What is the most important lesson you have received, or something that has unlocked your mind?

Sometimes I'll try learning a bass line and get so focused on hitting every note right that I completely lose the groove. Then I play it slower, stop worrying about the little details, and suddenly it sounds way better.

I also underestimate how hard it can be to keep a simple line going for an entire song without rushing or drifting out of time. It looks easy when you watch someone else do it, but playing it yourself is a different story.

Bass has definitely taught me that knowing the notes and actually making a song feel good are two different things.

One thing I find interesting about learning bass is how you can get away with bad habits for ages before they start causing problems.

Could be playing way too hard, relying on the same few patterns, gripping the neck like your life depends on it, or never practicing with a metronome.

Sometimes you don't even realise you're doing it until you try to learn something new and suddenly everything feels harder than it should.

What’s a habit you had as a bass player that you eventually had to break? Might save someone else a bit of frustration.

I’ve been learning to play since January and have never played with others before. I was recently invited to join a group to jam some reggae, and I’m as excited as I am nervous. I have a rumble 25, everywhere I see online says I need at least a 40, if not 100 to play with others. When I play in my room, I have the amp volumes barely turned on and it’s blasting my ears.

This may be a dumb question or just me not wanting to make another purchase, but would a bigger amp be necessary? How loud is it actually going to be? Do you guys wear ear plugs? Thanks in advance

I'm not very knowledgeable on strings for the most part. However, I've always loved using these strings. These are my default set of strings for all of my basses. They feel very light, sensitive, and responsive. I love how I hardly need to exert any force when I press down and it feels like I can play for long periods of time without getting tired. It's kinda like how some gaming keyboards feel so fast and responsive because the mechanical keyboard switches are really light compared to regular office keyboards.

That being said, I don't know if these strings are actually considered as "light" for Bassists. I've pretty much only used these set of strings and I never bothered to explore other brands such as Rotosound, D'Addario, etc.

If these aren't considered as "light" by most bassists, I'm willing to explore further and find something even lighter.

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I don't want to waste a person's time by showing up to a jam sesh not knowing what I'm doing. I mean I can still improvise over backing tracks and it doesn't sound to bad but I just wanna show up and let them know that I'm really good at it.

Btw I'm not a complete noob to music just a noob to being knowledgeable at any basic music theory and time signature.

Hi guys. I’ve been getting conflicting information regarding a drop in replacement for a Squier vintage modified jazz bass. Does anyone know from experience which set would work?

My boyfriend and I are starting an acoustic duo of sorts playing covers of contemporary pop music (think upbeat stuff like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, etc). He plays acoustic guitar and I play bass, and we both sing (no drums, just a few auxiliary percussion moments we both cover). I’m currently using a Peavey Grind bass into an MXR compressor and Fender rumble amp, and although I like the sound overall, I feel like I could have a sound that serves the overall sound better (I also own a Spector but like the Peavey more in this context).

Since this isn’t a common musical group instrumentation I’m having trouble finding advice geared towards this. What would your setup be if you were in this situation? I’m open to any kind of changes in pedals, the bass I’m using, and changes to the amp (though I’d like to keep using this amp if I can). I play bass lines of course but also a lot of melody parts if that changes your answer.

Acoustic basses seem like an option at first but I think I would need an amp to be heard still, and at that point it seems to make more sense to just us an electric. I’m thinking about picking up a Fender Mustang, partially because I think something that sounds closer to a p bass would work well, but mostly because I’m finally accepting I have small hands and want to try a short scale bass, haha. I think getting at least an EQ pedal as well would help me dial in the sound? Have also been looking at hollow body and fretless basses, but I’m curious what other people think.

Also, if you have any recommendations for music artists who play in a similar kind of group please also share their names!! TIA

I’ve had a P bass for a while but didn’t play it much. The fatter neck just did not agree with me and gave me a lot of joint pain.

