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I'm no bass player, but grabbing a cheapie Rondo Bass and an amp you're really only looking at like 150. And, my guitar teacher actually teaches both Guitar and Bass, and has a few students that go back and forth every week between the two, so one week they learn bass and the next the guitar. If you look hard enough you may be able to find a teacher that does that (hell your teacher even might do that).
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Dec 24, 2007 07:30
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AtomicManiac posted:I'm no bass player, but grabbing a cheapie Rondo Bass and an amp you're really only looking at like 150. And, my guitar teacher actually teaches both Guitar and Bass, and has a few students that go back and forth every week between the two, so one week they learn bass and the next the guitar. If you look hard enough you may be able to find a teacher that does that (hell your teacher even might do that). He's already outfitted with a good setup for his needs. And, honestly, if you're going to buy from Rondo, you'd do well to go to the Agile/Brice line rather than shop at the made-in-China cheapo SX level. The quality difference is felt most keenly in the nuances of workmanship, and ESPECIALLY in any metal parts. That's tuners, bridges, especially. The nuts on Agiles are lightyears beyond the terribly cut SX nuts. This is all in my experience, of course, I'm sure some SX stuff comes much better. I've never seen it though and I've bought a handfull now, they make great gifts that suit a newbie well enough and require only a minimal investment to turn into a serious instrument.
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Dec 24, 2007 07:42
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I've been playing bass for almost a year. I need to get some inspiration and start playing 3-4 hours a day again. First 2 weeks I played bass that's about how much I played.... then I started playing like 3-4 hours a week, then 3-4 hours every other week. Now I play like 5 hours a week.... at most. I just finally learned my first whole song, and can actually play along with it when I listen to the CD. I dick around with metronome's and I can play consistently at 160bpm, even with constant fret changes.... I just completely loving suck at rhythm when it comes to actually playing a song and trying to imitate it. I have buddies who are the reason I got into bass, and they are never really willing to help me out or sit down and jam cause I'm a beginner. I have an instructor, but I feel like everything he teaches me I could just get from ultimate-guitar tabs and then listen to the song for rhythm. He has taught me some technique.... but for the most part when he watches me play(even since day one) he just says how I have everything down. I can play fluidly with 4 fingers on the fretting hand, and I strum/pick whatever with 3 fingers all the time. This just felt kinda natural to me from day one... It's my new years resolution to start devoting a minimum of 1hr(hopefully 2-3 every other at least) to bass playing, and then rub it in my friends faces and not join their band when they ask! Good luck to you fellow newbie(even though I shouldn't be.... been playin a drat year') bass goon.
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Dec 24, 2007 14:33
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Hey, I've been playing for a few years now and I'm starting lessons for a music major soon. I asked my teacher to recommend me a method book for learning sight-reading and just to improve all around in general, and he suggested New Method for the Double Bass by F. Simandl: http://www.amazon.com/New-Method-Double-Bass-Book/dp/0825801524 It's for upright, but evidently all the examples and lessons and whatnot apply just as well to the electric. So you might want to check that out if you're into sight-reading and learning theory... even though you like the harder rock stuff more, can't hurt to try something new, right?
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Dec 24, 2007 18:37
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el Trentoro posted:Hey, I've been playing for a few years now and I'm starting lessons for a music major soon. I asked my teacher to recommend me a method book for learning sight-reading and just to improve all around in general, and he suggested New Method for the Double Bass by F. Simandl: http://www.amazon.com/New-Method-Double-Bass-Book/dp/0825801524 ah yes The stuff about positions in Simandl is pretty specific to the upright (you're not going to fret harmonics with your left thumb on an electric) but I could imagine it could be pretty decent for sight-reading exercise and the later lessons might be good for teaching you how to get around on the fretboard, so long as you ignore the fingerings written in.
