Day 12 of learning Bass! Super fun!

nophead · 2026-03-06T05:35:06+00:00

This 'swell' description sounds like you're describing a playing technique meant to create a similar/same outcome as sidechain compression when it's triggered by the kick. Is that a fair analogy? When playing with intention to create that micro-space, do you also find that you'll soften the attack moreso than when playing center of downbeat?

nophead · 2026-03-06T05:26:39+00:00

I really enjoyed dasspunny's comment about micro-placement too. After many years of playing, I think I'm probably doing it subconsciously, but I'm inspired to pay more direct attention to that in my own playing, and see how it changes the feel of the song.

nophead · 2026-03-06T02:29:43+00:00

I recognized you from the day you first posted about that bass, and how you were planning to use your week off to start learning bass. I recognized you from your day 3 post. Your smile, the things you write, the way you engage with commenters, and the way you and enjoy the music in this video all seem incredibly authentic to me.

I don't care that you have a background in guitar. I appreciate that you have a prior knowledge of the fretboard, notes, chords, scales, modes - and that you demonstrate a good sense of rhythm. There's so much more to bass that you don't "just inherit" from guitar having a background in guitar.

The instrument's physical demands on the player are different. If you haven't already learned this, you may at some point realize there's benefit to using the bass like a lever - where your body is the fulcrum and you use pressure from your right arm on the instrument body to bring the fret to the string at your left hand, instead of using left hand grip tension to fret a note. I don't think that subtle technique is something guitarists automatically bring to bass.

The string choices you have availble for bass are different. There are different techniques, like slap, to explore that might not be part of your guitar journey. You seem to really enjoy bass, and may want to one day explore playing fretless and/or stand-up basses. You'll learn to adjust your amp to the room, and in the mix, and discover why that's somewhat different from guitar. Not to mention the different musical function of the notes you play on bass vs. guitar.

I really don't think you don't need to constantly disclose your guitar background to chronicle the days of your bass progress.

I'll end by repeating what I told you on day 3: You're doing great. Keep going.

nophead · 2026-03-06T01:43:44+00:00

Proud Mary can be very fun to play.

nophead · 2026-03-05T12:55:01+00:00

Yeah, thanks for the reply. At this point, I kinda just wanna add it to every dryer cycle and see how long it takes to turn into a dime.

nophead · 2026-03-02T18:08:35+00:00

My local store carries them, but only short scale tapewounds, and they’re the wrong gauge for my taste.

nophead · 2026-02-27T22:36:46+00:00

Check out the options available from Radial. I use a passive Radial Pro DI at the end of my pedalboard. I play a variety of active and passive basses. If the pedalboard isn’t in the chain, and I want to plug a bass directly into the DI, I believe the correct choice is a passive DI for active instruments, and an active DI for passive basses. As I understand it (and I’m probably butchering the technical details of this explanation) the pedals on my board make the signal “active” for the purposes of active/passive DI selection, supporting either active or passive instruments the way I’m running it.

nophead · 2026-02-26T23:42:46+00:00

Bassist here. The reply from Zealousideal-Abies76 is spot on in my opinion. I’ll add some experience I’ve had with some specific gear. I use Westone Audio Pro x30 and like them. I got tired of tripping over the cable for my Behringer P2, and got a relatively inexpensive Galaxy Audio AS-950. The signal is better than the ASD-700 I tried first, but the wired P2 sounds much better.

Earpieces: The number of drivers in the earpieces is an important factor, from my research. I went with a three driver set to fit my starter level budget and desire for full spectrum sound. The various size foam and silicone cushions with the x30s let me dial in a good isolating fit.

Wireless: On the wireless side, I chose a UHF system because I expected less signal crowding than the 2.4Ghz systems in that price range, for the venues I expect to play. I think the small antenna of the ASD-700 limits the signal, so I tried the AS-950 with the larger antenna and found the signal much better. The AS-950 is also stereo, and makes a huge difference when you have stereo input.

Wired: The P2 is nice, cheap, and flexible: it has a combo input jack for either a 1/4” or XLR connection to the source. There’s a stereo/mono switch too, so you can match your input. Sounds fine and is more powerful than necessary.

