Do you own a bass guitar?

[JM Convert]

I have an Ibanez Roadstar II bass.

I bought it off the bass player in my second punk band in high school in 1987 when he found God and decided to quit playing music.

I use it for recording and have never had it set up or anything. I wondered if I was missing out and if I should buy a Precision Bass or something else but is appears to be a P/J bass in disguise so no need to upgrade.

[BMWRider]

I started out as a bass player, because I had these large fat fingers when I was younger. I owned an electric guitar (which I couldn't play), and I wanted to get a case for it. One of my co-workers had a case, but I had to take the old, Japanese short-scale bass which came with the case. I tried to play the bass, courtesy of the included Mel Bay instruction book, and I found my first instrument!

Right now, I still have that original bass, though it is only good as wall art. I also have the first quality US-made bass I ever played regularly (a '78 Gibson G-3), along with a pair of early '70s Fenders (a P and a J) and my Vintera LPB Bass VI. I don't currently have a short-scale four string in the arsenal, though I am in the hunt for a good one. I had one of the MIM Mustangs, but it just wasn't different enough from my other Fenders to keep it.

There are a few basses I wish I had kept. My '79 4001 was gorgeous, but I sold it because it wasn't comfortable to play (the edge of the body would dig into my forearm, numbing my hand). It was sold to a Metallica fan looking for a Cliff Burton bass. I also had a trio of hollow-bodies (a Warwick Star Bass, a '68 Gibson EB-2, and a '13 Hofner 500/1 '62 reissue). Loved them, but I was always paranoid about messing them up so I sold them. Makes me wish I had waited for a few more years...

Yes, I do like basses.

[Plumerai]

I have three. Most recent is a 70's Ibanez Black Eagle with headstock & pickguard intact.

[pawnzito]

Have a P bass. I played bass in a few bands and owned a few basses over the years. Favorite was a jmj mustang bass I solid because "i wanted the p bass sound". Still regret that trade.

[MattK]

I started on bass and put it aside for years - had kept an Ibanez Roadstar which is pretty wonderful. A couple of years ago I got the bug again and picked up a few. The Squier CV 50s Precision is the hidden gem, a Tokai Hard Puncher which was in a quality league way above my expectations, and a funny 70s Japanese Fujigen shortscale EB-3 clone which I got for the cost of good strings, and absolutely love.

[muffonrat]

Happy owner of a Squire surf green CV Mustang bass here. My first bass was a 70s Eko short scale bass. Prefer the shorter scale for bass cause it's easier to play and really like fuzz and strumming, guitar style playing.

[Flurko]

I have three basses :
-an ugly as sin red Stagg thingy that I had from a guy at school years ago, I traded him a crappy acoustic I got for 30€ against it, it was my first bass.
-It's neck was then used on a semi homebuilt hollow body, which got its own neck (from a cheap Cort) a few years after.
-I then bought a Squier Bronco, the skinny neck and short scale makes it very enjoyable to play, I put tapes on it and it's such soft-playing bass, the opposite of what I thought they were when I first tried precision -width nuts with big round wound strings.
I might put the bartoli pickup and EMG preamp from my parts bass into the bronco as it's the only bass I play out with, mostly because I can fit it in my double gig bag along with a guitar. If only it wasn't such a boring (black) color !

[crazyzeke]

Why not. Get a middle of the road PJ Jazz bass...all the classic tones, nice narrow nut and an offset.

Good shout, I second this. Bass player in my originals band has two including one that's active with a parametric EQ pot stack thing, and I love them both. Super versatile.

[crazyzeke]

I always think that I really ought to have a "normal" bass that contains correct notes, instead of the atonal mess that is my fretless playing.

The correct notes are the ones you choose I say - equal temperament is so flawed that the major third is about 14 cents sharp (ouch) and even the so-called "perfect" 5ᵀᴴ is 2 cents flat. It's a good compromise and essentially without it we'd have no fretted instruments and pianos would suck in most keys but I wouldn't call it correct.

I always understand that their main use was when a track didn't sound quite right, you stick some Bass VI in there and that fills the space/voices that you didn't realise needed filling. Sort of like Nashville tuning.

That makes sense; they are a hybrid instrument after all, neither lead guitar nor bass.

