Got my first guitar!

[04Stefan07]

A few days ago I received my first ever Bass Guitar. Looking forward to slowly learning how to play!

I do not have an amp yet and was thinking of running my bass through my Mac that has Garageband and then outputting the sound to my speakers. Has anyone here done this before? If so how?

Thanks :D.

[AstralTraveller]

I haven't tried it and I wouldn't. The speakers simply won't be up to the job and you risk damaging them. These days I play my lovely Tacoma Thunderchief (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/product/32322-tacoma-thunderchief-fretless-with-fishman-pickup-b-stock-large.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/32322-tacoma-thunderchief-fretless-with-fishman-pickup-b-stock.html&h=1250&w=447&sz=69&tbnid=zevrcGPIIhtmSM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=32&zoom=1&usg=__807X4TnZG9culKRIjiZgfrj_3ws=&docid=V9iUTFE6pDw3kM&sa=X&ei=TSeUUd2vBIGbkgWwhoDABA&ved=0CDkQ9QEwAg&dur=6) acoustic bass guitar and rarely touch the electric (a very early Ibanez Rickenbacker copy) but I have a cheap practice amp rated to about 30W. When I bought it it basically buzzed, farted and rattled so I replaced the driver with an 8" sub speaker from Jaycar and reenforced the case by adding extra braces and screws and silasticing down the front grill and a few other spots. Now it sounds about 1/4 decent and I've even played very small gigs with it. (One night I got to use a Mark Bass combo box and now want one)

So, what sort of bass do you have?

[GeoffW1]

Congrats,

What bass did you get? You will enjoy it I'm sure. Youtube has many tutorials and bass parts to try out.

As to listening, you could try one of these things plugged in to your bass, with a pair of headphones or earbuds out the other side.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PORTABLE-MINI-GUITAR-BASS-AMPLIFIER-AMPLUG-MP3-HEADPHONE-Acoustic-Blue-2-cables-/230778103028?pt=AU_Amplifiers&hash=item35bb7264f4&_uhb=1

Cheers

[04Stefan07]

That's a pretty cool gadget!

Entry level 4-String Bass (the brand is Samick), 2nd hand. Came with a bag and extra strings.

Not looking to form a bad or play live, just got this to play as another one of my hobbies. Always wanted to play an instrument (used to play Bass Trombone in high school but lost interest).

[CJ]

Cool! Bass playing can have a weird hypnotic effect on the player!

Use gear designed for basses. Those things eventually wreck gear not designed for the demands of bass guitars.

[joe_smith]

A very good book for learning is Complete Learn to Play Bass (http://www.learntoplaymusic.com.au/index.php/bass/methods/progressive-complete-learn-to-play-bass-manual.html) comes with 2 CDs and starts from the very basics. I have this one, the Blues guitar one, and the keyboard one. They are very good and easy to understand and cover a lot of ground. you can get it for about 40 bucks very good value for money.

Also The best program I use for learning, and its finally supports Linux now is Guitar Pro (http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php?pg=accueil-2&utm_expid=13369301-1) Its the best program for learning songs there is full stop, check it out

[joe_smith]

This is where I do my learning I have Guitar Pro running with the computer headphone jacks plugged into the input on my Digitech effects pedal. With this set up I can mute the part I'm playing adjust the Digitech for the sound and bingo off I go If. I can slow the music and TAB down to a easy level and slowly speed it up in guitar pro. If I were you I would get the bass Digitech BP90 effects pedal, these things are unreal they have effects, amp and cabinet simulators and tuner all for around 100 bucks just wish I had this set up when I was younger ;)

video of what you the BP90 can do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuR95BQHoiY

PS forgot to mention the BP90 has a build in drum machine to, and the video is not in English by hey music is music in any language

[rmuhlack]

I also recommend using a bass amp rather than regular speakers for live use and for practice.

Firstly the amplifiers used for regular speakers are typically not designed for constant low frequency output at high volume. Bass amps are designed for this sort of use. Secondly, electric guitar and bass amps intentionally introduce certain distortions, which adds to the tone and character of the sound. Using say a hifi amp for an electric or bass guitar will instead sound thin and yuck. In short, use a bass amp (or a pedal board like a digitech or Zoom at the very least).

[For recording the requirements are slightly different, and there can be some advantages to going from a guitar to a DI box to a recording device. Even then my preference for elec guitar and bass would normally be to mic the amp rather than run direct to PC.]

[rmuhlack]

btw, :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: on getting a bass. You'll have a blast :)

[astronobob]

Cool, we use to modify them old cassette recorders back in the late 70's, pull the head unit off and wire them straight up to the guitar lead, 4 D size battery's, out in the middle of nowhere with a couple of slabs, perfect combo the the best music in the world :rofl:

[04Stefan07]

Haha, looking forward to starting to play Chris!

I will certainly look into that software and beginners book Joe, thank you for the resources!

Thanks Richard, looking forward to it!

Haha that's mad Bob!

[acropolite]

Congrats on the purchase Stefan, if you get a chance, slip down to a music shop and try the Yamaha THR10 guitar amp. It's about the size of a loaf of bread and is a modelling amp with inbuild PC recording capabilities and software for recording and editing the various parameters in the THR.

