| Author | Message | ||
     Xl1200r |
I'm a lifetime musician, have played piano, flute, viola, dabbled in guitar, only serious project now is drums but looking to try something new. So - any recommendations for a beginner bass setup? I'm looking at a Fender/Squire Precision Bass pack that comes with a practice amp and some other little things like picks, tuner, gig bag, etc. Should I be considering something else? | ||
| Rainman |
They're OK for starters, but you can probably find a better playing Ibanez or Yamaha -- smooth action and good intonation -- for just as cheap as the Fender. Unless you go to the upscale Fenders, most of the products are made in either Indonesia, Korea or Mexico, with the good ones made in Japan or USA. That being said, I play two Jap Fenders from the mid 80s -- one fretless -- that are great guitars. I have a 60s Epiphone (Kalamazoo-made) and a 90s Martin acoustic bass. (Not at the same time.) My advice, and consider how much you're paying for it, is, unless you want a Fender name, check out Yammie and Ibanez on the less expensive end. | ||
| Iman501 |
my first guitar was a fender squire strat (not a bass) i still have it although i dont play it much anymore (i play my accoustic more) it was a pretty good little guitar i cant complain to much about it last year i bought a bass squire off a friend for $50 and he also had a hardcase for it. i didnt honestly want the bass i just wanted it to turn it around and try to make some money off of it. and thats excatly what i did i paid %50 for it and sold it on ebay for like $80 (and i kept the hardcase for myself!) the bass was in rough shape though it had enough scratches in it, and really needed new strings they were years old! | ||
| Spank |
This can be a very subjective subject... guess it all depends on what your looking to do in the end. If you are just looking to mess around with one, I think you are headed in the right direction. Now, I bought a Ibanez Soundgear when I was going to school to be a recording engineer and to be a session player. All I had it in was a soft gig bag and it never got hurt...in fact I still have it and others like it. They are cheap enough and take a beating. The neck is narrow (if you like that) and the action is awesome. The only thing I had to do to them was put different pick-ups on them. The stock active ones are ok but I could never get a decent sound out of them. I also have Epiphone Les Paul basses, they look great, but are heavy. Those I use for recording, mostly because they have a better tone and for me to heavy to play on stage for any length of time. I have never spent more than 500 to 600 bucks on a bass. Would I like a couple thousand dollar Warwick? Yes, but I don't need it! LoL In the end, I guess it's like Rainman has said, it all depends on how much you want to spend. I am not a huge fan of the Fender basses, mostly because I had to play one in high school and I hated it! No offense to people who like them... | ||
| Milt |
The player makes a lot more difference than the equipment. Practice a lot, play a lot. Get a good, honest teacher. Learn to read around corners. When you figure out what you want in an instrument, go for it. | ||
| Xb12xmike |
Should I be considering something else? If your just dabbling, any of those "practice type" packages would be fine. You must try them out, seated and standing. They will be good enough for a while (the amp will suk though) The next upgrade would be an decent amp (250+) minimum for a band rehearsal. But if it's just to teach yourself, they'd be fine. You will know. | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
I have a 15+ year old non-USA Fender Jazz fretless with active EMGs, and it hasn't let me down. I don't know about the current crop. | ||
| Cyclonemick |
Couple years back I picked up a new Fender Bass Amp, all black and it has a red light strip hidden at the base of the cabinet which add a cool effect when lights are out! Can't remember now cuz don't play it much but it is either a 60 or 90 watt! Has plenty of Volume for messing around or even jamming with some buddies. Cost $200 | ||
| Cyclonemick |
Just remembered the model is Fender Rumble! | ||
| Xb12xmike |
well... I was gonna say in another thread a while ago...when folks were talking about HD moving to another state... someone mentioned India. Which gave me the idea,... what if HD had some bikes made in Mexico (or even India for that matter) and sold them at a lesser price than the made in USA versions? Like the way FENDER does. The USA models would be worth more of course. Is that possible? | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
+1 on Spanks comments on the Ibanez Soundgear models. When I decided I wanted to get into bass more I bought a cheap used Soundgear, an SR500. Easy to play, versatile tone, and they take a beating. The neck is pretty slim which made it easy for me to learn on, though I now find the neck is too slim and I prefer something chunkier. (I also eventually changed the active pickups and went to a passive setup) Whatever bass you get I would strongly suggest getting a guitar tech to set up the action and intonation with a new set of strings after you've had it for a little while. Some of the new basses at the lower end of the price scale come with pretty ordinary strings. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
PS There are plenty of Soundgears around, so you should be able to pick one up cheap, and sell it on later if you wish. | ||
| Nik |
