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Beginner Bass Recommendations?
- Thread starter Augsp
- Start date
Here's some advice: think of yourself as a musician, first and foremost. The various instruments are tools for making your music. Each one needs practice, of course, to build up (and keep up) your skill using it, and there are only so many hours in the day to spread around. But never think of yourself as quitting an instrument. You might focus your attention on a different instrument for a while. Then you might go back to one you were playing before. Nothing wrong with that. You might feel like playing rock. But having a background in classical will give you ideas and skills and inspiration that another musician who only knows rock might not have. A lot of great rock bassists - Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, John Myung - had classical backgrounds before turning to rock. Never limit yourself.
By the way, someone mentioned Sire basses. I had forgotten them - new company, and Korean-made, so they should be locally available, and they fit your budget. The website looks like they're working on a Korean link but it isn't working right now, but there is a "global" one. Link Removed
I know what you're talking about. Out of all things, I'm a considerably passionate writer and a reader as well, and I've found that sometimes the best writing tips come from classics. I guess it's the same with music. But you know, there's this kind of feeling, where you want to be free of what people think is "normal". Like a sense of wanting to be just yourself, and nothing else. It's a teenage angst kind of thing, I guess.
A Korean made company? That's pretty interesting! I mean, I've seen Korean companies before, but I don't really trust them for some reason. I hope the Korean link comes up soon.
You tell your parents that all the players at TB said to get you a squire...
Seriously though.... it is hard to go wrong with a Squire for a starter bass... They are well made and even though they are inexpensive basses they are not cheaply made basses. That is what you want. Inexpensive not cheap.
As for Korean made basses... all of my basses except for my 78 Jazz and my Cirrus fretless 5 which are U.S. made are Korean made.. There are some very well made basses coming out of Korea now a days so don't let that stop you. My Kingston Heir, Brubaker Brute and Skyline 55-01 are great basses in every way.
Well Jag are great, but I would also recommend you to check out the Gretsch g2220 junior jet bass II, the tone is amazing for a $300 Bass,check out Royal Blood
I have the Jag SS and the Gretsch...see my Avatar, and you won't go wrong with either. The Gretsch is a bit more money, $300 vs $200, but both are great, and they are not "starter" instruments. I play them as much as my Godin.
Korea has a large and reputable instrument making industry, so do not look down upon instruments made there. Many Squiers, Ibanez, Lakland, G&L, Warwick, etc... have had manufacturing in Korea, so the local brands are likely made in the same factories by the same people.
Swing Guitars is another local company that makes a good quality instrument, from beginner to higher end. They have their own shop, but I will agree with the othet poster who recommended you go to the music mall where you'll be able to go to many stores with ease. Try anything that is in your price range, and do look at used basses since you might be able to get something that was $400 new for $250 used, for example, and if you don't keep it for the long term you can more easily sell it for close to the $250 you paid, whereas if you buy a new instrument, you will never sell it for the same price again.
You should be able to get a bass and a small practice amp for under $300. You'll NEED an amp for an electric bass, as it doesn't work acoustically the way your piano and violin did. Just a small 15W amp is enough for bedroom practice, and your parents will appreciate if it has an earphone jack that allows you to practice quietly.
The Jaguar is a great starter bass, if that's the one you like the looks of They usually have a thinner Jazz profile neck, and you may get lucky and be able to compare the feel of the SS model to the regular scale, to see if one of them feels more right than the other.
Good luck!
Swing Guitars is another local company that makes a good quality instrument, from beginner to higher end. They have their own shop, but I will agree with the othet poster who recommended you go to the music mall where you'll be able to go to many stores with ease. Try anything that is in your price range, and do look at used basses since you might be able to get something that was $400 new for $250 used, for example, and if you don't keep it for the long term you can more easily sell it for close to the $250 you paid, whereas if you buy a new instrument, you will never sell it for the same price again.
You should be able to get a bass and a small practice amp for under $300. You'll NEED an amp for an electric bass, as it doesn't work acoustically the way your piano and violin did. Just a small 15W amp is enough for bedroom practice, and your parents will appreciate if it has an earphone jack that allows you to practice quietly.
The Jaguar is a great starter bass, if that's the one you like the looks of They usually have a thinner Jazz profile neck, and you may get lucky and be able to compare the feel of the SS model to the regular scale, to see if one of them feels more right than the other.
Good luck!
+1000@Augsp
Technique will do the job, and yes, shift to reach notes, keeping fingers all engaged but not straining. But you know that.
Learn to play correctly and you won't have to limit what bass you buy.
To start, I would recommend a pawn shop trip. Look for a Squier Affinity Precision or Jazz. You can find them for about $100 and for an amp, something like a Fender Rumble 15 or 25 should run you about $30 - $50. The Squire Affinity Line is a decent beginner instrument.
One thing you can tell your parents, and this is very true, don't get a really cheap bass that is hard to play. I have seen more than one person drop out thinking it was too physically demanding because even the best bass players would struggle with operating the instrument. If you want to get closer to the $300 range, a Squier VM seriers is a very good instument for the price. You may have to look for a used instrument as they retail about $329 (IIRC). I paid $270 for a used Squire VM five string Jazz bass. Shop the classifieds here and any other bass sites you can find as well as Ebay and Craigslist. But, be careful with Craigslist. It can be a dangerous place.
