NBD Baby’s first 4 string

Erik S

Well-known member
Hit a pretty good estate sale yesterday, and threw this well-used Squier P Bass in my pile. I’ve goofed around on bass at jam sessions once in a while, but I’ve never owned one. I wiped off most of the nicotine and sticker goo, got the action somewhat under control, and stuck some knobs on it.

Definitely no idea what I’m doing, but it sounds pretty good to me.

Any tips for a bass noob?

Pedals I should build? Favorite YouTube bass gurus? Cheap upgrades?


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Nice! My very first bass was a black and white version. I played the shit out of it until I found out one of the rich kids at my high school had a fender american jazz bass that "didn't work" and was missing a saddle. I offered him $50 for it and then replaced the 9v battery on the active pickups and used one the saddles from my squier to fix it. I don't have any bass tips. I have a cheap ass little Ampeq practice amp with an aux in for playing along with songs. I have a lot of fun just playing along in headphones and learning bass lines. Its more fun than trying to learn guitar parts for songs for me. Nice score! have fun with your new used bass!
 
Chuck's Bass Klon is a good one for medium gain drive. Poison Apple Auto Wah for some funky stuff. Compressors are nice too and I've made the Boneyard Delegate Compressor and Thumb Sucker. Green Russian for BMP or mod your own for low end.

@Feral Feline should be able to rattle off a nice list of PPCB pedals for all your low end needs!
Good tips! Time to build another Klon I guess! I have a Delegate too, I'll give that a shot.

I know there are some good threads and lists about bass pedals. I guess I need to start reading those...
 
Oh man, I have one just like it. I put a granite pickguard on, a hipshot D-Tuner and some DiMarzio split P pickups in it. It came with a badass bridge. It’s a RAWK machine now.
 
I have one tip, as someone who was a bassist before they were a guitarist.

Articulation on bass is more demanding than on guitar. Guitar is more forgiving.

I’ve heard plenty of guitarists that don’t take this into account when they pick up a 4-stringer. Notes end up sounding too loud or quiet, notes get cut off early, fret noise, picked or plucked too hard, and/or they’re playing on top of the groove, rather than being part of the groove’s foundation.
 
Nice! Nothing beats a P bass.

Tip 1: replace those godawful knobs!

Also, @jcpst has got it right. If you want to be a good bass player, focus on transitions. Not only getting there, but how you get there.

Also, learn to play with your fingers and a pick. I played with fingers for most of my life and hardly ever picked up a pick until a couple of years ago and wish I hadn't neglected how important good pick technique is.

One of the best exercises an old instructor had me do was to play with a metronome and "make the metronome groove." Whether it's over a scale or if it's just a single note it's a great exercise and is fun once you can seem to bring life to a lifeless click and keep it going.
 
I have one tip, as someone who was a bassist before they were a guitarist.

Articulation on bass is more demanding than on guitar. Guitar is more forgiving.

I’ve heard plenty of guitarists that don’t take this into account when they pick up a 4-stringer. Notes end up sounding too loud or quiet, notes get cut off early, fret noise, picked or plucked too hard, and/or they’re playing on top of the groove, rather than being part of the groove’s foundation.
That's cuz most guitarists think bass is just a 4 stringed guitar. It has an entirely different function!
 
Articulation on bass is more demanding than on guitar.
This is immediately apparent. I can find the note I want okay, but any kind of consistent volume and attack takes a ton of focus.
being part of the groove’s foundation.
I'm a pretty terrible music student and have mostly avoided things like rigorous counting and paying attention to where I am.
Some youtube dude was just talking to me about timing notes with bass drum hits, and the amount I struggled trying to do that surprised me. Hopefully messing with the bass will be a fun excuse to work on some at that.
Tip 1: replace those godawful knobs!
I just put those on! HA! It had no knobs, and those were the only ones I had to fit knurled pots. I'll check out some options next time I'm knob shopping.
Also, learn to play with your fingers and a pick.
I've never had a bass in my hands long enough to figure out any finger technique, so I've just been messing with that so far, but I'll try some picking too.
One of the best exercises an old instructor had me do was to play with a metronome
I coincidentally just recently picked up an old school obelisk shaped clack clack machine! I'll definitely try rocking out to that.
 
I was showing my bass vi to a guitar player buddy last week. I was explaining why it'll never replace a p bass since the strings are not just too close together for fingers but also if you dig in like a bass, the poor little strings just can't take it with the lower tension and hit the fets/one another. It just can't handle digging in at all.

My buddy was stunned about how hard a big bass can/should/is often played. "I thought you had turned the volume down when you handed me this thing. You fingers barely move too, doesn't look like you're putting that much energy into the string." I was like "you should see what I do to my upright..."
 
Being a guitar player it's a bitch NOT to sound like a guitar player playing bass. It's closer to being a drummer than a guitar player. Much more finesse involved when you have to worry about decay as much as attack.
 
I happen to LIKE those knobs, very different and interesting. I guess Peccary's a purist, for P-Basses at least.
However, I do like P-knobs, they just WORK well and that trumps aesthetics (even though P-Bass knobs are aesthetically quite pleasing too!)


