Born2Shred Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Hey guys, I have ben playing normal electric guitar for 2 years now, I have been playing in a band aswell. Basically we lost our bassist, and as our other guitarist has alot more experience than me on lead I have offered to start playing the bass untill we can find a suitable replacement. I was wondering what is a good bass to start with? what amp? cheers guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerk Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Depends how much you want to spend, but it seems now a days you can get some pretty good instruments for little money. Personally, I think Ibanez and Peavey excellent low end products, but again, depends what you want to spend. But be advised, switching to bass is rarely a temporary move. Playing a note and feeling the stage vibrate can be more addicting than tobacco. Few guitarists who venture there are able to return once the 'low down' has set in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowfinger Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Originally posted by kerk: ... Playing a note and feeling the stage vibrate can be more addicting than tobacco.I'll second that. Likewise the heavy vibrations in the neck when playing low on the A and E strings - a bass feels alive. Epi EB-3 G-K Backline 600 2 x Eden EX112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born2Shred Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 ok thanks for the input guys... its hard in the UK (dont know if you lot are UK too), my dad is a guitar player also, he always goes on about back in the day you could try every guitar in the store before buying the one you wanted, nowadays you walk into some guitar shops, ask if you can try and they just give you that partly bemused, partly dumb struck look as if to say i cant beleive you just even considered saying that. *sigh* its a crying shame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerk Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Originally posted by Born2Shred: . its hard in the UK (dont know if you lot are UK too), my dad is a guitar player also, he always goes on about back in the day you could try every guitar in the store before buying What do you have over there in the way of 'on line' music suppliers? I find them preferable here even though I can't play the instrument in advance, reason being, I don't just get the 'try out' time in the store to decide if I like it, I get from 30 to 60 days to return it, no questions asked, and it only costs about $8 US to return it. I don't try out instruments in the stores unless I intend to buy in the store. I don't expect them to provide that service if I have no intention of doing business with them. That may be why they hesitate to allow tryouts these days. I think there are a lot of players who simply use the music store for a place to try an instrument and then leave and order it on the internet. If you intend to buy from a store, I would let a salesman know that you want an instrument, and tell him the maximum price you are looking to pay. That should at least give them a sense that you are serious. Research some of the on line pricing for basses that interest you, it may give you a little bargaining power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scyzoryk Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I feel sorry for you guys. With the two big box music stores here where I live, it seems that they encourage and make it easy for you to try whatever bass you want. I frequently visit these stores (2 times a week) to try out the new basses and noodle around. The employees never bug me. I was at a smaller music store a week ago, in which after asking the guitar guy for two basses really high up (you had to stand on an speaker and something else to barely reach it) he kept telling me I could "go ahead" and get it. Man... I felt like a little kid in a glass store. Probably not the wisest thing for an employee to do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butcherNburn Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 OK you want an answer? Get a fender P or Jazz, get a good "setup", and get the best amp you can with the money left over. You'll probably need more wattage than you think coming from a "guitar" mindset, figure 3x. Check out the used market, for the best deals. With very little info, that's the best I can do.. Money plays a big factor, but I'm sure you know that. Fender basses are a decent utility approach, there are better basses out there and a decent setup will make or break you as far as any bass goes (hardware wise). Musicman's are pretty sweet and widely available too. Show up with either and no one will cringe. * I really like my SWR workingman's amp but it may not suit your needs. I haven't heard positive statements about their LA series. * GK amps are good but I don't like their cabs. * Myself personally, I don't care for Hartke stuff. * Ampegs are "classic tone" for the most part but there are a few lemons out there too. * Fender amps, bass wise, seem to fall short. I'm not quite sure what's available over the pond. If you are looking for a pro setup, amp wise, I'd first try a bunch of preamps, then get a quality power amp with more power than you think you need, and decent cabs to fit the venues and style of music. Bassicaly try a bunch of stuff and see what moves you. Search the forum there are nice folks here with far more knowledge and experience then me. (flame away o forum members, flame away) If you think my playing is bad, you should hear me sing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h364 Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Hey Dude, , have no fear the British is here! These guys definetly know what they are talking about, basically you cant go wrong with a Mexican Fender, and really you would want to buy a used rig, you would do well with a good combi, ashdown are great ever hear! Basically you need to go find out what the wattage of you guitarist's, keyboard players. Anything that needs aplification and add it all up, then add around 80 watts and thats what wattage you need to aim for. Think Deep Thought! Merry Christmas To All! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Originally posted by Born2Shred: ...he always goes on about back in the day you could try every guitar in the store before buying the one you wanted, nowadays you walk into some guitar shops, ask if you can try and they just give you that partly bemused, partly dumb struck look as if to say i cant beleive you just even considered saying that. *sigh* its a crying shame... welcome to the forum. You're going to the wrong shops. Any shop interested in making a customer of you should be bending over backwards. When I bough my bass, the shop owner spent ages with me and made sure the bass I chose was set up exactly as I wanted before I left. Where abouts do you live? A lot of it may be your body language. If you are going in to buy a bass they can tell. If your just browsing they can tell that too. Feel the groove internally within your own creativity. - fingertalkin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 It's probably worth you making a daytrip to London. There are a few stores down here that would be happy to let you try basses out; especially if you're interested in buying. They're happy to let me play whenever I feel like it. Welcome to the forum! http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim C Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Glad to hear you're picking up the bass, you probably won't feel like setting it down once you learn how to get a good groove going on it, you may find out that the aforementioned "suitable replacement" is yourself. Of course the six string always maintains its charm as well, an instrument that versatile and responsive to the touch is always fun, but bass offers the same versatility without the tone having to be drasticly altered. They're all fun in my book. What you should start doing immediately is studying the function of the bass guitar. You have to be interested in a different playing mindset to truly make the switch and not just sound like a guitarist playing the bass (*cough* Ben Kenney *cough*). You're the bridge between the lead and the drums, and that means a lot more than just mirroring the guitarist and playing the only roots. hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born2Shred Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 ok thanks guys, for all you English people I live down in east Anglia, in a town called colchester, im only about 50 miles away from London so i might just take your advice go down there and see what they have to offer, the problem we have down here is that theres only 2 or 3 shops in like a 20 mile radius, and even they are fairly small shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h364 Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Born2Shred I Live Near Norwich! Theres no real need to go all the way to london, shop around the big cities around you, search on google for music stores near ure post code. There's some real great msuic shop's over here, and everyone is so nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Originally posted by Born2Shred: nowadays you walk into some guitar shops, ask if you can try and they just give you that partly bemused, partly dumb struck look as if to say i cant beleive you just even considered saying that. Pull out a wad of cash and wave it under their noses. THEN ask to play whatever you want. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.