Bass Articles

One thing we always hear in store is the question of active vs passive basses. Lots of people, especially new players, just don’t understand the difference between them. It’s easy to explain the surface-level differences: active basses have a battery, extra output, and often an EQ, while passive basses don’t have those things. But the…

The bass player’s job is to lock down the roots of the chords. You provide a foundation for the rest of the band to sit on, not just harmonically, but rhythmically too. But only playing one note over and over for the length of each chord is not the most exciting thing in the world.…

Is the KSM Foundation Bass Bridge a good choice for a beginner? One thing we hear all the time is, “I’m a beginner, I don’t need to go upgrading my bass. I won’t notice a difference!” Well, let me tell you why the KSM Foundation is perfect for bassists of all skill levels.  For Beginners…

What’s the story behind the KSM Foundation Bass Bridge? How was it invented? Why was it invented? I’d like to tell you everything that our founder thought about while going through this process! Kevin Moore has always been involved with repairing and building guitars. Back when he was doing a lot more repair work, he…

The first bass guitar I ever got was a cheap Silvertone with a thumb rest, and for the first few years of my bass-playing career, I was something of a thumb rest evangelist. Resting my thumb on top of the pickups always just felt a bit too awkward and cramped, and for my punk rock-loving,…

In terms of genres where the bassists really get a chance to shine, gothic rock is quite possibly second only to funk. While pretty much every genre has its fair share of virtuoso bassists and fantastic, memorable basslines, early gothic rock bands like The Cure, Joy Division, and Siouxsie & the Banshees gave rise to…

Let’s talk about hooks. Put simply, a hook is any musical idea that’s meant to catch the ear (hence the name). When you hear a really great song for the first time and can’t stop humming that one catchy guitar riff or vocal line from it: that is that song’s hook, the part you remember…

In recent years, the term “lo-fi” has been tossed around a lot in the music world, specifically in reference to “lo-fi hip-hop”, a form of downtempo electronic music that has garnered immense popularity through online live-streams curated by DJs like ChilledCow. Especially amongst younger listeners, the term “lo-fi” has become largely synonymous with this type…

Roundwounds or flatwounds? As a bassist, this is a question I often find lingering in the back of my mind whenever I spend a little too much time poking around a guitar shop. Most bassists are aware that they have a handful of options when it comes to string types, but it’s fair to say…