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Dec 25, 2007 00:26
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I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm considering picking one of these up to learn bass on. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-Vintage-Modified-70s-Jazz-Bass?sku=519639 I have been noodling around on the guitar for a while, not making much progress. Then I picked up a soprano ukulele and I've discovered that 4 strings are much easier for my brain to deal with than 6 and I have a lot more fun plinking around and learning chords with my uke than I do trying to memorize chords on a guitar.. So this led me to the idea that I might enjoy playing a 4 string bass. I went to guitar center today and plugged the Squier into a Berhenger 4x10 amp that they had set up and it sounded really great, so I'm wondering if anyone who has a better frame of reference than I could tell me how that squire compares to a MIM fender j-bass. It felt and sounded a ton better than the Squier affinity j-bass and I Think it felt and sounded slightly better than the MiM Fender.. I'm wondering how much of the sound was the amp being awesome and how much of it was the guitar being decent. does anyone have any negative experiences with this guitar? i also found a youtube review of it and the pickups really have distinct sounds, which is new to me since I'm used to playing the cheapest, single pickup electric guitar i could get my hands on. http://youtube.com/watch?v=D32xgLW-BXo
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Jan 20, 2008 23:24
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Archr5 posted:I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm considering picking one of these up to learn bass on. About 99% of the time a Squier will be of lesser quality than an MIM Fender. Squiers are Fender's lowest price-point instruments. But if you like it, go for it. But I'll also say that I've heard of many people being pretty happy with this bass. Scarf fucked around with this message at 00:57 on Jan 21, 2008 |
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Jan 21, 2008 00:53
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I know nothing about basses, but as far as guitars go, squier is pretty much considered bottom of the barrel stuff. Even at prices that low, you can do waaay better than squier in my experience. It seemed like the $300-400 squier stuff was about as bad, if not worse than, my old $100 yamaha.
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Jan 21, 2008 20:18
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Squier basses are kind of hit and miss. Friend of mine got a pretty good one which I'd put up against some MIMs (but not all - the best MIMs are as high quality as any American bass, this definitely isn't), but it still needs a full re-kit if it's going to be anything serious. If you're going to cheap out, the best deal around is https://www.rondomusic.net's Brice line of basses. They're great instruments for the money, kind of like Agiles are great guitars for the money. And by "for the money," I mean that if you replace the pickups you've got a $200-300 instrument that can't be easily distinguished from a ~$1000-$1500 in terms of playability, construction quality, and for the most part sound (though the thicker poly finishes and the headstock will, of course, show the cheaper instrument for what it is).
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Jan 21, 2008 20:48
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My first bass was a Squier Pbass. It was a miss for me. If I have to buy a beginner bass now, I'd probably pick one of the OLP basses. They seem to be of decent quality.
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Jan 22, 2008 00:50
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el Trentoro posted:Hey, I've been playing for a few years now and I'm starting lessons for a music major soon. I asked my teacher to recommend me a method book for learning sight-reading and just to improve all around in general, and he suggested New Method for the Double Bass by F. Simandl: http://www.amazon.com/New-Method-Double-Bass-Book/dp/0825801524 Simandl is great if you're playing double bass. On electric, not so much. Simandl is designed specifically to educate the beginning bass player on the basic whole-step hand positions. Electric bass playing isnt very well suited using the hand positions put forth in Simandl (I should know, I always lapse into it when I'm doing any sort of intensive sightreading on electric and it makes a mess out of my technique.) There's an excellent book called "Building walking bass lines" designed for electric bass that teaches hand positions, note reading, and music theory in a way that I feel is very effective. I've used it with several students since I've discovered it and it's worked wonders. The premise of the book comes from a jazz/blues standpoint, but everything in the book can be applied to any style of music you'd want to play, and it also gives you a nice beginning background in jazz in case anyone ever asks you to jam with them out of The Real Book or something. I must confess I forget the name of the author, I leant my personal copy out to a student a few years ago and never got it back. Look it up, though, it makes an excellent self-teaching method.
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Jan 22, 2008 05:12
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Over a year ago I took 3Toes and many others advice and got a GSR200 and besides a little buzzing on the e string on one fret, I have been happy with it and recommend it to anyone starting out.
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Jan 23, 2008 03:48
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I'm going to go play the Ibanez GSR200 and compare it to the Squier and get whichever I like more at this point. I definitely see people's usual fit and finish complaints when I pick up an affinity or one of the "signature" models from Squier, but those complaints really go away when I handle the Vintage Modified Jazz. But if the GSR200 has the same range of sounds and feel or is even close I may end up with that one based on price and recommendations alone. i'm also going to cruise local pawn shops and see what i can nab used. Is there anything a used bass shopper should look for as far as abuse or signs of trouble? I'm worried about the stuff being on sale in a pawn shop because the owner didn't like it or it was broken... I found a MIM Fender jazz at Elderly for $299, http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/55U-4016.htm but the "needs work" items are scaring me away.
