How to Choose a Bass

Lesson 5/135 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Complete Bass

How to Choose a Bass

The most important thing about a bass guitar is how it feels in your hands before you even think of plugging it into an amp. The next two photographs show pictures of typical basses. Refer to them for a listing of parts as you do the following check on any bass.

Mechanical Check List:

Is the weight too heavy or unbalanced? Use a strap and adjust it to the right length so that your arms and hands feel comfortable whether you stand or sit while you play.
What is the distance (action) between the strings and the fretboard? If it is too high it is very hard to press the notes down. It can be adjusted on the bridge. If the action is too low you get a "fret buzz". Get your instrument adjusted (set-up) by a guitar repair person.
Does the neck sit tightly on the body? Is it straight?
Do the tuning pegs turn easily?

Electronic Check List:

Is the bass equipped with one or two pick ups?
Are the electronics active (i.e., uses a battery) or passive?
Passive electronics are probably easier and more reliable than active electronics because of their simplicity. Active has the advantage of being more powerful and having more sound variety. Some basses can be switched from active to passive. (Active basses use a small 9V battery which has to be put in the body of the bass, normally by removing a back plate).
If an active bass has a distorted sound it could be that the signal level is too high, (turn the master volume down on your bass) or the battery could be flat.

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1- INTRODUCTION 2- Playing Position 3- Articulation 4- Three Four Time ( ^ ) 5- Glossary of Musical Terms 6- Approach to Practice 7- The Right Hand 8- Syncopation 9- Odd Times 10- About the Author 11- Using The Pick 12- Lead-In 13- Displacement 14- How to Choose a Bass 15- Playing With Alternating Fingers 16- Swing Rhythms 17- Afro 18- Strings 19- The Quarter Note Rest 20- The Shuffle 21- Afro And Reggae 22- Bass Guitars 23- Blues 24- 12 Bar Shuffle 25- Reggae 26- Amplifiers 27- Chord Numbers 28- Minor Chords 29- Rhythm Figures With A Sixteenth Note Rest 30- Tuning Your Bass 31- Root Notes 32- First And Second Endings 33- Syncopated Sixteenth Note Figures 34- The Metronome 35- Chord Symbols 36- Major Sixth Chords 37- Sixteenth Note Triplets 38- How to Read Music 39- The Left Hand 40- Seventh Chords 41- Modes 42- Music Notation 43- Notes On The Second Fret 44- Major Seventh Chords 45- Modal bass lines 46- Notes on The Lines And Spaces 47- Notes On The Third Fret 48- Minor Seventh Chords 49- Modes Using The Same Root Note 50- Open String Notes 51- Country 52- Jazz - Walking Bass 53- Mode Over Chord Progressions 54- The Four Four Time Signature 55- Half Time 56- Principal Chords And Scale Tone Chords 57- AABA Form "Rhythm Changes" 58- Note And Rest Values 59- New Note On The E String (F) 60- Turnarounds 61- Alternating Between Latin And Swing Feel 62- Symbols And Abbreviations 63- The Tie 64- 12 Bar Jazz Blues 65- Alternating Between Half Time Feel And Swing 66- Rock 67- Diminished Seventh Chords 68- The Pentatonic Scale 69- New Notes On The G String (B, C) 70- Suspended Chords 71- The Blues Scale 72- The Major Scale 73- Augmented Chords 74- Harmonic Minor And The Modes 75- The Octave 76- Minor Sixth Chords 77- Harmonic Minor Modal Bass Lines 78- Learning The Notes 79- Minor Seven Flat Five Chords 80- Melodic Minor And The Modes 81- Notes on the Guitar Fretboard 82- Turnarounds II 83- New Topic 84- Chromatic Scale Diagram And Finger Pattern 85- Chord Extensions 86- Melodic Minor Modal Bass Lines 87- Intervals 88- Chord Extension Arpeggio Patterns 89- The Diminished Scale 90- The Slide 91- Bass Pedal And Additional Chord Variations 92- The Whole Tone Scale 93- Shifting Between Notes 94- Latin 95- Bass Feature Lines 96- Cycle of Fifths and Key Signatures 97- Chord Symbols 98- Bass Chords 99- Riffs 100- Ghost Notes 101- Harmonics 102- C Major Scale Pattern II 103- Funk 104- Harmonics Fretboard Diagram 105- Understanding Chords 106- New Topic 107- Harmonic Chords 108- Arpeggios 109- Using A Drum Machine 110- The Slap Technique/The Thumb (T) 111- Major Scales And Arpeggios With Open Strings 112- Left Hand Techniques 113- Popping Technique (P) 114- Inversions 115- The Hammer-on (H) 116- Eighth Note Grooves 117- Upside Down Arpeggios 118- The Pull-off (P) 119- The Cross-Hammer 120- All Major Scales Around The Cycle Of Fifths 121- The Trill (tr) 122- Left Hand Slap 123- All Major Arpeggios Around The Cycle Of Fifths 124- Vibrato () 125- Sixteenth Note Grooves 126- Double Notes 127- The Two Handed Tapping Technique 128- The Hammer-Attack (HA) 129- The Right Hand Tapping Technique ( : ) 130- The Right Hand 131- Tapping And Hammering 132- Arpeggio Tapping 133- Right Hand Interval Tapping 134- Double Stops And Chord Tapping 135- Turnarounds

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How to Choose a Bass