All about that bass
The horizontal bass has a vague history. Many bassists believe Leo Fender was the first creator of the horizontal bass; but, they’re not completely right. Though Fender made the “ Precision “ bass ( which was the first good sounding bass ) there were at least 4 prototypes before that. The modern bass was a grandchild to the seventeenth century double bass. The first notable change was in the nineteen-twenties by a man named Lloyd Loar, which at the time worked for a notable guitar producer called Gibson. He added electrostatic pickups on a small handheld bass; but, no sound could really be produced since the first electric amp we created in the nineteen-forties. The nineteen-thirties were an odd time for a bass guitar. …show more content…
These are the main components to the bass. Though it is more complex. The headstock, which is what the tuning keys and the strings are mounted to. Next the strings are pulled over the nut, which holds the strings in place, then over the fretboard. The fretboard is a crucial part of any string instrument. When the string is pressed on a fret, it produces a note. When the notes are played together you get chords and that is what makes up music. Then the chords go over the pickups. Pickups are really, really interesting. Pickups come in all varieties, shapes, sizes. First let's start off with what a pick is. A pickup in its simplest form is a copper coil that creates a magnetic field and when the string is plucked it disrupts the field which makes a signal that is sent through the amp cable to the amp where you hear the sound; but, there is more! There is an active pickup and a passive pickup. A passive pickup is where the pick up sends a direct signal from the string, through the wood of the body, to the pick; which, then sends it to the amp. Passive pickups produce an organic tone; yet, there is a downside to passive. Passive pickups can create a lot of feedback, especially when gain from the amp is used. While active pickups have a consistent, balanced tone. Active pickups have a separate power supply in the form of a small 9v battery in the body of the bass. No matter the style of the guitar or bass, with …show more content…
This generally a metal bracket that hold the strings in place. Speaking of the strings, the strings are probably the most important part of the bass. Without the strings, there wouldn’t be any noise whatsoever. Strings always have a core material and shape and a wrap wire around that. Let’s start with the core. The core is generally made from nickel. Then from there it gets a little confusing. The core string is either round or hex. Round is associated with vintage tones, and has a lot of sustain because the wrap wire has complete contact with the core wire. Whereas hex has a consistent tone and little sustain because the wrap wire only has contact with the edges of the core wire. Then there is types of string. Roundwound, flatwound, halfround, tapewound, and taperwound strings. At the core, the wire is hex or round. The most common string is the roundwound string. It tends to be wrapped in nickel or stainless steel, which gives it that metal sounds. Flatwound is a flat, seamless wrapped string that gives a vintage sound with no string drag and it gives a darker tone. Then there are the two odd ones, tapewound and taperwound. Tapewound is a nylon wrapped string that produces a dark, jazzy tone ( darker than flatwound ). The taperwound strings are a bass equivalent of a piano string, meaning that the strings get smaller, the closer they get to the bridge giving it a bright tone. All of these components used to give bass its tone
The horizontal bass has a vague history. Many bassists believe Leo Fender was the first creator of the horizontal bass; but, they’re not completely right. Though Fender made the “ Precision “ bass ( which was the first good sounding bass ) there were at least 4 prototypes before that. The modern bass was a grandchild to the seventeenth century double bass. The first notable change was in the nineteen-twenties by a man named Lloyd Loar, which at the time worked for a notable guitar producer called Gibson. He added electrostatic pickups on a small handheld bass; but, no sound could really be produced since the first electric amp we created in the nineteen-forties. The nineteen-thirties were an odd time for a bass guitar. …show more content…
These are the main components to the bass. Though it is more complex. The headstock, which is what the tuning keys and the strings are mounted to. Next the strings are pulled over the nut, which holds the strings in place, then over the fretboard. The fretboard is a crucial part of any string instrument. When the string is pressed on a fret, it produces a note. When the notes are played together you get chords and that is what makes up music. Then the chords go over the pickups. Pickups are really, really interesting. Pickups come in all varieties, shapes, sizes. First let's start off with what a pick is. A pickup in its simplest form is a copper coil that creates a magnetic field and when the string is plucked it disrupts the field which makes a signal that is sent through the amp cable to the amp where you hear the sound; but, there is more! There is an active pickup and a passive pickup. A passive pickup is where the pick up sends a direct signal from the string, through the wood of the body, to the pick; which, then sends it to the amp. Passive pickups produce an organic tone; yet, there is a downside to passive. Passive pickups can create a lot of feedback, especially when gain from the amp is used. While active pickups have a consistent, balanced tone. Active pickups have a separate power supply in the form of a small 9v battery in the body of the bass. No matter the style of the guitar or bass, with …show more content…
This generally a metal bracket that hold the strings in place. Speaking of the strings, the strings are probably the most important part of the bass. Without the strings, there wouldn’t be any noise whatsoever. Strings always have a core material and shape and a wrap wire around that. Let’s start with the core. The core is generally made from nickel. Then from there it gets a little confusing. The core string is either round or hex. Round is associated with vintage tones, and has a lot of sustain because the wrap wire has complete contact with the core wire. Whereas hex has a consistent tone and little sustain because the wrap wire only has contact with the edges of the core wire. Then there is types of string. Roundwound, flatwound, halfround, tapewound, and taperwound strings. At the core, the wire is hex or round. The most common string is the roundwound string. It tends to be wrapped in nickel or stainless steel, which gives it that metal sounds. Flatwound is a flat, seamless wrapped string that gives a vintage sound with no string drag and it gives a darker tone. Then there are the two odd ones, tapewound and taperwound. Tapewound is a nylon wrapped string that produces a dark, jazzy tone ( darker than flatwound ). The taperwound strings are a bass equivalent of a piano string, meaning that the strings get smaller, the closer they get to the bridge giving it a bright tone. All of these components used to give bass its tone