Whether you’re a bassist yourself or you know one, you’ll want to check out this list of 14 great gifts for bass players. From portables amps and string muters to accessories and beyond, there’s something for every bass player on this list.
What Are the Best Gifts for Bass Players?
If you need a bit of inspiration for what to get the bassist in your life, check out these 14 awesome gifts for bass players below.
1. A Membership for Online Bass Lessons
The bass is far more responsive than the guitar, and learning it takes a slightly different approach. Many people stumble in the dark for years, later realizing that some simple mistakes could’ve been avoided with proper instruction.
Giving your bassist friend a membership for online bass lessons is one of the best, most practical gifts you could give. Every teacher has a unique perspective and a different teaching method, meaning that your friend will have an opportunity to perfect the basics and learn something new.
Among dozens of online music lesson websites for bass players, I’d like to single out JamPlay as a remarkably versatile and dependable learning platform. Its library of lessons is vast and diverse; a myriad of useful tools is available for all users while the teachers are top-notch. From the legendary Billy Sheehan to Megadeth’s ex-bassist Dave Ellefson, these are just some of the people that have spent more time with the bass in their hands than without it.
2. Bass Strap
Bass straps are more than just a necessary piece of gear. Musicians have dozens at home, using the appropriate one for every occasion.
If you want to gift a bass player with a strap, it would be a great idea to use the opportunity to find something that stands out from the usual black, blue, red, and white-colored ones everyone has. I recommend Rinastore’s guitar strap purely because it looks cool; from a technical perspective, it’s made of sturdy polyester and will get the job done.
3. Bass Cleaning Kit
Instrument maintenance dictates how long the strings will produce a good sound; how long the fretboard will provide optimal playability, and for how long the wood will remain sturdy. You’d be surprised how many bassists don’t regularly clean their instruments, and many of them don’t because they don’t have a good cleaning kit.
If this is the type of gift you’ve decided on, I recommend Dunlop’s 6503. It was specifically designed to clean the bass’s body and fretboard. This bundle comprises a lightweight polish and lemon oil extract to keep the body shining and smelling nice. The kit is both easy to use and remarkably affordable.
4. Hercules Stand
The worst thing you can do to your instrument is to leave it on the floor. Couch storage is the second-worst while everything else aside from hanging the guitar/bass on a stand is generally a bad idea.
The reason why Hercules Stands are better than regular ones is that they can support multiple instruments while occupying the least amount of space.
This model features the universal auto-grip system, ensuring all bass models can be hung on it, regardless of how wide, thin, or weirdly designed the neck is.
5. Boss TU-3 pedal tuner
While almost anyone can tune their bass by ear at home, doing so during rehearsals or gigs is nearly impossible. The singer will be warming up their voice, the guitarists can’t help but practice their lines minutes before the show, and no one can tame the drummer.
If you’ve searched the market for bass tuners, you’ve probably seen a bunch of clip-on ones. Flimsy, inaccurate, and very easy to lose, they’re poor investments despite being so cheap. That’s why I recommend Boss’s TU-3.
This tuner has a small footprint, supports and recognizes dropped (and open) tunings, features an easy-to-read backlit display, and is an essential piece for any bassist’s pedal board.
6. DIY Bass Kit
What’s better than buying a bass for your friend? Buying the parts so they can assemble them on their own!
In all fairness, I believe that understanding the instrument is something all musicians need to do. Assembling the bass part-for-part will allow your friend to learn how different parts react to each other, and how to make basic repairs (and maintenance) when need be.
The Fret Wire’s P-Style Electric Bass Kit is a simple DIY bass guitar that sounds pretty great and is perfect for beginners. The classic design and a shorter scale length ensure that this instrument is both simple to assemble and easy to play once the former is done.
7. Vox AmPlug Bass Headphone Amp
A simple pocket bass amplifier is the perfect gift to surprise your bass-playing friend with.
Vox’s amPlug 2 is widely regarded as one of the finest portable plug-n-play amplifiers. With it, Your friend will get up to 17 hours of fun per charge, and you won’t have to pay a fortune to make them happy.
Pair this gift with a quality pair of headphones and you’ve got the perfect present combo.
