How to Choose a
Bass Guitar
Bass guitars are fairly straight forward with some small differences from one to the next.
The two main topics we'll go over are:
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Number of Strings
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Pickups
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Most bass players will not need more than 4 strings on a bass, but we'll go over the benefits of it none the less.
Number of Strings
Pickups
A pickup is an electronic component placed beneath the strings of the bass that "pickup" the sound and send it to your amplifier.
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Without getting into too much detail, the two main types of pickups are Single-Coil and Dual-Coil (also known as Humbucking or Humbucker pickups).
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Due to the nature of pickups, Single-Coils can pickup more buzzing and interference. Having two coils in a single pickup causes a "canceling" effect on the humming/buzzing.
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Bass guitars with single coil pickups often have two of them seated closely together to act as a dual coil.
Single-Coil
Dual-Coil
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Brighter Tone
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Better Clean Tone*
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More Hum/Buzz
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Darker Tone
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Better Distorted Tone*
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Less Hum/Buzz
Most people prefer Single-Coil pickups for playing a cleaner style of bass (such as Jazz) and Dual-Coil pickups for heavy music (such as Heavy Metal and Hard Rock). With that being said, playing Jazz with humbuckers or Metal with Single-Coils wouldn't be a problem at all.
Basses usually come equipped with 2 pickups, sometimes they're the same and sometimes they are a combination of Single and Dual.
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The most common number of strings on a bass is 4, with the second most common being 5. It is rare to see (or need) more than this.
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The extra string on a 5 string bass is thicker and tuned lower than the lowest string on a 4 string, which can allow you to play some lower notes.
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While some people enjoy this, others find it a needless feature and prefer 4 strings.
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If you're a beginner and this is your first bass, I'd recommend sticking with a 4 string bass as you will have a wider selection and you'll get better value out of your bass, as a 5 string could be more expensive.