Bass & Music
Playing bass guitar has been with me since the high school rock band days. There’s something unique about the bass’s role in music. You’re the bridge between rhythm and harmony, providing the foundation that everything else builds on. Everyone notices the guitar solo, but they feel the bass line.
My Setup
Bass Guitars
Giannini Bass: The OG. This is my high school rock band bass, a $50 instrument I’ve since modified heavily and tuned to perfection. Well, as perfect as a $50 bass can get. There’s something satisfying about taking a cheap instrument and making it play better than it has any right to. New pickups, proper setup, action dialed in just right. It’s become a completely different instrument.
Squier Jazz Bass: Picked this up used and fell in love with it. The Jazz Bass design is a classic for a reason: versatile tone, comfortable neck, sits perfectly in a mix. This is my go-to for actually playing these days.
Amplification
Meteoro Demolidor - Brazilian amp, gets the job done for home practice and small jams. “Demolidor” means “Demolisher” in Portuguese, which is a bit optimistic for a practice amp, but I appreciate the confidence.
Effects
Here’s the thing: I only buy Boss pedals. It’s an OCD thing. The uniformity, the reliability, that classic Boss look on a pedalboard. You should see my tool collection: full DeWalt yellow, no exceptions. Brand consistency is a sickness I’ve chosen to embrace.
The Board:
- Boss Tuner - Because playing in tune is non-negotiable
- Boss Equalizer - This was the first thing I ever bought with my own earned money. Still use it constantly. (Second purchase was the amp, third was an Xbox 360 controller for PC gaming. Priorities.)
- Boss Bass Overdrive - When you need some grit
- Boss Octaver - For those fat, synthy moments
- Boss Synth - Honestly, I still have no idea how to use this properly. I just fiddle with the knobs and occasionally something cool happens.
The Custom Pedalboard
I built my own pedalboard out of wood, because of course I did. Used fancy Brazilian hardwoods (Tamarindo and Peroba) with traditional woodworking joinery. No screws, proper joints, the whole deal.
It’s overdue for a rebuild. Need something bigger now that the pedal collection has grown. But that means finishing my woodworking workbench first, and that project has been sitting in the backlog for three years now…
Playing Style
I gravitate toward:
- Fingerstyle - Classic bass tone, where the feel comes from your fingers
- Groove-based music - Funk, R&B, soul - music where the bass carries the pocket
- Rock - Classic rock bass lines, the stuff I grew up playing
- Brazilian music - MPB, bossa nova - there’s a sophistication to Brazilian bass playing
The Luthier Itch
I’ve caught the bug for instrument building and repair. Already rebuilt my dad’s 12-string guitar almost from scratch: new frets, new nut, new bridge, the works. Bringing an old instrument back to life is incredibly satisfying.
The long-term plan is to build my own custom bass from scratch. Design the body, pick the wood, wind the pickups, the whole process. But first I need to finish that damn workbench.
Connection to Other Hobbies
Woodworking
The pedalboard was just the start. woodworking and lutherie are deeply connected - understanding wood, grain direction, how to join pieces properly. The skills transfer.
Electronics
Understanding electronics helps with:
- Pedal maintenance and repair
- Pickup winding basics
- Signal chain and tone shaping
- Cable making
Car Audio
Car Audio projects give me appreciation for:
- Speaker design and acoustics
- Frequency response and how bass works in different spaces
- Sound reproduction quality
Goals
- Develop solid groove and time feel
- Build repertoire of songs
- Build that custom bass (after the workbench)
- Maybe play in a band again eventually
- Record some actual bass tracks
Related
- electronics - Audio equipment and signal chain
- woodworking - Pedalboard building, future lutherie
- cars - Car audio connection
- gaming - Rhythm games scratch a similar itch