By: Ricky Sharples
There are basic bits of equipment that you need to include when you buy your first bass guitar. The guy in the guitar store is going to want to sell you a boatload of accessories but you only need a few basic things to make up your basic bass guitar kit. Buying your very first bass guitar is an occasion you will remember for the rest of your life. You have finally made the decision to but a musical instrument and to practice until you can play it. Maybe you've already had some experience at playing the guitar. If so, you will find the bass a little easier to play from a technical point of view but learning how to be a bass player does include some challenges. The first is to get out of the guitar store with some money left in your wallet.
Your new bass guitar is a valuable piece of equipment and you are going to want to keep it safe. So you will need to purchase a bass guitar case. If you are actually going to be transporting your bass guitar to different places for practice or for gigs it is best not to go for one of the cheaper cases. They're a bit on the thin side. Spend a little more money and get a case that has a hard outer shell and some padding inside.
Bass guitar strings come in several types: roundwound, groundwound and flatwound. The most common are roundwound which have quite a bright sound and can be used in all styles of bass guitar playing. Reggae or jazz bass guitar players usually prefer a fairly mellow sound so they will often choose flatwound bass strings. Groundwound strings are preferred by bass guitarists who do not like the finger noise that you get with the other two kinds of strings, and they don't have the extremely bright or totally mellow sound of flats or rounds. Whichever kind of string you use, buy a spare set or two. If you have not made a final decision yet, buy a set of each kind of string to try them out.
Bass guitar players play standing up, so you will need a guitar strap. They are made from vinyl, polyester or leather. Your guitar will probably have one but you might see something in the store that you prefer. There's not a whole lot of difference between the different types of guitar straps, so just make a personal choice.
There is one bass guitar basic accessory that you can go crazy over, and it's picks. Bass guitar picks are cheap and come in many shapes, sizes and colors, a lot like the girls who will be attracted to you when you start playing bass in a band.
A strict rule that all guitar players should impose on themselves is to keep your instrument in tune all the time. You can do it by installing a free tuner on your computer but if you are going to be traveling to gigs then buy one when you purchase your bass guitar. Just get a cheap one to start with. They come in a wide range of prices but they all do the same job.
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