Yeah, rock often it's said to lock in with the kick — just remember that doesn't necessarily mean you have to play a note every time the kick hits. Play off the kick, against it, around it, directly with it, try hitting a root every time the kick hits, then every other time a 5th, then root on the one kick, and a 3rd 4th then 5th with each subsequent kick even if that means going over the bar line until you get back to a kick on the one (and root)... that again with a 7th thrown in... that'll help build leading tones.
Just make sure you're locked in with the kick.
Geeze, I just came up with my own exercise, I should try all this myself.


Anyway, BuddytheReow had some good threads about learning to play bass when he first got started on bass.
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/where-can-i-learn-to-play-bass.10906/ BtR 1
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/teach-me-bass-for-all-you-bass-heads-out-there.15989/ BtR 2

MichaelW had some good threads on appropriate circuits to build for bass after he got his bass; here's his flats-search thread:
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/...-need-a-recommendation-for-flat-wounds.13485/

There are a number of threads for "What's a good [insert circuit type here OD Dist Fuzz Flanger Chorus etc] for bass?"
Just type "BASS" in the forum's search engine and click on the TITLE box ❐ and all manner of threads come up. "Some good ones, even." — Snagglepuss
I do have lists as BtR alluded to, but they're just that, lists with no context around them of how they're used, for what music, for what various people prefer in the sound they're going for. Say the word, and I'll still post them.


Oh, and whether you want to learn jazz or not, it'll kick your ass and improve your playing so try it... but listen to the ride, it's the time keeper in jazz, not the kick.


You're supposed to outline the chords for the other musicians (all listeners, really), so if it's a Bb add9 know what notes you could include to move through F to a Gm7 — what are the common notes in those chords ie guaranteed to sound good. Are you moving the listener's ear from the Bb add9 towards the Gm7? Consider ignoring the F-root and playing A under the F-chord for a solid descending line.




It might be worth studying the likes of Tal Farlow — one of my favourite guitarists who understood bass and leading bass tones in chords.
Charlie Hunter plays a hybrid guitar/bass, might be worth checking him out.
Others to check out though less so for bass and more for chord melody, but still utilising leading tones so you could extrapolate for bass, check out guys like Joe Pass and another favourite of mine, the amazing Ed Bickert.






Lately I've been working on my tone, how my finger strikes the string and damn it's subtle between getting a good rich thump instead of a thwack at the leading edge of the note — which itself isn't a bad thing, especially when trying to cut through a mix, but right now I'm striving to master a deep dark chocolatey thump...
 
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/diy-bass-pedals.12734/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/...lp-me-plan-and-fill-out-a-new-bass-rig.14975/ Joben’s request


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bass-rig-complete-famous-last-words….15723/ Joben’s follow up


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bass-octaver-preference.17447/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/whats-a-good-clean-no-fuzz-octave-down-for-bass.16797/





https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/pedal-mod-for-bass.10832/ CDB’s request before choosing Klon


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bass-klon.13073/ CDB’s awesome Klone bass-mod amalgamation


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bass-preamps-sansamp-bass-driver-b7k-alpha-omega-etc.13116/ wishful thinkering


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/tearjerker-on-bass.13268/ wahbass


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/new-bass-day-probably-shouldnt-have-but-did.13357/ Tube in Bass





https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/favorite-bass-overdrive-circuit.18522/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/need-a-bass-compressor-and-envelope-filter.16545/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/things-have-to-change-bass-pedals-on-ppcb.16549/ spare change?!


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/active-eq-pre-for-bass-guitar.19054/





https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bs170-bass-fuzz.19117/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/germanium-bass-pedals.19124/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/bass-slap-pop.20771/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/looking-for-pedal-mod-recommendations-for-bass.22324/


https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/voted-top-3-overdrive-pedals-for-bass.20869/ music6000’s awesome Xotic BB Bass Preamp with a Mids
 
Yeah, a bit of information overload — sorry 'bout that.


Just been practicing note-length and even-attack to:

  • bunch of Pink Floyd — Comfortably Numb, Another Brick In The Wall...

  • Police — Every Breath You Take

  • Cars — Drive

  • Allan Parsons Project — Eye In the Sky

  • Doors — Riders On the Storm




Anyway...


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This thread rules. I’m also trying to get more comfortable on bass right now, so this is all super helpful! The stuff about articulation is 100% my experience so far. I’m trying to be diligent about learning finger plucking technique, but it’s hard in subtle and surprising ways. As others have said, there’s so much more muting required and yeah, figuring out how to smoothly transition to the next note. I take frequent detours into palm-muted picking because it’s the only way I can reliably get a satisfying sound right now.

It’s a really enjoyable challenge though and I can tell it’s going to help me improve as a musician. And as a former low brass player, it’s kind of like coming home to the land of less flashy, more foundational parts.
 
The stuff about articulation is 100% my experience so far.
I threw together a little bass pedal board and brought the new bass to a jam over the weekend. My picking/ plucking is still all over the place, but it was a lot of fun just thumping some roots with a drummer and a guitar player. I think running some squish from a compressor may have helped mask some of my articulation shortcomings.

Delegate compressor > Sushibox LabRat > phase 90 > DM2
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Another thing that has been surprisingly difficult is just getting used to listening to low frequency information - hearing myself at that jam, and also trying to play along with recorded music - mentally isolating and focusing on those bass notes is just not something I’m used to doing. Even if bass doesn’t end up becoming my primary instrument these feel like a lot of good skills to work on.
 
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