The most important aspect of any rhythm track is the relationship between the drums and the bass, Tony Watson takes up the cause of the unsung hero of the rock band, and explains why four strings are better than six.

IT'S HARD TO overemphasise the importance of bass. In recent months, records like Tyree's 'Turn Up The Bass', bands like Tim Simenon's Bomb The Bass and even humble ghetto blasters promising the delivery of 'HyperBass' have all pointed towards a fetishism for low frequencies in music. Yet despite its current hip status, bass is nothing new. In its most fundamental application, bass lends tuning to drums and is vital in building up a rhythm track. In discos and nightclubs the most successful records are the ones with the best basslines, because people only dance to the bass. While most dance records in 1989 are driven along by the pulse of a bass synthesiser, in the majority of all other areas of music, the four-string bass guitar still reigns supreme.

Despite the importance of their role within a band, the average bass player is often neglected. It's the lead guitarists and singers who are normally hailed as the rock gods, while the poor bassist is often seen as just part of the backing band, along with the beer-swilling drummer and the (obviously) poofy synth player. Yet despite this there's still a certain fascination about the bass guitar that many just can't resist. Maybe it's because logically a guitar with four strings must be easier to play than one with six, despite the fact that in the long run it isn't. Alternatively many just see it as the non-stop groove machine and just desire to be hip. Either way, the market for bass players and their equipment has multiplied five-fold in the last ten years, and there are no signs yet that that growth is slowing down. If you play bass you are much more likely to be constantly in demand than any number of run-of-the-mill widdly widdly guitarists.

Many moons ago, when I was a young lad of about 16, I got my hands on my very first bass guitar. It was a copy of a Fender Precision bass, but unfortunately the only resemblance it bore to the Fender was its shape. The sound was awful, the string action was so high it made me dizzy and the neck felt very much like the tree it was made from. But I was blissfully happy with it for quite some time, because as far as I knew, all basses were like that. Unfortunately many budding young bassists can, and often will, unwittingly follow my example when buying their first instrument.

About a year later I had a bit of money to spare and a rather overwhelming will to spend it. So off I nipped to my local music shop and lo and behold there was an amazing looking Rickenbacker copy hanging on the wall. Five minutes later I had parted with the entire wad, and was the proud owner of a wicked looking, but rather duff bass guitar. The actual sound was probably worse than that of the Fender copy, and although the neck felt considerably better, the frets wore right down to the fingerboard in less than a year. Cheap or what!

That was the situation back in the 70s, but what is the situation now for someone itching to get their hands on their first mega-groovy bass machine?

Age and a few bad experiences have taught me not to be so reckless when choosing a new bass guitar, and I now know what to look for and what to avoid. It certainly isn't wise to go out and buy an instrument for its looks or because you can't be bothered to save up enough money to buy the instrument you would be happy with. Having said that, you should never spend more than you can really afford on your first instrument because you may become bored of the hours of continuous practising required, and the bass may end up as an expensive piece of ornamentation adorning your bedroom wall.

So what should you be looking at when choosing a bass? Well, as you've probably gathered by now, there are several contributing factors, which need to be looked at one at a time. But before we move on, it's important to point out that in order for any stringed instrument to be played properly and sound its fest, it needs to be set up correctly. This involves string height, string length (intonation) fret height and the like, and for a detailed explanation you should see the April '89 issue of PHAZE 1. Unfortunately many of the instruments you'll come across in the shops won't be set up very well and therefore won't play or sound as they should. Before you try one out, it may be worth asking a shop assistant to set it up for you. Often he or she will tell you "It's just been set up mate, its the way you're playing it", but be careful. To avoid someone pulling the angora over your peepers I would strongly advise taking along someone who has had some bass playing experience to help decide if it's the instrument that's badly set up, or that in fact the very nice shop assistant is being extremely honest after all.

Now where were we? Ah yes. What should you be looking for when buying a bass guitar?

Firstly you have to examine the price brackets, as this is generally the major consideration for the first time buyer. A glance through the PHAZE 1 buyers guide should give you an idea of what's available for the amount of lucre you have to spend. How much that is depends obviously on what you can afford, but sometimes it may be wise to look in other price brackets as well. Does that make sense? No? Well suppose you are in the £100-200 price bracket, or even the £500-600 price bracket. Both of these will offer you a large range of basses to choose from, although in the lower category you're more likely to find some instruments which I shall call "undesirable", for want of a better adjective. Don't worry too much, because you can also find some rather good examples within the range and with many dealers giving generous discounts nowadays, some of the slightly more expensive models will probably fall into this category.

Within the £500-600 range you're going to find an awful lot of good basses, but unfortunately some may seem to be lacking in certain areas to warrant the price asked of them.

Now onto the actual instruments themselves. I shall break them down into their major components and look at them individually.

