It’s never been easier to capture pro bass tones at home without waking up the neighbours. Whether you’re taking your first steps into home recording or planning a multi-layered bass masterpiece, in today’s podcast, we break down some essential advice that will help you get the best results possible, whatever your budget. Looking to deck out an affordable home recording setup? Let this be your guide!

There's something about playing a bass guitar that’s older than you that just feels incredible. But just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s great. Mojo aside, do vintage basses really sound better than their new counterparts? In today’s episode, we’re delving into some of these key questions that often come along, namely: is the vintage bass you’re thinking of buying likely to be a bargain or a money pit?

2024 was the year of the HX Stomp, Jad Freer’s Capo, Boss being bosses and more effects than we knew what to do with! We seem to say this every year, but there's been so much competition for your cash in 2024, with the bass effects market bigger and better than ever. Of course, we've got our favorites. In today’s podcast you'll find our handpicked selection of the best bass FX money can buy.

As the hair-metal spandex of the previous decade met its end, the ‘90s ushered in a new breed of bass guitar. From Ken Smith to Lakland, to Spector to Tobias, basses of the '90s packed a memorable punch to the gut. In today’s podcast, we're running through the bass guitars that defined the decade.

We get it: bass players are extremely difficult to buy for and everything we want costs a small fortune. Well, you needn’t worry, as we’ve trawled through the Internet to compile a list of bass-friendly gifts that we'd be more than happy to receive ourselves on Christmas day.

So, let us extend an olive branch, as we offer up some killer gift ideas that should have real appeal to the bass player in your life. 

While Leo Fender will be forever revered for his iconic electric guitar designs, without doubt his greatest contribution to the advancement of popular music was unveiled in October 1951 – the first year of the Fender Precision. Today’s podcast is a reminder of why the P-Bass has remained the ‘go-to instrument’ for so many bass players, for so long. What can we possibly say about it that you don’t know already?

If you’ve ever suffered from wrist pain after spending hours perfecting a John Entwistle bass solo, you’ll know that spending extended periods hunched over a bass guitar can cause all kinds of hand and arm problems, back pain, and even nerve damage. In this podcast, we talk through Scott’s recent health scare and share some advice to ensure that your “bass face” is a grimace of ecstasy rather than agony!

You might have an expensive custom shop bass and all the boutique stompboxes in the world, but you’ll still need a great bass amp to achieve your dream tone. In this video, we’re looking at some of the greatest amps, pedals and cabinets of 2024, handpicked by the SBL team – including tube, solid-state and preamp pedals!

Here’s what we think are the best bass guitar amps on the market right now.

Let’s clear this up from the start – we LOVE bass amps, big stacks of speakers coupled with loud, monstrous amplifier heads. We want to feel the air move as we play! But when you’re a gigging bassist, one of the biggest struggles we face is the endless battle with the onstage sound. In this podcast, we’re asking if there’s a future for bass amplifiers?

If you had to ditch anything from your signal chain, would you really wave goodbye to your bass amp?

Headless basses were two a penny in the 1980s and 1990s, and nowadays they tend to look pretty embarrassing. But we like crazy-looking gear, in case you hadn’t noticed! So, whether you love them or loathe them, if you’ve always dreamed of wielding a headless bass, then we urge you to watch today’s video!