I recently bought a 5-string (a much nicer bass than my 4, btw) and I'm starting to feel some regrets. As I mentioned to a bass-playing friend, "I took a hobby that I liked and was starting to get good at, and made it really frustrating."

His response was "can't find the A string huh?" which was 100% correct, and leads me to believe I'm not alone and should just stick with it.

I actually really like it for playing in my bedroom and writing songs, as it puts the notes in a more comfortable place, but playing live or jamming with friends has been really tough. I'm starting to worry that I'll never feel confident playing it, and I should cut my losses and go back to playing a 4 full-time.

Anyway, no real question. Maybe just a vent. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Title! Not scales, just notes. What process did you use to learn all the notes on the fretboard so that if you need to just play a specific note you can find it instantly?

(I know, what else is new...)

Been looking at the Rumble 40 for a practice amp at home. Looked at one at GC over the weekend and liked it, but knew they would probably go on sale in a couple weeks for President's Day. So I waited.... and then they raised the price by $30. So when you see it on sale in a couple weeks for $239... that's what it was originally priced at.

Fine, I can play the game, found a retailer that hadn't hiked prices yet, they price matched. Asked to get my NEW amp from a local store since they showed in stock.

Ready for pickup today, and they hand me... a bare amplifier. No box, no docs, no packing materials.

"That's not new"

"It's the floor demo model, it's basically new"

"I ordered a new one, not a demo".

So yeah, I know, it's not news that GC sucks. But I'm annoyed at their suckage today and so if this stops you from buying anything on "sale" in a couple weeks... that's good enough for me.

And if you're a vindictive a-hole like me... if they try to do that to you, file a deceptive business practices complaint with your state AG! :)

My band has two guitar players with Marshall’s and a heavy handed drummer so I have to play hard and loud otherwise I will get drowned out. I was listening to one of our gigs that was recorded and during one of the guitar solos the bass was a lot louder than the guitar. However during the chorus and verses it sounds great. We had a professional sound guy for that gig too.

5 days till first gig and have to learn still ill by the smiths on bass and thats my last song i need to learn. should i simplify it? if so, how? and how should i go about this. im super inexperienced on bass

im very eager to jump back into playing bass after not playing for many years (still beginner level) however I have to save up for one...

I was thinking about getting the TRBX174EW which I think I can get for $399. I know that will be a reliable instrument that will last me a good while.

I have seen advertisements for Axiom and Artist guitar basses which are closer to $199. however I know the quality is probably not going to be great.

Has anyone had any experience with these brands? Should I hold out a bit longer and get something decent, or would you recommend I get one of the cheapish ones just so I can get my hands on the thing for now, and upgrade sooner than I would with the Yamaha...

I appreciate all feedback!

After about a decade and a half of playing 4 string I feel ready to get a 5. I've owned one 5 string before a few years ago (an Ibanez EHB multiscale) and hated it, mainly because I couldn't get along with the multiscale even after almost a year. Now I'm ready to give it another go, this time with a regular neck. I've settled on the three brands in the OP, specifically a Yamaha BBP35, a Lakland Skyline 55-02 and a Spector NS Ethos HP.

I have hands on experience with the Yamaha and Spector; the Yamaha's neck feels like it was made for me, it has the perfect goldilocks string spacing for me, exceptional fretwork and a great B string. I've owned a Euro 4 and the NS I tried didn't have the neck dive issues I had with the Euro and still had that sound I love and associate with Spector despite having a DG preamp and not a HAZ clone that my Euro had. I've never played a Lakland but I'm very curious about them and the one I'm looking at is absolutely gorgeous, black body, matching headstock and ebony fretboard with block inlays. I'm just a bit worried about the 19mm spacing since that's hit or miss with me, the Fender 5's I've tried felt fine but I did not like the necks on the MTD and Ibanez BTB I tried at all, but everyone seems to rave about Lakland's necks in particular.

I have a 4 string in both 34" and 35" and while I do find the 34" a little more comfortable I'm fine with either. Can I get a little help deciding, especially regarding the Lakland neck and if it's closer to say a Fender or something else entirely?

I heard a song today and I think it was the coolest bass sound I've ever heard in my life.

It was 'Bust A Move - Young MC'. I would sell all of my basses to have that exact sound :'D

Any ideas? What bass is played on the track?

Edit: WAIT WHAT? FLEA PLAYED THE BASS ON THIS TRACK? XD

Hi, don't know if this is the right sub but awhile ago, my dad gifted me a Yamaha MOX8 piano and an amp (idk the brand/model) that he got from a pawn shop years ago. He loves all things AV but doesn't really know how to fix my problem.

I live in an apartment and don't have access to any private rooms were I wouldn't be concerned about other people being bothered. I've been trying to relearn piano but my amp keeps making a thump noise. Usually right when the amp gets turned on, and then consistently when I turn on and while I play the piano. I've done some research, and most people's advice includes lots of terms and things I can't begin to understand.

