There was a pointer to this great video of Michael Manring explaining his Zon Bass lurking in the comments to “What I Hate Bass Licks” (a must read post if you haven’t read it already – masterfully written by Steve Uccello. In the video Michael explains how the Zon Hyperbass came about.

So, to the business of setting up a Bass Guitar. Tuning aside – do start with that first! – string height is the number one adjustment on a bass. There are all sorts of reasons that string height adjustment is needed, from changing string type and fret wear to changing weather conditions and playing style.

Todd Johnson and Jim Stinnett have  been busily writing and filming “Fishin’ For Grips” – a tutorial on Melodic Harmonization for Bass Guitar. The Book and DVD combination is due out on June 1st and  priced at $40 for the set. Fishin’ For Grips is designed to be the definitive approach to learning chord-melody on the bass […]

A long time ago in Getting Back into the Groove there was mention of “meditating on your bass” but a recent discussion with Kalin in the comments on the Road Worn Fender Jazz Bass post got me thinking about it again, especially this comment: “I was never a fan of quick-fixes. It takes time to make things dear to one’s […]

Lots of the newer bassists who come to chat end up asking about fretless. I was interested in fretless bass from the earliest days of my playing. Partly because of the Jaco influence, but also because when I started playing there were a number of bands in vogue that featured fretless (Japan, Paul Simon, The […]

Not heard of the three finger technique before? Steve Lawson pointed me to this lovely Qik interview he did with Alex Webster , bassist with death metal band Cannibal Corpse.