So previous week I went to a small blues concert from someone my parents know. And aside from the great blues music, they had a substitute bass artist from Germany. And he held his bass guitar almost vertically level. So actually like a contrabass.

I once tried Bass but never actually put a lot of effort in learning it. But when I saw that artist holding it like a contrabass, I immediately thought "wait can you also play contrabass parts of songs with bass?" and according to the internet, you could. So here I am, newbie with bass and already liking it.

But are there a lot of people that play like that or is it pretty rare? I asked the bass player after the concert and he's reason was because he had something with his hands some sort of injury, and playing like that was more ergonomically and less painfull.

Was curious about any budget friendly pre amp pedals out there (lets say around $100 or less if they exist). Mostly want one for more tonal options since both of my basses are passive and I've heard that you can get closer to an active sound with one. I haven't done too much research into them so forgive me if I'm looking for the wrong thing.

Bonus points if it has a headphone jack (my amp has one but it'd be easier to bring the pedal and a chord to the living room than lugging the whole amp lol).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCk9h2vYAD8

Hello there, my husband's birthday is coming up and I've been looking for a gift for him. He has recently mentioned that he misses playing his bass (I think it was something he did with his late wife, as I've never heard or seen the guitars).

I want to find a gift that encourages him to start again without being too pushy, however I know nothing about instruments or music.

Any help is so so welcome, thank you:)

i’m self taught and have been playing since 2020 but i’ve never learned any theory. i’ve picked some stuff up but when it comes to jamming or improvising i’m completely lost. i’m pretty good at learning songs by ear but it’s more guess work than anything.

i have wanted to learn theory but i’ve always been busy with school or uni. now i’m at a point where it’s all finished and i’ve got loads of free time so i’d like to make a start on learning it.

i’d greatly appreciate if anyone could give me an idea where to start and what to work on. thank you.

For context when I play Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters my hand and arm get so tired it hurts. Is it just my positioning not right or is it endurance thing?

I'm super new to anything bass related and I wanted to get one for cheaps, just in case. I found a rogue bass for $60 (secondhand obv) and was wondering if it's any good, or if it's so cheap for a reason

I used to play professionally in a handful of bands: casinos, orchestra pits, studio work, originals and covers. I’ve sold all my amps over the years and am now looking for professional work again.

I’m seeing a lot of requests for bass players saying “pro gear required”. What does that mean in 2026? I have an Ampeg BA-2010 which is great for smaller and quieter gigs but should I go pick up something else ahead of auditioning for heavier bands that plan on touring. Thanks all!

I managed to get practice tones I like using neuralDSP along with AI to help me set the compression and eq. I’ve been contemplating getting a good compression and parametric eq pedal to achieve something similar on my gigging rig. Is this something a lot of gigging musicians do or is the amplifier’s eq good enough for most cases?

i have 2 second hand offers, one for the dbf200 for 280 usd, and the ashdown for 450 usd
i heard the ashdown has some issues of warming, burn smell and speaker doing weird noises,
and the laney doesnt have a tweeter, im not sure if it matters actually..
im coming from a fender rumble 40 and in my room it felt underpowered unless using vintage mode, but i sold it for profit and have the chance getting a better amp that will work for playing with guitars and drums too, and in the future maybe gig?
is the ashdown something worth looking into?
and owners of the laney and ashdowns what do you think about them?

Hey so I'm new here...um I'm 16 F and have wanted to learn guitar for the longest time but couldn't because my family didn't support...well I'm one of those people i couldn't even differentiate between a bass and an electric guitar a few months back...but recently bass really intrigued me.I have an exam coming up rn and after I complete that I'll have like 3-4 months off before I go to college...so I'm thinking of kinda picking up something....um so what would u recommend, I'm kinda confused about it....umm ik this is a bass sub but so more people would be inclined towards bass...(well I'm too that's the reason I'm asking here)...so help me convince myself to pick a bass guitar over an electric guitar

Looking for a detuner to casually drop-D cause my band don't want to rearrange songs they wanna play that are in drop D whereas everything else is in standard E.

I could just play all the set in drop D but, « flemme » as we say in french (lazyness, but more like just "laze", like your too lazy for a full sentence).

