Bass training

[nilorius]

Hi! Wanted to know what You all think about the best way to train the playing skills on bass. Myself - I mostly train not connected at all, as my instrument Ibanez GWB1005 gives me a good acoustic sound. What do You prefer - not connected, amplified or headphone variant ?

[Lozz196]

I prefer connecting to a practice amp, and playing along to music either on YouTube or saved files.

[Bunion]

Waza air bass has improved my practice time 3fold, with multimedia and just jamming with the drum patterns built in.

sound quality is excellent and when I get locked In with the headphones on I can tune out around me and just play. 
I do occasionally pick up a bass and play ‘raw’ but I’m soon reaching for the Waza.
 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Bunion

[Ed_S]

Preamps and audio sources into a mixer and then out to a pair of good headphones is my preferred setup. I favour rack mount so that everything is wired in and ready all the time. All I need to do is pick up a bass, plug in a cable, put on my headphones, flick two power switches and press play on the audio source.

[chris_b]

I'm currently using a couple of BF One10's but seriously toying with the idea of getting a headphone amp.

 

My music source is the laptop and silent practice would enable me to play later in the evening.

[neepheid]

It depends how lazy I'm feeling.

 

Super lazy - Jack Casady unplugged

Less lazy - whatever bass is nearest into Yamaha Sessioncake/laptop or phone/headphones 

[Odin5491]

Choose my Helix as the audio output (via USB) for my computer and I’m sorted. I can practice to drum grooves/backing tracks/songs played on my computer through headphones, my studio monitors, or my bass rig, by selecting the appropriate output on the Helix.

[Boodang]

Small mixer with bass and laptop connected. Mostly headphones but sometimes monitors. Always connected up and ready to go but the main thing is, I've made it a nice and comfortable environment to be in. My roc'nsoc drum throne with a back rest has also made a big difference and well worth the money.

[meterman]

For 30+ years I’ve practiced unplugged and either working out my own lines, or playing along to the hi-fi on low volume.

 

Very rare that I plug into an amp to practice.

 

Bass isn’t my main instrument and I  don’t need everyone to hear my bad timing and constant mistakes. I save that for gigs 😂

[Len_derby]

My at-home playing is mostly on a short-scale Stagg acoustic bass guitar. It’s always out and ready to be picked up. 

[Happy Jack]

With my rock'n'roll band, I rehearse chiefly by gigging. 🙄

[Franticsmurf]

Either a small mixer to play along to whatever I'm learning and headphones (my neighbours are great but badly played phrases on the bass, over and over and over and.... you get it -  after 9pm would be testing their greatness too much) or through a Zoom B4 (with the track I'm working on on the Aux in and using headphones). If I need to audition a sound I'll use whatever set up I'm planning on gigging. If I need more volume I usually arrange to be at the rehearsal early for some 'me time'. 

[Leonard Smalls]

Through the amp with whichever bass is nearest at the time - sometimes with fx and sometimes without.

[Saul Panzer]

Mainly I play without an amp for stamina and muscle memory stuff (noodling, scales and such.)...it's kind of like a comfort thing having my bass on my lap but that's not so much practice.
I can definitely hear the bass acoustically but I also hear myself getting sloppy in a way I don't tolerate while using an amp. 

More often I switch from using my amp, going straight into my PC and using a small VOX pocket amp...depends where I am at the time and what I'm trying to do, they all work well enough for me.

[jonnybass]

Mixed response here, mostly I plug in to the mixer and have the computer in another channel, sometimes my phil jones breifcase, and sometimes unplugged.  All depends how I feel.

 

Jonny

[Dankology]

For running scales & arpeggios and general noodling it's a fretless Crafter acoustic that lives in the front room.

 

Sometimes before a gig I'll play along to a rehearsal recording and plug into a Laney 2x10 combo but invariably not with the bass I gig with - and usually one strung with flats rather than my gigging rounds.

 

I may need to have a look at this.

[MichaelDean]

I normally just do it acoustically. I don't want to annoy the neighbours or wake up our baby with turning my amp on. I have just ordered a Mooer Prime P1 as a little treat for getting a promotion at work. I'm hoping that I use it for practice more.

[tony_m]

Bass > Tascam MP-BT1 loaded with mp3s of all the songs we do (in set order, plus a few random ones I'd like us to do!) > headphones.

 

Spend most of my practice time playing along with the mp3s, though I do also occasionally work on scales or noodle etc. without any backing tracks.

[StingRayBoy42]

I like an amp for home practicing - it feels more like the real thing to me.

Laptop into decent hifi speakers for listening/playing along with.

A headphones option is a good thing to have - most decent practice/bedroom amps have aux in and headphone out now, I think?

[fretmeister]

I have no preference really.

 

Quite happy to play unplugged for sight reading practice or for low level play-a-long.

 

I enjoy using an amp for loud play-a-longs but that's more for fun than practice.

[dclaassen]

I like to use my gigging amp when running through gig music. Other times, it’s just the bass, which is really easy to hear unplugged. I find I can hear different things this way.

[naxos10]

Similar to a few others I play through a practice amp and feed tracks from a Tascam GB10 or stream via an Amazon echo into the aux socket.

[Quilly]

I signed up to Scott Devine's course, it seemed great value for money and a great course however I just didn't have the time to get the most out of it. 

[BigRedX]

When I'm writing I'll start off unplugged as it allows me to concentrate on the notes and my ability to play them properly. Also I can pick up the bass an start working instantly without needing to set up any additional equipment, plus I won't get distracted by trying out different sounds.

 

I'll only plug in one I've got to the point where I'm working on the arrangement and need to be able to hear the other instruments and the actual sounds I'll be using on the bass become important. Then I'll use a combination of Helix, DAW and monitoring on headphones.

 

I'll finally switch to speakers once the whole band are working on the song or general band rehearsal.

Edited August 5, 2022 by BigRedX