Cost of a good bass?

[anjequalspi]

Hey there. I'm pretty new at playing bass (about three years) and I've been playing on my high school basses so far. I'm interested in getting a bass of my own, but I'm not sure what kind or how much it will be.
I am in my high schools Orchestra and Wind Ensemble and I'm also looking forward to taking lessons from a jazz bassist so a pretty versatile bass would be awesome.
Thanks so much!!

[JayR]

For the situations you're playing in, I'd say you really don't need to break the bank. A well-made chinese hybrid bass with a carved top and laminate sides should run you something in the $2000-4000 range, and those work especially well for jazz, in my experience. I'd say check out the basses at www.lemurmusic.com or even give them a call and ask for advice. They ship all over the place, and they do a lot of personal work on the instruments before sending them out. Their sunrise series sounds like it might be what you're looking for. Also they're just really really nice people.

Whatever you do, DON'T go buy a bass from a generic music store. Places that carry all sorts of instruments tend to not do a very good job with basses. You're best off buying from a place that specializes in basses and knows how to do good setups.

Edit: where are you located? people might be able to recommend some good places in your area.

[drurb]

This should be your first stop. Also, there are several fine dealers besides Lemur. Check around these threads and you'll identify who they are pretty quickly.

[Slaps McGoo]

I'd also reccomend perhaps a carved top as opposed to laminate? You can find some decent ones for relatively cheap. I'm new myself, but I've been doing quite a bit of research and I can hope to offer you a decent opinion on this. Their sound can be a lot nicer, but don't shun plywoods as a result. Lots of folks praise the Shen or Christopher chinese plywoods over some carved top basses. A couple of good sites for factory order basses are www.bassesonline.com and Sam Ash music, they have a carved top bass for $1000 that ship out of Tampa. A local musician friend of mine bought one from New York and said with $150 at the luthier, it works wonders. He does play Rockabilly though.

[anjequalspi]

Thanks so much. I'm living in Portland, OR right now so if anyone knows of a good place to buy one or anyone who has one that would be great.

[Carl Johnson]

If you can get to up to Seattle check out Hammon Ashley I think they carry some of the better Chicom basses

[Will and Matt]

Dude get a Fender P-bass they only cost about 600$

[BRIDGE]

I think you might want to be in the other forum for bass guitars. This one is for upright basses.