Paul Pickguard
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US $.99
This little essay on how to play bass guitar is aimed at the guitar player who needs to enter some kind of witness protection program but still maintain a tenuous connection with the world of music. This has proven to be a great way to keep your anonymity while staying in the public eye. The bass guitar player in a rock band maintains the rhythm of the song while the lead guitarist is checking out the chicks in the audience, and the drummer is recalling what decade he is in. To change to this subservient but useful role in a musical group requires a little understanding of the difference between a bass guitar and a real guitar together with some idea of bass guitar playing technique.
Theoretically any guitar player can switch from lead to bass although only one guitarist of note - Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake And Palmer - made a career out of it. It was rumored that he thought it would be a good way to stop attracting women. Actually he constantly switched between lead and bass while maintaining his position as lead singer. Clearly a guy with issues.
Anyway let us get onto the main features of a bass guitar. The standard tuning of a four string bass guitar is E A D G. The tunings are similar on the five string bass except for a low B string, and on a six string except for a high C string. So on a 6 string bass the tuning is B E A D G C. There are also seven string basses with a high F string.
There are several ways you can tune a bass guitar but as they are the same as those used to tune a regular guitar, I will not mention them. As with other guitars you tune the bass guitar by loosening the string and tuning up to the note you are aiming for. Tune each string separately being careful to match the sound of the string to your bass guitar tuner. While we are on the subject of tuning, be sure to do a search for a free online bass guitar tuner.
On the electric bass guitar, the music is made by plucking with the index and middle fingers or with a pick. Early Fender basses had a "thumbrest" attached to the pickguard, below the strings. This was to rest the fingers while the thumb plucked the strings. The common perception is that the pick is used by rock bass players but players of all styles have their own individual techniques, sometimes using thumb, fingers or pick according to the sound they want. The guitar can sound different if all upstrokes, all downstrokes or alternating strokes of the pick are employed.
Some bass players such as Les Claypool and John Entwistle played using their fingernails similar to a classical acoustic guitarist. There is controversy among musical historians over whether bass guitarists who pluck with their fingers are innovators who have explored new horizons or they simply were not told about plectrums.
Playing the bass guitar needs a certain amount of speed and dexterity, and bass guitar music will demand that you develop your own style. For inspiration listen to the most popular and influential bass players of past generations such as Paul McCartney, Pino Palladino - the replacement bass player for John Entwistle in The Who, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jaco Pastorius - called by many musicians the most innovative bass player ever, Mark King - a very fast English bass player, and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.
Ricky Sharples has been playing guitar his whole life, and is presently engaged in building a blog called Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free Ricky's blog features free tools, lessons and resources for guitarists of all ages and stages. Ricky updates the blog regularly so if you are interested in learning to play guitar there will be an enormous variety of tip, tools and tutorials for you.
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ProLine Les Paul Pickguard Creme $7.5 ProLine Les Paul Pickguard Creme |
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Proline Les Paul Pickguard Creme $7.95 ProLine Les Paul Pickguard Creme |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Gold $9.57 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Gold |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Chrome Prizmatic $8.45 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Chrome Prizmatic |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Creme $19.33 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Creme |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Black $19.33 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Black |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Nickel $8.45 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard Bracket Nickel |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard With Screws Creme $19.33 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Creme |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard With Screws Black $19.33 Gibson Les Paul Pickguard with Screws Black |
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ProLine Les Paul-Style Pickguard Cream $7.99 Cream-colored 2-hole pickguard for Les Paul guitar. |
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Gibson Les Paul Pickguard - Cream $19.99 This pickguard is compatible with most Les Paul guitars for a proper fit and features a cream finish for a stylish look. |
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DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set White $279.95 DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set White |
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Gibson Les Paul Custom 5-Ply Pickguard with Screws Black $20.83 Gibson Les Paul Custom 5-Ply Pickguard with Screws Black |
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Dimarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set White $279.95 DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set White |
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Gibson Les Paul Custom 5-Ply Pickguard With Screws Black $20.83 Gibson Les Paul Custom 5-Ply Pickguard with Screws Black |
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Gibson Historic '59 Les Paul Pickguard - Cr?me $32.99 This pickguard is compatible with most Gibson Les Paul guitars and features a historically correct design. |
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Gibson Historic '56 P-90 Pickguard - Cr?me $19.99 This pickguard is compatible with most Gibson Les Paul guitars and features a cr?me design for a classic look. |
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Proline Carved-Top Solidbody Electric Guitar Pickguard Cream $7.99 Cream-colored 2-hole pickguard for carved-top electric guitars.Designed for Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone Les Paul and other similar electric guitars |
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DecalGirl GHLPBLACKDP Guitar Hero Les Paul Skin Black DP Pickguard $29.36 Since 2003 DecalGirl has been manufacturing fullcolor removable vinyl skins for laptops cell phones game consoles iPods and other devices. DecalGirl was the first on the skin scene With thousands of designs to choose from on hundreds of devices we have a skin for you All skins are manufactured right in our Milton Delaware facility. DecalGirl GHLPBLACKDP Guitar Hero Les Paul Skin Black DP Pickguard |
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DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set Black $279.95 The DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injector Prewired Pickguard Pickup Set requires no soldering and includes pickguard, pots, knobs, and 3 well-designed pickups: the Injector Neck (neck), the Area 67 (middle), and the Injector Bridge (bridge). Easy to install, they'll bring a collection of Paul's favorite tones to your Strat-style guitar while reducing noise.DiMarzio first heard about Paul Gilbert in the 1980s. Billy Sheehan reported about an amazing 18-year-old who had recently arrived in California and had blown everyone away with his musicianship, speed, and awesome technical ability in Racer X. DiMarzio immediately asked Paul to become an endorser. It was the start of a great relationship. Recently, Paul has been heavily into DiMarzio Area pickups. He's also been playing a lot of Racer X-style instrumentals, so the time was right for signature Paul Gilbert single-coil sized DiMarzio pickups. The outcome of this teamwork is the new Injector Neck and Bridge Model pickups.Injecter Neck (neck)The Injector Neck Model has a modern rather than a vintage sound. It's warmer and louder (160mV output) than a typical vintage single-coil and of course it's hum-canceling. It's also faster. The Injector Neck Model tracks high-speed solos at high gain without becoming either thin or muddy, and has a very full, well-balanced, clean sound. It has about 40% less magnet-pull than standard single-coils, and this is essential for the superior speed and dynamic range with which this pickup responds to pick attack.Paul's setup on the guitar he played on Fuzz Universe was Injector Neck Model in the neck, Area 67 in the middle, and Injector Bridge Model in the bridge. The Injector is a lot louder and warmer than the Area 67 but the combination produces varied tonal colors in the 2 and 4 positions, with the Area 67 alone providing vintage tone and the Injector Neck & Bridge for heavier sounds. Area 67 (middle)The Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 was a watershed event in American music. When it was over, the world had heard and felt the sound of a Strat in the hands of a master. Single-coils in 1967 were bright and very clean. And, of course, they hummed. DiMarzio captured the classic bright and clean sound but totally eliminated the hum with their patented Area technology. They also reduced magnet pull by 40% for improved sustain and clarity. The Area 67 has the chime of 60s pickups, and the 2 and 4 positions are light, bright and quack-happy.Strat pickups in the late 1960s used full-strength Alnico 5 magnets. The patented magnetic field of the Area models is more efficient and focused than it is on "true" single-coils, which allows us to use Alnico 2 instead. There's much less magnet pull, but no loss of output. This is a major advantage in the neck and middle positions, where sustain and intonation can both suffer if the strings are exposed to strong magnetic fields. In t |
