For the beginners, it can be pretty daunting trying to find out more information about the various types of bass guitars that you can find. And each of the bass guitars does produce different types of sound, hence suiting songs of various genres. Hence, it is pretty important that you read the following guide on the types of bass guitars that you can find.
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Guide To Types Of Bass Guitars
Essentially, there are four different types of bass guitars that you can in the market. Each of them, as mentioned earlier, have sounds that differ from one another. As such, the bass guitars that you find can suit genres of various types, ranging from jazz music to rock music.
Acoustic Bass Guitar
Acoustic bass guitars are one of the most common types of bass guitar that you can find in live bands as well as on the stages. Usually, the acoustic bass guitar has four strings that are tuned to E A D G.
An acoustic bass guitar can be identified by its large hollow body.
Electric Bass Guitar
The electric bass guitar is perhaps the bass guitar that is most commonly used by musicians around the world. They can be identified by its solid and futuristic bodies. Their bodies are usually made with plastic material and sometimes metal. It is more commonly seen on stages for the small gigs to the large-scale events. Their sound has to be amplified, and as such will always need to be paired with a bass amplifier to bring out the sound from the guitar itself.
Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar
Since the acoustic bass guitars can be pretty low in volume, there are pickups that are in the acoustic bass guitars itself. The pickups can either be magnetic, piezoelectric or both and can be connected to a bass amplifier to magnify its sound. And such a guitar is termed as the acoustic-electric bass guitar. Their outlook is pretty similar to the acoustic bass guitar, just that the acoustic-electric bass guitar have pickups and can be connected to the bass amplifier for a louder volume.
Semi-Acoustic Bass Guitar
The semi-acoustic bass guitars are partially hollow, and the sound mimics that of an acoustic bass guitar as well as the electric bass guitar too.
Parts Of An Electric Bass Guitar
As we move along this vertical, we will now need to know the different parts of an electric bass guitar and how our selection will determine the sound that will come out from the guitar itself. The above picture will show you a quick overview of the different parts of the electric bass guitar.
Neck
The neck of the guitar will have an impact on the sound that is being created. Typically, there are two different types of necks. Most bass guitars have a length of 34″ for the neck, and there are some with shorter necks. Those with the shorter necks are termed as the short scale bass guitars. As the shorter neck will mean a lesser distance between frets as well a lower tension in the strings, it is fairly common to see new guitarist using the short scale bass guitars.
As for the construction of the neck itself, there are two different types of style that you can find. The bolt-on and neck through types do have its own merits, so the choice will really be determined by your preference. In all honesty, it depends on your level of care towards the bass guitar itself. For people that are more clumsy, then the bolt-on necks will be much better as they can be easily replaced in the event of an accident.
For musicians who wish to have a sustainable sound, we will recommend the neck-thr0ugh, as the construction style allows for the sound to sustain in the air for a long period of time as compared to the bolt-on style.
Strings
Typically, the bass guitar can either come in the 4, 5, or 6 string variant, with the 4 string bass guitar being the most commonly played bass guitar. As you can expect, the more strings there is on the bass guitar, the lower the sound it can go. So a 6 string bass guitar can produce lower sounds or higher sounds than the 4 string variation. If you are just starting out on the bass guitar or if you have smaller hands, then the 4-string bass guitar will be the one that you should buying.
The main challenge when it comes to buying the bass guitar with more strings is that you will need more effort in maintaining the sound of the guitar itself. As we all would know, there are times at which we might accidentally hit on the wrong string while we are playing the guitar. As such, the sound might not be intended at all. As such, if you are considering purchasing a bass guitar, you will need to look into your playing style and your tendency to hit other strings unintentionally.
As to which string you should get it, it will be determined by your skill levels as well asthe type of music that you are going to play. Usually, a four string bass guitar will be suitable for most of the music that you will play. If you are looking into playing a song that will need to hit the higher or lower notes often, then a 5 string variant will allow you more flexibility instead of moving up and down the frets often. Which brings us to the next part of the bass guitar.
Frets
There are only two type of layouts of the frets, which is fretted and the fretless. Most of the bass guitars that you find are the fretted version. The best way to notice this is the presence of the steel vertical things that divides the neck into parts. The purpose of the frets is to help the musician to hit the correct tones.
Fretless basses are known to provide a warmer and rounder tone. While it may seem to appeal to many, fretless bass guitars should be used only by professionals or experts who really know where is the correct position to hit the notes that they wish to hear.
Pickups
The pickups are the main object in the eletric bass guitar, whose sole purpose is to translate the vibrations from the strings to electrical signals, which should be detected by a connected amplifier who will produce the real sound out.
If you take a look at your electric bass guitar, there are usually two pickups that are available. The one closer to the bridge produces a sharper and higher sound. The pickup nearer to the fretboard creates sounds that are smoother.
As for the design and style of the pickups, it comes in both the humbucker or single-coil pickups. The former is created to fight feedback that is very common when using the single coil pickups. Also, humbucker pickups are known to provide a warmer and rounder tone.
Material Of The Body
This should be quite simple to understand, that the material of the body will determine the type of sound that comes out from the guitar itself. Typically, for a wooden body type, there are six different bass body tonewoods.
| Type | Purpose |
| Alder | Full and balanced tones |
| Agathis | Balanced tones in the low mid range |
| Ash | Full and bright |
| Basswood | Short sustain |
| Mahogany | Warm heavy tone |
| Maple | Clear tone. Most popular choice |
Conclusion
Now that we have gone through the basics of the bass guitar, you should have a better sensing of which type of bass guitars will suit you and the music that you wish to play, Do check out our reviews of the various gears as well as guitars before making your choices!
