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Also, just stumbled across this awesome tutorial for turning bass guitar into dubstep. Its pretty cool.

Top 10 Basses

1.     Fender Jazz Bass

Fender Jazz

The Fender Jazz is almost the undisputed winner, it has the same incredible quality of the Precision but it has a more versatile sound. With its more trebly tone the Jazz (or J bass) stands out from the mix, making it the choice for Jazz players and those who want to play more melodically.

2.     Fender Precision Bass

The P bass was the first bass to come from fender guitars, two pickups close to neck position gives a smooth tone that brings joy to the ears of any bassist into blues, rock or Motown. The bass has a warmer and deeper sound than the J and it is slightly less versatile.

Fender P

3.     Gibson Thunderbird

The Thunderbird is Rock ‘n’ Roll. The axe of choice for many rock players such as Nikki Sixx, John Entwistle, Gene Simmons and Josh Reedy. With its humbuckers and heavy tone this bass is a true monster (a heavy one too). The standard model has a cool sunburst finish and of course the iconic eagle on the pickguard.

4.     Musicman Stingray

The Stingray is an awesome bass with a modern sound that suits all sorts of styles from pop to funk and all the way to metal. It is a great bass for slapping and this makes it the ideal choice for players such as Louis Johnson and Flea. The bass usually features a teardrop pickguard and a single large humbucker.

5.     Rickenbacker 4001/4003

Rickenbacker 4003

The Rick is another one of those iconic rock basses. It would have been higher on the list except that I find it to be a bit uncomfortable to play. It usually costs a fair bit to buy but is still one of those basses you dream of buying. Notable players include Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, Geezer Butler and Cliff Burton. If you haven’t heard of any of those players then you’re on the wrong site!

6.     Ritter Bass

The Ritter, as seen in one of my previous blog posts, is a really really incredibly good looking bass guitar. Expect high prices and crazy designs (not a bad thing!).

                                                                       

Warwick Corvette

7.     Fender Jaguar

I’m probably a bit biased because I own one but this is a cool bass. You can read about it in my first blog post. Awesome Japanese electronics make this bass more versatile than Johnny Depp. Notable players include me, JMJ and that guy from The All-American Rejects.

8.     Warwick Corvette

This is what the Warwick website says about the Corvette “If the entire line of Warwick basses is like a family at a party, then the Corvette  is the latest in-law who ate all the food, drank all the booze and is now in the coat closet with not one, but two of the wait staff!”.  Not sure if that’s true but the bass does look, sound and feel pretty snazzy.

Hofner Beatle Bass

9.     Hofner Beatle Bass

You’ve seen this bass, you’ve heard this bass and you probably know that 

Paul McCartney plays this bass. If you didn’t, well now you do.

10. Gibson SG Bass

Also known as the EB-3 this bass isn’t as popular as its birdlike cousin, which might be because it’s not quite as heavy and tough. Anyway Jack Bruce from Cream plays it, isn’t that enough?

Justin Meldal-Johnson

An almighty collection.



You might know JMJ as the bassist for Beck or Nine Inch Nails or one of the many other acts he's played with. The guy is a legend of the bass and has some amazing basses in his arsenal. Justin agreed to an interview so i hope you enjoy it!



Tell me a bit about yourself, what kind of music do you play, who do you play with?

I play bass, guitar and keyboards. Most recently in the live format with NIN, previously Beck, Air, Ima Robot, and others. I'm also a producer, and I'm currently working on the new M83 album. 

Who are your major inspirations?

Brian Eno, Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Jah Wobble, Bill Laswell, Michael Gira, Mark Burgess, Graham Lewis, Peter Hook, Simon Raymonde, Robin Guthrie, Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, "Family Man" Barrett, Sly & Robbie, Lee Perry, Jeff Lynne, Robert Wyatt, Enoch Light, Joe Osborne, Chuck Rainey, Matthew Seligman, Tina Weymouth, many more. 



JMJ with an awesome custom  Jaguar



What artist do you enjoy playing with the most?

It's a tie between Beck and Nails. 

Why do you own so many basses?

Because it's fun to collect them and they all get used
for different sounds and approaches. 

What is your favourite bass guitar to play?



Just a few of Justin's effects.



1966 Fender Precision. 

Whats with all the pedals? How many do you have?

What's with them is that they help me achieve noise that I hear in my mind. I have upwards of 60. 

How does it sound with all the pedals going at once?

Like ****. 

Where can people find your music?

Every Beck album since Mutations, Air 10,000Hz Legend, Ima Robot albums 1 & 2, Ladytron, Goldfrapp, Marianne Faithful, Dido, NIN live recordings, lots of other things. 

Best,

Justin

Stanley Clarke

Wow, the bass at its best.

Stanley Clarke is a double bass and electric bass legend. Hes been one of the top guys for a long time and is a member of the star studded bass trio SMV (Stanley, Marcus, Victor) http://www.smvmusic.com/. Luckily enough Stanley agreed to answer some questions for the blog, the interview will be up soon so follow and stay tuned!!