I've always wanted to try Nashville tuning, but the very few times I've had access to a 12-string they sound so good and resonant I can't bring myself to remove any strings for any reason. Honestly other than the fact they're harder to play, they sound amazing (when they're in tune at least) so it surprises me that more singer-songwriter folkie types don't play them. There's a song I'm working on with that kinda vibe, a call to arms "group-sharing the pain of life dissipates the pain a bit" (blues in concept/theme, but not musically) type song which I really want 12-string parts on, but don't know whom I could borrow an acoustic like that from around here.

[crazyzeke]

I’ve done that with Strats too haha. I like them and they can sound great. I love what other people have done with them. But when it comes to myself, there’s just something that just doesn’t quite work out.

Amen, Strats are absolutely f'n useless in my hands, they sound awful and I play much, much worse on them than almost any other Fender. It would be tempting to say it's because they're so ubiquitous that they must suck, but I'm not an 18 year old punk any more and plenty of people can make them sound good, one of my favourite bands ever for wall-of-sound rock/gaze (Catherine Wheel) both played Strats so it's clearly just me.

My first "proper" guitar was a Strat copy and I'm surprised I still play... what is it about them that puts you off?

[crazyzeke]

I’ve had 3. Down to just one, a red Jaguar bass from the 1st year they were available. A P-Bass copy that I resurrected from a dumpster behind a club. The electronics were held on by punk rock band stickers and duct tape, so it needed a new pick guard, missing the D string tuner, so replaced all of them with a new set, and the body paint had been removed, so I repainted it to match the red metallic headstock. It was a decent sounding bass when I was through with it.

Did the Rickenbacker you had include the Rick-O-Sound output?

I love the concept and look of the Jag bass however it completely baffles me that they never made a short scale version - the Squier one minus all the chrome and active controls etc doesn't fully count, I mean a MIM/MIJ/MIA Fender with everything the regular one does just a short scale neck, to match the regular lead guitar Jag.

Is the neck on yours closer to a P or J bass?

[zhivago]

Wow the poll is really telling, 96% of the people participating have one or more bass guitars!

Looks like OSG can deliver the funk (among other things), no problem!

[Chippertheripper]

Went through a few buy/sell/trades until I worked my way into this.
While nothing special, it’s super easy to play, and will cover my low end till I’m in the dirt.



I still have a 60’s teisco I’m tryna unload, but one is plenty for my needs, even if I end up playing bass in a band again.
Good fun indeed.

[crazyzeke]

Wow the poll is really telling, 96% of the people participating have one or more bass guitars!

Looks like OSG can deliver the funk (among other things), no problem!

Hahaha bloody love me some Bootsy; for funk my main guy is definitely Mr Hitmaker himself :-





I've learnt a lot about how to stay "in the pocket" with groove over the years thanks to how he comes at it, and like him I prefer an absolutely ripping, funky, head-bopping rhythm guitar part that makes people want to dance over standing there noodling aimlessly and boring the audience. Groove/feel is everything. The former gets you paid - the latter gets you booted (no pun intended). Nile also basically always uses the neck pickup which flies in the face of common funk wisdom that you live and die by the bridge. It's part of why I love the Meteora; in the middle setting (both pickups on, either tapped or full humbucking with the tapped setting having a RWRP pickup for hum cancelling) it absolutely kills it for funk.

[JackFawkes]

I’ve done that with Strats too haha. I like them and they can sound great. I love what other people have done with them. But when it comes to myself, there’s just something that just doesn’t quite work out.

Amen, Strats are absolutely f'n useless in my hands, they sound awful and I play much, much worse on them than almost any other Fender. It would be tempting to say it's because they're so ubiquitous that they must suck, but I'm not an 18 year old punk any more and plenty of people can make them sound good, one of my favourite bands ever for wall-of-sound rock/gaze (Catherine Wheel) both played Strats so it's clearly just me.
My first "proper" guitar was a Strat copy and I'm surprised I still play... what is it about them that puts you off?

Same for me, and I feel that way too... I have a Strat that I've had longer than any other instrument currently in my arsenal, and I like it, but I don't love it... I keep wanting to replace it with a Mustang, but when I think about selling it my sentimentality shelves the idea.
For me, this might sound silly, but I feel like the size of the body is too big... or maybe the shape of it doesn't feel right on me? One way or another the ergonomics of Strats have always just felt slightly off for me.

Jack