The THR10 is useable for Electric, Acoustic and bass (it has a specific setting for bass guitar), it even doubles as a great PC speaker, being Hi-Fi in quality.

The THR10 is an amazing little amp, although I've not tried one for bass, my understanding is that they work quite nicely. There is also a corresponding free ipod/pad app for practice track use with nice cancellation capabilities.

review here http://tidywords.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/yamaha-thr10-amplifier-review/

[DavidU]

Being in the music biz myself I'm sure you will have a blast with your new bass guitar.

[rmuhlack]

Sorry Phil, but I'm not convinced by a bass amp with only 3" speakers. For the price of the Yamaha THR10, I think you'd be better served with a Ampeg BA108, Marshall MB30, Line6 Lowdown 15 or a Roland Cube CB20XL.

[CJ]

Small amps have come a long way but I agree with Richard. Decent bass from a 3" speaker sounds unlikely. Big heavy amps are a pain to manhandle though. Just go to a store and try a few. You'll soon get an idea of what you like. Enjoy! :thumbsup:

BTW Stefan, what flavour of music are you drawn to?

[04Stefan07]

Thanks Dave and Phil.

Chris, basically Disco/Funk bass lines I have always wanted to learn!

[CJ]

Ha, that'll keep you busy. Plenty of great bass lines to be found in those genres! :D

[Ausrock]

I wouldn't suggest any amp with less than a single 12" speaker for bass unless it's a specifically designed 10" bass speaker. Being a bass newbie, consider the likes of Ashdown's (NOT crap Ashton) Five Fifteen bass amp ($399) or Peavey's MAX 112 ($299) or MAX 115 ($345) then put some dollars towards a suitable compressor pedal, learn to use it to get some of the "punch" for your musical preferences ;).

Apologies to those who believe otherwise.

[MattT]

Is that all Dave???? Could get a few astro bass players using your gear :D...still love the 6" frac BTW
Hey Stefan good choice on instrument, nothing beats playing bass lines IMO....as for amps I use the 60 Watt Roland Bass Cube, the orgional version, had it since the early 80's and it's still going strong.
Bass lines...one name says it all....Jaco:bowdown:
then there's Marcus, Stanley....
Matt

[DavidU]

Jaco is(was):thumbsup:awesome.

[AstralTraveller]

Yep, Stanley is awesome on electric and on upright bass. Some of the stuff on RTF Live is hard to believe. These days I'm more drawn to Charlie Haden, a man of very few, very well chosen notes (not that he's not pretty quick when he chooses). As an old progger I have to put in a plug for Chris Squire and a relative unknown - Jeff Berlin. His work on the first three Bruford albums is great but then he gave up gigging because he needed a steady income to look after a disabled child. He was interviewed in Bass Player a few years ago and his take on what makes a good player is worth a read. And I've just discovered (while writing this) that he is still doing albums http://www.bassplayer.com/article/jeff-berlin-high-standards-maj-records/5064.

[04Stefan07]

Thanks Matt!

Slowly getting the hang of it. I want to try and play at least an hour a day.

[Max Vondel]

Like the others before.....Buy a proper bass amp.....
However:
I found that EL84 and EL34 based tube guitar amplifiers sound great
with bass too, and might be worth considering.....paired with good 12" drivers

All the best on your sonic path.....

As for bass...let's not forget Tony Levin and Les Claypool.....
:rockband:

[04Stefan07]

I ended up buying a small, cheap, second hand amp. I do not need anything flashy as I am just playing at home.

So far I have been enjoying it! I went over to my friends house on Saturday and we had a bit of a jam session. They both play guitar and one plays the keyboard so all up in the room we had 5 guitars (2 acoustic, 2 electric and 1 bass) and a keyboard.

The first ever song I learnt on guitar was "Stand By Me" but the first full song I have learnt on Bass is "Spicks and Specks" by The Bee Gees. I could not find any Bass tabs anywhere online due to the song being played on keyboard so what I did was playing random notes looking for the correct ones and I finally did it! Not only I know how to play the song (it's a simple one since I am a beginner) but I also worked out what each tab was which gave me feel good that I worked it out!

:D

[CJ]

Good on you!
Playing with friends is one of the most enjoyable (and best) ways of practicing. When you feel it actually sounds like music it's a great buzz! :thumbsup::D

[04Stefan07]

I got this book and it is very good. Easy to follow and provides very clear and simple information and diagrams for a beginner!

Thanks! :D

[joe_smith]

let me know if you want a tab for a song, just PM me, I have 1000's of tabs I can print in pdf from guitar pro, here is a screen shot from the program.

[04Stefan07]

Ooooo you happened to put an image of my favourite band the Beatles!

Thanks for that. Where do you get the tabs from anyway?

[joe_smith]

The old "my song book" web site had a vast number of people putting tabs up of songs they tab out, but unfortunately it got closed down. I saved a couple of Beatles tabs

Forgot to mention Guitar Pro is a tablature editor, and you can also compose your own music with it. The old site used to have music contests and people used to compose whole songs with guitar pro and we used to vote.