It’s an Am pro II so you can’t just buy the neck on fenders website. Luckily a kind Redditor told me about Stratsosphere and after waiting a patiently for a few months a rosewood jazz neck came up on EBay.

The craziest thing is how easy it was to replace. I just used a screw driver to swap necks, did a regular set up. I gigged it the very next day.

I love my jazz bass and still feel like it’s home but it’s so nice to have that fat mid hump again. The only problem is my bandmates want me to only use that bass from now on.

John Deacon makes that line sound so easy, but getting it to sound right is another story.

You can hit all the notes and it still doesn't have that same feel. The timing, the muting, the way everything locks in with the drums... it's annoying how much you notice once you try playing it yourself.

Makes me appreciate bass players a lot more when I hear songs I used to think were simple.

Hello!

I am a beginning bass player. I've played guitar for 6 years and am getting myself a Gretsch Streamliner Jet Club short scale bass. I just can't decide what I want for an amp and was hoping for some thoughts!

For my guitar, I have an orange Crush 12. This is plenty loud for me as I just do bedroom practice. What I'm deciding between is getting a headphone amp or a regular amp. If I were to get a headphone amp, I've narrowed it down to the Zoom B1X Four as it has a lot of cool features and it would be my first pedal/processor! But I'm also thinking about playing out loud and I'm not sure how serious I want to take my playing. I have a couple friends that play drums, guitar, and bass guitar and I'm trying to convince them to start some sort of cover band with me just to fool around in our friends' basement. I'd probably be playing guitar if we did that as we already have a bass player, which I suppose is why I'm so conflicted! I'd love the idea of playing a bass in a band as the times I've picked one up at the music store a lot if it has flowed pretty naturally. I'm even getting some of the plucking down and I love the rumble feeling from the amp. But I know I'd practice more at home if I got a headphone amp because I live with my family still and I usually don't have free time until later.

At my local music store I have an offer for a $99 Fender Rumble 25 in like new condition. It's flawless. I'm only concerned about this not being loud enough. I've read that a lot of people prefer the Rumble 40, but that seems like a much bigger purchase for something that I'm not even sure that I'd use to the fullest potential. Would a Rumble 25 be sufficient enough for me to play with my friends as well as have at home for a nice practice amp?

Looking for stainless strings for my 37" multiscale 5-string. I play in drop G so I'd like heavier gauges. Any recommendations?

Also man, bass strings have gotten so expensive lately

I did read the FAQs and saw some of the amps on there are discontinued. I am a singer in a prog rock/metal band, and the guys finally talked me into doing the geddy special (aka singing, keys, and bass). I just purchased an Ibanez SR405EPBDX 5-string, but of course forgot that my guitar amp isn’t going to cut it for bass.

I need something that will be loud enough for practice sessions with the band (live drummer). Nothing too crazy until I decide I’m at a point to upgrade later on, but something that doesn’t sound like I’m running through a toaster. If I was looking to spend less than $700, what would you all recommend for me?

(I’m also open to any advice you might want to give! I did play guitar for 4-5 years before dedicating my time to singing so I have some knowledge, but this is a whole new field)
Thanks :)

Sometimes I try learning a bass part that's all over the fretboard and it's fine, but then I play a song with a really simple groove and somehow that's the one I can't get right.

It's not even about hitting the right notes. It's keeping the timing steady, not rushing, and resisting the urge to throw in extra stuff that doesn't need to be there.

I feel like bass is one of those instruments where playing less can actually be harder than playing more.

Took me a while to appreciate how much a simple bassline can carry a song.

Hola, seré sincero desde el inicio, no me interesa aprender el bajo o guitarra de manera profesional (o no por ahora) pero le tengo unas ganas a rocksmith muy grandes.

No se absolutamente nada de instrumentos pero quisiera aprender lo básico y por lo menos no sonar desafinado, si recomiendan rocksmith para aprender algo? No se si quiero guitarra o bajo pero quiero jugar y aprender lo básico. Escucho sus recomendaciones

I already play guitar and I want to get into bass. I’ve done some amount of research and I’m thinking of getting either a fender precision or a 5 string Ibanez (or a 4 string one you decide) I feel really conflicted, any recommendations?