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Jan 24, 2008 04:37
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Archr5 posted:I'm going to go play the Ibanez GSR200 and compare it to the Squier and get whichever I like more at this point. I definitely see people's usual fit and finish complaints when I pick up an affinity or one of the "signature" models from Squier, but those complaints really go away when I handle the Vintage Modified Jazz. But if the GSR200 has the same range of sounds and feel or is even close I may end up with that one based on price and recommendations alone. Honestly you should be able to find a used MIM Fender that DOESN'T need work for that price. I'd move on and keep looking if you're going the MIM route. Hell they're only like $450 new, one owner should drop that to about $300 or a little less imo.
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Jan 24, 2008 04:58
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as a note - in my experience the standard model squiers are much better than affinity ones for materials/tuners/pickups everything. every affinity pbass I've played as been a cheap piece of poo poo. Other than the affinity line, I really like the new stuff squier has going on.
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Jan 24, 2008 07:52
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I've got a question about upgrading to a better bass and I'm hoping I can use this thread for it. If everyone would rather I take this to a different thread, please let me know. Anyway... I've been playing my first (and only) bass since about '97. It's a Peavey Milestone II (P-bass copy) and it's pretty good. The pickups aren't the best and it doesn't have much in the way of tonal ranges, but it gets the job done. I'm working on getting into a semi-serious metal band and I'm looking to move up to something nicer. My budget would be limited to about $600 or less I'm afraid. I know that's not much to work with in the bass world. So my question is, would upgrading to a new bass be worth my time (with my budget in mind) or would my money be better spent in upgrading the electronics/pickups of my current bass? I don't dislike my Peavey, but the electronics do leave something to be desired. If I do upgrade to a new bass, what would some recommendations be?
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Jan 24, 2008 18:54
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Mr. Pinky posted:My budget would be limited to about $600 or less I'm afraid. I know that's not much to work with in the bass world. Are you needing to get an amp as well? For just an instrument, $600 should be plenty. You can easily get a used P or J bass for that. I've also heard good things about the Peavey Grind. I got a used Ibanez SRX700 for around $350 at GC, apparently just because it had a knob or two missing and needed a new battery, but that was probably a pretty rare find. If you're satisfied with your P-clone then you could just get new pickups. For metal and punk, the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound is pretty much the standard, and you can find them new in some eBay stores for around $50, certainly no more than $70. Then you can put together a decent used rig with the remainder.
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Jan 24, 2008 20:24
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PenguinBob posted:Are you needing to get an amp as well? For just an instrument, $600 should be plenty. Actually, I will need an amp too. I'd planned on getting the Behringer Ultrabass BXL3000. I'm told it's both decent sounding and fairly loud for small to mid-sized gigs. Not sure how accurate those testimonials are though (but that's another thread). If I keep the Peavey, new pickups are a must. Everywhere I look everyone seems to agree with you about the quarter pounders. But the bigger problem with the bass is the wiring in general. I have a noticeable "hum" due to a bad ground somewhere and most of the wiring/electronics are just cheap and crappy. I'd want to re-wire the whole thing, but I'm not to savvy in that department. Would it be much trouble to re-do all of it while I'm there switching out pickups?
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Jan 24, 2008 22:09
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Mr. Pinky posted:If I keep the Peavey, new pickups are a must. Everywhere I look everyone seems to agree with you about the quarter pounders. But the bigger problem with the bass is the wiring in general. I have a noticeable "hum" due to a bad ground somewhere and most of the wiring/electronics are just cheap and crappy. I'd want to re-wire the whole thing, but I'm not to savvy in that department. Would it be much trouble to re-do all of it while I'm there switching out pickups? In this case, swapping pickups is practically a full rewire. P bass wiring is really simple.
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Jan 24, 2008 23:30
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I keep hearing more and more people raving about how pleased they are with the Squier Vintage Modified basses. I think I'm going to have to try one out this weekend if I can find one. Stay tuned, if I get to pick one up I'll write up a little review.
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Jan 25, 2008 20:09
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3toes posted:I keep hearing more and more people raving about how pleased they are with the Squier Vintage Modified basses. I think I'm going to have to try one out this weekend if I can find one. Stay tuned, if I get to pick one up I'll write up a little review. awesome, it'd be nice to hear from someone who actually plays and can bring out the flaws in the Squier VM. I spent about an hour today noodling on a Fender MIM bass and the Squier VM Jass back and forth... and I am baffled about why they're charging more for the MIM Fender than for the Squier, Clearly I'm missing something, unless this is just one of those weird "great deals" that doesn't cost as much as they could probably get for it. If I had the extra cash I'd probably be picking up this one, I played with it this weekend also and it's pretty amazing for being $400 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-SR400QM-Soundgear-Electric-Bass?sku=511825
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Jan 27, 2008 04:00
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Archr5 posted:awesome, it'd be nice to hear from someone who actually plays and can bring out the flaws in the Squier VM. I'd argue that Ibanez has the greatest price:quality ratio in the business on almost all of their guitars/basses.
