• Discover Bass Guitar Basics

• Identify Features of a Quality Bass Guitar

• Select Essential Bass Guitar Accessories

• Find Bass Guitars on eBay Australia

• Buy Bass Guitars With Confidence

• Need More Help?

• Legal Disclaimer

Discover Bass Guitar Basics

Discover Bass Guitar Basics

Bass guitars are simple instruments and many of them share common features.

Bass guitar body

There is no industry standard design for bass guitars. An electric bass guitar has a solid body, which houses magnetic pickups. Magnetic pickups detect the bass guitar string’s vibrations and transfer them into an electronic pulse. This pulse is sent down a cable into an amplifier. Bass guitar pickups come in two varieties: humbucker and single-coil. Humbucker pickups are more resistant to interference, but produce a duller sound than single-coil. Single-coil pickups are susceptible to interference, but produce a bright, clear sound.

Bass guitar neck

The fingerboard is housed on the neck of a bass guitar; each fingerboard is studded with metal frets. Frets indicate where to place your fingers to produce different notes. Chords are produced by holding down the strings in different note combinations. Bass guitars are rarely strummed like an acoustic or electric guitar; notes are produced by plucking or slapping instead.

Bass guitar head

Strings are anchored with tuning pegs on the bass guitar’s head. Tuning pegs adjust a string’s tone by changing the tension of the strings.

Identify Features of a Quality Bass Guitar

Identify Features of a Quality Bass Guitar

Whether you are a beginner or more advanced, it makes sense to buy a quality bass guitar. Quality bass guitars are more resistant to damage and therefore produce a richer tone longer. Plus, it’s more likely to hold its value if you buy a quality bass guitar. That is, the quality will ensure that you will get more money if you decide to sell it later.

There are many brands of quality bass guitars, including the Fender bass guitar, Gibson bass guitar, Ibanez bass guitar and Yamaha bass guitar.

Quality varies greatly with independent bass guitar manufacturers. While some independents buy from large manufacturers and repackage the instruments, others are craftsmen with years of experience who handcraft each guitar themselves.

Bass guitar materials and construction

The body of a quality bass guitar is made from woods like alder, maple, mahogany, and ash. Aside from possessing the strength necessary to support the tension of the strings, the wood has a tendency to resonate at frequencies sympathetic to the pitch of the note and chords played. Bass guitars are covered with a laminate made from plastic or exotic woods for increased stability.

Bass guitars usually have a bolt-on neck and a rosewood, maple or ebony fingerboard. Bass guitar necks can be fretless or fretted. Since the fret designates where the notes should be fretless bass guitars are more difficult to play and tune than fretted boards, but they create a sound similar to that of an acoustic bass.

A good bridge allows you to tweak the strings of the bass guitar independently giving you more control over tone, buzz and comfort.

Condition

Find out how the bass guitar has been used before purchasing it. To ensure that the bass guitar is perfect for you ask the seller a few questions, like where was it stored, how it was used and how old is it.

Split, warped, or bowed necks can all affect the sound quality of the bass guitar. When buying a bass guitar, it is very important to make sure that the neck hasn’t warped at all, to find out if there have been any splits, or if it’s ever been repaired.

Bass guitar heads should be firmly attached to the neck. The nut, which holds the strings in place, should be strong and well maintained. The tuning posts should turn freely and be seated well.

Generally, bass guitars have four strings, but can have as many as twelve. If the strings aren’t in great shape it shouldn’t be a concern as strings are easily replaced.

Select Essential Bass Guitar Accessories

Select Essential Bass Guitar Accessories

Buying the bass guitar is just the beginning. You’ll also need a few essential accessories.

• Bass guitar cases: A guitar case will make it easy to carry while protecting your guitar. You can buy soft-shell or hard-shell cases. Made of durable material soft-shell cases are light and highly mobile, but offer only modest protection. Hard shells offer more protection, but are bulky and heavy. Both soft- and hard-shell cases often have compartments that are useful for holding picks or extra strings.    

• Guitar strings: Guitar strings break. It’s a fact so buy them in bulk and save.   

• Guitar tuners: Electric tuners make it easy (and cheap) to keep your guitar sounding great.   

• Guitar straps: Unless you plan on only playing your bass guitar while seated, you’ll need a guitar strap. Straps distribute the weight of the guitar to your shoulders, freeing your arms to play.   

• Cables: You will need cables to plug your guitar into an amplifier.    

• Guitar stands: A good guitar stand will help keep your guitar out of harm’s way.  

• Instructional books: Using instructional books, videos or DVDs is a good way to learn how to play. Books, DVDs and videos can be a great supplement to lessons.

Find Bass Guitars on eBay Australia

Find Bass Guitars on eBay Australia

Once you know what type of Bass Guitar you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click Guitar, then Bass, and start searching for item listings on eBay Australia.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you concentrate your search by item type.

• Keyword Search: Search eBay Australia title listings for specific words. For example, if you want to find bass guitars, type "bass guitar" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay Australia's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Australia Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay Australia will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Bass Guitars With Confidence

Buy Bass Guitars With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay Australia and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorised payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,500.

• eBay Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.

Need More Help?

Need More Help?

Visit our help pages or start a thread on one of our Community Discussion Boards - If you have a quick question that needs answering, try posting it on our community Answer Centre - there's bound to be a seasoned eBay Australia veteran with just the information you're looking for!

Legal Disclaimer

Legal Disclaimer

Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. Content, trademarks and brands referred to and contained in the third-party links provided are the property of their respective owners, and eBay has no control over and accepts no responsibility for their content. eBay is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.