Complete Beginner Needing Help

[Dream]

I'm going to start playing bass, but I have a couple questions.

1.) What would be a quality bass ( For a beginner ) in the $100 price range?

2.) Since I have no experience whatsoever on bass, should I take some lessons? What do bass lessons usually start with? Reading music, etc?

I would really appreciate the help. Thanks a lot.

 

[fatbassjazzer]

Search in the basses forum. There are a ton of threads regarding this.

 

[Squidfinger]

1)About the only new bass I'm aware of that goes for $100 is a Rogue. Rogue is cheap crap. You should save up atleast $200 and get a Squier or Ibanez. Check Ebay, I bet you could get a Mexican Fender for $200ish.

2)Lessons certainly won't hurt but are far from necessary. I just bought a book and learned basic music theory (You really don't need to get deep into it), got some tabs and played along to records when I first started.


It's all about how much time you're willing to spend with it. It's different for everybody. Bass gives back whatever you put into it.

 

[beaglesandbass]

hell while we're at it, we should just do away with basses forum...

dream, this is going to get moved/closed/deleted... so next time, just search man.. and go to the forum where you have the question

edit: just browse these results for a while... you'll find something...

beginner search

 

[Guss]

I would really recomend that you save that extra cash and shoot for around $200-$250. That is in my opinion where the best new beginner basses start to become apparent. most basses less than that aren't worth the money in my opinion. sorry.


Oh yeah. someone back me up on this. getting an instructor is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Getting that crucial FEEDBACK will help you become an exceptional player. a book or a video cannot tell you what you are doing wrong. and don't get all high and mighty by saying "I can just teach myself". you can't teach something that you dont know.

 

[Alexander]

I agree - if you can save another $100 and find a good used Fender Jazz (or Precision if that suits you) bass (Made in Mexico), you would have something that would fit you for quite a while.

Get an instructor if at all possible - you can learn without one, but will quite likely pick up a ton of bad habits along the way that you will eventually have to work to correct if you are ever to get really good. You also will learn much faster with a good instructor and they can help you make the best use of any books, videos, etc etc you may want to try and learn from along the way.

 

[radi8]

Ditto,

get an instructor...checkout, wholenote.com to find out if there's an instructor near you.

 

[Boplicity]

I'm going to start playing bass, but I have a couple questions.

1.) What would be a quality bass ( For a beginner ) in the $100 price range?

.

Don't forget that you will not be buying just a bass. As basses, most anyway, are electric, you will need at the very least a small combo of speaker and amp, a cable to connect your bass to the combo, a strap to support your bass if you play standing, a spare set of strings and even a bass stand to support your bass when you aren't using it or a gig bag or hard case to carry and protect your bass. If you plan to play with a pick, you will need to buy several picks.

Your $100 will not buy you very much, but maybe you can get lucky and buy these things used at a pawn shop (be very careful), out of classified ads in the newspaper, at a music store clearance or from a disillusioned bassist who wants to get rid of his equipment or maybe one who wants to trade up to better equipment.

Good luck in your quest to become a bass player. You are off to an excellent start by having found TalkBass.com.