You want to be in demand? Play bass guitar. Really, I remember reading those words years ago when I was starting to play bass.
I was reading in a music magazine an interview with some hot musician at the time and he was talking about the same thing.
He was going on about playing bass and never being out of work. I was starting to play bass because I liked it and making money was not at the top of the list.
As time went by and I got better this statement ended up being true. Why? I guess everyone wants to play guitar, I don’t really know. I love playing bass, it seems to give the feel to the band.
Now if you’re out shopping for a bass you’re going to want to buy the best bass you can afford. The good news these days is even the cheap basses are good enough to get started and to get better on.
When I started unless you could afford a Fender or Rickenbacker, the cheap basses had large necks that were hard to play.
Not any more, you can get a nice playing bass for not much money. It’s the hardware that may not be top of the line, like the bridge (the part at the back where your hand rests or the tuning keys. And the pickups may not be that good but they are plenty good enough to get started.
You can get a gig bag, a soft case to protect while going to rehearsal. You can even get an inexpensive bass amp to go with it. Again it depends on how much money you have to spend.
If you have some bucks to spend then check out places like eBay. Sometimes you can find real vintage classics on there for a reasonable amount with original hardware.
Investing in vintage musical equipment these days is like investing in antiques. It’s only going up in price as time goes by because they’re not making them anymore.
So even if the bass is a little pricey now it will only be worth more in the future, it’s like buying a hot stock sometimes, there are investors that look for vintage music gear.
If you’ve been around for awhile we all have stories where we had a used electric bass for couple hundred buck that now sell in the thousands.
Check out the prices on acoustic basses and how some of them have gone through the roof from the old days.
Regardless of the money the real prize is in the enjoyment of playing. And playing bass is one of the real joys I get in life.
When the band is hot, especially the drummer, I love playing bass. You really seem to drive the band along when you’re pounding the bass strings.
And these days you can get about as many strings on your bass as you can wrap your mind around. And there’s so much music instruction online there’s no excuse for getting stuck in a rut with your playing.
All the major musical manufacturers offer a good and intermediate bass. And there are a lot of boutique bass companies also.
Buying tips for beginners:
If you’re having trouble deciding on which bass to purchase, study your favorite bands. What kind of bass does the bass player have and what kind of amp is he/she playing through?
Here’s a video where you can see how a simple bass part works with a popular song:
And the other end of the spectrum with a Bass Master:
If you like the sound, then see what model they have, a lot of musicians talk about this kind of information at websites on the web.
Just google the band or go to places like musican’s friend and read reviews.
Or ask you’re music teacher, he/she will be very familiar with your style and ability and can recommend a particular brand or model.
I mentioned earlier how much fun bass is to play. It’s like you’re in between the drummer’s rhythm and the melody of the song. And YOU get to tie it all together.
And you can also go fretless to get that incredible slide into notes going. Fretless is not for beginners but once you get used to it, it opens up whole new areas.
Also playing acoustic bass like a doublebass will put you even more in demand.
If you start studying the history of the electric bass guitar there are a lot of sites around with very interesting reads.
