The bass book, a complete illustrated history of bass guitars. Parts of the bass a bass is made up of three main sections. We know that gibson is known for their electric and acoustic guitars, but their bass guitars have a history of making serious contributions to the world of music. Bass guitar has provided the solid foundation on which much of modern music is built. He is a cofounder of backbeat uk and jawbone press. A roundwound bass guitar string is a good allaround string and can be used in many different music genres with success, from country to jazz. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length, and typically four to six strings or courses. Bass guitar strings by stringjoy buy custom bass strings. The history of the instrument, the performers, the music its all full of lessons for today. The facts about guitar and bass strings are being exposed for you in professor strings. According to wikipedia, many upright bassist began converting their instruments over to steel strings in the 50s, which corresponds to the time frame of the advent of the electric bass. No one can deny that the 4string electric bass guitar is a cornerstone of any band.
It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an. For beginning players or those switching from guitar to bass, the number of string options can be overwhelming. In fender changed history when they released the precision bass, and they. The heavier a gauge the lower the tone it is capable of producing. Bass guitar lesson names of the strings on the bass. Whether you like to snap, strum, pop, pick, or pluck, having the right electric bass guitar can make all the difference and ams has an incredible selection. Books about guitars books on guitars, history, composers. In the early 1970s, perhaps inspired by the guitarron mexicano literally big mexican guitar, manufacturers began to make acoustic versions of the 4string bass guitar. I found it to be an easy read, applicable to any bass player that wants to know how the bass has evolved into its present state. The earliest illustration in the history of the string bass dates from 1516, but written accounts record instances of viols as large as a person, and the deep register tuning is notably found first among the viol family. Ibanez mikro series delivers huge sound in a compact package. These 4 lines represent the 4 strings on your bass guitar. Basic music theory reading music for bass avcss guitar world. The very basics relating mostly to bass playing will be covered here.
The bass book, a complete illustrated history of bass guitars by. Yet, using standard numbering order, the following results. Oct 01, 2008 the bass book, a complete illustrated history of bass guitars by tony bacon and barry moorhouse backbeat booksthis book is a beautiful color illustrated history of the electric bass guitar from the 1950s to present. The bass book, a complete illustrated history of bass guitars by tony bacon and barry moorhouse backbeat booksthis book is a beautiful color illustrated history of the electric bass guitar from the 1950s to present. The bottom line represents the lowest sounding string on the bass and this one is the thickest. His books include the ultimate guitar book, london live, and paul mccartney. His text reveals a grosscontra bass geige, which is generally held to have evolved into the modern double bass. How to choose the best strings for your bass guitar the hub. Choose the wood, color, style, and scale length to make your performance stand above the rest. Since it was first published in 1995, the bestselling bass book has become the standard text for anyone searching for a complete history of bass guitars. The electric bass has many of the same parts as an electric guitar. Generally speaking, heavier gauges produce richer tone, but demand more strength in your fingers. Teach yourself how to play the bass guitar overnight.
Discussion in strings bg started by precisionb87, jul 24, 2011. The 5 string bass stretches the limits of normal bass playing to give you notes that are needed for many styles of contemporary musicincluding gospel, latin, funk, metal, and pop. This play list has lessons and videos on every aspect of slap bass that beginners need to know. The bass guitar is shaped like an electric guitar, but it is longer than an electric guitar. For when you have to learn to play the bass right now. Intonation errors of the steel string acoustic guitar.
Nov 20, 2016 playing my fretless bass using piccolo strings, which sound one octave higher so like a guitar than standard bass strings. If youre working through the lessons, you should definitely pick up a few of these so you can practice some of the songs and get the most out of the lessons. Bass guitar ibanez 4 string bass guitar books for beginners bass guitar. Paul tutmarc, a musician from seattle, was the first to present an electronic bass in current form. The bass book a complete illustrated history of bass guitars. This book teaches you how to incorporate the 5th string into all these styles and more. The number one source of guitar and amplifier pricing and information so you can find the price and value of your used guitars and amplifier. While we can trace the origins of the double bass back to early string instruments from the 15 th century, the bass guitar as we know it today didnt come into being until the 1930s.
Like its electric six string cousin, the bass guitar has a fascinating development that bloomed rapidly in the twentieth century. The bridge is the assembly that anchors the strings to the body. Enjoy the lowest prices and best selection of bass guitar method books at guitar center. Bass history archives bass musician magazine, the face. Common sense string numbering order for bass guitar. The bass guitar magazine for bass players worldwide. There are very few books that include information or photographs of 12string basses. Booktopia has the bass book, a complete illustrated history of bass guitars by. Make sure you get a bass amp and not a guitar amp 6 some way to tune your bass.
