Strings: Almost all the best bass guitars in India comes with 4, 5, and 6 strings. The 4 strings one is suitable for the beginners as the neck is smaller. The sound of the 5 strings bass is heavier and it is most popular among hard rock, fusion, metal, and jazz guitarist. The 6 strings one is wide in shape and hard to play. It gives the bassist a wide range to play.
Fretted or Fretless: Frets are the metal strips on the fretboard. It helps to find out the note while playing. So for the beginners fretted bass guitar will be a good option. While fretless feels smooth to play and gives a warm sound. The professional find it’s easy to play.
Neck Style: The neck styles of bass are mainly of two styles: bolt-on neck and neck-trough. The neck-through designed guitar is a single piece of wood. So it is more rigid. It increases your playability, as you easily access the higher fret. While the bolt-on guitar is low in price. It gives you the flexibility to change the neck when it needs to repair.
Active Pickups or Passive Pickups: The created electric signal by the passive pickups is weaker so the amplifier is important here to boost up the sound. With passive pickups, you can play a wide range of genres. The active pickups have their own power source like a battery. The feedback is less here, so gives a more clear sound.
Bridges: The bridges are used to hold the strings. It transfers the vibration of the strings to the pickups to further amplify the vibrations. So it’s important to have a better bridge. The bridges made of copper, are usually better. The three different kinds of bridges are (a) Through-bridge, (b) string through body, (c) bridge and tailpiece combination.
P Bass or Jazz Bass: P bass is invented before Jazz bass. They have some differences in their body structure and electronics. Jazz bass is easier to hold as it has a balanced centre near its neck. P bass has two split single coiled pickups. Wheres Jazz bass has 2 humbucker pickups. Jazz bass has more playability compare to P bass. You can choose anyone between them as per your style.
Scale Length: the scale length of a bass guitar varies in three ways.
- 30 inches or less means short scale
- 34 inches means long scale
- 35 inches or more means extra long scale
For a beginner or young one, the short scale length will be fine as it easy to handle and play for a long time. The extra scale length comes with 5 or 6 strings.