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musictheory.net provides the ability to make custom web exercises to practice music theory topics. I have created several buttons below for custom exercises for BASS players. Please be aware that you will need these exact links to get the exact exercises you need.
Understanding EQ pt 2: the secret to a great electric bass tone
ELECTRIC BASS PLAYERS: read this AFTER reading part 1 on the Instruments page!
The amplifier (or amp modeler) is the second most important part of your guitar tone besides your guitar itself. The following is a guide to how to get the best sound from your gear.
The actual speaker(s) you are hearing the sound come from are the most important part of the amplifier!
Real bass-voiced speakers want to project lots of bass (obviously), a little bit of midrange and treble, and almost no presence. Modeling amp speakers might not be outputting enough clean low end. Try plugging your headphone output of your digital amp product and plug it into your home theatre system with subwoofer for example. You might just increase the size, and the overall tone quality with better speakers.BASS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FREQUENCY RANGE for bass, of course. This is your true volume control.
All great bass sounds either have a decent helping of either bass or low mids depending on the genre. Try boosting lots of midrange and cutting lots of bass for a great solo tone. For most genres, removing midrange is recommended to sound good with electric guitars. Distorted bass tones should reduce bass a little bit, and add some lower midrange and treble, especially for metal.Adjust to get the right amount of Treble and Bass for each playing scenario, then keep the level constant.
A good rule of thumb is to turn midrange up and treble down when practicing by yourself for a big satisfying practice tone that is not harsh and easy on the ears for longer, louder practice (especially when using headphones). As soon as other instruments join in for a performance, turn the treble up and the midrange down to not interfere as much with the guitar player and bass drum.Resonance: "with great power comes great responsibility"
The bigger the cabinet, the greater the resonance. Be careful to not have too much as to help the kick drum be heard.Adding some Treble & Presence may be a good thing?
Your speaker might not kick out much treble and presence, but having a some high end could help you be heard in a large band.Do you need flatwound strings?
I like flatwound strings for 1 reason only: the feel. I like that they are slippery, and they are not as abrasive on the fingers as roundwound strings are. I don't have this problem with roundwound guitar strings because the windings are so small that the grooves in the strings are almost unnoticeable to me, but when I play roundwound bass strings, I feel that they quickly hurt my right hand fingers if I play aggressively.
That being said, I wish I liked roundwound strings. The natural brightness of the strings can come in handy, especially for high gain tones. With my roundwound strings, I find myself having to boost treble quite a bit on any gain tone to get the same sense of cut and attack.
So why do I stick with roundwounds? I find myself playing lower gain genres of music on bass, and I save the high gain sounds for guitar. I think roundwounds sound good for jazz especially. If I need brightness, I play with a bright sounding pick instead of fingers and that usually helps.
Ask yourself these questions to help you choose the string for you:
Do I want a bright, cutting tone, or a dark, mellow tone?
What genres will I be playing?
How much gain do I need?
Fingerstyle vs pick?
Is your right hand ok with the roughness of roudwounds?
I think most players will find roundwound strings the way to go, especially if you play with a pick most of the time. It is much easier to darken brighter strings than it is to brighten darker strings. It's a close call for me, but the feel really is the deal breaker. I want to be able to play fingerstyle for a long time, just like for guitar, so that is enough for me to choose flatwounds.
The best speaker size for you is...
...is either 10 or 15 inches, probably.
For guitar players, the best speakers for live use are either 10" or 12", with 12" being the most popular choice by a large margin. Bass players are a bit more split between 10" and 15". 12" and 18" speakers for bass can be found in use, but I'm not a huge fan of these. I think every player can find the tone they are looking for in 10" or 15" speakers. If you are looking for a brighter tone, try 10", and 15" for darker tone.
Check the Guitar page for more articles. Many of them also apply to bass players!
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