Wearables for the Female Bassist

I've always had a hard time finding bass themed shirts for females, so I decided to design my own through Zazzle. Below are links to a few of my bass themed shirts for sale.

"All about that bass" with bass guitar graphic T-Shirt
by Nature_Doodles

Bassist with bass clef T-Shirt
by Nature_Doodles

"Drop it low" bass guitar headstock silhouette T-Shirt
by Nature_Doodles

Stagg Upright Electric Bass...on the way

My upright bass from 2007

Once upon a time (in 2007), I took double bass (aka upright bass, contrabass, bass fiddle) lessons in college, and as a result, I bought the cheapest, local upright bass I could find. The neck felt like a 2x4, but hey, it played okay and I didn't have much cash to spare at the time being a night/weekend college student and full-time mother of two small children in diapers. I'm not sure how it happened, but I somehow managed to fret away (haha) my private lessons talking about gear, learning very little on the actual instrument. By the end of the semester, we were jamming together to Led Zeppelin tunes--with me on electric bass instead of upright. I regret not learning more than I did, especially since I was invited to play upright in the local community band by the head of the music department. (Of course, he didn't know what he was asking since he hadn't heard me play upright). Soon after, I sold my upright bass (it never left my townhouse the whole time I had it) to a lady who wanted instrumental wall decor and continued to focus on the electric bass. I swore that one day, I'd return to the upright bass (when my kids were older) and learn to play it as well as the electric bass. My kids are now thirteen and eleven years old, so I figure the time has come. Yesterday, I ordered a Stagg EDB-3/4 electric upright (for portability) and I'm waiting (im)patiently for it to arrive. I've read good reviews about this bass and I'm excited to see what I can do with it when it arrives (hopefully by next week). Stay tuned!

Stagg EDB-3/4 electric double bass

 

Read the specs here.

Pedal Lineup (to date)

As a general rule, I don't play using pedals that often, but I still love having them around just in case I'm feeling like a change.

Here's my current lineup and video links where you can hear how they sound.

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (bass): As far as fuzz/distortion pedals go, this has been my go-to over the last few years when I want to add a little extra growl to my bass lines. Listen to it here.

Electro-Harmonix Bassballs: This is a funky little envelope filter pedal with optional distortion. I like to use it when I'm doing octave driven bass lines.  Listen to it here.

Aguilar TLC Compressor: For controlling my dynamics, this is the pedal I use (a gift from my husband).   Listen to it here.

Fender Mustang (PJ) Bass (2017)

Not sure what it is about being bedridden with a bad cold, but I tend to make large purchases when I'm in bed for long periods of time (once in a blue moon). This last month was no exception. A new issue of Bass Player magazine came in and flipping through its pages, I came across a review of the new Fender Mustang bass (with PJ pickup configuration). Since I bought my Gibson SG bass, I've been stuck on short-scale basses. I've had several Fender basses before and I have to admit that after playing them for a while, I always decided to sell them in favor of basses more comfortable to my smaller hands. Hence, the short scale bass. Until I read the review in BP magazine, I hadn't realized Fender made any short scale basses. After watching a few video reviews on the newer model of the Fender Mustang bass, I got on Reverb and ordered one. The following Saturday, it arrived, and after slapping some flat wound strings on it (I only play flat wounds these days), it was ready to go. As much as I love my Gibson, I have to say that this bass is a little more comfortable to play, neck-wise. It sounds great, especially with the toggle set in the middle to activate both jazz and p-bass pickups. It weighs a bit less than my Gibson too, so it has become my go-to if I'm just practicing at home.

Fender Mustang Bass PJ (2017) in Olympic white w/mint green pickguard

Fender Mustang Bass PJ (2017) in Olympic white w/mint green pickguard

Fender Mustang Bass PJ (2017) in Olympic white w/mint green pickguard

Read more about it from Fender.


Here's a little video of me messing around on it with Brad. (I'm running it through my Ampeg Micro-CL 100-watt amp).

Gold Tone Microbass (fretless) acoustic/electric

Years ago, I bought an Ibanez acoustic/electric bass and an Ibanez electric fretless bass. Neither one gave me quite the sound I was looking for in either an acoustic or a fretless bass guitar. Last year, I tried an ESP LTD fretless electric bass and it wasn't bad, but I just couldn't fall in love with it the way I wanted to love with a fretless bass. An upright bass was out (I'd had one of those before too) because of limited space issues and I'm not quite ready to try an upright stick bass yet (next on my list, though). Last spring, I bought a Gold Tone Irish tenor banjo (4-string) and loved it, so when I saw that Gold Tone made an acoustic/electric fretless micro bass (23" scale length), I was over the moon. The strings are Aquila high-tension polymer (looks and feels like rubber) which gives it an upright sound--another bonus feature of this little bass. And, best of all, it's perfect for travel. 

Read more about it here from Gold Tone. 

Here's a little video clip of me jammin' on it a few days after it arrived. (I'm playing through an Ampeg Micro-CL 100-watt amp).

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz/distortion pedal (Bass version)

A few years after I started playing, I came across Muse's "Hysteria," and like every ambitious player, I just had to learn the bass line. Looking into Chris Wolstenholme's gear, I found that he had used an Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi pedal (the older guitar version) for that particular song. So, naturally, I bought one. It worked okay, but I wasn't really getting the low end that I wanted, so a year or so later, I sold the pedal and forgot about it. This Christmas, however, my husband surprised me with the bass version of the Big Muff Pi pedal and after relearning the "Hysteria" bass line, I found that I liked this pedal much better. I'm experimenting with the pedal on some original tunes, so hopefully, I will get a lot of use out of this one!

Christmas Day 2016 and my new Big Muff Pi pedal

Gibson SG bass guitar

Since 2015 was the last year Gibson made the Gibson SG bass*, I decided to bite the bullet and get one (last October) before they were gone. I think this is my favorite bass of all time (and I've had a few basses throughout the years). The width of the neck took a little adjusting to (I'm so used to my Ibanez SDGR neck), but boy is it FAST!! With a little minor tweaking out of the box and new D'Addario flatwound strings, my new hellboy was ready to rock. And, I'm not sure why, but this bass smells like a cherry tootsie pop (seriously). Every time I take it out of the case, I want to take a lick. If you can get your hands on one of these basses--DO IT! You won't regret it.

*update: Gibson is now making these basses again as of 2018