David Posted March 9, 2001 Share Posted March 9, 2001 Squier? Yamaha? Mars Music stores? Thanks, David "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "&$%^, what a ride". - Doug Berlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrock1san.rr.com Posted March 9, 2001 Share Posted March 9, 2001 I'd pass on the Squire because the Standard P-Bass and Jazz basses are only $300 US. Buy a gig bag, tuner, power chord, strap, and a small Ampeg combo amp and go make history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST.Morigeaugte.net Posted March 9, 2001 Share Posted March 9, 2001 Originally posted by SteveRB: I'd pass on the Squire because the Standard P-Bass and Jazz basses are only $300 US. Buy a gig bag, tuner, power chord, strap, and a small Ampeg combo amp and go make history. I agree with SteveRB........I bought a Yamaha and I love it... Wouldn't sell it... But I put more than I paid for it into Pickups & Eq to get the tone I wanted....... I would do some homework and shop around, but you'd be had pressed to find something better to start with then a Fender J or P.. Just be careful with the smaller Ampeg combos. They really don't have a nice round bottom. Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 9, 2001 Author Share Posted March 9, 2001 Yea, I'll probably go for the Fender. Mars has one for $299. The other Fender dealer in town wants list. Someone suggested getting a Crate amp, but I'm open to suggestions on a cheap amp. The Yamaha I was looking at was only $199, but did have a bolt on neck. But the body was beautiful. Just natural wood. Of course after watching the bolt-on vs neck-thru discussion, I don't suppose I can just dismiss it out of hand. Model was RBX-260 in case anyone's familiar with it. The reason I mention the Squier was that Mars had a bass package with the Squier for $299, and a Crate pak for $279. Btw, I'm not cheap. Just a thin wallet at the moment. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "&$%^, what a ride". - Doug Berlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyripphotmail.com Posted March 9, 2001 Share Posted March 9, 2001 David, Go for the MIM Fender Jazz... Reasons?: Decent playibility, decent tone, upgradable with easy-to-find after market parts, good re-sell value, etc,etc... As for the Amp - have you checked out any of the small Peavey combos? I still have my Minx 30 that my Dad bought for me close to 14 years ago, and it's been a great practice amp... After the nuclear holocaust, we'll be left with some cockroaches and a bunch of Peavey amps.. Anyway, good luck in your search! ------------------ Rob Miller Philadelphia, PA www.bklounge.net Rob Miller Philadelphia, PA www.JimmyRipp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted March 10, 2001 Share Posted March 10, 2001 Originally posted by David: The reason I mention the Squier was that Mars had a bass package with the Squier for $299 i bought that for my fiance for christmas and i love playing the P. it sounds and plays great. there is no reason why you should hesitate. the amp is obviously not professional, but it doesn't sound bad at all. just don't expect to get anything more than one tone out of it. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim T. Posted March 10, 2001 Share Posted March 10, 2001 Hi , I just bought a Squier 5 string with two J pickups for $199 on clearance at a music store. I really like the sound-somewhat surprisingly. It's different from a Jazz Bass. Not so much punchy as piano (string) like. It's bright and sprangy but in a good way. Manna Music in Bellingham Wa. Perhaps you can find a similar deal calling around. Once I lowered the action it plays as well as my old Jazz Bass. Manna had another red one at that price not too long ago. (Mine's white.) I MAY put better pickups in later but so far studio engineers have liked it as is and I feel that it was the bargain of the century. I liked Peavey's smallest "Micro" practice amp. It can't be used for gigging but it was cheap. (around $100) I agree that the Standard Fenders are a better deaL IF you only want four strings. For a 5 it's hard to beat $199. I haven't found a Crate that I have liked the tone of. Of course that's a personal thing. The Vox 25 Watt amp sounds REALLY sweet with a fretless and I liked it a lot with the Squier too. It retails for about $225 so street price is cheaper of course. The smallest USEFUL FOR GIGGING amps I know of are SWR's Workingman 10 (fairly amazing) and Ampeg's "Mini Brute" (?) but they are in the $300-$400 range. In case you aren't aware, some of these costlier amps allow you to play a CD or tape through to your earphones WHILE you practice- a feature so useful and family sanity saving that it may be worth it to spend a bit more on a practice amp that you CAN later gig with or at least accumulate skills with much faster. Maybe your wife/roomate/dog will chip in if you can convince them that it will save them from being tortured. Hope this helps some. I like Yamahas a lot too. Some band members and recording engineers think that only a Fender is a REAL bass so believe it or not I've seen players lose jobs just because they had something other than a Fender! Stupid-but that's the way it is sometimes. Jim T. "When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had, and never will have." Edgar Watson Howe "Don't play what's there. Play what's not there" Miles Davis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted March 11, 2001 Share Posted March 11, 2001 A good at home practice amp is the Danelectro bass amp. It's cheap (around $140?) and sounds surprisingly good. Carvin's smaller PB100 and PB200s are also great buys and they are a little more substantial sounding than the Dano or Peaveys, you could actually play with a couple of guitarists with the 100, and maybe even a drummer with the 200. ------------------ www.edfriedland.com www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtian_dup1 Posted March 12, 2001 Share Posted March 12, 2001 Hey David, I have an RBX260F (fretless) with the gloss black body and unfinished neck. I picked it up to doodle around a bit while I was waiting for my regular salesguy to come over and help me out, and I wound up walking out of the shop with the Yamaha an hour later! I had come in looking at the US Masters series basses, but the Yamaha just surprised the hell out of me. The stock pickups were really boring sounding, so I bought a set of Bartolini P-bass pickups ($90) and the thing sounds GREAT now. I even play it with roundwound strings to get the crispness of the roundwounds along with the "mwaah" of a fretless rosewood fingerboard. A very nice combination! The other thing is that the RBX260 basses are SUPER light weight. You can play one of those for hours and forget you have it on! Good fun. Good bass. Never seen anything better for the money. - Christian Budapest, Hungary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 12, 2001 Author Share Posted March 12, 2001 A lot of food for thought here, thanks. I'm a bit less decided now. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Talked to a friend last night doing a gig at a local pub I frequent and he mentioned liking the Squier. I think right now cost is what's going to drive this, and the Squier is about the cheapest. Well, except for some low-end Ibanez, but I've been told their bolt-on necks are a bit weak. I am still think about that Yamaha though, since I don't like, nor will I need, a pickguard, and it's not an option with the Fender/Squier. From some of the things I've heard I'm somewhat surprised not to see it as an option. Perhaps Fender thinks all bass players are ex-guitar players and can't let go of their picks. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif I still haven't really looked at amps. I might just get something cheap for now, and move up later. Just something to help me during my learning process. I figure I won't be ready for gigs for at least a month. (a joke... that's a joke http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif ) Thanks to everyone that's replied. I've been pleasantly surprised by the consideration and time you've all given me. I look forwarded to joining your ranks. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif "Please Mr. Bass Man, I want to be a Bass Man too" "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "&$%^, what a ride". - Doug Berlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbass1 Posted March 16, 2001 Share Posted March 16, 2001 To address your Mars question, I dealt with them for the 2nd time yesterday, and they were quite helpful, even after I asked them to tweak a neck for me. There's so many decent basses now for $300 or more, I just got a Mexi P-bass for $289 that is just great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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