Bass Guitars

Although Fender still owns a big share of the Bass Guitar market, they certainly have plenty of competition from both major guitar manufacturers and boutique factories. Never before have bass players had such a wealth of instrument choices to suit individual playing preferences. Here are just a few examples:

As Fender’s primary guitar competitor, Gibson has had some limited success in the Bass Guitar realm. Their most popular models are the Thunderbird and the EB-3, both of which have humbucking pickups. Humbuckers have dual coils and are characterized by a fatter sound with more midrange and less high end than single coil pickups. The zig zag shaped Thunderbird, the bass counterpart to their Firebird, is popular with rock and heavy metal music, with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx and Kings of Leon’s Jared Followill as some of the T-Birds’s most visible users. The short scale EB-3, shaped like Gibson’s SG guitar, became the favored bass of Jack Bruce and is still preferred by artists like Mike Watt of the Stooges. Gibson carries a few other Bass Guitar models, but none have achieved the status to date of the Thunderbird and EB-3.

Gibson’s Epiphone line are made in their Qingdao, China factory. While Epiphone does make budget priced copies of their Gibson bestsellers, they also have some unique brand models. Most outstanding is the Jack Casady signature model, which is based upon the relatively unsuccessful Les Paul signature bass of the 70’s. A thin hollowbodied full scale bassl, Casady personally oversaw the redesign of the low impedance pickup for his Epiphone namesake model, and proudly plays stock factory Jack Casady basses on stage and in the studio. The warm, flexible range of sounds from this instrument has found a wide range of fans from the alt-rock and jam band music scenes.

Despite being built in the USA, the Rickenbacker 4000 series basses became synonymous with British rock. With a slim neck and unusual body shape, the Rickenbacker can sound like a completely different instrument with flatwound strings, as used by Paul McCartney with the Beatles and Wings, versus with roundwound strings, as used by Chris Squire of Yes and Lemmy of Motorhead. The Rickenbacker’s stereo outputs and bridge foam damping units are features rarely offered from other manufacturers.

The Japanese made basses from Ibanez and Yamaha have found many professional fans from around the world. Ibanez has carved a very strong niche in the heavy metal field and their 4, 5 and 6 string basses boast thin, ergonomically designed necks, passive and active (battery powered) electronics, and an enviable level of quality control and value that has garnered a loyal following. Their Soundgear series is still a best seller, and they have broken new ground with their Grooveline, Iceman and ATK models. Ibanez GIO models, made in Indonesia, have solid construction, very easy to play necks, passive electronics with active EQ boost, and both Jazz Bass and P-Bass pickups for a versatile, very inexpensive package. Ibanez also carries a hollowbody Artcore model.

Yamaha has had considerably greater success with its basses than with its electric guitar line. Jazz fusion superstar John Patitucci, heavy metal virtuoso Billy Sheehan and Eric Clapton band stalwart Nathan East are all Yamaha endorsees. Their TRB series (which offer a 35” scale), RBX and BB series have a wide range of models for discriminating musicians of all budgets.

On the boutique side, Michael Tobias has become one of the most revered names in the Bass Guitar industry over the last two decades. His custom models command very high prices but his factory made MTB basses offer many of the famous Tobias features at a more affordable price.

Modulus, which was an early pioneer in the use of graphite and composite materials in combination with wood for making instruments, has a number of models for sale, some of which are popularized by Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Spector, Fodera, Sadowsky, Kubicki, Alleva-Coppola and Warwick are just a handful of the other top notch boutique brands available to bassists. Options range from exotic hardwoods, like zebrawood or walnut, active or passive electronics, hardware choices, body shape configurations and inlays that will suit just about any musician’s wishlist.