The first comprehensive book on American-made electric and acoustic bass guitars, American Basses offers a wealth of well-researched information about all of the important builders, from one-man shops to the biggest manufacturers. Hundreds of full-color photos illustrate the wide range of instruments available, and special insider essays take you step by step through the bassmaking process, from concept and design to final setup. Includes how-to tips from top builders and designers on topics such as: neck and bridge setup; active vs. passive pickups; bolt-on vs. neck-through design; tonewood characteristics; defeating hum and buzz; string angle and tone; and more. "What a book! I feel much closer to my bass guitar after having read American Basses." - Will Lee, Bass Player for The Late Show with David Letterman
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About the Author
Jim Roberts, author of How the Fender Bass Changed the World, and founding editor of Bass Player magazine, lives in Ithaca, NY, and has been playing bass since 1970.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
American Basses: An Illustrated History and Player's Guide,
By
This review is from: American Basses: An Illustrated History and Player's Guide to the Bass Guitar (Paperback)
The book presented very well with good information supplied. The book does however, double up on certain manufacturers if they were involved with more than one company. The pictures are good quality. My only grief is that the author could have focused more on construction techniques than just an encyclopedia of american basses.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book,
By Dragonco (Menlo Park, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: American Basses: An Illustrated History and Player's Guide to the Bass Guitar (Paperback)
Full of interesting information for a bass player. Also some interesting techniocal information on care and maintenance of basses.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Profiles Many US Basses, but Some Builders Omitted,
By RandyMolson (State College, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: American Basses: An Illustrated History and Player's Guide to the Bass Guitar (Paperback)
This book is a useful historical profile of major bass builders, and an interesting read. There are plenty of color photos to balance the detailed biographical and product line descriptions for a wide range of US bass manufacturers. Cover to cover, the reading gets tedious because the writer follows similar patterns for presenting the narratives. Toward the end, the founders' quotations begin to sound like a broken record, and many of the product line descriptions read like press releases.From reading this book, I get the feeling that the author sent out a bunch of survey forms to all big US bass builders and a handful of favored one-person shops in the early 2000s, compiled their responses; then added a few defunct builders that he thought were important enough to merit inclusion. What struck me most was the omission of a number of early, defunct builders who were very much part of bass history - the Renaissance Plexiglas bass and the Bartell Black Widow bass come to mind right away. I am sure there are others. That said, aside from a database type publication such as Blue Book, this book profiles more bass manufactures more thoroughly than any other bass reference that I have seen, the production quality is good, and it passes as an interesting read for the gearheads who read this type of stuff for enjoyment.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
What is a bass guitar? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
available fretted, bass builders, headless bass, scroll basses, alder body, solidbody bass, swamp ash body, graphite necks, acoustic bass guitar, piezo bridge, poplar body, bass prototype, roger sadowsky, bass building, curly maple top, building basses, electric uprights, maple neck, bass design, maple fingerboard, fingerboard radius, passive pickups, bass market, alder bodies, last fret Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Leo Fender, Ken Smith, Les Paul, Ned Steinberger, Carl Thompson, Ernie Ball, Kenneth Lawrence, San Francisco, Michael Tobias, Rick Turner, Stuart Spector, Jerry Jones, Los Angeles, Starfire Bass, Travis Bean, Dan Armstrong, Mike Lull, Modulus Graphite, New Jersey, Baby Bass, Phil Lesh, Roger Sadowsky, Stanley Clarke, Valley Arts New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
What is a bass guitar? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
available fretted, bass builders, headless bass, scroll basses, alder body, solidbody bass, swamp ash body, graphite necks, acoustic bass guitar, piezo bridge, poplar body, bass prototype, roger sadowsky, bass building, curly maple top, building basses, electric uprights, maple neck, bass design, maple fingerboard, fingerboard radius, passive pickups, bass market, alder bodies, last fret Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Leo Fender, Ken Smith, Les Paul, Ned Steinberger, Carl Thompson, Ernie Ball, Kenneth Lawrence, San Francisco, Michael Tobias, Rick Turner, Stuart Spector, Jerry Jones, Los Angeles, Starfire Bass, Travis Bean, Dan Armstrong, Mike Lull, Modulus Graphite, New Jersey, Baby Bass, Phil Lesh, Roger Sadowsky, Stanley Clarke, Valley Arts New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 20
books:
See all 20 books this book cites
- Music Technology (How Does It Work?) by John Hilvert on page 21
- Rickenbacker Book Pb (Guitar Profile S.) by Steve Howe in Back Matter
- The Gibson Les Paul Book: A Complete History of Les Paul Guitars by Tony Bacon in Back Matter
- Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker by Richard Johnston in Back Matter
- The Guild Guitar Book by Hans Moust in Back Matter
See all 20 books this book cites
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