HELLO!

I am known as "Fourstrings" as I have been a Bassist for about 42 years and I still have a few different basses, and for men there is little problem of picking the bass that they want, for men have upper body stregnth that a female lacks and investing in a Bass such as the Fender Precision ("P" Bass as they are called) Bass, be prepared to carry about thirty pouds over your back for the night of your gig and every gig after.

   I first bought a pair of  "Teisco Kent" Basses from Japan in 1965 called a "Kent Short Scale Bass" and they were twins. They were hollow bodied and narrow, so they were straight away "L~I~G~H~T!"    They also had what is called a "short scale" meaning that the neck is about 4" shorter @ 30 " rather than the std. Bass of 34", which is NOT what I call "THE STD" or the only correct legnth, just a "preferred legnth", which will help your smaller hands wrap around the smaller neck and if you know chords from playing six stringers as I did, then you can use chords, partial chords, and your riffs will be really parts of chords, so you shall know a riff for, let's say an "A minor" as well as an "A" chord, as you run your fingers to different notes from an "A"Minor chord instead of the "A" chord! Easy!~!~!

   (Ex.) I was trying out with a band a few years younger than I who started playing back in 1956 or so on 6-strings, so, when I was asked to play a certain song which involved A7 th's, A's and A-Minors. So the youngster told me that I could go to the "A" notes, and when I told him I would play the  minors as different runs, I thought he was going to pass out as many "kids" just faked it and went for the "A" , BUT!...It  sounds awful to your ears! "I'll play the Minor" I said to him, and I thought that he was getting glossy-eyed as he wasn't a bassist who knew the differences of the riffs and runs. His prior bassists faked the chords.

   As I said: it doesn't sound correct to those who know, and when I played chords to cover the lighter spots, I thought he would drop!(The advantages of the "Short-Scaled Basses")~!~!~!

   Now, back to our female Bassist, I will say this as delicately as is possible: If you are heavier breasted, and you pick a solid bodied, std. 34" scaled bass, be prepared for the migranes of your life, for the added weight on your shoulders will weigh you down and your posture will suffer as your neck, shoulders, back and all of your spine will suffer. You will keep your chiropractor in a wealthy home and car, and you won't know why!

  I gave this advice in "Ampeg Forum" and I heard from some ladies who thanked me for the Physical ease that I added to their playing enjoyment as they no longer suffered those migranes when they went to the music store and one girl bought a Fender "Mustang": short scaled, and shorter necked, and light.

   You also want to try each prospective Bass on with a nice 3" wide shoulder area strap or wider (4" is better, even for men). Make sure the Bass balances well across your arms and it doesn't keep sliding to the sides, (right or left) as it can be a bad battle if you play a gig for 3 to 4 hours w/ just 10-15 min. in between sets.

  I loved to dance and walk back and forth and play with the drummer, for a Bass is really part of the percussion section, as you help keep the timing with the drummer, as I never had monitors as I have two 15" Ampeg BA115E's for side monitors or to spread the bass around and help all to hear you.

   Bass is a different resonance and you will find your self playing down to 50 hertz resonance, which is hardly moving the driver/speakers. Out in the audience Bass is loud, but next to you, you always feel that it is NOT loud enough! So, monitors could help, but I never had them when I played at any venue! I had the Amps made for Basses entirely. I wanted a Fender Bassman Amp as they were impressive, until you try to carry one to the gig.

 My Music shoppe did me the favor in 1965 of showing me the Bass Amp made strictly for the bass instruments, such as the "Double Bass" (or standing bass), Accordians, and Keys. So, he went to the back and showed me the amp of my dreams, but I just didn't know it at the time, and this is for the ladies also. I was introduced to the Ampeg B-15-N & B-18N (X) Port-a-flex, Flip-top Amp from Ampeg and developed by Jess Oliver and his partner Everett Hull.

  I didn't see the amp-head until "Mr. Hall" or "Sam Hall", unsnapped the side clamps on the amp and lifted the head right out of the Cabinet where there was a 54 oz. Magnet, and it put out about 50 Watts..but, it was RMS. They learned that a true Wattage reading could NOT be gotten by cranking the amp up until the speakers blew their cones across the room. They measured exactly WHEN the tubes (as they were tube powered, which is now the fully approved models over the Solid State models) on an oscillascope showed that at a certain number on the Volume dials were to high up and the oscilliscope indicated that it was "CUTTING UP or OFF", which meant that it was too loud for the speakers as well as the entire system to take as the sound started breaking up. Most mfgs. called that the Actual "WATTAGE" that the amp put out!

  But, Jess Oliver and Elliott Hull, stopped when they observed the system "cutting off" at the peaks of power, so they dialed the amp back until the "CUTTING OFF" stopped, and only then did they call the power wattage of the amp. And, that was one reason why an AMPEG AMP put out much more cleaner power than many top amp mfgs. of the time, and they still do! They call the wattage where the cutting off starts and when they backed it off and the oscilliscope steadied out..."that" was the true measured wattage R.M.S.!

   So, us Ampeg owners always got nice clean power at 30 watts than a Fender Bassman got at their cutting off 50 watts! (Only an example and only in my opinion!)

 But, I never suffered with my Ampeg B-15-N which is still going with a replacement of one rectifier tube (5ru4). So, I cleaned it and set her up at home and had a new set of Russian SOVTEK TUBES installed. And, she has a side cabinet to spread out the sound.

  One thing! And, it is for all Bass players. Not everywhere has a P.A. system you can plug your mikes and amps into, so as Jess Oliver and Elliott Hull said, set up alongside of the drummer's hi-hat cymbals, as there you will always hear the timing like a metronome, because as you start, you will definately start to speed up in your songs as you go thru them 1/2 way you will have doubled your timing. So, get a TUNER and Metronome or drum machine to get used to timed music, or people will drop like flies as they start to have heart attacks and dizzy spells from faster, inaccurate timing 1/2 way through your songs!

 I had in mind to FIRST: help a female pick out a guitar, and, especially the bass guitar, but, as I wrote along, I found that we men can also use some tips that we all can use, so I hope that I have helped you in your picking out the Bass of your life, and still stay healthy.

 Oh, yes...P.S.: What else helped me choose the Ampeg B-15-N or the B-18-N( or "X") (w/18" driver/speakers)..my stack has an 18" on the bottom, and the Ampegs were build to last and they were totally boxed in, while Fender and most others opened the back, losing your bass vibes to the rear curtain, but our Ampegs had no openings except where the Bass sound came out:the front ONLY!

   Also, the last straw was that Ampeg at about 80 pounds had a removable dolly with a set of casters, with movable ones in the front and stationary ones in the back, plus, the tubes were NOT enclosed as they were outside of the cabinet enclosed in a screen like cage to be cooled off by the passing air!

   So, I have shown you ladies, or girls or females how to pick your bass and still maintain your physical and profile, but, we all can learn something from Rick, the "Ol'Bassguy"!

 Keep Rockin' and know the bass that you can wear all night and dance into the morning ,  and, it will happen!

"Tatonka-Rick"