Played, not recited
Every piece of gear gets played in a real room through a real rig. If it buzzes, you will hear the buzz.
Bass gear reviews
ANDY'SBASSMENT
Bass gear, tested downstairs.
No sponsor scripts. No spec sheets read out loud. Forty-plus years playing, a few of them running my own store. I plug the gear in and tell you how it actually sounds.
What's going on down here
Three rules, every single review.
Priced how you buy it
Street price, not MSRP. A $199 bass gets the same bench, the same mics and the same scrutiny as a boutique build.
A verdict, always
Every review ends with a straight answer. Buy it, borrow it, or walk away. No fence sitting.
What's coming
First on the bench. Subscribe and episode one lands in your feed the day it goes live.
Coming
Coming
Coming
Who's down here
Andy McLaughlin. Bass player for 40+ years, songwriter, and a lifelong maker of things.
I have bought a whole lot of gear over the years, and for a few of those years I ran my own store. So a great deal more has passed through my hands than any one player has business owning. I have bought the thing that looked incredible online and let me down the moment it was in the room, and I have found the cheap one that quietly outplayed the expensive one.
That is the whole qualification for this channel: enough years behind the instrument, and enough gear through my hands, to tell the difference. No reason to pretend otherwise.
Basses, amps, cabs, strings, pickups, interfaces. If it shapes low end, it comes downstairs.
Get in touch
Gear to send, a question, or a request for what to cover next.
Or email info@andysbassment.com