http://www.rondomusic.com/bassguitars4.html Their 'SX' line is really good quality for the price (no experience with their other lines.) Easily better than a Squire and the lower end Fenders for less money new. They aren't perfect out of the box, but after a good setup, and slight fret dressing, they're perfect for practice or backup. I think they have an amp and accessory package too. You might be better off buying individual components than one of those bundles though. It really depends on what you're after. If you want to play with others a 50 watt amp is the bare minimum, and most of those things only have little 15-25 watt personal 'bedroom' practice amps. I would also caution to avoid crate amps. For the money there's much better out there (ampeg, etc). There's also a lot of value in used equipment so I'd suggest looking for a good guitar shop local to you or look through some pawn shops. (Message edited by nik on May 13, 2010) | ||
| Danger_dave |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAoXw_DqvM | ||
| Chadhargis |
I'm playing an Ibanez BTB 5 string. Not too expensive, but not el cheapo either.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Nice rig, Chad. I take it that stuff stayed dry during your recent misfortune? I've read good things about the Rondo Music basses too. Like Lemonchili says, almost any bass you buy will benefit from a professional setup and good set of strings. I started out with a Fernandes, which is another decent import brand about like Ibanez. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Ooooh... Markbass... Mmmmmm, tasty  | ||
| Swamp2 |
Just watch craigslist. There's good deals on decent equipment all the time. I just sold an old Peavey 15" combo bass amp for $85 - much better than any little practice amp. Mexican Fenders are pretty decent and will hold their value if you buy a used one. Or if you want a real good value look for an old US built Peavey bass. You can do a lot better buying used than buying one of those starter sets new for similar money. | ||
| Xl1200r |
The Rondo stuff looks pretty good - thanks for the heads up. Can someone talk me through the pickups? Not sure which ones will give what kind of tones, or what the split pickups are supposed to do... | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
From what I've read about Rondo Music, they have a stellar customer service reputation. Also, uniformly a great product in general, but even better because of the cost. Most of the guitars are Korean made. I have an outstanding Korean made Epiphone Sheraton II. So don't let the Korean made thing scare you away. They can and do make nice instruments. I have been agonizing over which Les Paul copy to buy from them. I think it's down to this.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Xl200r- Bass pickups are going to generally fall into one of ~4 categories: 1- the "split" pickups you referred to. These are based on the Fender Precision Bass pickup and are humbucking type. It's probably by far the most versatile bass pickup ever made. 2- narrow single coil pickups (almost always two of them) based on the Fender Jazz Bass pickup. These basses are usually equipped with two volume controls so that you can vary the blend between the two pickups. More bridge pickup = more treble; more neck pickup = more bass. Varying the level between the two pickups can give you a wide array of sounds. 3- humbucking pickups. Two coils mounted side-by-side in the same housing. G&L, Music Man, many of the Ibanez basses, and others use some variation on this. Generally provide more output and a more agressive tone. 4- others. I'm sure there are 50 non-standard pickups you can find out there, but the above 3 cover probably 95% of what you'll see. A good thing is that even if you buy a cheap bass and don't like the pickups, there are many aftermarket replacements available. Check out Seymour Duncan, Bill Lawrence, Lace Sensor, etc. Then of course basses (and pickups) fall into "passive" or "active". Passive basses rely on the output from the pickups and usually have a single tone control that can only roll off the higher frequencies. Active basses have powered pre-amps (usually using one or two 9-volt batteries) and have tone controls which can boost or cut different frequencies. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Ok, well I'm torn between two, I have I have to be honest, it's only about looks for me, lol. The first is this guy:  And the second:  BTW, getting the thing set up won't be a problem - the guitarist from my band builds his own stuff and I'm sure he could handle it. Shameless plug: www.curtisguitars.com | ||
| Hughlysses |
Both basses look nice. The top one is basically a Fender Jazz bass copy and the lower is basically a Fender Precision bass copy. The P bass copy has another pickup configuration I failed to mention, one P-bass pickup and one Jazz bass pickup. This was a fairly popular modification to Precision basses, so the copies as well as Fender themselves have adopted it for various models. It's kind of the best of both basses. The pickups on either of these basses are standard configurations and will be easy to upgrade if you ever decide to go that route. | ||
| Fast1075 |
When I go to play with bass....I use a junebug or red shad worm, or a chartreuse spinner bait with #6 willow leaf blades.. Nevermind..... Wrong thread...  Sorry, I couldn't help myself...  (Message edited by fast1075 on May 14, 2010) | ||
| Xl1200r |
I settled on the P-Bass but with a maple fretboard. Can't wait! | ||
| M2statz |
You could try the bagpipes!  | ||
| Court |
>>>I settled on the P-Bass but with a maple fretboard. That's not exactly "settling" . . . you'll have that one till you die. You chose wisely. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I think he means the Rondo ~$150 P-bass copy. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
The rondos are built like tanks. I'm sure it'll last a lifetime too. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
btw if you ever want to read up on user reviews of pretty much any instrument check out http://reviews.harmony-central.com/ |