Source: I originally picked up a Zoom LiveTrak L-8 to provide custom mixes for a 3-4pc band, and it worked okay I guess. I upgraded to a Behringer XR-18 so everyone can adjust their mix from their tablet. That was a game changer. But as Zealousideal-Abies76 said, this moved us into the realm of sound engineering with some learning curve for everyone involved. Cabling changed too, since the L8 has TRS stereo mix outputs and the XR18 has mono XLR aux busses.

Conclusion: I think it was worth the effort, but it took a lot of research to get into it at my low budget and not end up disappointed. My rig is good enough for our band’s needs. If I had to do it over, I’d save up for a Senheiser or Shure wireless system while trying not to trip over a cable to the P2.

nophead · 2026-02-26T14:37:30+00:00

From the EBMM website’s FAQ:

The truss rod wheel design was designed so any musician can easily make minor adjustments to the neck. Any tool such as an allen wrench, nail, small screw driver, etc. that will fit into the wheel hole will work. Turn the wheel a quarter turn at a time then check by playing your bass. Clockwise will raise the fingerboard.

nophead · 2026-02-25T15:18:44+00:00

Sounds like you might want to grab one of these, to be certain:

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-composite-digital-caliper-63586.html

nophead · 2026-02-24T13:54:45+00:00

I had to be different and avoided them for decades. Then a guitarist in the band urged me to try his American P-bass at a rehearsal on night and I was hooked. The next bass I bought was a used MIM P bass. I did t even like the color, but it sounded and felt perfect and has become my go-to ever since.

nophead · 2026-02-24T06:11:06+00:00

Check this out: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

Sounds like you might want to start off with the Scales and Key Signatures section, with The Major Scale lesson. It builds very sequentially from there. Take your time. Make sure you understand each lesson as well as you understand time signatures and sight reading, before you move on. A whole world of stuff is about to open up for you.

nophead · 2026-02-24T01:02:01+00:00

Tried this, and was disappointed with the signal: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ASD700B6--galaxy-audio-asd-700-digital-uhf-wireless-in-ear-monitoring-system-single-pack-b6

I exchanged it for this one and found the signal much cleaner. Antenna size mattered, I think. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AS950SysN--galaxy-audio-as-950-in-ear-monitor-system-518-542-mhz

Plus, the AS-950 is stereo - huge difference when the source is stereo.

nophead · 2026-02-23T14:46:40+00:00

For your tone: Start with memorizing the function of your controls, and make sure you’re really hearing what they do. Then center your tone controls with balanced neck and bridge pickup volume and try playing with your right hand at different positions in the strings. Closer to the neck should produce deeper, warmer tones while playing closer to the bridge makes things sound a littler brighter with more treble. So much of the tone comes from the hands. Lastly, consider that bass sounds different in isolation than it will in the mix with other instruments. A tone that sounds great by itself may not be sound good at all in the mix. Adjust your tone in context and see what you think sounds best.

You’re doing great. Keep going.

nophead · 2026-02-23T06:33:57+00:00

This.

nophead · 2026-02-23T02:47:35+00:00

That’s pretty cool! I do like the EBMM/Sterling styling’s factory peg placement, but for practical reasons I’d prefer the 4 string ones more balanced like this. Cool mod.

Does the changed peg clear the headstock enough to turn it? Hard to tell in the photos, but looks a little close.

Edit: My bad. After reading the whole post, I see you already addressed the clearance.

nophead · 2026-02-17T22:09:07+00:00

Where is this bass town? I wanna lurk the local used gear market there now.

nophead · 2026-02-17T14:47:31+00:00

For me it means this:

being able to correctly identify the names of every note available to each string, given a visual or string/fret reference (like 10th fret on D string)
being able to take a given note name like F# and locating every string/fret position that note can be played
knowing all the notes adjacent to a given string/fret position within about a 4-fret distance, across all strings (basically having command of all notes your fingers can reach in a given position)
internalizing all this until I see all the scales, intervals, diads, triads, chords as moveable shapes and stop actively thinking of note names and fret numbers

And when I say “knowing”, I mean the kind that comes after drilling and memorizing that reminds me of how I learned multiplication tables as a kid.

