A bass guitar is primarily a four stringed instrument that produces sound, usually through amplification, by either being picked, slapped, or most commonly plucked. When people think of a bass guitar most often the image they get in their mind is a longer four stringed version of a guitar. However, that is an all to common fallacy, in fact there is a large number of types of basses out there each with their own unique feature.
Electric
The electric bass is an instrument that runs a cable from its input jack (a hole on the side of the bass), to an amplifier that projects the sound made while playing the strings on the instrument. Electric basses can differ in size, shape, make, sound, and even with the amount of strings. The long slender part of the bass just as with a guitar is the neck. The neck ranges in size between short-scale and regular scale. For beginners short-scale basses are easier to play but the sound is usually compromised in that it creates a much darker and less bright sound.
The neck of a short-scale is usually around 30 inches a dramatic difference from the 34 inches on standard bass necks. The sound of a bass can change dramatically depending on the type of wood used. Alder, Ash, Koa, and Walnut are some of the most common types of wood used for the bodies.
When it comes to the bass's neck rosewood and maple are almost always used. While most electric basses usually only have four string where the tuning is (E-A-D-G) some basses contain a fifth string that has a lower register (B-E-A-D-G), and there are even some basses that not only have a low B string but a high C as well, making them a six string bass, (B-E-A-D-C).
Acoustic & Acoustic-Electric
Much like guitars, basses have their own acoustic models that do not require a cable or bass amp to produce sound. All that is needed for these specific types of basses is simply playing. The sound is produced by the vibrations made from playing echoing through the body of the bass and then resonating out of the large hole in the front of the bass's body, the sound hole.
Acoustic-Electric basses are an even rarer form of basses that can produce sound with or without an amp. They are almost identical to acoustic basses in size, shape and look and like an acoustic basses they can make sound merely by being played. However, unlike acoustic basses acoustic-electrics can act like electric basses and be plugged into and be played.
Beginner Kits
Basses like guitars can end up getting pretty pricey. High end bass companies like Fodera, Warwick, and Ritter can create basses that can go into thousand dollar range. There are though several beginner kits that typically only cost a couple hundred dollars.
also normally hold more than just the bass itself. In general most beginner kits contain a small bass amp, an electric cable, a bass tuner to keep the bass in tune while playing, and of course the actual bass. Beginner kits can be found at most music stores as well as several online music distributors.
There is a myriad of basses out there each with different features. Some that need an amp to be heard some that don't. However, the one unifying thing with all these different instruments, is that they are all basses and each has its own distinct use.
Electric
The electric bass is an instrument that runs a cable from its input jack (a hole on the side of the bass), to an amplifier that projects the sound made while playing the strings on the instrument. Electric basses can differ in size, shape, make, sound, and even with the amount of strings. The long slender part of the bass just as with a guitar is the neck. The neck ranges in size between short-scale and regular scale. For beginners short-scale basses are easier to play but the sound is usually compromised in that it creates a much darker and less bright sound.
The neck of a short-scale is usually around 30 inches a dramatic difference from the 34 inches on standard bass necks. The sound of a bass can change dramatically depending on the type of wood used. Alder, Ash, Koa, and Walnut are some of the most common types of wood used for the bodies.
When it comes to the bass's neck rosewood and maple are almost always used. While most electric basses usually only have four string where the tuning is (E-A-D-G) some basses contain a fifth string that has a lower register (B-E-A-D-G), and there are even some basses that not only have a low B string but a high C as well, making them a six string bass, (B-E-A-D-C).
Acoustic & Acoustic-Electric
Much like guitars, basses have their own acoustic models that do not require a cable or bass amp to produce sound. All that is needed for these specific types of basses is simply playing. The sound is produced by the vibrations made from playing echoing through the body of the bass and then resonating out of the large hole in the front of the bass's body, the sound hole.
Acoustic-Electric basses are an even rarer form of basses that can produce sound with or without an amp. They are almost identical to acoustic basses in size, shape and look and like an acoustic basses they can make sound merely by being played. However, unlike acoustic basses acoustic-electrics can act like electric basses and be plugged into and be played.
Beginner Kits
Basses like guitars can end up getting pretty pricey. High end bass companies like Fodera, Warwick, and Ritter can create basses that can go into thousand dollar range. There are though several beginner kits that typically only cost a couple hundred dollars.
also normally hold more than just the bass itself. In general most beginner kits contain a small bass amp, an electric cable, a bass tuner to keep the bass in tune while playing, and of course the actual bass. Beginner kits can be found at most music stores as well as several online music distributors.
There is a myriad of basses out there each with different features. Some that need an amp to be heard some that don't. However, the one unifying thing with all these different instruments, is that they are all basses and each has its own distinct use.
