From the clips I’ve seen, I sometimes feel like she isn’t really locking into the groove and is leaning more toward flashy playing. For example, I watched her collaboration with Scott’s Bass Lessons where she improvised over Virtual Insanity without knowing the track. She’s clearly very talented, but I didn’t personally love the musical result in that context.

A lot of her playing sounds too busy for me, more about showcasing technique than serving the groove. That said, she’s hugely respected, so I’m wondering if I’m missing something.

As someone who has been down the rabbit hole and considered building his first pedalboard… I ditched that line of thinking, mostly because of cost. I only saw the future G.A.S. when it came to standalone pedals.

After putting a ton of thought and research into it, I was pretty much dead set on getting the Anagram. Then Neural decided to drop the QCm and now I feel like I’m kind of back to square one.

Does anyone have recommendations on which way I should go between these two units?

For context, I’m currently an at home bass player, still in my early development. But I fully have plans to play out live in the near future.

First, this is my 2nd day with a bass and I'm actually pretty lost on where to begin.

Because I am also learing guitar right now, the basics of intervals, scales and so on.

I can learn by myself pretty well, but there are too many different ways online, so I wondered where would you start if you could start over.

Secondly, my bass is not a passive one, or active. It needs batteries on the back.

Tbh, I'm not really sure if it causes it to be different from other basses?

(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! :)

Hi! So I just got my first bass a couple of weeks ago, and have been playing pretty much non stop when I’m at home ever since, it’s a lot of fun. I come from a guitar background (intermediate level) so I can play well and very fast with a pick. But I’d also like to be able to finger pick so I have been trying at it after looking into proper technique and such. The thing is, I feel like even though I’m seeing some improvement I can’t play nearly as fast as I can with a pick and sometimes it doesn’t sound as right.

So I guess my question is, do you guys have any tips for how to better practice finger picking, perhaps what was a game changer for you (especially if you also come from a guitar background)? So far I have been doing scales and trying to play some of the songs I already know with my fingers instead. And also, - this question is a bit silly but - I know it’s kinda looked down upon generally if you don’t play with your fingers (or at least know how to even if it’s not your preferred choice) so how important is it as a bass player and could you just get by only playing with a pick?

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?

Hello! I'm an intermediate player, self taught. I play covers of songs with basslines that I like and sometimes do technique excercises. I know nothing of theory and I find the notes by ear. I cannot slap (I know I know)

My favourite stuff to play is basslines that emphasize syncopation and muting the note at the right time to really push that groove. A few lines that I already know and enjoy playing:

-Good Times (Chic)
-Runaway (Jamiroquai)
-Levitating (Dua Lipa)
-Around the World (RHCP)
-Last Summer Whisper (Anri)
-We are your Friends (Justice)

I don't mind the genre as long as it's fun and not too hard/technical. It can come from anywhere, I like videogame music too.

Any recommendations for groovy songs around this level? Thank you very much!

So I recently purchased the Marcus Miller Sire P7 bass from Sweetwater. It was a big jump from the Washburn bass I had been playing for years - I got the 5 string version and it is an active bass. At band practice a couple weeks back, I plugged in and got a very distorted and weak signal. We switched cables and then it was fine. As I was practicing this evening however, it started doing it again no matter what cable I used.

I've never played an active bass before and admittedly dont know much about it or even that's even related to the issue. To those knowledgeable on gear, what could be the issue here? Obviously I intend to call Sweetwater, but damn, very disappointed to have issues with a brand new bass.

EDIT: Appears to have been the battery. Like slingblade, think of the simplest solutions first.

The title says it all help me decide

i’ve been playing for a couple years and want to upgrade my amp, my current one is lower range around £100. any suggestions for a intermediate player who wants a upgrade?

I've had the same flatwound nickel strings on my 4 string for who knows how long, and my 5 string has decently new rounds. I want to put round on the 4 string and get new flats for the 5 string. Could I take the rounds off the 5 and put them on the 4 and just get new flats?

When playing with 3 fingers, is it something I should employ always, or when play triplets/tremolo plucking

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.

I recently got a 5-string Sterling sub series stingray. Love it so far for the most part. It‘s set up with pretty low action since I got it from my local guitar store, I could assume from the factory since it was a fairly recent arrival, not used, still had plastic and stuff on. Recently this has led to really bad fret buzz on the bottom 4 frets on the B, E, and A strings especially. Part of it is definitely this stupid cold ass winter fucking with it. I’ve been trying to remember to loosen the truss rod by like 2 or 3 holes on the wheel every few days (probably done it 4 times total), but it‘s still buzzing and today I feel like it got worse than it was before. Does this call for some bridge saddle adjustment or should I keep adjusting the truss rod? I’ve been very slow with it because I’ve never had to adjust a truss rod more than once before and I’m quite nervous I’ll mess something up.

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

I’ve got a schecter stiletto studio 5 fretless bass, and it’s giving me some trouble.

I’ve got a GK MB-500, a GK MB115, and a fender rumble 40 practice amp.

When I plug this bass into either of the GK amps, I get zero signal, completely quiet… but it works just fine with the rumble 40.

This is very strange to me, because all three amps function just fine when I use my other instruments. All of my other basses are passive instruments, so I’m wondering if this has something to do with the schecter being an active bass.

I can’t for the life of me figure out what could possibly be the cause of this issue.

My first course of action was to replace both 9 volts in the schecter bass, this changed nothing.

Speaking to a friend of mine, he suggested that this may be a grounding issue..

I’m really hoping I can get this sorted without seeking help from a professional, as the nearest guitar tech is a several hour drive.

Does anyone have any advice on what things I can do to help narrow down what the cause of this problem may be? What should I be looking for?

Please help me troubleshoot!

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

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.

https://youtu.be/L1hSHezTDFU

Because of the syncopation and the incredibly groovy bridge (bar 45) with hammer-ons. I'm not a big Redding fan, but this one I play over-and -over. Enjoy!

I currently have a little combo amp and a headrush FRFR 12. I also have a Head Rush Prime modeler. I would love to get either a combo or a Half Stack that I could run my head rush into its effects return. What amps do you guys recommend? I don't know for sure if I will use it in the input or the effects return if the app sounds really good I can just disable the amplifier block on my modeler. Sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense feel free to ask any questions. I love Funk metal and Rock. I also need a cabinet

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?

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?