bass guitar upgrade

[Terry DoyleParticipant]

Hi,

If you had a Squire bass would you bother adding a new bridge for sustain and tone or would you just get a proper Fender?

I am looking for a basic round, sustained sound that can be the bass (sic) sound on different sessions where I would later add some distortion or extreme EQ for effect but the starting sound needs to be good.

Thanks,

Terry

[broadwayjoemorrisParticipant]

Hi terry My name is Joseph, "Broadway" Joe here at PLP. I've been playing and recording Bass guitar for a living more than 45 years. I have been through all of this stuff. I think unless the bridge of your bass is causing some other type of problem, say it rattles someplace won't intonate properly, is placed at a weird angle to the nut so the strings don't line up. I would leave it alone. Sometimes too much mass in the bridge will pull the strings funny in the nut and make some notes "choke". I find there are many other things that mess up sustain on the bass that are more critical than the bridge to keep in mind. I would say left (or fretting) hand technique, plays the greatest roll in this. When I was dealing with this problem I was just grabbing the string too hard. If you keep a good bend in your wrist with your thumb in the middle of the neck and try to touch your 2nd finger with your thumb through the fingerboard, then lighten up your touch with both hands, you'll get all the sustain and tone you need. You have a recording device so set a click and record single notes for as many bars as you think they need to sustain. After some practice you'll hardly need your thumb on the back of the neck. It is only there to keep the string from rattling against the fret board. If you still can't get your notes to ring long enough after you lighten the grip of your fretting hand then you'll need to practice classical vibrato technique like the cellist use. This is different from the method guitar players use. Don't pull or bend the strings out of pitch and back. Instead, after you play your note roll it between your thumb and fretting finger. I practiced this by pretending I had the bass neck in my hand, playing a note. Then I would cup a small box of stick matches in the palm of my hand and pretend to play a note while applying the vibrato. When you can hear the match box shake you're on your way. I am sure there are cello guys on YouTube who can show you. The last thing I would say is how long do you ever need one note to ring before you play the next note anyway? I can make my bass ring all day. But I would rather not! I've recorded tracks with Squire bass and way cheaper basses. Some of them were great. You might have a great one. So record your bass and listen back. A lot! Unless it makes some horrible noise, hum or racket or just won't play in tune, I'll bet you are good to go! Hope this helps. your Pal, Joseph, Cheers

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by broadwayjoemorris.

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