What bass and bass amp should I buy?

Mongoo

New member
HI, I've never owned a bass or bass amp before, but I am not a beginner.

I've borrowed basses from friends many times and have essenially been playing bass for 5 years now with out ever owning one. Although I am not great I would consider myself pretty good.

The thing is, is that It really probably wouldn't matter what bass I get. You see I kind of have this mentality that less is more and more is less. Meaning that a good musician will be able to make a bad instrument sound good. Its the content of the music not the equipment that makes the music good.

BUT..., I've waited long enough and I really should buy a bass, so now I have to start thinking about all the technical crap that I'm not very familliar with. Don't just say, just go and play them till you find one you like because I'm already doing this. If I find a dimond in the ruff that would make everything alot easyer but I haven't yet.

If you could just tell me all the differn't things you've learned about basses and bass amps, Pros and cons, insider tips, all the little and big things that no one tells you, That would be great.

You can totally unload everything you know, I'm willing to hear it all.

Thanks


Owe yeah, and my price range is no more than $500 - $1,000 for the bass. And I'm not sure how much for the amp yet.

My main purposes are to use this for recording and maybe jam with people. Bass isn't my primary instrument, guitar is.


Thanks again.

Mongoo
 
Buy my bass amp!!!

Go to the selling music equiptment on this forum. I have a bass am for sale under "selling Lots Of Stuff Cheap" you won't find a better deal.
 
Go to every music shop in town and try out every bass you can. Buy the one that feels and sounds right. Trust me my son...you will know!
 
Personally I love Warwick basses and have got an FNA Jazzman. From my experience it's easy to get an amazing recorded tone using this bass by just DI'ing it. My mate's got a Warwick as well, a Corvette Standard, and he gets a really nice recorded tone from his as well. They sound really good in a live band situation as well, nice and growly. Another bass I would recommend is a Musicman (Stingray or Sterling).

Having said this however, this is just my opinion after all, I have tried out several basses over the years and Warwick just happens to be the one that has suited me the most so far. I know you suggest that you don't want to go and try out loads of different basses, but to a certain degree you will have to, after all everyone's tastes differ.
 
Sorry, I may have missed your budget considerations, but if you can afford it take a look at the M2000 Mesa, and a SWR Triad.
My bass player and I looked at a lot of amps and cabs matching and unmatching them. We just fell in love with the sound.
 
I am not a bassist, but I did some searching for my church with my bassist and liked the sound of the Ampeg B100R...just sounded full and deep. Wasn't that pricey either. Take this non-bassist's words with a grain of salt.
 
Been addicted to bass for almost 30 years. Have had the blessed opportunity to jam & perform on a wide variety of what I call
"The Smooth Mack Daddy" of all instruments; the BASS Guitar.
Faves are both Jazz & Precision for it's constant level of quality and performance (with the exception of the ungodly Mex Series) and it's uniqueness to fit right in ALL music genre's from Jazz, (where a rich,defined,rhythmic, bottom keeps the flow) to Rock( providing more of a melodic,dynamic and forceful interplay between the gits and drums). To me, those 2 basses are the standard-bearers.

For rich,punchy and vibrant tone, the classic 4003 by
Slick-Rickenbacker is an awesome bass! I luv the sound and feel
when I'm using the percussive, thumb-slap technique especially during syncopated rhythm grooves with the drummer. Slap on some Ernie Ball Slinky's and the sound produced is TIGHT!!!!
Great funk bass!

The Corvette Standard by DIONNE :p-WARWICK is another bright bass with exceptional clarity and definition and this jammy kick's @ss also on the slap!! Armed with 2-way active
quicker-picker-uppers connected to 3 freqy controls, this joint here will put your flow out front right along with the lead git, especially in Rock, where sometimes the bass is seemingly taking a backstage to the Lead guitarist when he's goin' off and boosting his gain. The Corvette's adjustable tone controls allowed me to provide both essential bottom and supporting
melodic content and giving me great sounds during solo's and riffs.

I also was blessed on playing a '77 Alembic Ser I fretless bass
with the tail-end,saddles and bridge made of brass!!!
No words can describe the tone,feel,action of this baby!!!
(No, I never owned one,just had a chance to perform on one!!)

Mann, I can go on and on and on while I bore the crap outta' y'all
(while at the same time,I'm taking a mental visit down sweet,memory lane), but the point is, as was stated earlier, audition as many of these thorough-breds as you can and make you OWN decision!!!

Peace
Q.rM
 
.....what Q said!

I too am a slut to the precision and Jazz. American Fenders really are a do-it-all bass that can literally smoke in any genre of music. Im also a fan of the Stingrays from Musicman. And, as Q mentioned Alembics are in a class of their own. I dont think they are quite as versatile as a good fender bass is, but definitely sweet none the less........ask Stanley C. :)
 
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