Bass Player UK Magazine 98 December 2013 Edizione posteriore

The world today is not what it was. No-one – government or individual – has money to spare. The clouds of recession have been lingering over the planet for so long that we’d better start building an Ark soon or risk drowning in a sea of unpaid bills... But you should still be able to get a decent bass without causing your bank manager a coronary event, and thanks to our ace guide to basses under £500 – appearing just in time for your Christmas shopping spree – indeed you can. Thanks to modern manufacturing technology, you no longer need to accept a substandard instrument for a merely reasonable outlay, so go on, give our 25-strong list a whirl.

As always we want to give you as wide a range of coverage in the magazine as possible, so we’ve also featured reviews of expensive gear – did that Music Man pricetag really say £2000-plus? – and eminently affordable items (hello, Eden and Peavey!). The same approach applies to our tuition section, where bass players of the most advanced technique will find themselves challenged just as much as beginners who are looking to get started on this, the coolest of all musical instruments (hey, we know the truth even if the guitarist in your band doesn’t). On which note, say hello to our awe-inspiring new columnist Alex Webster: heavy metal maniacs will be long familiar with Alex’s insanely evolved bass chops, while anyone new to the Webster approach is bound to be converted by his intermediate theory column. Enjoy our new issue, and we’ll see you at the London Bass Guitar Show in March.