Lookin' for a bass

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DrumRookie

DrumRookie

"That" kid.
I thought it would be fun to pick up bass guitar on the side, so I'm in the market for purchasing one.

Only 1 think stopping me: I have no clue what to look at. The only thing I know to avoid is a bass that says "Junior" on it.

And I'm on the cheap, so I found a few basses on GC used.
One of them I saw was an Ibanez Gio GSR200, which has a nice shape and looks slick.

But again, what would be ideal for someone starting out? What makes a bass $500+?
Any help for this imbecile would be appreciated. :D
 
Very good choice. I was gonna say Music Man's Sting Ray.
 
P-Bass has a unique sound to it. Jazz basses also have the unique Fender mojo thing going on, but different than the P-Bass. There's something about Fenders that makes them pretty aggressive in the mids and it works well for recordings. For less than 500 bucks you could look at Mexican Fenders or the Squier Classic Vibe line. Very playable instruments with decent build that won't break the bank too much. This is what I'd be looking for if I was strapped for cash and needed a decent bass.

Ibanez is hit and miss. I looked at 3 different ones a few years back that almost looked identical. They were 200, 500 and 800 bucks respectively. The cheap one played and sounded like a toy. The expensive one was much better but still seemed a bit anemic in some ways. The one in the middle was somewhere in between so it reinforced the idea that you get what you pay for. My brother used to own an Ibanez that he paid around 1,300 dollars for that looked similar, but the fit & finish, playability and sound quality blew the other ones away.

Fender isn't always like that. Some will be more comfortable than others regardless of what's on the tag. The really cheap Affinity line from Squier is geared more towards kids, but a guitar player buddy got a Strat for 100 bucks and he says it plays better than most of his other guitars. Mind you he gutted the electronics and put his own stuff in.

I also like the newer Sterling by Music Man stuff. They play and sound closer to the real thing than the SUB basses they had a few years back. They sound way different than Fenders though. Bigger low end, less midrange attack.

The best thing I can suggest is go to a store and play a bunch of them to see what you like. I wouldn't buy a bass that I haven't played first unless it's a Sadowsky or something like that, but that would put you over the budget a bit.
 
Go play some of the cheap basses somewhere. I picked up a used Squire J-bass (2 pickup model) for $90 which works fine for my use- recording. I can add sub or other tones as needed with plug-ins.
 
I owned a few weird second-handers over 20 years or so until I got a brand new Fender American Deluxe P-bass. It was awesome and looked like concentrated funk buttons. Needed 2 9 volt batteries for the preamp.

Then a few years later I bought a 2002 Squier Jazz bass that cost $180 and it became my favorite, until I got my Xaviere P bass from Guitar Fetish. The cheapo basses are now my main "low end" instruments (in both senses of the phrase.) I'll probably trade in the Am Deluxe even though it does look and feel like a work of art.

In 1996 I played an Ibanez 4 string that had a P/J pickup configuration. It was really nice! But as a first bass I'd recommend a Jazz-style bass if you have small hands (thinner neck) or a P-bass if you can stretch your mitts around it. You'll probably get curious about those old P and J workhorses at some point anyway so why not get it over with ;)
 
Some of the older peavey's are fantastic bass's, and can be had for cheap.
 
The p-bass style is what i look for in a bass. that being said, besides costing an arm and a leg, there are some options of good "knock-offs". Guitar Fetish is really solid with all their gear, although its on the net so you can't play it before you buy it.

Xaviere Bass Guitars
 
If you don't mind used, just keep an eye on craigslist the next few weeks, lots of stuff goes cheap around the holidays.

Some sort of P-Bass would be a good start, I've got an old Cort I've had for years. Still works fine.
 
I picked up an ibanez G10 bass for $80 on ebay just so I would have a bass to play - it works fine for me, sounds good, I use it on all my recordings.
 
Def shop around 2nd hand land. I don't know if VANTAGE was marketed in your neck of the woods in the 80's but they were Momatsu made and are really terrific instruments. I have a semi acoustic Emperador made in the late 70's & it's a brilliant bottom end monster. & also have a no name acoustic 5 string bass which has an netirely different tone - very toppy.
I've always wanted a Fender with ashtray bridge & PU cover but I have three cheapies that between them cover all bases so I've no need.
 
Thanks moresound but it was a pun/double entendre which you've phase flipped to the other end of the pun - still works. (Though not of the slightly smutty variety I was once so good at).
 
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