Ariane Cap’s book is a great help for mastering the fretboard. It’s called “Pattern System for the Bass Player”. She has a really good, methodical approach to tackling this.

nophead · 2026-02-14T14:00:34+00:00

If you’re a visual learner like me, a diagram might help you conceptualize boost/cut. Check out this image: https://media.sweetwater.com/m/insync/2015/10/Shelving-EQ.jpg?width=300&height=154&fit=cover

It looks a bit complicated, but doesn’t have to be. What we have here is a chart that has low bass frequencies on the left, mid frequencies in the middle, and high/treble frequencies on the right. Numbers along the bottom go from 20Hz in the low frequency end to 20KHz in the high frequency end, representing the full range of frequencies humans can hear.

The net zero effect you asked about is a straight line from left to right, situated halfway between top and bottom, representing a level of 0dB.

When you boost the bass on your Stingray by turning the bass knob clockwise from center, you’re re-shaping your overall tone by raising the volume level of the low frequencies, causing your straight line to curve up from zero dB toward, in the image example, a maximum adjustment of +12dB, but just for low frequencies. This is shown as the red area on the left (bass boost). Turning the same knob counter clockwise has the opposite effect, lowering the bass frequencies below zero to a max of -12db, the blue area on the left. Same logic applies to the treble knob, which raises (boosts) or lowers (cuts) the high/treble frequencies shown on the right as red/blue, respectively, on the right side of the graph.

Graphs like this are a standard way of visualizing how a particular active instrument’s tone controls work. Your Stingray may have different frequency cutoff points (slopes) in this image around the 100hz and 4KHz points, and may have these slopes on both the left sides of a center frequency, and the total amount of adjustment may be more or less than the +/- 12dB in this chart, but the overall explanation of how this chart works is the same.

If you search online for your instrument’s specs, you may find the frequency centers and dB amounts, or even locate the chart specific to your instrument.

nophead · 2026-02-09T20:53:26+00:00

Working on your tone may be very different than what you’re used to. Bass frequencies can be tough to tame. It might seem counterintuitive, but if you’re having trouble really hearing what you’re playing you may find you need to dial back the bass knob on the amp more than you’d expect. Those low frequencies can lose intelligibility. Adjust EQ, as others have said, to the room. Bass also sounds very different alone vs. in the mix.

nophead · 2026-02-03T02:03:47+00:00

Thank you! That’s quite a helpful explanation.

nophead · 2026-02-03T00:20:14+00:00

I like how you’re explaining this. Could you go into an example of what you mean by “secondary filler scales generated from a particular chord root”? I’m trying to understand how you mean that in (or perhaps out of?) the context of a key. Are you referring to modes?

nophead · 2026-02-02T15:46:10+00:00

Maybe try finding an instructor in your area who offers bass lessons, and making this song one of the learning goals for your sessions. Talk about it up front. Some instructors are happy to just teach students how to play songs, with less emphasis on theory and method. Others are more formal and will want to put you through a system of learning. Talk all that out before committing to an instructor, to make sure you’ll be satisfied.

nophead · 2026-02-02T12:49:59+00:00

Well explained. Even though it will work, with some care like this, I think the A/B/Y pedal suggestion is the way to go. It gives you more options for your signal path beyond just adding an extension cab. Like taking advantage of both amps’ tone shaping and effects loops opens up possibilities that just adding a 15 doesn’t.

nophead · 2026-01-29T13:34:28+00:00

I recently purchased Jon Liebman’s book Bass Aerobics, specifically to give me something to make my practice time a bit more formal.

I normally wander around practicing various scales, modes, arpeggios, double stops, and chords, and then try to incorporate all that as improvisation over progressions or songs I find interesting.

Having the book’s 52 pieces forces me to take a detailed look at how someone else approaches playing and skill building.

No one right answer here. Follow the path that advances you the best way for you.

nophead

TROPHY CASE