Keith F. Kelly

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Table of contents

Introduction

Q: Why another site about bass guitar?

A: I first picked up the bass guitar in 1998. I was really in love with crazy bass parts along the lines of Primus and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I wanted to learn how those guys made such a wild variety of sounds come out of the instrument. Plus, I loved the deep, loud, low sound of the instrument and the power trip that came along with that!

It took me years of self-guided learning and experience to finally become a competent bassist. There were hundreds of things I learned along the way about gear, playing technique, music theory, stage performance, and working with other musicians. Unfortunately, each thing I learned was typically something I had to figure out through much trial-and-error and random research from a variety of sources.

All along the way I found myself wondering why no one had put together a truly comprehensive and useful site for budding bassists such as myself. Sure, there are many sites that rehash the same standard information about how to play slap-pop or what to look for when picking out an instrument, but it always seemed like the questions I had weren't covered by the standard information. Yes, there are bass player forums where you can post questions, but it seems that people with little or no actual knowledge or skills are always trying to act like experts by offering flawed or unhelpful answers. You can find bass tab online for just about any song, but 99% of the time it's not even close to correct. There are plenty of sites that discuss playing technique, but very few actually explain the reasoning behind various aspects of technique or provide clear photos or video clips to visually show you what they are talking about. And you can find a few rare sites here or there that offer genuinely good information, but usually only on one specific topic (how to set up your bass, how to play in a particular style, etc).

So, this site was born in April of 2005 to fill the gap. What you will find here is a list of specific questions and answers about a wide variety of issues relating to bass guitar, all based on my personal experience. You'll also find links to a small collection of other sites I've found that actually offer good enough topic-specific information for me to actually recommend them to you.

Bass Gear

Q: Hey Keith, what bass gear do you use?

A: My main gigging gear is an Ernie Ball MusicMan Bongo 5-string bass guitar played through a Genz-Benz GBE-600 head with a Fender Bassman full stack (4x10 and 1x15).


My bass gear
June 2004

The Genz-Benz amp has a nice flat, hi-fi attitude, distinctly different from the muddy, boomy low-end you get out of Ampeg amps. For practices (lower-volume environment than gigs) I rely on my trusty SWR Workingman's 12 bass combo amp, which does the job quite well.

My bass is an Ernie Ball MusicMan BONGO 5-string. It's a great instrument with excellent pickups and electronics -- it never picks up radio stations or other EM noise, and it can easily capture the fat lows of the B-string, even when the instrument is downtuned a half or full step. It has 4-band EQ and runs at 18 volts, so you can get a very wide variety of tones out of it. It can be made to do the famous "Warwick growl", but unlike most Warwicks, it can also be made to sound incredibly clean, bright, or creamy-smooth. I compared this instrument side-by-side for hours against several Warwicks (Thumb-5, Jazzman 5, etc), and this one just has a better playing feel and a more diverse range of possible tones. Plus it comes in flamboyant orange, and it looks like an alien spaceship, which I totally dig simply because it's unusual.

I also have a Carvin ICON 6-string fretted custom-built bass on order. It should arrive in mid-July 2007. I ordered it with solid walnut body sides, a satin finish, and black hardware. More info once I receive it.


I took this photo of an ICON bass from Carvin's web site. My bass will look very similar to this one.

I use a PedalTrain pedalboard with a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal (excellent pedal but not super-precise tuning), a Crybaby Bass Wah pedal (excellent sound but not very durable), a DigiTech Bass Overdrive/Distortion pedal (nicely built but crappy effect), a DigiTech X-series guitar Flanger pedal (actually sounds pretty good), an EBS MultiComp bass compressor pedal (works great), and a SansAmp Bass DI pedal.

The Fender Bassman 400H head I originally used for my gigging rig turned out to be a defective piece of junk that finally kicked the bucket, and the replacements that Fender sent to me had other problems, so I finally just switched to a different brand. The Fender cabs were pretty bad at first also, because they weren't assembled well, but they are designed decently enough and use respectable-quality speakers. I had to make some modfications to the cabs to get them working properly, but now they're quite good and complement the hi-fi attitude of the GBE amp very well.

on both cabs, the grills rattled badly, preventing clear tone. On the 4x10, the grill was mounted too close to the speakers, so they would contact at loud volumes and create a flubby distorted sound. On both cabs, the speakers weren't screwed down tightly, so they rattled at high volumes. And I discovered that the rubber grill mounts each contained a pointless metal washer that was dislodged and rattling around inside. And each metal grill had a metal "Fender" logo loosely screwed to it (without any shock-abosrbing attachment) which was rattling against the grill at loud volumes.