One thing you can tell your parents, and this is very true, don't get a really cheap bass that is hard to play. I have seen more than one person drop out thinking it was too physically demanding because even the best bass players would struggle with operating the instrument. If you want to get closer to the $300 range, a Squier VM seriers is a very good instument for the price. You may have to look for a used instrument as they retail about $329 (IIRC). I paid $270 for a used Squire VM five string Jazz bass. Shop the classifieds here and any other bass sites you can find as well as Ebay and Craigslist. But, be careful with Craigslist. It can be a dangerous place.
My pink Jazz bass is a Korean body...Korean pickups and electronics.
It sounds better than some Fender MIMs I've played.
It's one bass I'll never sell.
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Oh yes, I've seen Swing guitars quite often. They seem to be one of the bigger Korean companies, and if my parents are completely against a Squier I'd probably end up with one of those. I am going to try and persuade my parents to visit Nakwon, just to see which one would be best for me.
If you buy an amp with an earphone jack, is it okay to just use any earphones that you have? Or are there special ones?
Is there a big difference between a headphone amp and a normal one?
Why are your parents against you getting a Squier?
You can use any earplugs or headphones with a headphone amp or a little practice amp...some need plug adapters...but with a mini amp you can hear yourself without headphones. Some of them you can even plug in your iphone or mp3 player and play along with songs.
You can use any earplugs or headphones with a headphone amp or a little practice amp...some need plug adapters...but with a mini amp you can hear yourself without headphones. Some of them you can even plug in your iphone or mp3 player and play along with songs.
I play a Japanese fender 62 reissue jazz these days but the BA108 is here to stay. The perfect option for my apartment and I've used it on gigs in small bars. It does the job and does it well.
They heard from my uncle that Squier is a rather expensive brand usually for professionals. They're also sort of overall dubious about the idea that I'd be willing to learn how to play, and would be able to consistently be interested for a long time. I personally don't get how they got the latter idea, because none of my musically related education was started because I actually wanted to do it.
I'll have to try one out. I used an older Fender Rumble 15 for practice at home. I have a Squier VM J V among my basses and it is really a very good instument. I normally gig with my Am J and my MIM P, but for tunes that have to have the B, it goes to the gigs as well. I've always liked Ampeg (V4B - Fridge is my very favorite rig), but haven't seen a used BA108 around.
A hundred bucks at Sam Ash. I really don't know much about amps and I like it this way. Keeps me from spending money. The guitar player in my small potatoes cover band is a bass player in a few legit wedding bands so he has all the "real" gear I need for bigger gigs. But the little bitty 108 is great. I did a lot of research on it and a popular opinion is that it's one of the best little amps for the money.
Your uncle doesn't know what he's talking about. Once the see visit a music store with you and see the range of prices, they'll be far more agreeable to a Squier than you think. Make sure to grab some expensive Fenders off the wall first, so the $2000 sticker shock helps them realize that Squiers are in fact a budget brand.
It may just be their way of expressing disappointment that you're choosing an electric bass over the more classically inspired instruments they chose for you when you were younger. It's not like pianos and violins are cheap either - or the years of lessons - so it seems to me that their hesitance here has less to do with the brand/cost and more to do with the instrument that they don't see a respectable future with.
You'll need to persuade them that any instrument can help you improve your overall abilities and that you will still play piano and violin to maintain your skills.
Also tell them that you are very interested in drums, since they too could help your overall musical abilities
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Well, I'm sure glad Squier isn't expensive at all, at least over here. My CV Bass at $375 was the best money I've ever spent!
As for professionals using them...a few do.
Other than that, you have 4 pages of responses...when you do decide on the right bass, post a pic to let us know what you came home with.
Good luck!
Not sure about Korea, but it's a very common thing here where kids are hothoused to learn classical instruments and take exams for it for status reasons. I imagine it's not very different in Korea and Japan, and probably very different from most of USA. Don't worry about it: you're really not alone in this. Leave your piano alone for a while, don't think about it, and in the future you might find yourself making use of it for songwriting or just playing stuff for fun. If you get into jazz you might like to go back to it in a completely different context too.
At the very least you can use it for reference notes to practice tuning by ear heh.
You mentioned Korean forums, any buy/sell sections there?
There's a lot of very cheaply made Korean mass produced instruments from Korean companies. The important thing is to actually try it out. It's not difficult to get a good instrument from a cheap company if you take the time to try one by one and pick out your favorite.
Btw I've tried Swing basses in a shop here, I think they're pretty decent. Not really good, but more than good enough to start with. Most importantly, get it set up well.
It's hard for a lot of parents in this side of the world to understand the difference between learning from interest and being coerced to learn. So they probably don't see the difference between your piano/violin and bass.
Your uncle doesn't know what he is talking about... no offense to him.. I would suggest that you go for a 5 string though...
