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Looking for Lighter Beginner's Bass for my Wife

I

infotrad

Feb 29, 2008
4
0
#1
I'm looking for a lighter bass for my wife (does a shorter scale exist in bass guitars?). I was told that the Fender Mexican P Bass is a good choice, but I'm wondering there are lighter basses around that offer good value for a basic instrument.
As a Beatle fan, I was wondering about the Hohner bass, since it seems light as it is a hollow-body). But even with the Hohner line, I wouldn't know which specific model to get.

Also, any recommendations on a small bass amp (maybe even tubes, if the tube sond makes a difference with the lower bass frequencies) would be welcome.
 
#4
The Rogue VB-100 Beatle Bass is in the 6 pound range, which is about as light as it gets. (Turser and others make very similar basses, probably all made in the same chinese factory.) I also like the Bronco bass, and wouldn't hesitate to go that route. With either bass, a change of strings will be desirable. the rogue comes with a hideous tinny set of rounds, but installing Labella Hofner flats changes the sound completely.

If you go 34" scale, the lightest bass I know of is the Jay Turser JTB-401, which is a clone of the '54 Precision and which gets rave reviews for its sound. All three of these can be had for $200 or less. The drawback of the Turser is that the neck is heavy enough that it's a neck-diver. I countered this by adding a bridge cover (looks much better) and putting adhesive tire weights inside the cover. That balanced it out and it's still about 7.5 pounds, which is on the light side for a bass.

I'm sure you'll also get positive feedback on the SX short scale basses, which probably would work nicely.
 
#8
The Ibanez SR800 Series of four stringers always had a really small neck that seemed easy for smaller and hands and was fairly light. I got one specifically so the that a female lead in a band could play it when I did front vocal duty. After struggling with some of my other heavier and larger neck basses, she took to the Ibanez with out much trouble at all.
 
#10
I have the Ibanez GSR200FM. I never touched a bass before I bought this one, so I have nothing to compare it to. Here's my two cents anyway: I feel carrying my bass in its bag is less heavy than carrying my 14 inch iBook around. Maybe if I carried iBook on my back it would be slightly different.
I bought the matching Ibanez IBZ10B 10 watt practise amp...which I find, and most people say, is decent/more than enough for what I want out of it.

My longest finger is 3 inches, and I don't find the neck to be too difficult to manage....except below the 12th fret, and into the body of my bass is near impossible to get my fingers around...but what bassist is playing there all the time anyway?

I'd recommend it to anyone. GSR200 is a very popular model.
 
#11
maryhyphenbeth said:
I have the Ibanez GSR200FM. I never touched a bass before I bought this one, so I have nothing to compare it to. Here's my two cents anyway: I feel carrying my bass in its bag is less heavy than carrying my 14 inch iBook around. Maybe if I carried iBook on my back it would be slightly different.
I bought the matching Ibanez IBZ10B 10 watt practise amp...which I find, and most people say, is decent/more than enough for what I want out of it.

My longest finger is 3 inches, and I don't find the neck to be too difficult to manage....except below the 12th fret, and into the body of my bass is near impossible to get my fingers around...but what bassist is playing there all the time anyway?

I'd recommend it to anyone. GSR200 is a very popular model.
Click to expand...

Aww, man,
You'd hate my fretless 6, very wide neck. If you can imagine: a 55mm nut :eek:
 
#14
There exists a series of Fenders called "Precision Lyte." They are disconctinued but not difficult to find on eBay. I actually own one of the rarer Precision Lyte Deluxe models, and I can attest for its quality. Search "Precision Lyte" or "P Bass Lyte" or something and see what comes up. They're like 5 pounds.
 
#17
GlennW said:
Ibby GSR 200; very high sound/comfort-to-price ratio.
You'll be hardpressed to find more bass for the money.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I bought one of these for my wife when she was playing bass for a band I was in. It sounded good, was lightweight, and pretty easy for her to play. She's only 5'1", so the ergonomics of the instrument were important, and the Ibanez did the trick.
 
#18
I have the Brice HVB 600 (Beatle bass), available on Rondomusic.com for 259.00, and it is a good starting point. Has some limitations on the variety of tones available, but if she likes vintage rock...this thing rocks! Really good with flatwound strings on it.

Rondo also has some short scale SX basses available. If they had a short scale P/J I'd have one.
 
#20
Oh Heck. Y'all are gonna hate me, but here goes...
Plenty of smaller stature/handed people (male and female) play double
basses, P-basses. etc. No problem!

In my opinon--as a professional music teacher--if a 15 year-old girl can
manage a double bass (41.5" scale), darn near anyone can manage a 9
LB. 34" scale electric bass.

Find your wife a bass by helping her find basses to play while she is
learning on something borrowed. Let her choose something from an
informed vantage point...all IMHO.
 

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