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Jan 27, 2008 08:51
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3Toes you have never steered me wrong and I am looking to buy a second bass and some gear that I can use for gigging! I have narrowed my choices to this guy http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-SRX300-Electric-4String-Bass-Guitar?sku=519575 and http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-SR400QM-Soundgear-Electric-Bass?sku=511825 I am completely lost on amps though. I have a 15watt basic practice amp that leaves me wanting in almost all aspects. I play mostly punk and alternative so I am looking for something with a lot of punch. I love my gsr200 but it buzzes more than I would like and I feel like I have outgrown it if that makes sense. GetHardHero fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Jan 31, 2008 |
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Jan 31, 2008 05:55
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2nd link just goes to the front page  Question about your GSR200 though, have you ever taken it in to get a setup done (truss rod adjustment, bridge adjustment, etc.)? Usually that can eliminate a lot of buzzing and make a old bass feel new again. Also, what is your budget for an amp?
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Jan 31, 2008 05:58
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drat that was fast, I think I fixed the link. I am thinking 400-650 for the amp.
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Jan 31, 2008 06:00
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Ok yeah just saw the link. Well I can't really say much about either as I haven't played them. I suggested the GSR200 because that's what I learned on and it did fine. Are you set on another Ibanez? My suggestion would be to get to a Guitar Center or any music store and start playing around. My 2nd bass was an Epiphone T-bird and I loved it http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Thunderbird-IV-Bass?sku=518391. I actually wish I hadn't gotten rid of it, has a great vintage rock gibson-punch sound to it. Only bad part about it was neck dive due to a bad strap-lug location, but I never found it unbearable. Here's an old sound clip I did for the guy I sold it to, goes from Neck Pickup, Bridge Pickup, and both mixed:  As for an amp, it's gonna come down to personal preference. You really gotta get out and play some if you're looking for a good gig amp. Brands to look for are Ampeg, Aguilar, Ashdown, Fender, Peavey, etc. Anything 200watt and over should be fine for small gigs. Only thing I would suggest is staying away from Behringer. They may have gotten better, but I've had nothing but bad experiences with their stuff... Personally I like the Ampeg B-115. I think they make a version thats 220watt or so. To reemphasize: go out and play as many basses as you can! You never know, you might fall in love with a good Fender P or J. Scarf fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Jan 31, 2008 |
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Jan 31, 2008 06:10
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I think guitar center is just going to have to put up with me going there and loving around for an entire day. Every time that I have gone there it makes me angry because there is usually some douche shredding on the most expensive guitar there, some twelve year old prodigy playing the drums or bass and making me want to throttle him for his talent. I have played a few other brands and have always like the way an Ibanez feels. Thanks for the advice!
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Jan 31, 2008 06:29
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GetHardHero posted:I think guitar center is just going to have to put up with me going there and loving around for an entire day. Every time that I have gone there it makes me angry because there is usually some douche shredding on the most expensive guitar there, some twelve year old prodigy playing the drums or bass and making me want to throttle him for his talent. I have played a few other brands and have always like the way an Ibanez feels. Thanks for the advice! Then go for it man. Ibanez is quality imo. If I'm not mistaken that 400QM is active electronics? Big plus in my books, I'm a tweaker and I love having a preamp on my basses. Although there is something to be said for awesome vintage passive tone too 
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Jan 31, 2008 06:31
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Ya I always felt a little sad that I got a passive gsr200. Does the pre-amp just give you extra control over the EQ or does it make it so the pick-ups are more sensitive. I have only ever played passive.
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Jan 31, 2008 06:42
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The March 2008 issue of Guitar World has a review on the SR400QM. The general gist is that it's a very good bass for the price. It sounds great (I agree after watching the video review) and feels great. They say it's a good step-up instrument.
