Hey "Newbies"...

[Marc DLarosa]

I've seen a lot of posts from Y'all asking about "what is the BEST bass to start on."

I was lucky enough to start on some very amazing instruments. But, it was 1982. yeah... I'm old. These were/are still the STANDARD nowadays, and... I'll not mention them, as they seem irrelevant.

When I started playing, we had a tiny window of choices. Fender Gibson, Rickenbacker, and... a plethora of off brand, mom and pop imports.
Luckily, I was lucky.

Nowadays... Y'all have a TON of stuff to choose from. HONEST.

I'm not a fan of typing. But... If this helps... I spent the last few minutes being a good guy.

This video popped up on my Youtube feed. I watched it. Looks pretty spot on. Seems as though it may help. I hope it does. it seems informative, and unbiased.

Peace,
Marc

 

[Snert]

Any modern as in recently made bass that's well set up is perfect for a beginner. Ignore pretty much everything else and just work around it. Not like you get much choice ergonomically or otherwise if you want to learn how to play violin or piano.

I was lucky enough to start on some very amazing instruments. But, it was 1982. yeah... I'm old. These were/are still the STANDARD nowadays, and... I'll not mention them, as they seem irrelevant.

When I started playing, we had a tiny window of choices. Fender Gibson, Rickenbacker, and... a plethora of off brand, mom and pop imports.

I started in 83 on an Ibanez Roadster that was a fraction of the price of a Fender then. Still have it, it's a fine bass. Yamahas were around then too and have always been good.

From the video, I'd go for the Cort myself to give to a beginner, and spend an hour on it, set it up properly and give it a new set of good, lower cost strings like Slinkies.

 

[Jefus]

Buying entry-level instruments for a first time player is intimidating. Things like a $20 price difference, or more or less knobs, can throw someone into a tailspin. Throw on top of that the gigbag comes separately, and people can really lose it. Then they completely freak out about how much a setup costs, and why didn't it come setup? (source: I sold a ton of entry-level guitars during the hot years of Rock Band and Guitar Hero while working at GC)

Many things in this world can be objectively ranked, and publications like Consumer Reports have made the process commonplace. A lot of people have never heard the word "ergonomics" and have a hard time understanding the concept. (source: I teach ergonomics at work and deal with scores of ergonomic injuries every year)

I had a lot of success taking to first-time buyers about instruments like they are shoes. Some will fit you better than others, some are built with certain appearances in mind (Trabens were all over our racks at the time), and just because you spend more doesn't mean it will be better for your situation (you wouldn't wear hand-cobbled Italian wing tips (expensive) to improve your performance tuning cross-country in the rain, would you?).

Similar metaphors can be made to cars as well. But I stuck with the shoe metaphor as working at GC kinda felt like I'd achieved some weird level of Al Bundy-ism.

 

[Nebadon2000]

The Shoe metaphor fits more with you wouldn't buy a Guitar to learn to play Bass

This is for Newbies and there is an incredible amount of what some may call 'Beginner Level' Basses available.

Find something aesthetically pleasing to you, comfortable is size and playability[feels good in hands and neck easy to play on] Squire by Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez and SBMM is what I would recommend checking out first

Don't be to hesitant to go a little over or even under budget And yes get setup done by shop and also search out video's on Bass setup and maintenance to better understand the instrument; then practice till you get blisters on your fingers