Jean Baudin

You might know Jean Baudin from his 11 string bass version of Super Mario Brothers, Jean is a multi-stringed extraordinaire and I asked him to answer some questions for your reading pleasure.

Me: How did you start and what inspired you to make music?


Jean Baudin: At first, I tried to play guitar but I had broken a finger that had set wrong, so I couldn't do chords. A friend suggested I try bass because I wouldn't have to play chords. I was inspired to play music because I liked the covers of Iron Maiden albums.

Who are your major influences?


When I was younger, Steve Harris, Fishbone, Bad Brains and Bach. Nowadays, I like listening to music that has just solo music... stuff like Art Tatum or Joe Pass.




What advice do you have for people who want to be a bassist?


I think you just need an instrument to be a bassist. If you want to be a GOOD bassist, you need to put some time in and practice.

What can you tell me about your instruments?


I mainly basses with 9 or more strings. I have custom instruments from Ken Lawrence, Conklin Guitars and JP Basses.


When I first started playing a 4-string bass my immediate reaction was "Where are all the notes?" - I've always felt the instrument was comfortable to play, wide string spacing, longer scale length, bigger frets but I never liked the fact that it had such a limited "speaking" range. It's kinda like the bottom notes of a piano.... I always wanted the range of the piano but on a fretted instrument.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing?


When I started adding more strings, I started to incorporate more tapping into my playing. I still like to play fingerstyle (and slap) but I feel I can take advantage of the range more with two-handed tapping.


How can people gain access to your music?

I have lots of recordings available at  www.jeanbaudin.com My album of solo pieces "Solace" is also available from iTunes and Amazon. I also have an instructional book on tapping called, "The Mechanics of Tapping" available from my website as well.




Any last words?


Thanks for the interview and good luck with your blog!




Photos from jeanbaudin.com

Jens Ritter

Ritter Platinum Concept

In the previous post I featured a bass made by Jens Ritter ( a platinum concept bass) and it received some attention so I decided to write a piece about him.

Jens Ritter is a German luthier, widely recognised for is extreme and cutting edge bass designs. His basses are works of art! He grew up in a small German town crafting with his Dad and learned many of his skills from a young age. He is often referred to as the "Stradivarius" of the Bass Guitar.

The man himself, Jens Ritter looking professional.

After studying at an academy of technical arts, Jens opened his company he also studied Stradivarius Violin-making and engineering which he employs in his designs.


In other words, the guy was pretty much born to make basses!

His creations are of the highest quality and hang on the walls of famous musicians like Prince and Mary J Blige as well as the walls of galleries.

So if you just won the lottery or you just make an honest living, you can probably get one! I would be to scared to play one.... But they look great on wall hangers.

http://www.ritter-instruments.com/

And if you like the blog, do me a favor and click follow up the top!!!

Elegant wood grainage!

Fancy....

Classy.

An incredibly large piece of bling.

Crazy and Wacky Basses

This is gonna be fun!

Lets start with this one, its owned by Basdyret from the Talkbass forums, check it out if you haven't already!

Its a Ritter platinum fretless with blue strings. The guy who makes these wacky groove machines is a German dude named Jens Ritter, his basses usually fetch a high price. I'm talking $5000+.

This bass is a Conklin Pacman Bass, with 9 strings! Its owned by a solo bass player by the name of Jean Baudin (you may know him as the guy who plays Super Mario with a 12 string bass on YouTube) He has done all sorts of cool stuff and has some truly amazing basses so check him out here.

jeanbaudin.com

This one seems to be a Dean explorer type bass, a ZZ Top signature. It kinda looks like a mad scientist from an 80's hairband fused a poodle and a bass together, i cant say I'm a big fan. It probably doesn't sound that great with all that fur but if being flamboyant is your thing then I'm not gonna judge.

http://www.deanguitars.com/zztop/images/zz3_jpg.jpg

Aah the classic washtub bass, not that wacky considering it was once extremely popular but i still think it deserves a mention here.

Snake Bass, pretty self explanatory huh?

Wait! it seems to have eaten a small foot....

A backwards 2 string bass, now this is creative! It belongs to Stig Pedersen from Danish rock band D-A-D. Stig designs his own basses with only 2 or 3 strings because he only ever used the E and the A strings anyway.

Suggested by kenfxj on the TB forums this is a pretty interesting bass. I think its just a cheap Ibanez with a whole lot of stickers on it but hey, it sure is creative. I really like what people do in modding and converting basses into completely different things!

Koi bass and skull bass. Don't know anything about these basses but they were suggested by Ursus Tyrannus from the TB forums.

Now this is really groovy, made by Washburn, its a replica of Bootsy Collins space bass. While it looks cool, I'm not sure how comfy it'd be to play this sitting down :p








washburn.com

And this is the most insane bass collection I've ever seen. Belonging to John Turner from the TB forums, this is a multi stringed force to be reckoned with.

jeanbaudin.com

Here's another Jean Baudin, with 11 strings and incredible tone woods this one is simply stunning, its probably a little heavy though.

I know there are heaps more insane basses out there but these are just a few of my personal favourites. Happy Bassing Everyone!!!