Firstly the neck. (That's the long thin bit, with spots running down the front, rather like a giraffe with acne). At first glance they all look very much the same, but how they feel to the hand can vary greatly. Some are wide across the fretboard and very oval on the back, whereas others may be narrow on the fretboard and shallow on the back. Personally I prefer a narrow thin neck as found on the Fender Jazz bass, but if you've got very large hands you may find a wider, fatter neck more comfortable. The neck needs to be very slightly concave (bowed outwards) and all the frets must be of an even height all the way down the fretboard. In addition, the strings shouldn't buzz or plonk when a fretted note is played.

Next we'll look at the hardware and in particular the machine heads. Obviously these are going to keep the bass in tune whilst you're playing, so quality is important. If they look cheap and nasty they probably are and in which case I would leave well alone. There's nothing worse than an instrument going out of tune every five minutes. Having said that, most of the budget instruments currently on the market have abandoned the cheapo chromed plastic machine heads that plagued so many of them five or six years ago.

At the other end of the strings we find the bridge and generally you'll find that most of these are adequate in their function. As long as the bridge looks sturdy enough, is adjustable for height and intonation and doesn't have any sharp edges to cut your little pinky to shreds when you're thrashing away in your bedroom (practising, you pervert), it should be OK.

Now onto the all-important electrics. These consist of one or more pickups, volume and tone controls. On basses with more than one pickup there will be either a pickup pan control (a rotary control balancing the volume at which the front pickup works against the rear) or a three way pickup selector switch, which switches between pickups, but with separate volume controls for each.

If you're really lucky you may even get some active electrics. This means that you get a small battery powered pre-amp fitted inside the instrument which basically boosts the tone signal, giving the sound more punch and clarity than a non-active (passive) instrument.

As for the pickups themselves, it's impossible to give anything apart from a rough guide to the types of sound you can expect to hear, as every manufacturer has a different idea of what sounds good. There are three basic types you're likely to come across. Firstly there is the precision pickup, taking its name from the Fender Precision bass on which it was first used. This is a single pickup split into two parts, with the upper half mounted forward of the lower half. This type of pickup gives a warm, mellow sound and is possibly the most popular of the three. Secondly we have the jazz pickup. Often fitted in pairs, or behind a precision pickup, this is a narrow bar device, giving plenty of attack but not as much bottom end as the precision type. Lastly we have the humbucking variety, large and oblong in appearance, giving a wide range of sounds, from a deep rumble to a wiry twang. Your choice will no doubt depend on your musical taste in bass playing, be it toppy funk or rumbling rock.

On some cheaper basses you'll often find that the tone controls do little to alter the sound or the pickups aren't as powerful as the ones fitted to a more expensive instrument. That's not as important as ensuring the basic overall sound is good, because you should be able to compensate for these minor pitfalls with the tone and volume controls fitted to your amplifier; you do have an amplifier, don't you? One last small but important point with the electrics is to make sure the jack socket is mounted securely and that when a lead is inserted into it, it's held securely.

What about the body then? Regarding weight and style, this one's up to you. Most basses are heavy by the nature of their construction but there are some lighter models available, like the Bass Collection range and the various stick basses (Steinberger copies). So again try them out, but this time standing up. Could you comfortably support a mega heavy bass on a hot stage for an hour or more? If not make sure you take weight into consideration when out shopping.

And then there's the often amusing subject of body styles. Could you honestly live with that silver metalflake star-shaped bass guitar as used by the Glitter Band circa 1974. It was OK for them, they were big stars and could get away with it but I think in all honesty, the average person in the street would not only get laughed at by all who know him, but will also lose any credibility he may once have had.

Perhaps it pays in the long run to be slightly conservative about the style of instrument you choose...

If you look closely at guitar adverts in magazines you may also notice that it's possible to buy five and six string and even fretless bass guitars. These are aimed at more experienced amateur or professional musicians who have grasped the finer techniques of bass playing. The extra string on a five string bass is a low B, and enables the guitar to reach even lower frequencies than normal. The extra strings on a six-string bass are a low B and high C, again extending the range.

Fretless basses generally have four strings and as the name would suggest, these come without frets! The benefit of this is a much more expressive instrument, although you need to instinctively know where your fingers are on the fretboard. As such, fretless basses aren't really recommended for the first time buyer — it's much easier to learn on a fretted one and then make the transition at a later stage if you feel the urge.

So, at the end of the day, if you take your time and choose carefully, there are no reasons why you shouldn't find a good and readily playable bass guitar for even a modest amount of cash. You may not turn into an instant guitar hero, but once you get the hang of it you should never be out of work.

PHAZE 1 would like to thank Music Village in Cambridge for allowing us to disrupt their shop in order to take the photos for this article, and Barry Moorhouse at The Bass Centre for his invaluable help and advice.