Relax Sunday Is usually all about relaxation but today is the exact opposite for me, so title is maybe a little misleading but I will cover some "relaxing" stuff.
Today's Relax Sunday I decided to make a small personal guide to your first bass guitar. What to choose and not to. I could have gone more tecnichal, I think that takes away from relax sundays purpose.
Choosing your instrument
Choosing the right instrument for you is essential when it comes to not giving up. For me it was quite easy to find out what instrument I wanted to play. As a kid, I was really into the band koRn and koRn is the kind of band when a bass player is in the lead not like a faint glow. So for a young boy listening to brutal bass-shredding the choice was easy. So in this case I'll focus on base guitar.
Picking your first bass
Most will think that it's not a good idea to invest alot of money into their own or their kids first instrument because if they won't continue they don't make a huge loss. You are not wrong but there is a difference between a 100 dollar bass and a 10,000 dollar bass. So my tip you and I will explain why is, DO NOT go for a bass under 400-500 dollar. If you pay 100 dollars on a cheap bass you will run into problems sooner rather than later, most of the times the bass still works after a year but you have evolved as a bass player and now a 100 dollar bass is not enough anymore. You have now wasted 100$ and you need to get another bass, but if you spent ~500 dollars on a bass your first bass you can in many cases, play it for life! Personally, I spent almost 1000 dollars on my first bass 12 years ago and I still play on this bass today. I will post a youtube video at the bottom of this page of a guy showing in practice the difference between a 100$ and 10000$. I think the 700 dollar bass is the best sounding.
Other thing is that, if you want to later sell a 100 dollar bass you will not get anything for it while a 500 dollar bass is still worth a lot and in some cases more. Here are a couple of suggestions.
ESP LTD F104 Black Bass Guitar
Dean ML Metalman Active EQ Bass Guitar
Epiphone Thunderbird PRO-IV Active Bass
Fender Standard Precision Bass (a little more expencive but totally worth it)
Your first amp
So you bought a bass and want to slap the shit out it but you now remember that you don't have an amp to do so, AND you have spent almost all your money on a bass, do not panic!
As a bass player you don't need the biggest, loudest and most expensive amp at all. If you play at home a small one will do and when you play your gigs you can always put a microphone in front of the amp. Remember that a combo is cheaper but almoust always impossible to change out compoments if somthing breaks, much easier to buy and maintain a head and case. Suggestions.
Heads:
Fender Rumble 200 Bass Amp Head
Orange OB1-300 Bass Amp Head (best one)
Cabs:
Eden EX410SC 4x10 Bass Cabinet, 400W, 4 ohms
Orange OBC115 Bass Speaker Cabinet (best one)
Combo:
Peavey MAX115 MKII Bass Combo Amplifier
Orange OB1-300 Bass Combo Amp (100% the best combo)
Alternative choice or later investment
If this is the first bass or the forth one a acoustic choice is always an great option. If you are planning on buying your first bass and you don't have a lot of money, go for an acoustic bass guitar. It does not make a huge amount of sound but the sound that comes out is crystal clear (depending on how much you spent).
As I evolved as a bass player I joined a band, brought all my gear to our band practice location and I got nothing left to play at home. So I decided to buy an acoustic bass and that is the smartest thing I could have done. Now I can practice at home before turning up at band practice to show off. Suggestions.
Ibanez PCBE12MH, Natural Mahogany
Fender T Bucket 300CE Bass Guitar
Ibanez AEWB50 Electro Acoustic Bass, Multi Wood Mosaic - B-Stock
Pedals and effects
So you have been playing for a while and you think the sound that comes out of the speakers is kind of lame. You can choose between some fantastic pedals that will turn your sound into somthing that sound more like a volcanic eruption!
Tuner
- TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Polyphonic TunerOverdrive
- Darkglass Microtubes B3K Bass overdrive Pedal or Darkglass Microtubes B7K Bass Preamp Pedal (hands down the best sounding distortion imo.)Fuzz or distortion
- B:ASSMASTER Harmonic Octave Analog Distortion/Fuzz Pedal. The Malekko Barker ASSMASTER is inspired by the original Maestro Bass Brassmaster octave fuzz pedal. (this produces SO much so sound)Synthesizer
- Electro Harmonix Bass micro Synth PedalLimiter
- Boss LMB-3 Bass Limiter Enhancer Effects pedal (BOSS is not the best but there is not alot of bass limiters out there)Filter
- MXR Bass Envelope FilterVolum control
- Line 6 FBV Express MKII pedalboardWah wah
- EBS WahOne Bass Wah Pedal (a little expencive but totally worth it)
You don't need all of this but I just wrote some of my go to pedals.
100$ vs 10,000$ bass video
So I hope this made your choice a little simpler.
Have a nice Sunday evening people! Rock on \m/
