For some picking out the right bass can be a daunting task. In today’s marketplace there are so many to choose from with each manufacturer having their own signature headstock, body and unique electronics, each one touting their instrument to be the best. To most people all basses seem the same. Outside of the obvious exterior characteristics such as the number of strings and different finishes, they all play low tones and are used to carry a root note beat; right? They might all seem to be the same but are they?

I have had the good fortune of being able to play a great variety of basses over the years and I recently received from G&L an L-2500 5 string Bass that has caught both my eyes and ears. I literally pulled this bass out of the case two hours before the evening gig. My first impressions were as follows: This bass has a beautiful “Premier” red burst finish over swamp ash with no pick guard to hinder the full view of the slender body. The neck is made of Hard rock maple solidly bolted to the body with six fasteners and has a beautiful maple fingerboard. Heavy duty chrome hardware, bridge; knobs; switches and custom G&L “Ultra-Lite” tuning keys with aluminum tapered string posts add to the quality of this premium built bass. A real eye catching bass under normal lighting and even more so under stage lights, but the true and rare beauty of this bass is in its amazingly flexible tone and its natural playability factor. Read on and I will explain in further detail.

Bass guitar is one of the fundamental elements in today’s hottest musical styles. In fact, in some music a slick backbeat and a groovy bass line is all you need to compliment a singer or group of singers. Bass players are also no longer confined to the back of the stage tethered to a heavy instrument. With the importance of the bass guitar rising and the advent of cool new body designs – bass guitars are now meant to be seen and heard!

Although the electric bass was first invented in the 1930’s, the double-bass ruled until about 1950 when Fender invented the Precision Bass (or P-Bass). Multiple companies followed thereafter with varying designs, such as one of my favorites, the Gibson Thunderbird, and headless models such as the Steinberger.

We have reviewed many Greg Bennett acoustic and electric guitar designs on GuitarGearHeads; however, for this review we get to focus on two unique ends of the bass spectrum. We were sent the Elan AB-11 Acoustic Bass and the Delta DB5 Electric Bass to test drive this go around; however, you’ll have to read the article for the details!

Here is a quiz for you. I'm sure you won't get the answer. What do the bands the Cure, Yes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, and Kings X have in common? Give up? These bands (as well as countless others) have used distortion to give bass lines a little more edge. In doing some research with players who play more bass than I do there were some very mixed reactions on bass distortion. The "purists" like a super clean bass that sort of thumps out the root note. The "industrialists" wanted nothing but crushing walls of sound - the more the better. My question to them was "Is there a way to get both?" Meaning, is it possible to get that clean root note that can be heard over a thick wall of distorted thunder?

My answer was typically a blank stare. I wasn't sure this was possible without multitracking or using switches to lead to multiple bass amplifiers. The best option clearly comes in a much simpler (and smaller) package. For my bass playing brethren, I bring you the Juggernaut Bass Distortion Pedal from ProCo sound!

Without question, Leo Fender was a visionary, and when he founded G&L and began producing guitars in the Fullerton, California factory on Fender Avenue he forged a legacy of craftsmanship, creativity, and quality. Each guitar in the main G&L line is a custom instrument, finely tuned to exacting standards. Because of this level of detail and attention, these guitars are highly desired but often out of reach for the everyday musician. That is until G&L introduced the Tribute line of guitars and basses. Using all of the modern capabilities of the Korean luthiers, like CNC machines and precision machining, G&L was able to capture the essential features and unique properties of the main G&L line while maintaining a surprisingly attractive price point. When I asked Dave McLaren of BBE Sound, Inc. (the parent company of G&L) about the Tribute line he sent me a gorgeous Tribute L2000 Premium bass guitar to review. I suggest you read the whole article for the details, but I can tell you right now that I was more than impressed by this amazing instrument!