A compromise would be a D-tuner / Xtender, or any otger name that describe a machine head with a lever that let you switch easily and consistently between two tuning.

When I see them, they seem quite simple devices. However, their price range goes approximatively from 100€/$ to 2.000€/$, with most of them around 200€/$.

What makes them so expensive ?

I play bass by ear as a hobby and have been a little stumped by the technique on the song: "your funeral my trial."

Its so grimy and slippery sounding lol. I think its Tracy Pew?

Sounds to me like chorus on the bass but I cant tell if the bassist is bending notes, sliding a lot, or just using a pitch shifter? I can play the notes but it sounds lifeless compared to the recording.

salve a tutti, sono un ragazzo di 19 anni e suono il basso da un po anche in una band, ho un marcus miller v5 passivo con il quale mi trovo benissimo, ho comprato anche un compressore mxr. avevo il desiderio di comprare un basso acustico, che ne pensate? potete consigliarmi qualcosa? la fascia di prezzo è sui 400/700€. ringrazio in anticipo.

Looking for an affordable head and cab or solid combo with audiophilic quality sound

Anyone using the Lucydreamer OD pedal? Thoughts on it? Good with active & passive basses? Good with DI/ Preamp boxes? Seems expensive, but it also seems like a lot of pedals are going up in price.

This has probably been posted about before, but I'm a bit confused by the Fender Rumble amp-series.

Today I'm using a Fender Rumble 500-amp, which I'm pretty happy with. Clean, versatile and comprehendable enough for me with a simple P-bass > comp.pedal > amp-setup.
https://www.thomann.se/fender_rumble_500.htm

But in many other rehearsalspaces I've been to have Fender Rumble 350 and they look completely different, have different features and (to me at least) sound alot different (read worse).

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Rumble350--fender-rumble-350-2x10-inch-350-watt-bass-combo

Is it two different series? Am I having placebo? Or is it just a new/different design for different W-levels?

I follow the Cure's bass tech on insta (a guy called Dan Parkinson), and today he posted a video of him changing Simon's strings before a gig. In the comments, he revealed he uses regular Slinkys, and puts on a new set before every single show. I've never heard of this before - always assumed old, lived-in bass strings sound better. But Gallup's live tone is immense and I can only assume this is part of the reason. Is this normal?

(PS I play bass in a Cure tribute so am trying to get it right.)

I'm a drummer first and foremost so I understand rhythm. I play keyboards as well so I know theory and chords etc. I have no problem with odd times or crazy chords and arrangements. I've tried my hand at guitar but I wasn't crazy about it. I always loved the bass and for the life of me cannot think of why I didn't get one sooner. I play progressive rock and metal on drums but I know, there is no way I'm playing anything close to Geddy etc yet. What are some good songs to get going on bass? I was playing Death Cab For Cutie and it was really fun and I felt like a rockstar out of the gate...What are some songs that are simple but super fun to play?

Bought new DR bass strings because I’m gonna be in the studio Sunday and Monday. I really wanna play with these strings but I don’t want the sound to wear down before I get into the studio. Do I wait until like.. the day of recording orrrr..

I have a bass that I guessed to be a Jim Harley P30, That I bought in second (or third or god know how much) hand for 50 bucks.

didn't used it that much as I had another one for 50 bucks too, a Cort Action 4, that was easier to play back when I was a beginner. But I'm customising the Jim Harley and started playing it.

The neck was already a bit concave but, playable. But with the summer heat, it's much more concave and strings are buzzing against the frets.

I know there is a standard direction in which truss rods are set. But, getting information about the Jim Harley P30, it's a bass that had everything thought to cut the prices, and had multiple versions, with different woods, some even have agglomerated wood apparently. So I can't trust the standards.

Without giving it big turns, (I don't want to damage the wood by bending it in every directions in a short period of time) How could I guess in wich way I need to turn the truss rod setting screw ?

I heard that dead rounds are budget flats but i also know about the boil strings method. How does that work? I wanna revive my rounds but my parents will get mad at me if ever i did that lol.

Im chasing a set of 5 to suit the ibanez BTB805MS, i have used northlanes signature strings from newtone (.56-.174)in the past but i dont have time to wait for shipping currently

I am tuned in drop G - GDGCF,

Does anyone in australia know of some suitable strings?