Ich würde gerne mit meinem Effektgerät Korg AX5B den Sound des Basses im Lied The Fate of Ophelia von Taylor Swift einstellen. Kann mir hier jemand helfen oder auch einen anderen Tipp geben?

Is it just a quality difference thing or is it a possibility that my bass is simply set wrong? Lol

I’m having trouble deciding what I want because I am looking at 2 fretless basses right now. A Ibanez sr370ef or a fender fretless jazz bass. The jazz bass seems nice because I would have a jaco pastorius tone but I do like the versatility of the sr370ef. Would I still be able to get close to a tone I would get on a fender fretless jazz bass?

Hey gang - hoping for some advice here. Really struggling to choose between the ibanez mdm1305 and the mdm1605.- I know the specs like the back of my hand but I guess it's maple/ash Vs rosewood/alder...

I want this bass to be my #1 for neosoul/Motown/RnB, slap and funk/soul. My other bass is a Jet JPB300, a p bass with flats. That'd be mostly my backup

Does the 1605 cover the snap of the 1305 better than the 1305 covers the warmth of the 1605? I want this #1 bass to be as versatile as possible but also be able to do that jazz snappy bright punchy muscular tone if that makes sense?

I am looking to buy a first bass guitar as a lefty and I would appreciate some help.

As a guitar player, I'm a fan of Ibanez, so that was my first choice. But I found out that their midrange basses are plagued with some really bad pickups.

When listening to pickup comparisons, I really liked Nordstrand, especially the big single. Unfortunately, the only left handed Ibanez bass with them seems to be the sr2605, which looks gorgeous, but it's way more expensive that what I'm looking to get. Also, I don't think I want a 5 string bass.

Are there any options from other brands that I should check out? Ideally in a similar price range as the Ibanez sr500.

Does anyone know how to get the early mark hoppus Sound on a stingray. I personally use a sterling stingray ray 4 but I only have a 3 way amp. In the moment I just took out lots of bass and gave it lots of mids and a bit of treble but not more than the mids. I know I don’t have the same bass as mark but it should be close enough.

17, been playing music for about 3 years now, used to play guitar, now in a band where i play bass, we play prog rock/jazzrockfusion stuff. during sets/rehearsals my hand gets strained so much sometimes to the point where m,y hand stiffs up and i cant even move my fingers for a few bars so i resort to tapping with my right hand lol. im writing this as i just started practicing (checking out hit me with your rhythm stick) and my left wrist is hurting as i type. im just getting scared whether this is evolving to some kind of condition in my wrist and if it can affect my music career in anyway, scarrrrry stuff.

anyways, i've tried loosening my grip, which i make sure im playing as soft and loose as i can while letting my amp/comp do the work for me, and my strap used to be as high as possible so i lowered it a bit just to make sure im not playing at a weird angle. but i dont knoww man this sucks so bad i have a bunch of gigs lined up, anyone got experience with this?

ive played drums for about 7 years but recently picked up bass because i wanted to start a pop punk band.

naturally, instead of learning songs like a normal person, i started writing basslines for my own demos. my fingers hate me but im having way too much fun.

any bassists got advice for someone who thinks hes a songwriter before he can even play properly?

Hello! My boyfriend’s birthday is coming up soon and I need some recommendations for a good speaker I can gift him. He’s a bass player, and listens to a lot of vinyl records in his free time. He uses his roommate’s speakers currently but we’re gonna be moving in together soon after his birthday (yay!!) and I wanna surprise him with a new set of speakers.

I’m completely clueless about this so I thought I’d turn to my trusted Reddit community for some inspiration. My budget is around 100 pounds, PLEASE let me know if you have any recommendations for speakers that’ll be great for record players and bass