Basics of Bass Guitars

Other Articles | October 20, 2009

Abass guitar looks similar to an electric guitar except it is largerin terms of body and neck length. The guitar is tuned to pitches thatare one octave lower than those of the four lower s...

Abass guitar looks similar to an electric guitar except it is largerin terms of body and neck length. The guitar is tuned to pitches thatare one octave lower than those of the four lower strings of a guitar(E, A, D and G). Like electric guitars, bass guitars are attached toan amplifier or speaker for live performance.

Whatare bass guitars made of?

Thebass guitars usually have bodies made of wood. The body may also bemade of other materials like graphite as in some of the Steinbergerguitars. Different types of woods are used for the making of theneck, body and the fretboard of the bass guitars. Usually the body ismade of alder; the fretboard is made of rosewood and the neck ofmaple. Other types of woods used are ash, mahogany and maple forbodies, maple and ebony for the fretboard and mahogany for necks. Thebass guitars have various flat and curved designs and oil, wax, orlacquer finishes.

Whatcreates the bass effect?

Mostof the bass guitars have bodies with hollow chambers to enhance theresonance and tone of the instruments. This design also reduces theweight of the guitars. Acoustic bass guitars usually havepiezoelectric or magnetic pick ups and amplifiers. Bass Guitars mayalso be classified on the basis of the frets. The Fender basses haveabout 20 frets whereas modern basses have about 24 or more frets. TheFretless basses produce distinct sound due to lack of frets. Usuallythe bass guitars have four, five or six strings.

Youcan take formal bassguitars training in a wide range of styles like jazz, rock,Latin, funk and R&B. You may even learn informally from recordsor CDs. There is a wide variety of brands and styles of bass guitars.You can buy them along with many different accessories according toyour individual needs. Some of the accessories that are oftenrequired are amplifiers, cables, straps, tuners, headphones,Instructional DVDs and gig bags. You can even shop online. Thedifferent websites will offer you the opportunity to make a wellinformed buy. They can also create personalized packages that containthe accessories that you want to suit your individual tastes andpreferences