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First Bass for a previous guitar player

G&L Kiloton Tribute.
Sure, plenty of good $300 basses around these days, but with something better, like this, you won't find it necessary to upgrade half a year from now.
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Yes, it sounds even better than it looks and it will work for all genres.

I had one. I couldn't get a decent tone out of it. Looked nice though.
 
I want to learn to play songs by Earth Wind & Fire, Kool and the Gang, New edition, Luther Vandross, and smoot pop songs such as Masayuki Suzuki- Daddy Daddy Do. But i also am interested with playing songs by metallica and megadeth since I have a guitar and have learned to play heavy metal on my guitar for a couple years. Im new to bass but mainly want to learn to play soul music on the bass. I dont know what bass to go with as there is alot of information I still dont know. All i know is ive played and stuck by Ibanez with all of my guitars but I want to get the right bass for the music I want to play. Im willing to spend 650 on a bass I will keep for years. Quality over anything. Any help i appreciated.

If you are going to play Soul music, most soul music was done with a Fender Bass. No knock on other brands, but imo, it’s the right tool for what your are trying to accomplish.
 
For what you want to play, I'm feeling a Sire P7. PJ setup, perfect feel and sound for all that classic stuff, and a little more bang for the buck than equivalent Fenders.

I wouldn't worry about the 5-string unless you were also interested in getting into contemporary soul/gospel stuff - they didn't have them in the 70's, they just tuned down a half step.
 
P bass. If you want out cheap get a squire classic vibe p. This was one of the nicest playing and sounding basses I ever owned for the money...
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If you are going to play Soul music, most soul music was done with a Fender Bass. No knock on other brands, but imo, it’s the right tool for what your are trying to accomplish.

It was mostly done on Fender because back in those days because Fender was your only decent option. Gibson's early basses were terrible, the rest that were available were cheap. There are better basses out there, but for some reason this community is intent on playing Fender only simply because guys in the 60s played them when they had very few options.
 
Squier bronco.. With a modded neck.. Round the fret board and sand the back.. If you want a replacement pickup.. A bladed single coil.. For funk.. It's on 1 of the count.. I like flats with hair tye on head stock.. R n b tye a hair around the strings at the bridge.. You get the ties at dollar style stores
 
It was mostly done on Fender because back in those days because Fender was your only decent option. Gibson's early basses were terrible, the rest that were available were cheap. There are better basses out there, but for some reason this community is intent on playing Fender only simply because guys in the 60s played them when they had very few options.

As I said, no knock on other brands. That said I seem to have trouble understanding your outright dissing of the instruments that created the sound the OP wants to create. Sounds like you may have a bias maybe?

The reason they were used was not the limited options. The reason they were used was they created a sound that was useful for that style of music. They also happen to record very well, and easy to mix. It is still the definitive electric bass sound.

I’ll not argue with you over the quality of Fenders verses other basses that are available. Certainly there are better made, better designed, better playing instruments, made from better components in the market place. But at the end of the day, most are going to end up sounding like that Fender that was assembled 60 years ago. Either by a conditioned choice, or a sound engineer is going to do it for you.
 
Last question lol, is 5 strings 100% needed? I seen alot of songs use 5 strings and it provides more range but I have always thought 4 was the standard option.
Some bassists use 5 strings...I can think of several. I probably have two or three dozen songs on my ipod from them.
Many more bassists use four...I can think of 40 or 50 or 60 or more. I'm guessing I have 1,500 songs from them.
 
I want to learn to play songs by Earth Wind & Fire, Kool and the Gang, New edition, Luther Vandross, and smoot pop songs such as Masayuki Suzuki- Daddy Daddy Do. But i also am interested with playing songs by metallica and megadeth since I have a guitar and have learned to play heavy metal on my guitar for a couple years. Im new to bass but mainly want to learn to play soul music on the bass. I dont know what bass to go with as there is alot of information I still dont know. All i know is ive played and stuck by Ibanez with all of my guitars but I want to get the right bass for the music I want to play. Im willing to spend 650 on a bass I will keep for years. Quality over anything. Any help i appreciated.
Yamaha would be my number one choice. They always punch above their weight, and have 3 different lines of basses. I hear that Ibanez makes very high quality basses as well, though I never played one. And of course, you can't go wrong with a P-Bass.:D
 
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Used Fender Mexi P; I doubt that you'll regret it ..... put some flats on it and nail the groove. Easy to get a killer sound without a lot of futzing around.

I just did a quick CL search and found this little beauty $440; and my guess is somewhere btwn 375/400 would snag it.

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And if you're considering a head, there's usually decent deals on Genz Benz Shuttles, Streamliners, and the NeoPak 3.2 ......check out gtr cntr used and your local CL, as well as the TB classifieds

Good luck in your search
 
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yo, i'm a newb bassist and recovered guitarist as well (there's a lot of us around here). i got a ltd 4 string as my first proper bass and the things is great. i've been around instruments my entire life and so i know good quality when i feel it. and ltd has a ton of different models in your price range. the concensus is that they are great for the price. very versatile in sounds, and a nice neck feel generally.

to further, 2 days ago my neighbor was down having a cheeky beer and just picked up the three basses i have on the rack, one after the other. he doesn't play any instruments, but when he picked up the ltd, he smiled and said "whoa, i like this one! i feel like i could be a rockstar with this". and i agree, it feels great in the hand. of course this says nothing about tone, but whatever.

good luck!