Hmm, that doesn't really look like the same bass...maybe the one I played just had a wrong tag or something.

It's possible that it was an out-of-production Schecter bass. The models which went out of production are not shown on their website, and it would explain the low price.

I guess I'll go back tomorrow and ask a few more questions or just buy the bass.

My friends and I are planning on starting a death or maybe thrash metal band. I'm the bassist, as you have probbaly assumed since im on the bass forum, and i was wondering what some good excerises I can do to get my fingers I lot faster for thrash and good excersises for playing death metal bass. Also, what are good metal basses. I know Ibanez make great basses. I currently own a P-Bass and I really like it. Are there many basses similar to P-Basses or should i just stay with Fender P-Basses

Oh yes, some pictures of my bass.

It looks beautiful. What model is it?

Ah, and also, what's up with the dent below the pickup?

Nice bass, really slick.

I am looking into basses (I want to pick up playing bass also!), can anyone tell me what the 5 knobs on a bass are for? Tone, Volume and ... EQ

Also, are Ibanez basses similar to their guitars in quality, because Ibanez seems to make good quality low end guitars.

And, is there anything I should avoid when buying a bass? (budget is around $200)

Well, it could be like one "knob" for each pickup, one for tone, one for activeness (if the bass is active), or something

I find Ibanez basses very good for their price, definitely a great bass for starting out and playing some metal.

It's an EDB600CBF. The CBF is the colour code (Copper Brush Flat). They don't run that colour anymore and they make the model with real wood as opposed to the mysterious 'luthite' material my bass is made out of. I just found this wikipedia link on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthite

The 'dent' is some kind of scallop to facilitate slap-pop technique, that's what Ibanez says in catalogues.



Those 5 knobs are a specific feature of my bass, not a general one. On mine, the two big ones are volume and pickup balance. The three smaller knobs are bass, mid and treble EQ settings (yep, it has an active circuit). All knobs except for volume have a little notch so you know where the midpoint/flat setting is. Most EQ knobs have that feature.

Ibanez basses are pretty damn good, their GSR200 (about £200 in pounds sterling) is the most popular cheap/beginners bass. Has traditional P and J style pickups which give a really authentic, throaty Fender style sound, though the shape is more modern and not as chunky as Fender basses so more of a thinner, brighter sound. I had one as a first bass and I dunno why I was so eager to get rid of it for a better one because it wasn't that bad.

BTW, I'm coming to London on the beginning of July, and I want to try out some 5 stringed basses when I'm there, because in Israeli you can't really find any good models, the variety is really small, etc.
If anyone can recommend me some 5 stringed basses... I need it to be really good with metal, especially the more extreme genres (so it'll sound more than decent with like Drop A tunings and stuff), but still pretty good overall.

Plus, if any Englishmen here can provide me with names or addresses of musical shops where I can find a large variety of basses, it'll be very appreciated.

Go to Denmark Street in Central London, not too far from Tottenham Court Road tube station. Plenty of shops there, including one dedicated bass shop. Everytime I go there I feel like a child in a candy store as they say, sans the money to afford the goods within. Plus there's the Bass Centre which is somewhere between Aldgate and Liverpool Street Tube stations. This is their site http://www.basscentre.com
I really want to go there sometime but I don't even have the money to get a day travelcard from where I live.

What brings you to England?

Just a family vacation.

I'm thinking of buying a bass there, because it'll still be cheaper than ordering from some American site or whatever... Now I'm just conflicting on which one to buy... I'm thinking about a Schecter Stiletto Elite 5 strings, but people keep telling I should be looking for a more expensive and versatile bass, even though I'm almost certain I want the Schecter =\

I am wondering are BC Rich basses just looks or are they quality basses, with a nice appearance.

The BC Rich 5-string warlock I played was pretty sweet. Fast neck, the tone was deep and the strings were a good distance apart.

BC's tend to be all appearance from what I've seen and read. However, if you're willing to put some more money than you hoped down on the table, you'll pick up a very worthy instrument. Oddly though, its actually pretty hit or miss, depending on how well you keep the bass. Magero's seems very appealing and well-kept.

I bought a Samick a while ago, despite never hearing of the company before so. But it was exactly what I was looking for and it sounds great. Can anyone tell me if Samick is considered "good" or not? I like how it sounds, but I'd like to know what most people say.

Also, since I couldn't find a picture of it online, I took a few with the World's Shittiest Digi-Camera:

What particular model is that? Sorry I'm too lazy too check out. Anyways, it does look pretty nice, though I'm gonna tell you to clean up you room

Not sure. When I got it it said Samick 5-String Fretless (I bought it slightly used) and that's all.

Oh, and if you think the part of my room in that photo is bad, you wouldn't wanna see the rest.

Lol I'll take your word about your room, even though I realized the photo is 3 years old.

Slightly used is perfectly ok, since you don't have to go over any limit with money, especially since after a day of playing a new guitar, it will be deemed "slightly used" anyways. If you haven't researched since your last post, Samick is actually a pretty internationally known instrument making company. Although I'd pass up a Samick over another guitar just because of the design, Samick models are pretty reliable.

