Beginner's bass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mo-Kay
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Mo-Kay

Dragon Soul Productions
I'm thinking about getting into playing bass.... I'd like to have one with a mellow sound, strong but not too bright...

I'm looking to spend about 200, maybe new but pref. second hand (maybe an older instrument), but less $ would be better ofcourse :D

Any suggestions?

Thanks :)
 
Check out an Ibanez GSR200 ($200). Features 1 J & 1 P-style pick-ups, smooth neck action and a 22 fret neck. Stay away from Squires, as the pick-guards to tend to crack,tuning keys are bolted on the head with only 2 screws (rather than the usual 4) and and inordinate amount of fret buzz.
 
MIM Fender P-bass, check on Ebay or pawnshop. You can also find used PJ MIJ Fenders for about that much.
 
I would suggest trying a Yamaha RBX, there's several versions, like rbx160 and rbx260, with P-bass pickup or P/J-pickup configurations. I think most of those (if not all, but definitely the older ones) are solid alder body (or is it ashe?) and very nice fretboards. The necks are 24-fret and slightly shorter scale, so nice for a beginner or a smaller person.
 
Look Mo-Kay, you will rec a host of advice regarding best begininng bass for the buck! My advice is to hop to your nearest (or farthest) music retailer and audition the bass in your price range that offers the best possible perf and sound in that category. In the meantime you will be inundated with suggestions from every-1 on what to buy!
Check out Palm Guitars @ 1011 KM Amsterdam, Netherlands.
www.palmguitars.nl
 
I second the Ibenez GSR200 - nice bass for under $200. It has a thinner neck that is easier to play - in particular if your main axe is guitar.

I have a Mexi Fender Jazz bass and I rarely take it out of the case since I bought the GSR200
 
thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I must admit I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to (bass)guitar tech stuff...

what's the difference between the pickup types... I read someone's post mentioning P and P/J....what's the difference there?
 
I got an MM2 wannabe bass on eBay for $140. Looks and plays like the real thing! Another recommendation would be the Jazz bass style ones they offer at rondomusic.net. Great inexpensive starter basses.
 
@ APL I see, but what's the difference in sound etc?
 
Mo-Kay said:
@ APL I see, but what's the difference in sound etc?
Click to expand...

I'm afraid I don't enough to answer that. But looking back at that post I meant to say that P stands for Precision and J stands for Jazz, which are both Fender models.
 
There are actually 4 basic bass pickup designs.

Precision is the original fretted bass. A very simple single coil, split into 2 parts and reverse wound to try to help eliminate a little bit of the noise inherent in single coil pickups.

Jazz is a 2 pickup system. 2 Long bar magnet single coil pickups. You can blend these pickups to change the sound of the bass quite a bit. As a result, it is a more versatile system...you can get more sounds out of it.

Humbucker basses, like MusicMan Stingray Basses. My personal choice. A fat high output humbucking pickup. Less noise and more power output. A lot of thump and really deep growl are associated with them. On a musicman bass, it is accompanied by an active EQ, many other basses set up to be like the MM design use the active EQ also.

Active pickup basses. EMG bass pickups are quite nice. Several manufacturers use these active pickups, Hamer USA comes to mind. They are quiet and powerful and have a very even tone to them. They can come in Precision, Jazz, and humbucker configurations.

I used to own one Fender Jazz and one Fender Precision bass. I now own one Musicman bass. I love the sound and feel of them. in fact, there's one on Ebay that someone is going to get a steal on:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7315385505&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

Not mine, but I saw it in my Ebay rounds.

H2H
 
mikeh said:
I second the Ibenez GSR200 - nice bass for under $200. It has a thinner neck that is easier to play - in particular if your main axe is guitar.
Click to expand...

It's a good bass for the price. easy to play (as noted above) and decent sound.
 
MISTERQCUE said:
Look Mo-Kay, you will rec a host of advice regarding best begininng bass for the buck! My advice is to hop to your nearest (or farthest) music retailer and audition the bass in your price range that offers the best possible perf and sound in that category. In the meantime you will be inundated with suggestions from every-1 on what to buy!
Check out Palm Guitars @ 1011 KM Amsterdam, Netherlands.
www.palmguitars.nl
Click to expand...
I second that!

Just to prove it, I'll offer only this advice: Don't get a "cheap" instrument. There are quality instruments out there that are "inexpensive". "Cheap" instruments are difficult to play, don't sound that good, and in the long run you will regret it. Take Q's advice and go check out some basses. I am almost willing to bet you will find one that suits you better, even if you pay a bit more that $200. If you go the used route, I'd have a tech check it out for you before you buy it. You never know what they previous owner did to it.
 
MISTERQCUE said:
Check out an Ibanez GSR200 ($200). Features 1 J & 1 P-style pick-ups, smooth neck action and a 22 fret neck. Stay away from Squires, as the pick-guards to tend to crack,tuning keys are bolted on the head with only 2 screws (rather than the usual 4) and and inordinate amount of fret buzz.
Click to expand...

Sorry to revive a dying thread, but I just wanted to clarify this comment based on my current experience with bass shopping. I just bought a Squier Standard P-Bass Special. It has both P & J pickups, open gear tuners (with 4 screws) and, after a few minor tweaks by me, virtually no buzz anywhere on the neck. This is in contrast to every budget Yamaha and Ibanez I played yesterday at both Guitar Center and Sam Ash. The GSR 200s were all just "Rattle and Buzz." I was very disappointed, because I really thought that was going to be the bass for me based on online reviews.

Now, grant you, I had to play quite a few of the Squiers to find the one with the best neck, but it was worth it. I will concede that the pickguard may be suspect and the tuners are not the best quality, but they seem to hold just fine (and are relatively inexpensive to replace). The tone is very nice with good sustain.

The Squier Affinity series is an entirely different monster -- definitely stay away. All the ones I came across were just terrible.
 
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