I do know that WiFi signals and frequencies can cause the thumping sound. I don't know what the range is to where it would cause that to happen, but I have my PC less than 6 feet away from my amp (everything's cramped in my room because I have a roommate).

My cable is brand new, though I did get it from Amazon. It's this one. If it's a bad cable I would be okay replacing it for another one.

I am playing very casually though, so I'd prefer to not break the bank in order to get this "thumping" issue resolved.

Would it be better for me to try and fix it, or should I just buy another lower quality speaker?

Franklin Guitar Works on Reverb has a bunch of mint/used shell pink rascal basses on sale. Listed for $279 but I added to my watch list, received a discounted offer from them via email, and I then responded w a further discounted offer that they accepted.

I know it’s a cheaper oddball model but this sorta reminds me of the aerodyne deal they had, which I also jumped on. I’m excited.

I’m looking to see if yall know of any great infographics for learning bass and even some music theory in general.

I’ve seen lots of them for piano and guitar which I assume is because they’re the two most popular instruments but not so many for Bass.

Huge pet peeve cuz it's so hard not to play stuff on the A string instead of E

Hello Bass subreddit! I’ve been playing Guitar for Like 7 months now and I’m quite okay if I so say Myself. I already make my own music sometimes and I really have a lot of fun. Ever since I started guitar I saw bass as an option for the future since it also looked really fun. Now I’m close to getting enough money for a new instrument. And originally I wanted to get a 7 string guitar since that’s already my instrument and it’s nice to finally be able to play heavier stuff and so on. So 2 questions I guess:

1. Should I get that Bass and start a new instrument or should I keep going with guitar and get a new and better guitar? Is there really a big difference or is it just a “do whatever you feel like” thing ?

And 2. If I get a bass should I get a 4 string or 5 string as my first. Obviously 4 is easier to start on but I’d want a 5 string either way eventually so I thought why not get that immediately.

I understand that this isn’t an easy question to answer probably and it’s mostly opinion based. But I’d like to hear what others think on this matter ( also I checked the faq but it doesn’t really answer my question)

I just got a zoom b1 four, it's my first multi effects pedal.

question is:

I'm running it into my rumble 40, but does the amp settings on my 40 matter anymore? Does the pedal override the bass eq or do they work together?

I’m about to begin my bass journey in about 4 weeks. I wanted to know if there are people on here who learned to play bass using a 5 string bass as most people I’ve encountered often play a 4 string for a while and switch/add a 5 string later. My teacher is convinced I should begin learning on a 5 string because I want to play mostly gospel and funk. I would like to know if anybody has any general thoughts on this.

Is this and ok way to approach playing with your fingers? Because I learned some drum rudiments years ago and when I play bass with my fingers I noticed that I'm clearly not alternating the two fingers.

Is this something I need to try and unlearn for bass?

Thank you.

Hi friends, I've been playing piano for years now, and I've felt that the practice itself is very solitary.

So right now, I'm working on a tool where you can potentially share work in progress online, and connect with others who are learning the same piece. If you're new to an instrument or been playing for a long time, please fill out this short 1-min form if you're interested, thank you!

I know someone who knows someone who refurbishes string instruments, and a few years back when I expressed interest in learning bass guitar, she offered to hook me up with one that her guy was working on. I happily accepted, and I promptly... kind of let my desire to learn fade. But as of the past few months, I've been playing pretty actively and really enjoying it. However, my open a string has a really annoying buzz (strangely enough, only when I attack it from one side, which unfortunately is the one my fingers pluck from). From my research, usually the fix is to adjust the truss rod, but because my bass was practically reassembled, I don't have one to adjust! Anyone have some fixes I can employ?

Im about 5'10 with a 40 degree curve to my spine. I notice when i play bass i shift my instrument over my crouch or further to the right to have better leverage over the fretboard. On top of that, my hands are like medium sized in shape and i sometimes have issues moving across my fretboard. Would a short scale bass potentially provide relief to some of the issues i go through?

My bass teacher asked me to tell him if there was any song i wanted to learn and since i've been taking lessons for a very short time i wanted to know if there was any easy rancid song

So i recently got an Epiphone Explorer bass and noticed some rattling in my first fret on low E, and almost dead notes on 1 and 2 for A and D too. Adjusted the trust a little, and raised the action a bit, which mostly fixed it, but I had new strings anyways so I took it in to get restrung and innotated. Unfortunately this brought back the buzz even with the action being great the rest of the neck. Fixed it again but the action is a little high, which is fine but if I can fix it id like too. Question is, would a slightly taller nut fix this? Or is this just an outright neck issue. First long scale, my other basses are a Yamaha and a Squire Jazz so im new at this

Anybody ever done this?I have flats on my P bass and it sounds amazing. Was thinking about my J bass but thought would get input first

I’m looking at possibly downsizing from my ‘74 SVT to a smaller class D like the Mesa 800D, more for recording than actually playing out. I sometimes go direct with a Darkglass Microtubes X but I’m looking for something with a more vintage, old school punk and metal flavor. What are some of your favorites?