Beginners Guide
So you want to play the bass
Congratulations, you have made the big decision to go ahead and play the bass. Luckily most people want to be a lead guitarist or a drummer. For some this is because they want all the attention, but dont get them wrong, it's because they are fun to play. Bass can be REALLY boring, playing on your own is pretty repeditive after a while. But bass certainly has it's advantages. You get to provide that backround 'thumping' in bands, and generally it's the loudest. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a band in need of a bassist, as there are quite a few of them round, but before you start looking you will ned the following:
Bass Guitar - This is a bassists best freind. So when you get your bass dont be afraid to give it a bit of character. Stickers work well, I personally chose a Holden badge for my bass stuck on with blu-tac so I can take it off when cleaning my stuff. For your first guitar aim CHEAP. Second hand guitars are a good place to start looking, but I wouldn't pay anything over A$300 for a first-timers bass. I picked up an Ashton for A$250 and thats doing me quite nicely. When you get better (and richer) you may want to get a better bass, but for the moment a cheap one will do.
Bass Amp - Note I said Bass Amp which is rather important. The bass amp differs from a normal guitar amp because the bass noise is lower. The speaker needs to be bigger to count for this. If you already have a guitar amp, I WOULD NOT advise it but it is possible to use that, but make sure the bass is up and the treble down. My friend is doing that and he reckons it's alright. Look for a practice amp because you wont need more, even jamming with friends this is good enough. You should look for a 40 watt amp if you wanna jam though. You can pick up practice amps for about A$100 but they are really shoddy. Aim to spend about A$250 - A$350 for your first amp. Once you get in a serious band you will need a bigger amp, which you can pick up second-hand for about A$3,000 for top of the range equipment.
Strap - A must for when you are jamming or in a band, you look like a right idiot sitting down while the rest of the band is moshing. Get one of these early on because playing sitting down and standing up are a lot different. Any old strap will do, it shouldnt break the bank.
Lead - Actually you should get this before you get the strap because the amp is useless without it. Lot's of different types here, get whatever you think you can afford. I got myself a 20 foot lead for A$20. You probably wont need that long though.
Tuner - This is handy for those songs you play in dropped D tuning (E string is tuned to D) and then have to change back to normal tuning. The good electronic ones will only set ya back about A$15.
Pedal - I dont know much about pedals, they change the pitch and distortion and some other aspects. Not all that compulsary, if you feel like spending money for no reason, buy one of these. Not sure of the cost.
Plectrums - a.k.a picks, these come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. The bass picks are the thicker picks, but I use a guitar pick on the songs that need an up-stroke and down-stroke on the same string. About A$0.50 each, they'll usually throw in a couple of picks with the bass if you ask nicely. [see FAQ section for an article on picks soon].
Strings - These go on the bass, and should be there when you buy it. Strings on guitars break quite frequently, but the bass strings are thicker, and more durable. Still those thick picks can wreck havoc on bass strings. Always having a spare set of strings with your bass is a good idea. They come in several different gauges, light to heavy. The thicker the strings the easier it is on your fingers. However, on the E-string pressing down on the 1st fret can get difficult with the thicker strings. These are pretty cheap and come in packs of 4 - 6 strings, depending on how many your bass is supposed to have.
Now you have your equipment - and it should be beutified by this stage - you can get down to some practice! The Tech section of this page has different techniques used on the bass and do's and dont's to remember.