Just released by Fender, behold the Jaco Pastorius Fretless Jazz Bass. This is a great sounding, extremely well-made instrument. The price tag reflects that, but if you can afford it, this is probably your dream bass unless you play death metal or something. Alder jazz bass body, 20-fret bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fretboard with dot inlays, 2 vintage jazz pickups. Get some.
What makes a “great” bass guitar? If you ask every bassist, you would probably get a bunch of different answers. For me it is its “feel”. More specifically, the feel of the neck. You can always replace the pickups, try different strings, etc, but you need to like the neck. That Gibson Thunderbird does look pretty sweet, and lots of people play it so it must be good. But then you actually get to play it and the neck is huge, and you have small hands. This is gonna be difficult. A lot of brands use the same necks on almost all of their guitars/basses, so one ESP bass is going to feel very much like the next ESP bass. At least get to know the brands’ tendencies. As a general rule:
Metallica recently announced a release date for their latest album, Death Magnetic, which is due out September 12th. This will be the first studio recording with new bassist, Robert Trujillo. Dates for the corresponding tour were also announced. Some of the dates are with Lamb of God, some are with Down, both should be pretty awesome. Go check them out, unless you live in the south that is, in which case prepare for a serious road trip.
It gets on my nerves when people assume that bass is easier or requires less skill to play than a guitar. I think the beauty of the bass in any form (electric, acoustic, brass, upright) is that is can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. You can get by with root 1/4 notes most of the time if you are learning a new song, and then eventually you can really go for it. I have played bass in two different bands and I had a lot of fun with each of them. I did not feel inferior to the guitar player, we had different objectives, we did not compete. Playing shows with my friends were some of the best times in my life.
I am not going to say that one musician is “better” than another, but here is a list, in no specific order, of 4 bassists you should at least know about.
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