Expert advice ;)

ual · #1 08-29-2010, 08:01 AM

Hi to all! As you can tell, I'm new to posting on this forum (I have lurked and looked around for about a week) and I'm posting here asking for a bit of advice - I plan on upgrading my bass.

I've been playing bass for 2 years now and I have a Yamaha RBX270, which by all means is a great bass and I will definitely keep it, but I'm looking to upgrade to a new bass.

I have 2 options that are leading the pack by miles, and are really the only 2 I am interested in at the moment. First up is a MusicMan Stingray 4. I love the look and from all I've heard of them they sound brilliant - the two drawbacks are where I live (Perth, Western Australia) they are VERY hard to come across used and are too expensive for me (new they are $2500+ AUD, or about $2200 USD, used I could get one for approx $1500 AUD) and so that will make it hard to track one down.

The second option is a Fender Jazz. I also love the look of these (especially in pearl white <3) and there are plenty around to try out and to buy.

I'm looking for a bass that is versatile, meaning it can play funk, jazz, rock etc. (I try to play a bit of everything). To give you an idea of what I mean by everthing, I play a lot of RHCP, RATM, most modern rock (and some older) and I like playing around with basslines from artists like Daft Punk, Sugarhill Gang, basically everything that sounds cool

So TalkBass forumites, please, bestow upon me your advice!

Many thanks from ual

ual · #2 08-29-2010, 08:14 AM

Oh and for $1400 AUD I can get a SR5, what's the opinion on 5 strings?

mellowgerman · #3 08-29-2010, 08:19 AM

P bass sounds great for anything. I would also take one over an MM any day. Especially if you can try before you buy. Just play a bunch of P's until you find one that speaks to you.

Cofrancesco · #4 08-29-2010, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellowgerman

P bass sounds great for anything. I would also take one over an MM any day. Especially if you can try before you buy. Just play a bunch of P's until you find one that speaks to you.

+1

mkrtu9 · #5 08-29-2010, 08:45 AM

P's are my deal too, however I would like to try an MM one day so I can't really comment on those now. However Jazz's are nice too man so you need to just go and play them. You may hear that quite a bit in this forum "go play them" but bottom line it is true. No one is trying to be rude, it is just your ears that matter, not ours.

Good luck and welcome to TB.

Evil Undead · #6 08-29-2010, 08:56 AM

Personally I'd go for a used Jazz. But I definitely recommend trying a few out first.

5 strings, very useful, unless you're into slap... most people can slap a fiver but I never have been able to.

LiamR · #7 08-29-2010, 09:09 AM

Well RATM and RHCP's bassist have both used Jazzes at some points. So it would get a pretty reliable sound from them. If you're going to do a lot of slap, I'd choose a J over a P.

**JxBass** · #8 08-29-2010, 10:29 AM

I've owned a few of each of the basses you mentioned. For your goals I also recommend a P-Bass. Good luck!

ual · #9 08-29-2010, 05:27 PM

Thanks to all for the advice - I think I'm now leaning towards the Jazz. I'll head down to a couple of guitar shops after work and give them all a go to see how they feel

nato101010 · #10 08-29-2010, 06:12 PM

RHCP and RATM?

How often to Warwicks come up used over there?

trayner1 · #11 08-29-2010, 06:16 PM

I would recommend a Stingray, but a Jazz is sweet also and, let's face it, you can never go wrong with a P.

baileyboy · #12 08-29-2010, 06:26 PM

Jazz, baby!

**garmenteros** · #13 08-29-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiamR

Well RATM and RHCP's bassist have both used Jazzes at some points. So it would get a pretty reliable sound from them. If you're going to do a lot of slap, I'd choose a J over a P.

They've also used stingrays as well, TimC can be heard with a ray on their first album and flea used one in the early 90s...

ual · #14 08-30-2010, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nato101010

RHCP and RATM?

How often to Warwicks come up used over there?

Through my searching I haven't seen any used Warwicks. I have however seen a few new ones at a store I visited recently. They looked very nice but I didn't actually try one :\ At this same store I tried 2 J's (a MIM and a MIA, the MIA being $1000 more pricey) and tbh the MIM sounded ad looked much better (buttercream)

Boyakasha · #15 08-30-2010, 07:01 AM

How about Sterling By MusicMan?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Fo7AKwfA0

I can find those for as cheap as 559£(new) so, if you can find them, they'd be within your price range.

stepswork4me · #16 08-30-2010, 07:09 AM

I think it's funny that ual never expressed any intereset in a P bass and it was just thrown in. People crack me up.

TobyBrodel · #17 08-30-2010, 07:25 AM

yo, tassie boy chiming in.

jazz bass is your best bet in your price range for aus I'd say. the Mexican made ones are pretty reasonably priced, I got mine 5 years ago, I thought I'd have outgrown it by now but they're chameleons, almost always at home in any genre, you can't go wrong.

play it first though, eBay can be super tempting considering the heinous markups in stores here but you've gotta be sure it's your thing and your paticular axe isn't a random dud.

I made that mistake with my g&l, great bass, for another player.

Din Of Win · #18 08-30-2010, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepswork4me

I think it's funny that ual never expressed any intereset in a P bass and it was just thrown in. People crack me up.

+1