BASS MEGATHREAD: Beginners, welcome to my ass!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > BASS MEGATHREAD: Beginners, welcome to my ass!

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

Archr5 posted:

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.

Are the models in the bass pack any good, I found the ones that came with it as standard lackluster and got a better sound out of one of the guitar amp models.

Stux fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Feb 8, 2008

# ¿ Feb 8, 2008 23:42

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 09:26

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

Archr5 posted:

well the guitar port doesn't actually come with ANY bass models...

the bass pack's preset tones are pretty similar, some have a little more mid-high tone than others.. and there's like one distorted preset.

However, there are a LOT of amps and cab combinations you can play with, and i find that the amp cab combos let me pick a tone i like (clear tones with lots of definition for practice so i can tell if my notes are sounding correctly, and muddy distorted insane reverb poo poo for screwing around)

i'd say it's worth $50 on the guitarport. I wasn't thrilled with how the default guitar presets sounded with the bass... everything except the G and D strings sounded muted and muddy.

Ah I have the toneport kb37 which came with a couple of bass amps and cabs, but they all have a lack in high/high mid end from what I've found.

Thanks for the info, looks like thats something else on my "to buy" list :sigh:

# ¿ Feb 9, 2008 14:30

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

I need a cheapish 5 string bass for recording with as I just got a 7 string guitar and I'd rather leave my 4 string in standard. Is there anything half decent I can get for around �200-�250. Going for a kind of meshuggah type sound if possible, bright.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2008 23:45

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

oval office Puncher posted:

I didn't read too many other replies so this probably has been said already, but there's a ton of overlap between the skills required to play bass and guitar (left hands are virtually identical, co-ordination between picking/plucking and fretting etc.) so you can easily learn both at once.

I'd recommend getting a regular guitar teacher and starting out with a bass teacher to get your right hand technique sorted, after that you can likely drop the bass teacher or just take occasional lessons as many of the left hand and two hand techniques are virtually identical between the two instruments.

Re the instrument to buy, as with any new player I'd recommend a used instrument to start as you'll find a lot higher quality/price ratio. Tons of options here which I'm sure have been covered in the thread.

Playing the bass is a completely different playing style entirely to guitar.

# ¿ May 11, 2008 22:09

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

I need a new bass as I sold my only bass a couple of months back. I want a 6 string as I usually play 7 string guitars so I'll need the lower string for recording, and the higher one would actually get a decent amount of use in other situations.

It needs to be quite versatile as it will be playing everything from same octave djent and normal metal to blues and jazz. I also want to keep it under �450 if possible.

So far I've been looking at the LTD B206SM and D6 NS aswell as the Ibanez SR506BM and BTB676. I'm currently leaning towards the B206SM. Any thoughts?

# ¿ Dec 1, 2008 16:42

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

Again I'd like to point out that ZP is gay and you can ignore him.

Also I'm going to be looking for a bass amp soon, I need it to keep up with a drummer while keeping it small and for the least amount of money possible. Ideas?

# ¿ Jan 3, 2009 10:17

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

82Daion posted:

It depends on how hard your drummer hits, but any Peavey 115 combo (TNT, TKO, Combo, etc.) should do the trick for cheap and loud. They're a little on the big side, but that's the sacrifice you must make for bass.

What's your budget?

I dont really have a set budget, I just don't want to pay more than I have to. The 115 looks pretty bang on for price and size though. I'm not really worried about the tone at this point as its just for practices, any recording will be done through a modeller and for any gigs I'll be borrowing rigs/PAing it.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2009 21:17

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

Nigel Tufnel posted:

All this talk of floating thumbs has got me wondering whether my use of a plectrum to play is unacceptable. I am primarily a guitarist in my defence and I'm playing indie bass (if that makes a difference).

Plectrums own.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2009 21:37

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 09:26

Stux: Nov 17, 2006

How else am I meant to get that bright scooped sound without a pick?!

# ¿ Feb 13, 2009 22:12

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > BASS MEGATHREAD: Beginners, welcome to my ass!