Buying An Upright Bass

Sep 6,2011
SELECTING AN ELECTRIC BASS IS A FAIRLY CUT-AND dried deal—listen to recordings, learn what your favorite bassists are playing, read reviews, and pull out your credit card. New basses from the same manufacturer and of the same More...

Preamps Demystified

Oct 13,2011
It seems we bassists are on an eternal quest for sonic nirvana, a journey that takes us through every part of our signal path. We spend hundreds of hours researching, testing, and evaluating gear, exploring everything from the More...

Pedalboard Primer

Oct 1,2010
This space has been reserved for rock and metal stylings for a few months now, but I want to get into something more universal. Whether I’m doing a big metal show or a tiny coffeehouse gig, I can usually distinguish the More...

Get the Most From Your Studio Monitors

May 14,2012
Alesis M1 Active 320 USB ($100, pair) MANY BIG, COMMERCIAL RECORDING studios boast scrupulously tuned control rooms, massively expensive monitoring systems, and extremely comfortable More...

Speaker Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)

May 1,2011
The cutaway cross-section view reveals a speaker’s hidden components.  “I DON’T KNOW—ASK MY TECH.” IT’S a response I’ve gotten in more BASS PLAYER interviews than I care to admit when the conversation has turned to the More...

Recording Upright Bass, Part 2: Effects & Frequencies

Mar 9,2012
LAST MONTH IN THIS COLUMN, WE took a look at the mics and pickups and their role in recording upright bass. Now let’s turn our attention to a few other key considerations. RATTLES & EFFECTS So, now your room is sounding More...

Say Wha? Hearing Protection 101

Mar 9,2012
AS BASS PLAYERS, OUR LIST OF TYPICAL job-related hazards includes heavy lifting, late-night driving in less than ideal conditions, playing with substandard drummers, and dodging audience-flung projectiles. But the one hazard More...

Portable Multi-Track Recorders

Mar 21,2012
Turn On, Plug In, Rock Out HOW’S THIS FOR A familiar scenario: You’re messing around on your bass and you stumble upon something cool, maybe even the Riff That Could Make You Rich. You know that if you don’t record More...

Get Loopy

Mar 21,2012
DigiTech JamMan Solo EVER SINCE PRIMITIVE MAN FIRST stood at the mouth of an echoing canyon, sound loops have fascinated and inspired us to create. Over the eons, looping technology has become more More...

Set Yourself Up

Mar 1,2011
THOUGH I’M A CHANGED MAN WHO’S rehabilitated himself, I have a dark secret from my past that I’m just now feeling bold enough to admit: I’m a bass murderer. It was a late night my senior year in college (go Bruins), and under the More...

Compression Basics

Jun 1,2011
This waveform of a plucked note shows a strong attack, followed by a rapid decay.  BY E. E. BRADMAN Have you heard the one about the party at Effects Central? Tough guy Octaver shows up, a sweet little Chorus on his arm, More...

Tech Yourself

Jan 1,2011
I SERIOUSLY LOVE TOURING. BUT I also have a deep, yearning, painful love for everything in my gear world to work right. A full crew of techs on a big tour makes that pretty easy, but this column is about the smaller, More...

Modulation Effects

Feb 23,2012
Modulation boxes, old and new WHEN ANTHONY JACKSON LAID down the bass line for the 1973 O’Jays hit “For the Love of Money,” he created one of the most iconic bass moments in recorded history. The song’s More...

Unwinding The World Of Bass Strings

Feb 1,2011
FORGIVE THE PUN, BUT LET’S admit it upfront: We bassists can get very attached to our strings. Even in the bass guitar’s early days, with limited string choices and development, this was the case. Witness L.A. session legend More...

Bridge Bling and Transplant Surgery

Apr 15,2011
Fig. 1  MY NAME IS BRIAN, AND I’M A BASS hoarder. I suppose it all started in earnest when I came to work at BASS PLAYER about 7 years ago. Emboldened by the constant exposure to killer gear and enabled by a steady paycheck, More...