Together with the percussion, the bassist creates the powerful rhythm that gets the audience moving and becomes the heartbeat of a melody. The top line represents the thinnest or highest pitched string on your bass. A bass guitar also called an electric bass or bass is a string instrument which is related to the electric guitar. Guitar history books history holds many lessons, and the history of the guitar is no exception. Yet most guitarists overlook the basic principles of how to select the best strings for their playing style. A brief history of the bass connolly music company string. Steel or metal strings have become the foundation of strings for the electric guitar and bass. This third edition of the bass book follows the evolution of bass guitar from its introduction to today with a full lowdown of the most important bass players and makers. No one can deny that the 4 string electric bass guitar is a cornerstone of any band.
Teach yourself to play bass guitar at your own pace. Yet most guitarists overlook the basic principles of how. It plays the lowest notes of any instrument in the string family and an octave lower than the cello. Guitar history books books about guitars strings by mail. Major and minor bass guitar scales bass books and music. Revised and expanded edition of every bass players favorite book. Top 5 best bass instruction books b ass instruction books are everywhere, heck, i even wrote one. Now that our string history tale reached the middle of the blooming swing era, gibsons catalogs they can be found on acousticmusic. You can also browse authentic bass guitar transcriptions as well as our huge selection of guitar tablature, easy guitar songbooks and classical guitar sheet music. Anyone that follows aj knows that he is quite the perfectionist and he is always improving and molding what he thinks is the perfect six string bass.
The science of electric guitars and guitar electronics. Hey, kids, its a string bass history, fun facts, and more. Daddario nyxl45 regular light 5 string long scale nickel wound bass strings. A complete illustrated history of bass guitars bacon, tony on. I also used this as a chance to improve the production values. Jul 15, 2015 certain types of strings can literally make your bass feel like a different instrument.
So fender invented the bass guitar in 1951 and issued them with flatwound nickel. Throughout the studybass lessons, i reference songs that are transcribed in these books. Today the basses used in most bands are horizontal and can have anywhere from 4 strings to. Tony bacon bristol, england writes about musical instruments, musicians, and music. Bass guitar chord chart for beginners bass books and music. Pickups are also mounted to the body and work like little microphones that pick up the sound from the strings. Much of the history about metal strings evolved through innovations with the piano. However, the bass guitar produces lower tones than the electric guitar. While these strings certainly dont sound dull or flubby, our roundwound nickel bass guitar strings the only variety we currently produce do feature most prominently on the bottom end of the tonal spectrum, and we absolutely love them for it. In our modern orchestra it is common to see eight string basses. How to play bass guitar 5 beginner books to learn bass. Paul brun, in his book a new history of the double bass, makes the claim.
They have a nice, bright tone when compared to nylon string guitars. Nonetheless, several books in which the origin of the guitar is mentioned to some extent still associate it with this grecoassyrian instrument. Today the string bass has four or five strings made of steel and there are two basic tunings for it. String history what did guitar players use in the pre.
In any case, most historical books on lutherie that i have seen are full of. Part one of a threepart series, this book introduces music theory, scales and chords. These early instruments were tuned in various ways. The bass guitar, electric bass, or simply bass, is the lowestpitched member of the guitar family. The first 6 string was created in 1959 by dancelecto and the first 5 string in 1964 by fender. Product title glarry gp 4 string electric bass guitar kit black with 20w amp, cable, spanner tool average rating. In popular music the guitar is usually amplified, and ensembles frequently include more than one instrument, a lead guitar for solos, another for rhythm, and a bass guitar to play bass lines. Use this site for a pricing guide and source of information on all guitars. In some short circuit conditions this might lead to lethal accidents. It would help start a revolution in the sound of popular music. Stay centered with a standard four string bass, or stretch out with five and six string models. This is the first book to present them formally, and is a milestone of its kind. This guide breaks it down to the four things you should consider to ensure your set will best fit with your instrument and style of playing.