So I stacked some black rubber washers to raise the grill on the 4x10 about half an inch farther away from the speakers. I used black rubber furniture feet to create four additional grill mounting posts around the center horn for good measure. I removed the stupid metal "Fender" logo from the grill. I did keep the logo on the 1x15 though because it proved not to be a source of rattle. On both cabs, I removed all the unnecessary metal washers from the original furniture feet, screwed the speakers down tightly, and slightly bent the right-angled edges of the grills to isolate the grills from contacting the sides of the frame. Then I screwed the grills down firmly onto the mounting posts.

After these modifications, the cabs both perform well, yielding a clean, tight tone. They have larger dimensions than most equivalent bass cabs, which makes them sound more full but also makes them more difficult to transport. Ampeg cabs are definitely built much better, but they are designed smaller for portability and therefore they sound less full.

Q: How can I get those metallic/springy/deep/rich tones like the bassists from Primus, Tool, Megadeth, Green Day, etc? I've tried new/different strings, different EQ settings, different basses, and I just can't get that sound.

A: While everything from strings, choice of pickups/bass/amp, and EQ settings contributes to the particular tone you'll get, the single biggest contributing factor to bass tone is the preamp. To understand why it matters so much, and how to get that tone you're looking for, you have to understand what a preamp is.

A preamp is simply a low-powered amplifier which is designed to boost the signal somewhat to prepare it for feeding into a much stronger power-amp. Preamps usually have EQ controls and other sound-enhancing adjustments. Power amps usually do not have any sound-enhancing adjustments (other than the Volume/Master control).

Some basses have onboard preamps. You can tell because they require batteries to operate (typically one or two 9-Volt cells). These preamps are always solid-state (meaning non-vaccuum-tube-based) and they simply exist to boost the signal and provide some fancier EQ controls on the instruments themselves. A good quality onboard preamp will give you a noiseless, clean, but very dry/boring/flat sound.

Most combo/practice amps, and even most full-size amps (separate head/cabinet) actually combine the preamp and power amp into a single unit (the head). The "Gain" knob determines how loud the signal coming out of the preamp (and fed into the power amp) will be, and the EQ affects the signal coming out of the preamp. Usually if you look on the back of your amp you will see jacks for "Effects Send" and "Effects Return", which are basically "output from the preamp" and "input to the power amp" so that you can stick effects pedals in between the sections. What many bassists don't realize is that this means you can use an entirely separate preamp unit and plug its output into the "Effects Return" jack on your amp, thus completely bypassing (not using) the preamp that's built into the amp.

To get all those tones like Tool or Megadeth or Primus, what you need is the ability to dial in different harmonic overtones ("presence") and levels of tube-like distortion ("drive"), and to do that you need either a true vaccuum-tube-based preamp or a damn good solid-state vaccuum-tube emulator. If your amp already has a good, flexible tube-based preamp section then it should already expose "presence", "drive", or similar settings, and you're probably not here reading this. But if your amp's preamp is all solid-state or does not expose such adjustments, then you need to get yourself a new separate preamp that provides those adjustments.

I've recently become a huge fan of the Tech21 SansAmp Bass DI pedal, which is a solid-state tube emulator that retails for less than $200 and provides a remarkably accurate sound. It was originally designed for amplifying passive basses to a level suitable for feeding directly into recording equipment without an amp, but you can also use it as an actual preamp/effect pedal to be able to get those tones you can typically only get from vaccuum tubes. If you have far more money to throw at gear, your best bet is to track down a separate tube-based Ampeg SVT preamp or one of the ADA tube preamps floating around out in the wild (ADA went out of business in the 80's or 90's but they have an outstanding reputation and professionals still swear by them).

If your bass already has an onboard preamp, it won't hurt anything to feed its signal into another preamp. Remember, the point of the preamp in this setting is less about actual amplification and more about taking advantage of the response characteristics of vacuum tubes.

Q: Why should I buy a $1500 bass when I can get one for $300? Am I just paying for brand name?

A: When you buy a guitar or a bass, you're paying for two things: the instrument itself, and the electronics inside it. Althought some sub-$500 guitar and basses are decently built instruments, they always seem to use amazingly awful pickups and electronics. This means they sound like shit when amplified to reasonable levels (lots of buzz/hum/interference) and they often pick up radio stations and other nearby noise. So sub-$500 instruments are generally only good as starter/practice instruments that you won't be amplifying or trying to play along with other people in a jam or band setting. There are notable (but rare) exceptions to this guideline; for instance, Fender active jazz basses or P-basses are pretty good and tend to run just under $500. But for the most part the guideline I just presented holds true.

Given that the cost of upgrading to good-quality pickups and electronics later is usually several hundred dollars anyway, it almost never makes financial sense to buy a sub-$500 instrument if you're trying to play in a band setting or record in the studio. When you buy a bass costing upwards of $700 or so, you're usually getting an instrument that is constructed a little better (better quality woods, better quality hand-crafstmanship and fewer defects) and which has vastly superior pickups and electronics.

