Help someone who knows nothing about Bass...

[Trombone Freak]

Ok, so I'm a brass player, but I'm looking to expand my horizons and learn how to play bass guitar as a side project to keep my sanity while I'm in my dorm at college.

I figure the best way to go about this would be to play into headphones, but my knowledge of electrical instruments is exactally zero, so I don't know what all I would need to do that, like can I just plug headphones into the bass or will I need some sort of amplification or could I use my computer for amplification, and etc.

If you could give me any advice regarding this it would be greatly appreciated.

Also any recomendation of (inexpensive) basses or other things I would need would be helpful.

Thanks.

[Herman]

I don't know what your budget is but a nice unit for learning and quiet practice is the Tascam CD-BT1:

http://www.tascam.com/Products/CD-BT...1.html?pid=259

They run about $150.

For info on a beginner's bass, you may want to search the forum for "beginner's bass", "cheap basses", etc. - I'm sure you'll find a lot of threads on the topic. Good luck!

[Brad Barker]

Originally Posted by Herman

I don't know what your budget is but a nice unit for learning and quiet practice is the Tascam CD-BT1:

http://www.tascam.com/Products/CD-BT...1.html?pid=259

They run about $150.

For info on a beginner's bass, you may want to search the forum for "beginner's bass", "cheap basses", etc. - I'm sure you'll find a lot of threads on the topic. Good luck!

or "SX basses."

[Joe Nerve]

These guys said exactly what I was going to say. That Tascam thing is worth it's weight in gold, and so are SX basses. Or, at least worth their weight in bass material... or... I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. You'll get the most bang for your buck with an SX bass. They're here www.rondomusic.net. If you do get one at Rondo either learn how to do a setup here, have a freind set it up, or take it to your local music store and have them do it for $20 or $30. You might think the bass sucks if it's not properly setup, and I think they ship them with pretty horrible setups. I bought mine out of the store, but the ones they hanging on the wall were in dire need of neck and action adjustments.

[Brad Barker]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

These guys said exactly what I was going to say. That Tascam thing is worth it's weight in gold, and so are SX basses. Or, at least worth their weight in bass material... or... I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

also, i think i'm obligated that i'm sitting all of three feet away from two amps that both have headphone outs.

one is the peavey microbass, which apparently is the highest-regarded starter amp.

the other... well...


if you get an amp with a headphone out, you can play without pissing off your entire dorm AND without having to spend extra dough.

not sure about the added benefits of dedicated headphone units.

[Mon Rominee]

If you cannot afford amplification or dedicated headphone practice aides that run alot of dough, you *could* find a contraption called "Dr. Bass". A bass stethescope of sorts, attaches a clip to the headstock, and "amplifies" from resonances. Works kinda neat actually, I have one right here. cheap money for sure.

[Trombone Freak]

Thanks all for your input, I appreciate it.