8. Zoom B1X FOUR
While the purists may argue that analog pedals are the way to bolster the bass’s tone, I believe using a processor is far more convenient. You’ll get dozens of effects with a click of a button, the ability to fine-tune each of them, and you won’t need a five-foot-tall pedalboard to worry about.
Zoom’s B1X-Four is a multi-effects processor compatible with both electric guitars and basses, featuring five effect banks, a built-in looper, and an integrated wah-wah pedal. In comparison to the pedals you’d need to achieve all of this, Zoom B1X-Four is a bargain.
9. Gig Bag
Gig bags are, in my opinion, among the best gifts for bass players simply because you can never have enough of them. Factory bags are usually ruined within a year or two, and they tend to become useless at the most inopportune of times.
I recommend CAHAYA’s Gig Bag for several reasons. First, it’s significantly more protective than average, as it is made with a 0.3 inch padding throughout. Secondly, it’s water resistent, meaning that long treks to the studio aren’t as dangerous when it rains. Thirdly, it has a range of different pocket sizes so you can store all of your bass accessories.
10. Wireless Guitar Transmitter
It took people long enough to realize guitar cables are a liability for musicians on stage. No one can truly flow and express themselves while worrying not to trip over it or disconnect it by accident.
Enter: wireless guitar transmitters. These are handy gadgets that allow you to remotely hook your bass up to the amp. Your bassist friend can jump, dance, headbang, and do whatever they want while playing once they start using this. I recommend Getaria’s set mainly because of how reliable it is while its affordability is a welcome bonus.
11. Bass Practice Amp
Whenever I think of a practice amp I think of Fender amps. Great sound, a sturdy construction, and simple controls are just some of the benefits nearly all small-sized Fender models offer.
The Rumble 25 stands out as one of the stronger practice amps, featuring 25 watts that could get you through a smaller gig when needed.
12. Passive Instrument Direct Box
A passive instrument direct box, or DI box, is a convenient little gadget designed to combat all the hiss, distortion, and noise the instrument has to endure when you’re wiring it to a rig that’s hundreds of feet behind (or away).
Musicians use DI boxes on a variety of occasions. When playing in a small pub on rented equipment, you never know how well the amp can handle high impedance; add a distortion pedal and a pair of crazy effects on top, and you have a recipe for a disappointed audience.
Radial Engineering’s DI box isn’t the cheapest, but it’s one of the most dependable solutions for the aforementioned problems. I’m certain your bass-playing friend will not just appreciate the thought but also benefit from this gadget in the long term.
13. Gruv Gear FretWraps String Muter
Kids today would laugh at what we used to do a decade ago when recording music. Believe it or not, people used to wrap their instruments with rubber bands, hair bands, and pretty much anything that wouldn’t damage the strings/instrument to get cleaner tones.
Gruv Gear designed a simple, dirt-cheap solution that ensures no one will ever have to do that again. The FW-1PK-MD is a fancy name for a simple, easy-to-use string muter that you can place on virtually any stringed instrument.
It’s a game changer for recording bass players, regardless of genre or playing style. Your tones will still come out, only there will be no sustain or lingering sounds to hurt your track.
14. Earplugs
If you spend enough time next to your bass amp blasting at full volume, you should expect your hearing to degrade over time. I’m not talking about post-gig deafness; tinnitus is a real thing, and that’s precisely how bass players get it.
Earplugs were designed to help people sleep better, avoid ambient chatter, and practically mute everything around them. While guitarists sometimes use them, they are absolutely essential for bassists. If you wanted to gift a pair to your bassist friend, I recommend Etymotic Research’s ER20XS.
What separates these earplugs from contemporary alternatives is the fact that they reduce ambient noise “evenly”. The bassist will be able to hear and differentiate between different cymbal hits, solo from a rhythm guitar, and low guttural growls from high-pitched singing. They’re also remarkably comfortable to wear and affordable.
Final Thoughts
The best gifts for bass players come from the heart, just like where the best music they make comes from. Whether it be something as symbolic as an instrument strap, or something a bit bigger like a Fender amp, I’ve made sure that anyone can find a cool gift, regardless of budget.
That’s a nice list. Definitely a lot of things people need on the fly or forget that they need