Heres an example in case youre not familiar with the studybass approach. Their metal composition varies greatly, sometimes using many different alloys as plating. Professor string has just published a book about one of the most misunderstood components of the guitar. I play the bass as a hobby, and ive been interested in bass guitars since the 1970s. Topics covered include slap riffs for beginners, slap bass. These became increasingly popular thanks to mtvs unplugged series, where they were heavily used. Although tablature is the most popular way to read music these days, the ability to at least understand basic music theory and how to read music the old fashion way is not a bad idea for any bass guitar player. The eb bass was released in 1953 and was their very first production bass. This 256page softcover book gives a complete and illustrated history of the development of rickenbacker instruments from 1931 to the present. Ibanez mikro gsrm20 shortscale 4 string electric bass guitar at a glance.
As i am a lapsteel player i studied the book and read from front to the back, i own several rikenbackers to play on. The bass guitar, though often overlooked in the audio mix of songs and in the development of modern music, is one of the biggest game changers in modern music history. Under the bridge of the guitar there often is a grounding cable, which makes you part of the electric circuit when touching the strings. The bass book has all you need to know about the story of the bass guitar in. You can move on to tuning forks, harmonic tuning, and variable instrument tuning later. But before my book, there were a couple of essential leaning tools that, along with private lessons, helped me become a better bass player. Tradition alone is not good reason enough to justify and perpetuate standard string numbering order. This video is a brief overview about the history of guitar strings.
Get the guaranteed lowest prices on bass guitar method books instruments at musicians friend. With the ibanez mikro gsrm20 electric bass guitar in your hands, youll thump all night long. Bass guitar, musical instruments strings general, books. Rickenbacker is the only book of its kind to chronicle the history of the company who in 1931 introduced electric instruments to the world. This is where anthony really developed the bass we all know today as the modern contrabass. The history of the string bass includes centuries of alterations and. This tuning is also the same as the standard tuning.
In popular music the guitar is usually amplified, and ensembles frequently include more than one instrument, a lead guitar for solos, another for rhythm, and a. B ass instruction books are everywhere, heck, i even wrote one. A fivestring bass was first used in austria and germany in the 1600s. Ernie ball 4 string bass guitars for sale in stock ebay.
All sounds made by your guitar or bass start with the vibration of a string. There was also a harpguitar bass string set with both silver wound and copper bronze wound strings. Roundwound strings have ridges on the winding that can be felt by the fingers. Guitar books we are proud to offer a range of guitar books including a nice collection of classical guitar books and more. Bass guitar simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Barry moorhouse uk founded his specialist bassguitar retail and distribution operation, the bass centre, in london in 1984. Here are the top 5 best bass instructional books out there. Find the current blue book value and worth of your new and used guitars, both acoustic, electric and amplifier. So the bass string tradition was probably inherited from the upright, not from the guitar. There is also a book out on the history of the rickenbacker 12 string also very good for the real guitar lover. Bass history archives bass musician magazine, the face of bass. In this revised and expanded edition, it offers a complete illustrated history of bass guitars, from fenders first electric model in the 1950s through all the major models of the next 50. It is also known as the contrabass, upright bass, bull fiddle, bass fiddle, bass violin, or just bass.
The twoguitarsbassanddrums lineup that would define pop music found its heart. I found it to be an easy read, applicable to any bass player that wants to know how the. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. Best bass guitar strings in 2020 bass guitar strings. The standard design for the electric bass guitar has four strings, tuned e, a, d and g, in fourths such that the open highest string, g, is an eleventh an octave and a fourth below middle c, making the tuning of all four strings the same as that of the double bass e 1 a 1 d 2 g 2. Ibanez mikro series delivers huge sound in a compact package big tone from dxp and dj2 pickups ibanez a brief history. A five string bass was first used in austria and germany in the 1600s.
For our bass guitar strings, we wanted to focus on the bottom endyou know, the sound they made the bass guitar for. Perhaps the best information available concerning the history of the string bass is recorded by musical theorist michael praetorius, who wrote sintagma musicum 1611620. Browse s of titles of bass guitar sheet music with bass guitar tab and bass guitar songbooks from all the top artists and instructional bass guitar music for honing your skills. History of the string bass guitar music and more for all. All of the other parts of the bass are mounted on these three sections. Since the mid1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. This lavishly produced volume large format and hardcover is a wondrous celebration of the instrument, including its origins and history, and the weird and wonderful shapes it has taken. Guitar, plucked stringed musical instrument that probably originated in spain early in the 16th century. Browse our listing of guitar history books, then pick up a few for yourself or that special guitarist in your life. String gaugesthe diameter of the stringare expressed in thousandths of an inch.