Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘electric bass guitars’

In the 1950s, Fender put out the very first mass-produced electric bass guitar that anyone could purchase to start their music career. Quickly after its release, the Fender Bass Guitar found a place with some of the most popular musicians of the day like William ‘Monk’ Montgomery, Lionel Hampton and Roy Johnson, who had unique musical visions and visionary players in their bands, taking the Fender electric bass and making it a respectable, important instrument in the musical landscape. Within a moment of the Precision Bass being released by Fender, another electric bass guitar was brought forward by Gibson. This new bass guitar looked more of a violin than the Fender bass. Now, electric instruments were here to stay and play a significant role in the musical industry as we now know it.

Fender bass guitars have changed very little since their introduction, despite a few cosmetic changes over the years. There is a significant demand for original vintage Fender basses from the fifties, sixties, and even seventies, because Fender began to create basses that significantly deviated from the original models and they were met with extreme dissatisfaction from many bass players.

Despite the huge conflict about which makes a better bass guitar, you can now find bass guitars in many shapes and materials. Which guitar you want to get depends on your sensibilities. Wood is the most normally used construction material for bass guitars. Different types of woods are, however, being used, and received well, such as alder and ebony as well as graphite. The sound of each different variety of guitar varies, and as such you should try out each one in order to find your preference. An additional, most professionals select whether or not the neck should have frets. This gives a distinctive effect on the guitar’s sound, as a bass missing frets will have the strings vibrate on the wooden neck itself.

No matter the style of bass anyone would purchase, they are fun and have aided in making music more entertaining to listen to.

Electric bass guitars require external amplification in much the same way that standard electric guitars do – and for the same reasons. There are several electric bass guitars with a hollow body, similar to that found on acoustic guitars, and this helps to provide some extra tone to the voice. However, electric bass guitars still require external amplification to be heard, and to provide the voice which is required.

There are two basic types of amplifier that can be used by those who play electric bass guitar. The first of these is the combination or 'combo' amplifier, and this has the amplifier unit and the speaker built in to one unit. Typically this is a large, often black unit with a large speaker grill at the front, and the amplifier unit built in to the top layer, with the buttons, dials and switches at the front. The second kind of amplifier is one where the speakers are entirely separate, and the amplifier connects the guitar and the speakers through its own system.

For beginners and those on lower budgets the combination amplifier unit is an excellent choice, and has proven to be very popular amongst players for many years. It offers versatility with convenience, and often these units are built to be portable, with carry handles built in to the top of the box, and allows them to be carried without fear of being easily damaged. On the other hand, for the more experienced player the separate amplifier and speakers arrangement provides the choice of each – giving more versatility and greater freedom of choice when it comes to each individual piece of equipment. Some guitarists prefer certain types of amplifier, or amplifiers that provide specific features that may not be found on the more generic combination units.

When it comes to recording electric bass guitars, this is often achieved by completely by-passing the amplifier, and instead connecting the guitar directly in to the sound recording equipment, and then providing external amplification from this. By setting the guitar up in this way, a truer sound quality is produced, rather than recording acoustically a sound which has been created electronically. This is for much the same reason as electronic keyboards are recorded in the same way, as the external speakers may hinder or reduce the eventual quality. Recording the electric bass guitar by directly connecting it to the sound recording equipment also provides the artist and the studio to create and apply extra effects, possibly digitally, by directly manipulating the original electric signal. This helps to ensure that there is no degrading of the quality, as well as providing even greater flexibility.

In addition to amplifier units there are also such items as pre-amplifiers which can also be used to apply certain effects, or alter the voice of the guitar in some specific way. For example, pre-amplifiers can sometimes be used to affect the way a guitar sounds, helping to re-create the sound of a different brand of guitar, such as older models or those used within specific branches of music.