First Bass

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Xzero

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Need a bassist to tell me what would be a good bass for someone who is just starting, Nothing too expensive between 100 - 200 dollars. I listen to bbands like Linkin Park and Papa Roach if that helps any, also im 14.
 
Xzero said:
Need a bassist to tell me what would be a good bass for someone who is just starting, Nothing too expensive between 100 - 200 dollars. I listen to bbands like Linkin Park and Papa Roach if that helps any, also im 14.
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If you can go higher on your price range, try buying a used fender jazz bass, the ones made in mexico, generally they arent that bad in quality and would last you for some time, since in the future you could optimize the bass by upgrading the mics, preamp, and bridge. If not the the ibanez will be nice, they are cheap, and play and sound nice for the money, can go wrong with it.
 
If it's any help I also had trouble getting to first base at 14.

Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
For $200 you wont get a great bass. Working with that budget I recomend you shop around for used instruments. Pawn shops are a good place to look but I advise you to take someone along who plays to help you check out anything you find. Looks can be decieving. Look for names like Fender, Ibanez and Carvin, they are usualy reliable. If you want a short neck you might check out Johnson, they make a decent entry level bass with a short scale length for just under $200. Samick makes some pretty nice basses for around the same price. Of coarse a hardshell case will cost you extra but will be well worth the added expense.
 
I think that about all you can get in that price range that is not a toy is an SX from Rondo. Search them out and see what you think. I have one and its nicer than other similarly priced basses. Its no Stingray, but its not a piece of junk either.
 
Tadpui said:
I think that about all you can get in that price range that is not a toy is an SX from Rondo. Search them out and see what you think. I have one and its nicer than other similarly priced basses. Its no Stingray, but its not a piece of junk either.
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i have an SX also. it's a jazz bass copy. it seems pretty solid. i probably need to get it set up, though.

before that i had a squier jazz bass. it was one of the nicer squiers, probably as nice as a meixcan fender jazz. it only had one problem. the first fret, e string buzzed no matter what i did to try to fix it. getting it set up only helped for a few days, so i traded it in and got the SX.
 
scrubs said:
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--IBAGSR200
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Ditto...I've got one and it's great. I only had to adjust the bridge a bit to prevent some fret buzz. Other than that, it sounds and plays great.

I also tried the Yamaha. If it weren't for the poor fret work, then that would have still fallen a bit short of the Ibanez. Maybe the wood on the neck may have shrunk causing the frets to stick out and cut my fingers. :(

btw - I'm really a guitar player, so the thin neck on the Ibanez fits me well.
 
Dani Pace said:
For $200 you wont get a great bass. Working with that budget I recomend you shop around for used instruments. Pawn shops are a good place to look but I advise you to take someone along who plays to help you check out anything you find. Looks can be decieving. Look for names like Fender, Ibanez and Carvin, they are usualy reliable. If you want a short neck you might check out Johnson, they make a decent entry level bass with a short scale length for just under $200. Samick makes some pretty nice basses for around the same price. Of coarse a hardshell case will cost you extra but will be well worth the added expense.
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Shopping around and testing instruments is probably the best way to figure out what sort of thing you want. Having a knowledgeable friend along will help, but the main thing to do is pick out a rig that YOU like and will continue to play. If you buy used and maintain your equipment, even if you decide you don't like it a few years down the line, your bass probably won't depreceate in value much. (In fact it might be worth more when you sell it again.)
 
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