By: Mitch Edwards
Leo Fender and George Fullerton are the founders and inventors of the electric bass guitars that was first introduced in the 1950s. The split up feature of the first bass guitar was introduced in 1957. This feature is the one responsible for producing the humbucking effect attributed to bass guitars. A violin shaped guitar was then released by Gibson followed by a more modern design six years thereafter. Because of the success and popularity of guitars, several small guitar companies followed the ranks of Fender and Gibson and manufactured their own versions of bass guitars. In the 1960’s, rock music became widely popular making bass guitar a common household name.
Wood and graphite are the most common materials used to manufacture bass guitars. But each part of the bass guitar uses different types of materials like alder for the body, maple for the neck, and rosewood for the fretboard. Lacquer, wax and oil are used for the finishing of the bass guitar. Bass guitars are usually flat or curved. Some bass guitars appear to be headless with the tuning machines in the bridge. More expensive types of bass guitars and acoustic bass guitars are usually made of ovangkol, wenge, or ebony.
Electric guitars and bass guitars have similar amplification functions. To connect an amplifier to a speaker, a patch cord is used. Most electric bassists use a combo amplifier, with the amplifier and the speaker in one cabinet.
Musicians who regard playing instruments and creating music as a real career path spend a great deal of their time and effort in practicing and improving their talents on playing the bass guitar. Plucking techniques differ with each guitarist; pizzicato style would be when the strings are plucked with the fingers. James Jamerson played his “The Hook,” a style of plucking that only involved his index finger.
Several musicians from different genres use the slap and pop style of plucking. Funk uses tones and percussive sounds by slapping a string with the thumb and snapping the strings with the index or middle fingers. Rock and Fusion also use this method and this was popular all throughout the 80’s and 90’s.
When a guitarist wants to speed up his play, picks or plectrums is used to make the strumming more articulate and sound perfect and distinct. Picks for bass guitars are thicker and heavier because of its heavier strings.
There are several different bass guitars and amplifiers you can choose from. You can single handedly search online for the best types and even find several accoutrements you might be interested in.
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