I can say they've had better days, but Samick (I can't remember if they have a different name now for their guitars) standard models are more worthy than say standard BC Rich's.

Thanks for the info, man. Glad to know I didn't buy a total hunk of junk.

And the photos were actually taken Tuesday morning, just my digi-cam sucks and likes to change the date.

i just ordered a new fretless. a pedulla hexabuzz. i think it would totally fit in more progressive or melodic styles of metal.

my bass collection:
pedulla hexabuzz (6 string)
dingwall AB II (5 string)
conklin groovetools (7)
warwick fortress mm (5)
dean rhapsody (8)

if you look up G.A.S. (guitar aquisition syndrome) youll see my picture as the definition. i also own 4 guitars...
~gR~

Cool to see you've got one of those Dean 8-strings. I've played the 12-string version, that's insane. I could never own one even if I had the money though, would be too much of a bitch to tune.

i think the 12s are a little much. the 2 additional strings are tuned the same. i just dont see the need for it.

back in feb i was in vegas and went to ed romans. played the warrior 15 string. it looked cool, and sounded ok, but thats about it. if they dropped it to a 10 string, it would have sounded and played much better. those additional 5 strings almost create a net to get your fingers caught in. and the sound wasnt different enough to justify it.

i was soooo close to ordering a custom benavente 10 string. but i'm gonna wait until my next deployment. need the cash to buy furniture hehe.
~gR~

I agree that basses with that many strings isn't really necessary, considering a regular one would do the trick for almost anything. However, it does look like you're handling a beast.

well, an 8 string provides a certain sound a 4 string wont. just like different woods provide different sounds. so the only thing a man can do is buy all of em! you gotta have a bass for every style.

those dean 8 strings have a piano like sound. crystal clear but with a suprisingly dark edge to it. i love it for black metal. isnt suited for death metal though.

ive kinda stopped playing my 7 string. its impressive, but the intonation on the low end is sloppy. i gotta tweak it. i think i might slap some picollo strings on it and use it like a chapman stick. tune it ead/eadg or somthing
~gR~

New Thrash/Speed/Prog project seeking bassist in KC/Lawrence area.

feratu22@gmail.com

It's my Bass
WashBurn XB100

I've been lately looking into WashBurns. How do you like it?

I am interested in basses and I am just wondering how basses sound in guitar amps and what kind of guitar amps would be best for playing basses and amps?

Does it come down to each amp, or is there something I should specifically look for?

Has anybody tried the Ibanez SR205? I want to take up bass and heard Ibanez is good. It looks pretty good.

NEVER play a bass through a guitar amp, unless you want to shred the speakers. guitar amps arent set up for the low frequencies that a bass puts out.

for a good bass amp, i would suggest GK. i recently switched from ashdown abm 500 (high end amp) to a GK 1001 RB (mid range). the sound and clarity was miles ahead of the ashdown. my ashdown was really muffled, which was fine when i was playing BC Rich basses, it really smoothed out the grit. but when i bought better basses, the tone from my amp got murky and bland. not to mention the amount of gain my conklin put out was farting out the speakers. GK is cheaper, has more power, and more versitile tone wise
~gR~

I'm getting bored of playing my usual routine of songs now... anyone wanna recommend some new songs for me to play?
I consider myself at medium skills (playing for a year now). I can play most of Death's songs, some Opeth songs (Deliverance, Harvest, Black Rose Immortal off the top of my mind), Megadeth (Lucretia, In My Darkest Hour etc.), and I even managed to play a couple of Dream Theater and Symphony X songs (Beyond This Life and Of Sins and Shadows, the first without the solos, and the latter at a slightly lowered speed), that should give you an idea about my level of skills..
Basically since I'm enlisting to the military in a few days, I stopped getting Bass lessons cause I won't have the time or money for it, so I just need some songs I can practice and maintain my bass skills, if not increase them, until I get released.
P.S since my musical ear isn't that good, I need to be able to find tabs/GP tabs of the songs if I wanna play it...

write your own! learning other peoples songs can only take you so far.

glad to see another military man here.
~gR~ (USAF)

Believe me I fucking tried, but I just can't write anything good. I dunno if it's the lack of experience or maybe I'm just bad at songwriting, but I've been trying for weeks if not months and I have nothing I can say I'm happy with. Not even one riff

SCMugen, IDF Artillery Corps (to be)

Thank you.

Can anyone else please comment on using a bass through a guitar amp?

I really don't want to have to buy two amps.

What is there to comment? Just don't try to play bass on a guitar amp. If you still wish to try it, be my guest, but remember what we told you when you guitar amp will go kaput and you'll have to get two new amps anyway...

Yeah expect your pocket to become empty next time you go shopping, RegularK. There's a reason why bass guitars have their own separate amps, so we just gotta deal with it.

Shit, I thought guitar amps could at least handle basses without blowing up but sound shitty.

This is going to set me back a month, oh well.

Thank you guys for clearing that up.



Ibanez GSR200FM 4-String Bass Guitar

I am wondering if that bass is good for its price?

Well everywhere I go its the same price. As for the guitar itself, check the reviews people give it. I've never held it in my hands, those it looks great and seems to play fine for people. Again, read their reviews to see any problems that possibly may appear.