Archive for the ‘Bass Guitars’ Category
Stratocasters, telecasters, SG, LP, jazz, these are just a few of the better known styles of electric guitars. Precision, jazz, LP, and violin or “Beatle Bass” are just a few styles of bass guitars.
After you have chosen what style of bass, or electric guitars it is time to team it up with the bass amplifiers or guitar amplifiers that are available. Most people wold stop there thinking they have everything they need, but the guitar and amp is just the beginning of what you need.
When you were purchasing your guitar did you think about how you would transport it from one place to another, or if you were playing it and wanted to set it down somewhere, without a stand where would you put it. How about tuning your new guitar, without a tuner how would you go about that. How about an elementary thing like a guitar strap, would you think about picking one up. These things and more are why you should be looking for either electric guitar packages, or bass guitar packages.
Bass guitars are God’s gift to the music world. Having a slightly larger and heavier body, and a longer neck compared to an electric guitar it produces a sound one octave lower than a guitar.
Mostly played with the fingers or thumb it encompasses many different styles of playing, slapping, tapping, plucking or even thumping. It is produced mostly in 4, 5, and 6 string although I have seen it with more strings. It is used in any music genre you can think of rock, country, metal, jazz and reggae.
Playing bass guitars can be as simple as playing the root note of each chord, or to make it more interesting you can by playing the root and fifth note in the cord, or what is referred to as a walking bass. The great thing about playing bass is that it is up to you and your skill level what you play.
Playing electric guitar has been one of the best experiences of my life. I not only learned something that I can use my entire life, I also learned something that has inspired my daughters to learn.
Bass guitars, electric guitars, or even acoustic guitars are symbols of our family having fun together. It doesn’t have to have that polished sound to it, we’re not professionals, it just has to make you feel good. We share each others music which brings their music into my life, and likewise they get to share my music, which they have found to be pretty good.
The family rewards from playing guitar outway any bad times that families usually experience, I encourage you to start a family tradition of playing electric guitars to enhance your family life.
Everyone that plays electric guitars or bass guitars are familiar with the names of Fender and Gibson. These two names are the premium names when it comes to selling quality guitars, the only thing is these names come at a premium price also.
For a lot of people that price is more than they can afford so the alternative is to find electric guitars that are made with quality and are much more affordable. Luckily today there are many guitar manufacturers that fit the bill. Glen Burton guitars, New York Pro guitars, and Stadium guitars are three guitar manufacturers names that give you more bang for a buck. Their stratocasters, telecasters, and jazz guitars are instruments that won’t let you down whether your playing alone or in a band.
How many times have you picked up your electric guitar to play, either alone or with a band and found you were off? You grab your digital tuner, tune it up, only to find that it still sounds off and now you don’t know what to do about it. This same thing applies to bass guitars also.
What you have just experienced is something called intonation, but don’t worry all of us have had it at some time. What is intonation you ask, well it is when the note played on a string in the open position is the same note played at the 12th fret.
It is really quite easy to adjust for, you will need a digital tuner. Tune the first string as you would normally, than check the string at the 12th fret, if it is not the same it needs to be adjusted. Your guitars bridge has screws that connect it to the saddle, if your note was flat turn the screw to move the saddle towards the fretboard. If your note was sharp turn it away from the fretboard. Don’t forget to release the tension on the string before you make any adjustments. After you have completed the first string do the same thing on each of the remaining strings.
Since the 1950’s bass guitars have pretty much taken over for the stand-up bass or double bass as they were called. The roll of the bass has not changed, simply put acts as an anchor for the music, as well as keeping the beat.
Although there are many different genres of music, as well as different bass lines the role remains the same. It’s easy to identify with the electric guitar while listening to music, while the bass guitar sometimes takes some concentration to hear, I guess that’s what fascinates me about the bass.
The standard bass guitar has four strings, and there are some with five strings. There are bass guitars with six or more strings but the ones played most are the four and five strings.
The bass guitar can be a lethal weapon in the hands of someone who knows how to play it, like Geddy Lee of Rush. His proven style of play has influenced the likes of Cliff Burton of Metallica, and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden.
In the beginning Leo Fender produced the Precision Bass guitar. It was simple in design and had a powerful bass sound that could not be achieved by the stand up basses at that time.
After much thought by 1960 Fender had come up with the design of the Jazz bass. The comparison had been made that if the p-bass was a Chevrolet than the j-bass is a Ferrari.
By design the j-bass guitars had a larger body making it heavier, a longer thinner neck, and an off set waist line which at the time was designed more with jazz bassist in mind who would normally be seated while they were playing. Another notable difference is the p-bass guitar had one pick-up while the j-bass employed two, the neck pick-up contributed the lows while the bridge pick-up would give you more trebly sound.
I have always favored the jazz bass guitar because of the different sounds that it could achieve. Today j-basses are available in bass guitar packagesis a wide variety of colors.
Guitar players tend to dread the moment when their strings become too frayed to create adequate music anymore. In some cases a string will even break, reminding a guitarist that the other five should probably be replaced as well. Luckily, the process is the same whether you are dealing with expensive electric models or cheap bass guitars. Begin by loosening the sixth string with a winder until it’s slack. Cut the string up near the tuning peg rather than along the body or the neck; this will prevent damage to the paintwork.
Take a new sixth string and feed its plain end through the bridge. Pull it toward the head of the guitar and through the opening in the tuning peg. Bear in mind that you’ll be turning the peg in order to tune the string, so leave a little slack. Turn the tuner in a manner that winds the string around the post. Bring it into tune and then stretch it a bit before retuning. Trim any excess string that’s sticking out from the peg. Repeat the process with the five other guitar strings.
I listen to and have been listening to music a long time. Give me a song with a great electric guitar solo, or a terrific guitar riff and I’m a happy guy.
Something that makes me even happier is when a song has a great bass line. When it comes to bass guitars there are many outstanding musicians that know how to incorporate a great bass line into a song.
The next time you listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd, or The Eagles try and listen through the lead guitar and vocals, their songs usually have a really good bass line. Whether your a new bass player or have been playing for a while, a lot of their songs have bass lines that are not complicated but have enough to keep you busy, and they’re easy to learn.
Two song examples are “Already Gone” by the Eagles, and “Call Me The Breeze”, these two songs have a quick pace but are easy to play, and that makes them good practice material especially if you are a new bass player.
The Ventures are a truly unique rock band in that they were made up of electric guitars, bass guitars, and drums with no lead singer. They have been called “The band that launched a thousand bands”.
Their impact can be felt all over the world, and it can be said that no other instrumental band has sold more records than them, they have sold over 100 million records.
They led the way for many other groups with their experimental effects of which are still used today. While their popularity has fallen off in the United States they still tour in Japan where their music is still very big.
Their instruments of choice are Jazzmaster, Stratocaster electric guitars and Precision electric bass all made by Fender. In the 90’s Fender made a special limited edition series guitar after The Ventures changing only the bass to a Jazz Bass all with the exceptance of the band.