While it's true that some brand names carry a higher price tag (such as Warwick basses, for instance), it's also true that you're actually getting an instrument that is far superior and is actually suitable for a well-amplified band setting.

You'll find a lot of web sites that offer real customer reviews of basses and guitars. In my experience, almost none of these reviews can be trusted because the reviews are almost all written by amateurs with no idea what they are talking about. You also can't trust the people who work at chain music stores (like Guitar Center) to give you accurate or knowledgeable reviews of different instruments, since most of the employees there are just wannabe kids. If you really want buying advice, you need to find a smaller music shop owned and run by old grizzled people who are actually in bands themselves and who have been playing for decades, and ask them what they recommend. I've found their opinions tend to be the most accurate and honest.

Q: How big an amp do I need?

A: A good general rule of thumb is that your bass amp needs to be at least four times the wattage of the guitarist's amp. So if he's playing distorted through a 25-watt amp, you'd need a 100-watt combo amp to keep up. If your guitarist has a 100-watt amp, then you're going to at least need a 400-watt amp.

If you've got four times the wattage of your guitarist and you still can't be heard over the guitar, then you may have an EQ problem. Your bass needs to have good-quality electronics that can accurately capture the full range of frequencies, and you need to have your amp EQ'd so that the high-mids and highs are actually very loud and clear. Finally, you need to think about positioning. Speakers project sound outwards in a cone with a limited listening angle, so if the speakers aren't aimed pretty directly toward your head then you won't be able to hear the mid and high frequencies that are needed to hear your instrument clearly. If you can feel the bass but it sounds muddy and you can't make it out clearly, then you either need to position the amp (or yourself) differently or crank the high-mids and highs up some on your amp.

Q: What should I look for when I'm shopping for a bass to ensure I pick a good one?

A: The two most important things to look for are the quality of the neck and the pickups/electronics. You want the neck to be as straight as possible. I won't go into this in detail because there are already plenty of sites that tell you how to sight down a neck and ensure it's straight.

As for the pickups and electronics, you want to test them by plugging the bass into the biggest, loudest solid-state amp you can find, set the amp's EQ to flat, ensure its horn is on, and then turn the treble/tone controls up as high as possible on the instrument itself. What you're looking for here is how the instrument sounds when you're NOT playing it. Listen for excessive hiss or radio interference. If you've got good-quality pickups, you won't hear any of this, just pleasant silence. Then, play the lowest strings (B/E/A) and let each note ring out (still with the treble/tone control maxed out on the instrument). What you're listening for here is any weird high-pitched interference or mechanical-sounding overtones that may be apparent as the low notes fade out. With sucky-quality pickups you'll usually get a raspy sound instead of a round smooth sound on the bottom-most strings and notes. Finally, turn the treble/tone down all the way, turn the bass on the amp's EQ up, and see how deep/low of a tone you can get off the lowest string. (This is a particularly important test on a bass with more than four strings). You should be able to get a deep, solid low tone off the lowest string, rather than it sounding flabby or mid-rangey.

Of course, the best way to judge the sound output from the above two tests is to then plug in a bass of known good quality and run it through the same tests. Even at Guitar Center and the like you can usually find an over-$1000 bass (such as a Warwick or an EB MusicMan) which is almost guaranteed to be suitable for A/B comparison.

Q: I've got a big 400-Watt amp and good $600 bass, but when I crank the volume and play it just comes out sounding rattly and raspy, like a big fart, instead of deep and low and round. But when I play it at low volumes or play through smaller combo amps, it sounds fine. What's wrong? Am I going nuts?

A: There are a variety of things that could be going on here. First, you need to eliminate any and all sources of mechanical rattle from both the amp and the instrument. On the instrument, sometimes loose hardware (tuner knobs, springs on the bridge, strap pins, batteries or wires inside the instrument) can rattle and the rattling sound can actually be picked up by the pickups and amplified by your amp.

On the amp itself, you should actually take apart the speaker cabinet and ensure that all the speakers are screwed down securely and ensure that nothing is contacting the speaker cones while they are moving (no wires rattling against the backside of the speaker cones, and the speaker cones not rattling against the backside of the speaker grill). You should make sure the speaker grill is fastened securely, and you should be able to tap on it with your fist or fingers and not hear any metallic rattling or anything other than a solid-feeling "thud" when you hit it.

Finally, you should actually consider any other components you've added to your setup that might be sources of rattle... for example, any rack-mount units (power filters, effects, etc) should really never be sitting on top of your speaker cabinet or installed into rack-mount slots in your amp head because these components are almost always going to rattle like crazy with the speakers rumbling underneath them. And casters/wheels can actually be a source of rattle even when the weight of the amp is pressing down on them if they are poorly constructed and contain ball bearings that are rolling around loose.