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Jan 31, 2008 08:05
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GetHardHero posted:Ya I always felt a little sad that I got a passive gsr200. Does the pre-amp just give you extra control over the EQ or does it make it so the pick-ups are more sensitive. I have only ever played passive. http://archr5.com/images/Ibanez%20Soundgear.mov Here's that review from the most recent guitar world magazine. Seems like a lot of bang for your buck. a lot of control over the tone. (the default video size is tiny so i'd recommend downloading it and watching it outside of your browser so you can zoom in a bit.)
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Jan 31, 2008 08:14
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Archr5 posted:http://archr5.com/images/Ibanez%20Soundgear.mov  I think I love that Bass now. It has enough range to keep me happy. Tax return season is the best season. Thanks so much guys!
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Jan 31, 2008 08:23
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I ordered a bass last week and got it on Saturday, and start lessons sometime next week so I'm excited. Is there a good way to learn chords online? Do you even use chords that much on a bass? I'm pretty well-versed in music and play many instruments and have a ton of theory knowledge behind my belt so I am not looking for an explanation of chords, just fingerings and appropriate use of them. I am also thrilled at how Blues scales sound on this thing--bass and blues were meant to be!
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Jan 31, 2008 09:03
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chords are rarely played on the bass, they sound muddy. Lots of arpeggios though. Bassmasta.net is a great tab site to get you playing some songs right off.
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Jan 31, 2008 09:25
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wet pussy posted:I ordered a bass last week and got it on Saturday, and start lessons sometime next week so I'm excited. Is there a good way to learn chords online? Do you even use chords that much on a bass? I'm pretty well-versed in music and play many instruments and have a ton of theory knowledge behind my belt so I am not looking for an explanation of chords, just fingerings and appropriate use of them. Chords are a little rare depending on what you're playing. But I throw in double-stops pretty often when playing funk.
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Jan 31, 2008 13:44
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Wet Pussy posted:I ordered a bass last week and got it on Saturday, and start lessons sometime next week so I'm excited. Is there a good way to learn chords online? Do you even use chords that much on a bass? I'm pretty well-versed in music and play many instruments and have a ton of theory knowledge behind my belt so I am not looking for an explanation of chords, just fingerings and appropriate use of them. I just started playing bass in the past year, and I have only recently started to learn songs. I started out with a lot of finger exercises, however I'd recommend trying to learn songs and what not first...and get your finger skills up that way. I have be come fairly creative though through just messing around, and I often play 2 strings at once. I have seen artists like Les Claypool and such play 3-4 strings at once(triple/quadruple stops) on a bass. I haven't yet learned how to do any triple stops that sound good yet though 
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Feb 2, 2008 08:16
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wet pussy posted:I ordered a bass last week and got it on Saturday, and start lessons sometime next week so I'm excited. Is there a good way to learn chords online? Do you even use chords that much on a bass? I'm pretty well-versed in music and play many instruments and have a ton of theory knowledge behind my belt so I am not looking for an explanation of chords, just fingerings and appropriate use of them. Also, chords above the 12 fret sound cool and jazzy and awesome 
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Feb 3, 2008 17:14
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to anyone keeping score, this thread has aided in the purchase of another bass. I went up to GC to get a Squier vintage mod 70's jazz bass... they didn't have one in stock. long story short the manager had just gotten a MIM Fender J bass with an SKB hard case. he pulled the bass apart, cleaned it, polished the frets replaced the strings and set it up. He even tossed in a 10' cable because i mentioned that the only cable i had came with my Epiphone SG special starter kit i bought a long time ago. and he felt bad that the Squier wasn't in stock so he didn't charge me for the strings the set up or the case! $279 out the door for the whole deal! since I don't have an amp for the bass i bought the Bass pack for my Line 6 guitarport, which worked out great too, $49 bucks for 28 amp models and 22 Cab models with 16 pre-set tones. the Sennheiser HD 212Pros I've been using with the guitarport sound great at lower frequencies so it may be quite some time before i buy an actual bass amp.
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Feb 7, 2008 04:29
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Archr5 posted:and he felt bad that the Squier wasn't in stock so he didn't charge me for the strings the set up or the case! $279 out the door for the whole deal! Dang nice score!
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Feb 7, 2008 06:07
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I'm currently in a similar situation. I play guitar but want to get a bass both to lay some bass tracks down and to learn as a second instrument. I'm currently tossing up between a MIM Fender Precision, Jazz or an Epiphone Thunderbird IV. I'd be mainly using it for blues/rock but some flexibility would be nice. Has anyone had any experience with the Thunderbird IV?
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Feb 8, 2008 06:01
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