The Bass thread

[just_call_me_six]

favorite bass: anything weird looking

favorite bassists: steve harris, cliff burton

[J.S.3otR]

i play an ibanez bass with an acoustic amp.

the best bass player of all time is steve harris, and i like victor wooten too. well skillwise i might have them backwards but i like harris more just because he plays the kind of music i listen to..

sorry for the bump. i just was eager to find a bass thread so i searched for it

[Camerjoe]

I play a Ibanez SDGR.

Favorite bassists
Les Claypool - My kind of music
Victor Wooten - The god of all

Victor is for sure the most skilled bassist I have come across, yet, Les Claypool is my kind of bassist.

Keep this Thread going!

[Astronomer]

So by now most of you are probably aware that I want to learn bass pretty badly... I still haven't made my purchase yet because I'm having second thoughts.

Is it possible to learn the bass if you have really small hands and fingers? Because my hands are quite tiny. I can play piano and guitar amply but everything about the bass is just fatter. They are strong and flexible, just small.

Thoughts, opinions? Apologies for the copious amount of questions.

[Farfisa]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

So by now most of you are probably aware that I want to learn bass pretty badly... I still haven't made my purchase yet because I'm having second thoughts.

Is it possible to learn the bass if you have really small hands and fingers? Because my hands are quite tiny. I can play piano and guitar amply but everything about the bass is just fatter. They are strong and flexible, just small.

Thoughts, opinions? Apologies for the copious amount of questions.

Alot of small chicks play bass... for example, Rika mm, Elizabeth Hart, Paz Lenchantin. It feels really weird trying out a bass for the first time if you play the guitar. I have relatively big hands and it still felt a little awkward. Well anyway why not try a short scale bass first...

[Neapolitan]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

So by now most of you are probably aware that I want to learn bass pretty badly... I still haven't made my purchase yet because I'm having second thoughts.

Is it possible to learn the bass if you have really small hands and fingers? Because my hands are quite tiny. I can play piano and guitar amply but everything about the bass is just fatter. They are strong and flexible, just small.


Thoughts, opinions? Apologies for the copious amount of questions.

(Unless a person is 6'5" everyone is kinda small to play bass)
As far as having small hands it shouldn't matter too much when playing bass. because you can just switch positions (move around on the fretboard) to play one note to the next,
So if you want to play bass but are apprehensive because of small hands look for shorter scale bass. I have a Fender Musicmaster Bass (Vista Series). It's 30" short scale bass, a regular Fender bass is 34" long. Having a shorter scale bass make it so much more comfortable to play then a regular bass.

[Antonio]

honestly, when you start practicing bass, expect to stretch out your fingers a bit, but no, having small hands isn't that big of a setback.

[Astronomer]

Awesome, thanks for the advice everyone. If I do eventually buy one I might look at getting a shorter scale one. Are they still as common as regular length basses though? 'Cause I'm thinking I might check out a second hand place and my options may be limited.

[mr dave]

consider flea and the way he plays (and played) his bass.

he's about 5'6". as in, about 2 inches taller than the average north american woman, or... a short guy. with appropriately sized hands for his height (as in not freakishly huge)

have you tried any actual basses yet? borrowed one from a bandmate for the weekend just to fool around a bit?

[Astronomer]

^ Oh all the time. Whenever mates come over to jam I always hop on someone's bass and fiddle around... it's one of the reasons why I've decided to take it up because I just love its groove and how it feels to play it... more chunky (I can't really explain lol) than piano and guitar, other instruments I've learned.

But despite fiddling around on mate's basses lots I'm still worried that having small 'delicate' (I guess?) hands will be my downfall when I try learning the instrument in more detail and progressing further. A lot of people say bass is physically harder to play than guitar/ piano and I guess this is what I'm a bit worried about.

Anyway, I have a friend who is selling a bass and amp. I'm not sure what make it is yet but as far as I've heard she is selling it pretty damn cheaply so I might go for it!