Members Utero Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 I've decided I to start playing bass, but I don't know much about it. My budget for a bass is $300 (not including tax of course) I've been thinking one of these three Squire Vintage Modified '70s Jazz Epiphone Thunderbird IV Epiphone EB-3 And I have no Idea about an amp. Are there any cheaper tube amps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zachoff Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Depends on your goal... If you want to be gigging relatively soon, get something you can gig with... Decent bass, 100W+ amp If you want to take some time and learn and don't care about playing out, get something you can learn on.Decent bass, 30W practice amp. You can find nicer used basses for about the same price as the three you posted. I'd probably go that route.As far as amps go, I'd just stay away from SWR LA, Behringer, and Crate. You don't need a tube amp for bass, but there aren't really any cheaper ones, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Utero Posted March 18, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 I would be taking time to learn first definately. If I were to gig I would be playing guitar anyway. I just want to know how to play both guitar and bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Most will recommend the Fender, but I say the T-Bird. I'm not a Fender-neck-style fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Mow Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Can't go wrong with the Jazz bass, I'd probably avoid the SG bass (I've got one and I LOVE it, but i'm not sure short scale is the best to start bass on). Having said that, the T bird is awesome too.. seriously I think the both of em are cool choices. Oh and try to find a good BASS teacher, too many guitar teachers out there who 'also play bass' and in the end don't know anything about bass (I only mention this cos I went through 3 'also play bass' guitar teachers and they taught me nothing useful, not saying there are not guys out there who can.. just in my experience 90% of guitarists THINK they can play bass). I've also made the switch from guitar to bass in the last couple of years.. have been selling off all my guitars.. don't play em any more, bass is so much more rewarding.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soul-x Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Play them all. Pick the one that feels good to you, sounds good to you, and gives you warm fuzzies in all the right locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluedogaudio Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 I'd definitely go with the jazz bass. I'd look for a used one made in Mexico on eBay. There's a ton of good deals these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tolka Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Play them all. Pick the one that feels good to you, sounds good to you, and gives you warm fuzzies in all the right locations. +1. Try out as many as you can within your budget. The one that feels and sounds right to you is your bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Utero Posted March 18, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Can't go wrong with the Jazz bass, I'd probably avoid the SG bass (I've got one and I LOVE it, but i'm not sure short scale is the best to start bass on). Having said that, the T bird is awesome too.. seriously I think the both of em are cool choices. Oh and try to find a good BASS teacher, too many guitar teachers out there who 'also play bass' and in the end don't know anything about bass (I only mention this cos I went through 3 'also play bass' guitar teachers and they taught me nothing useful, not saying there are not guys out there who can.. just in my experience 90% of guitarists THINK they can play bass). I've also made the switch from guitar to bass in the last couple of years.. have been selling off all my guitars.. don't play em any more, bass is so much more rewarding.. I have a friend who is an incredible bass player, I don't think I've seen any musicians who can jam like he can. He kinda inspired me to play bass. I was thinking "Hey, playing bass like that looks fun as hell." Anyway, I believe he would show me some stuff. That guy also jams out on a really cheap squire aswell, cheaper than the ones I'm looking at. In the long run, I just want to play bass like I can play guitar. This way I can lay down both guitar and bass tracks for my band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Fury Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 i think the P-bass is the perfect "starter" bass in that it is a well rounded and average bass in terms of the feel (the sound is somewhat unique, but pbasses are so common this may not be apparent) i started on one years ago and neverlooked back i dont like skinny jazz necks, and i love the p-bass sound this is all my opinion though, you will never know what you like until you try a bunch of basses out EDIT: THIS WAS MY 1000th POST, WOOHOO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Trauma_Luna Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Jazz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Id consider an SX Jazz or P, or P/J from Rondo, and spend the diff on a nice amp. I have the P/J, and with a little tweaking of the set up is a great little bass for cheap. Fine for home/practic, pups are decent. Only big deal is pots are kinda scratchy, Id replace pots and maybe tbe bridge if I was gonna gig w/it 100%. Altho its fine as is for occasional use. Do agree the Squire or a used MIM is a good choice. Will prob have slightly better electronics and fretwork than the SX. Lots of folks like the low end Ibanezes. They play nice and sound ok I guess, but I've never liked the feel of the uber skinny neck or the look. Epi basses, havnt played one on 10yr or so, but back then the pups were kinda meh on the TBirds. At least the ones I played back then at my old Buds music store.I love the epi Jack Bruce tho, but its pretty pricy for an Epi. Amps- Id try to get a min of 100Watts, the more the better, for min to play out.Kustom and Acoustic seem to have some nice budget offerings.Cant beat an old Peavey TNT for a low budget tank of a powerful combo, if you can find one.I woudnt worry about tubes at this price point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted March 18, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 18, 2009 With the budget you've given, I'd definitely look used. I personally would find a Peavey TNT bass combo amp (15" - 100 watts) in the $150 range and then find a used bass with the remaining money. You should find a used Squire bass in that range, definitely a used Affinity and possibly a used SVM. If you like the bass, you can slowly swap out parts to improve it. This is a $100 Squier to which I've added less than $100 in parts (bridge, pickups, pots, jack, strap buttons, pickguard...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted March 18, 2009 Members Share Posted March 18, 2009 Used bass. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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