Posts Tagged ‘bass amplifiers’
I have played bass guitar for over 40 years. I have played expensive bass guitars and I have played cheap bass guitars. I have played both at practice and on stage and I can honestly say playing any kind of guitar is a matter of what you are use to, as far as the sound goes people can’t tell the difference.
Bass guitar packages are an affordable way to increase your bass guitar collection along with giving you a different sound, providing you obtain a different style bass guitar than you already have. The same is true for different amplifiers, here again bass guitar packages can furnish you with different bass amplifiers. As I said I have found success with both expensive and cheap instruments, It’s all a matter of what you are used to.
Great bands are made up from people playing electric guitars, bass guitars, and one or more adding to the vocals. Usually one or two of the elements stand out, thus making the band stand out. It is from this that I say great bands are the sum of it’s whole.
Bass guitar packages and electric guitar packages are the same thing. While the main parts are made up from electric guitars and bass guitars along with guitar amplifiers and bass amplifiers, when you look at them there is much more there. Guitar tuners, stands, cases, and cleaning kits are things that are easily overlooked, but are really quite essential.
I have to confess, ever since the 1960′s I have been a bass guitar fanatic. I will do just about about anything to achieve a new or different sound.
From the earlier years I was resigned to purchasing bass guitars and bass amplifiers separately because there were no bass guitar packages at that time. Piece by piece I managed to increase my bass guitar and amplifier collection. One day I noticed that the one thing all my bass guitars had in common was that they were all solid body electric bass guitars, so I sought out a solution to my problem.
I found a semi-acoustic bass guitar in the shape of a violin made by Glen Burton Guitars. I found it was available in a bass guitar package and tried it out. It was just what I was looking for. It was a copy of a Beatle Bass which made it a great choice since I still am a big fan of The Beatles. The bass guitar had a softer sound, because it was semi-acoustic, and it was light weight because it not made from a solid piece of wood. It is now part of my arsenal.
If you are in the market for a new bass guitar why not take a look at the one of the bass guitar packages that are available. Depending upon your level of expertise you can find multiple choices when it comes to bass amplifiers.
J-Bass, p-bass, or lp-bass, it doesn’t matter you can find a guitar package to fit. As far the different sized bass amplifiers you can always 10w, 20w or 80w bass amp there are reasons to look into any one of them. If you are just beginning either the 10w or 20w is a good choice, they are good practice amps for around the house. If you already play in a band and have your show amp the 20w amp is also a good amp because it is a good size for a practice amp. The 80w bass amp has a pre-amp on it that will make it a good choice for any occasion if you are in a band.
In today’s market you can purchase bass guitar packages and electric guitar packages that include many different sizes of guitar and bass amplifiers, the question is which one is the right size for you.
I use to own a Fender Bassman 100 amplifier in my younger days. It had a maximum wattage of 220, even for the gigs I was playing it was more than I really needed, but I was young then and I had to have the biggest and the best (you know how that is). I still have my Fender Jazz bass guitar but the amp I use now has a mere 20 watts of power. Playing in the house is about all I do these days so I find that is plenty of power for what I do. If you play electric guitar the same thing applies to you, a 10w amp is a good practice amp, while the 20w amp with its 8″ speaker gives you a good enough sound for intermediate playing. If you are planing to play gigs, you might want to step it up to an 80 watt amplifier
I now had my Univox bass guitar which was white with a black pick-guard and my Univox bass amplifier which I had to get separately because there was no such things as bass guitar packages in the 1960′s. To get around the streets with my equipment since I was to young to drive I converted a grocery shopping cart by cutting off the basket so it would accommodate my bass amp, which I secured to it using burlap webbing that was used to make seating. With my bass guitar in its case on top of the amp in the cart I could go from my house to wherever the band was practicing.
By 1969 I was ready to step up to a Fender Jazz Bass guitar. I went to 46th Street in Manhattan to Manny’s, a music store that handled all the big rock stars at the time. I walked into this music store and it was like nothing I had ever seen before, I was like a kid in a candy shop, there were electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, guitar amplifiers, and bass amplifiers for what seemed as far as the eye could see, I was heaven.
Ever since The Beatles exploded on the scene in America in the 60′s, bringing with them their new concept on what to do with electric guitars and bass guitars, the music scene has never been the same. They were pioneers in a new music as well as the way this new music was presented.
Their outdoor performances brought about changes in the way we listen to music. The electric guitar packages they used were armed with guitar amplifiers made by VOX. They used 100 watt amplifiers which were at the time innovative, unfortunately at the concert at Shea Stadium in Flushing NY they proved to be not enough power, so that gig spawned the making of guitar and bass amplifiers with more power. Using their experiences the makers of guitar amplifiers and bass amplifiers have made the monster amps you see your favorite bands use today. This is one more example of what we owe The Beatles.
When you first start out playing guitar the first thing you do is go out and buy an electric guitar and a guitar amplifier. Being new you are so excited you plug the amp into the wall, plug your electric guitar into your new amplifier using the guitar cable, turn up the volume and start to play.
After a while of playing you start playing around with the controls knobs on your amplifier, you know the ones that say treble, middle, and bass on the cheaper amplifiers, and on the better ones like 125,250, 500, 1k, and 2k. What these controls are referring to is equalization, with bass controlling the low frequencies, middle the mid, and treble the high frequencies. There is no right or wrong way to set these, it is all up to the sound that is pleasing to you.
Don’t feel left out if you play bass guitar, the only thing that changes for you is that you need to use a bass amplifier. Bass amplifiers are many a little beefier to handle the low frequencies. If you play an acoustic electric guitar you have an added advantage, you acoustic guitar comes with an on board equalizer built into the controls of your acoustic guitar, all you need is an amplifier.
Each on of these can be found in guitar packages for bass, electric and acoustic guitars.
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.
I have played bass guitar since the mid 60′s and I think it is the most exciting instrument to play. For those of you just starting out playing bass there are some things about amplifiers you should know about.
Because of the low frequencies that bass guitars produce bass amplifiers are built differently from guitar amplifiers. The speakers that are used for bass use heavy duty drivers, some professional bass players use a sub-woofer from a PA cabinet paired with the speakers from their bass amplifier to give them more powerful lows. You will also find the construction of the speaker cabinet is larger and more sturdier that that of a guitar amplifier. Bass amplifiers also have a limiter circuit to stop the main circuitry from overloading and causing damage to the speakers.