If you've eliminated all sources of mechanical rattle and you still get a raspy/farty sound rather than a smooth bottom end, then either your amp is screwed up (maybe you blew a speaker or blew the amp) or your instrument's electronics are simply bad/sucky. Just because you shelled out $600 for an instrument, that still doesn't guarantee that the pickups are any good. See my other FAQ entry about how to select an instrument and ensure the pickups are good quality.

Q: I get the Musician's Friend catalog and I browse Guitar Center and they are always advertising basses under $400 that they say have "killer sound" and "high-quality EMG-HZ pickups" and stuff like that. Can't I trust that?

A: No, you seriously can't. False advertising and overstatement is a huge problem in the guitar/bass instruments industry. It's even worse now because many brands that had previously stood for high-quality pickups (such as EMG) are now putting their name on shit-quality pickups that get included with cheaper instruments, and trying to fool you into trusting the brand name.

Playing Technique

Q: What's the right way to position the bass? How high or low should I adjust my strap? I see some players holding the bass almost parallel to the ground (Les Claypool, Stanley Clarke) and others holding it at quite an upward angle (Flea, Francis Rocco Prestia, Fieldy). Which way is right?

A: Everyone's body is built and shaped differently, and every instrument is built and shaped differently. So there is no "right" way, other than this: you should position the instrument in the way that it feels most comfortable to you. There are two aspects of comfort you should be concerned with here: back/shoulder pain, and hand/wrist pain. Your instrument is adjusted right for you when you can wear it an hour or two without getting back/shoulder pain, and when you can comfortably reach everything you need to reach without straining or hurting your hands/wrists/fingers/forearms.

For most people, the most difficult part of the instrument to reach are the lowest frets on the lowest string, because it requires you to really spread your fingers over a large interval while also extending your arm pretty far away from your body. I've noticed that some players are able to reach these frets reasonably well even with the bass slung low and with the neck almost parallel to the ground (see Les Claypool photo #2)... and I've also noticed that they are only able to accomplish this because they happen to have very long fingers, very flexible joints (maybe what one would call "double-jointed"), and really thin necks on their 4-string basses. For basses with more strings or wider necks, the only way for most people to comfortably reach all the lowest frets on the lowest strings is to strap them higher and/or angle the instrument more. For example, in Les Claypool photo #3, you can see he has strapped the 6-string bass several inches higher and angled it up slightly so that his left hand can more easily reach the lowest string on the much wider neck.

Q: What is proper fretting-hand technique?

A: There's an excellent online guide with pictures up on Adam Nitti's site that covers most of the right information. However, there are a couple caveats you should be aware of in addition to his information.

There are many real-world scenarios where sticking to a one-finger-per-fret rule, or sticking to "proper" fretting technique, will unnecessarily wear our your fretting hand or introduce the kind of sharp wrist angles he advises to avoid. Unless you have really large hands, it's tough to play a repetitive riff on the 1 and 3 frets of the low B or E string using your 1 and 3 fingers, because it's such a large stretch to cover. So there are a couple different "cheats" that you'll commonly see employed to work around the strain.

The first cheat is what I like to call "side-stretching". I'm not sure the technique actually has an official name. But the idea is that instead of trying to cover the interval by spreading your fingers unnaturally widely while keeping them parallel to the frets, you can do it by turning your wrist slightly and curling your fingers sideways, fretting the strings with the sides of your fingers more than the usual tips. When you do this, your thumb will typically have to wrap around or hug the neck in violation of "proper form", but it reduces the strain on your wrist and lets you more easily cover the distance, so it's worth it. This approach works for a simple reason: your finger joints have a wider range of motion along the forward/backward axis than they do on the side-to-side axis. Les Claypool, among others, can frequently be spotted using this cheat on the lower frets or when the bass is slung low.

The second cheat is more common, and it's basically just using your 4 finger (pinky) to play where your 3 finger (ring finger) is normally supposed to play. In other words, you span the interval with four fingers instead of three so that your fingers don't have to stretch as far.

Q: How do I properly set up my bass?

There's an excellent instructional article (Adobe Acrobat Reader required) courtesy of Sadowsky that should tell you most of what you need to know.

Sheet music and tablature

Q: Where can I find bass tab for my favorite songs?

A: While I've found plenty of bass tab online, most of it is terribly wrong. Because it's so easy for any amateur to throw together some incorrect tab and post it online, the overall quality-to-crap ratio is pretty low out there in cyberland. So as a general rule of thumb, use internet tabs only as a starting point, and be skeptical of their accuracy.

Since I've already invested a lot of time figuring out a lot of more complex bass parts by ear and by watching the original performers actually play the songs, I plan to (one day soon) write up proper tab for a lot of the songs and post it on my site.