tunings myself, I have a guitar in E and an acoustic in E flat, that'll do me. I only drop down when I'm playing Rocksmith but I'm trying not to do that so much as it made me a bit of a lazy player.

[BeardFaceMan]

What about getting something like a Digitech Drop pedal for down tuning, are these types of pedals any good or do they sound crap?

[PlanktonSideburns]

i would say if youre not doing big drop tunings, that short scale harley benton would be pretty nice

the HB stuff sometimes needs a bit of a set up tho - you might need to take it to a guitar tech just to get the action all nice. but for that price, might be worth paying for a setup, just to make sure its playing nice

short scale basses are ace, and are probably a good place to start the bass jouney, bit easier to play

[PlanktonSideburns]

fuck me, would love this hideous beast:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/jackson_js1x_concert_minion_satin_silv.htm

[BeardFaceMan]

So my bass has arrived, lovely piece of kit for the price. I haven't got a physical amp so I just use a bass amp VST and it sounds great, works well with Rocksmith too. I've started having a go at recording stuff (EZDrummer for drums, me playing guitar and bass), any good resources out there for basic mixing/and or mastering methods (not even sure which method would apply to me)? If I have a track of drums, a track of bass and a track of guitar they sound fine on their own, less fine when all played together. Not trying to get it studio quality obviously, just something more listenable.

[BeardFaceMan]

i would say if youre not doing big drop tunings, that short scale harley benton would be pretty nice

the HB stuff sometimes needs a bit of a set up tho - you might need to take it to a guitar tech just to get the action all nice. but for that price, might be worth paying for a setup, just to make sure its playing nice

short scale basses are ace, and are probably a good place to start the bass jouney, bit easier to play

Yeah after having a proper go on this bass, the frets are a bit buzzy. And it seems to be really quiet too, don't know if there's something going on with the pick ups or if I just need better ones, so I'm going to need someone to take a look at it.

[NoSleep]

The buzziness is probably curable by a small turn of the truss rod (you would have received a couple of allen keys with the bass; one for adjust the saddles at the bridge and a bigger one for the truss rod. Removing fret buzz is a combination of getting the right action height at the bridge (not forgetting intonation) and and having just enough relief in the neck by adjusting the truss rod. Easy way to check if you have the right amount of relief is to hold the string down at the first fret and simultaneously hold down the fret at the point where the neck meets the body. Halfway between where you're fingering there should be a slight clearance of the string from the frets, indicating there's a slight curve in the neck (which is how it should be). As you've got the tools you should search youtube for a tutorial on the basics of setting up a guitar. There's loads of useful stuff on youtube about this.

[BeardFaceMan]

That would certainly be more convenient than taking it to a shop, I managed to change the jack on my guitar with a youtube video so I might give that a go. The only other thing is the volume, I've no idea why it's so low. I have to turn everything way up compared to my guitar, when I play Rocksmith it quite often tells me the bass is too quiet and to turn up the volume. If I try recording stuff in my DAW there's very little to no waveform, with my normal guitar the waveform is there ok. I'm using the same cable for bass and electric too, so it's not that, but that's about as far as my technical expertise goes.

[NoSleep]

Do the pickups look like they've been screwed right down? Maybe try raising them a little closer to the strings (the screws are sprung for adjusting, they're not just screwed down in place). Once again, check out youtube for advice. Too close and the magnets in the pole pieces of the pickups will reduce the sustain of the strings, too far away and the sound gets weedy. A simple thing to check is how playing further up the fretboard means that the strings get lowered closer to the pickups, so you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about. This also has to be factored in to what is the ideal height for the pickups.

[Head Gardener]

this album might help

[BeardFaceMan]

Do the pickups look like they've been screwed right down? Maybe try raising them a little closer to the strings (the screws are sprung for adjusting, they're not just screwed down in place). Once again, check out youtube for advice. Too close and the magnets in the pole pieces of the pickups will reduce the sustain of the strings, too far away and the sound gets weedy. A simple thing to check is how playing further up the fretboard means that the strings get lowered closer to the pickups, so you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about. This also has to be factored in to what is the ideal height for the pickups.

So before I go fucking about with YouTube vids and potentially make things worse, is it worth just changing the strings first? Apparently the stock strings that come with it aren't much cop. Fuck me, i got a shock when i looked at the prices of bass strings.

[Bently Sheds]

NoSleep's right. Check your pickup height first, a small turn of the pickup screws with a crosshead screwdriver to raise 'em up might just solve your problems & save you ££££ on a set of bass strings.

[BeardFaceMan]

I tried turning the screws a few times to raise the pick ups, didn't make any difference, i should probably watch a vid though to see what the optimal height is. I should just try and check the intonation first, get rid of the buzz because that sounds shit, i can get away with low volume for the moment. I already bought some spare strings because I'll need them at some point anyway, i know theres nothing worse than having a string break and not having a replacement. I got some Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings because theyre the ones i use for my guitar, i think they might be a slightly thicker gauge than the ones that come with the bass.

[NoSleep]

So before I go fucking about with YouTube vids and potentially make things worse, is it worth just changing the strings first? Apparently the stock strings that come with it aren't much cop.

I don't know exactly how bad the strings that they arrive with re: Thomann. I bought a Harley Benton fretless bass from them recently and immediately replaced the roundwound strings for flatwound because I didn't want the damage to the fingerboard. As that was a no-brainer I guess the roundwound were on there because they were cheap and nastly.

Fuck me, i got a shock when I looked at the prices of bass strings.

James Williamson managed to keep the same set of strings on his bass throughout his career, so it could be once only purchase. I bought some really nice Thomastik Infeld flatwounds for mine with similar intention.

[LORD BAD VIBE]

Bernard Edwards from Chic was the same, never changed the strings.

Someone once asked him what brand he used and he said, "Errr, whatever's on the bass when I buy it."

[BeardFaceMan]

I found a nice little series of vids describing the set up process, I'm just waiting for the tools I need to arrive, I'll try and set it up with the strings that are already on it first.

Although I really, really wish these amazing and very helpful guitar techs could clean under their fingernails before making youtube vids. Seriously, guys.