I would go with a used bass and amp if I were you. I'm a broke college student so I know what its like not having top of the line equipment. I play a mim p bass through an acoustic amp that I just got. Its a solid combo that isn't too expensive, well under $700. You should look at this like I do... I one day want to play mia fenders through 8x10 stacks but in order to do that I have to get through college and get a good job. Its my motivation.
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Just Another Lead Guitarist Problem
- Thread starter Andysalina5
- Start date
I still own my first cheapie bass and like it as much as any I own now. Rock what you have and yeah, next purchase I would look at a nicer amp. Buy used! The classifieds here on TB would be a great place to get one.
Craigslist would be a good place to get another guitarist...
Craigslist would be a good place to get another guitarist...
Me thinks the guitar player is somehow right about the gear. Buy a good bass (not just an expensive one - Squier VM or CV or fender MIM or a japanese clone will work out perfectly) , that surely will help improve your skills. Save the money, go find a job.
And BTW have you heard Jack Bruce talking about Pink Floyd? He's not a douchebag at all)
And BTW have you heard Jack Bruce talking about Pink Floyd? He's not a douchebag at all)
Andy,
welcome to class society.* Your friend cannot understand you, and you can fault him for it if you like. Well-off people quite often rationalize buying the priciest with his exact wording - you'll want the best in the long run so why not save yourself the trouble and losses associated with having to sell your initial purchase. Well, the thing is - saving up to the pricier option can take a considerable time and you'd obviously want to have the bass now. In his view of the world, going out on a limb here, your not having the money to buy the mia F is a consequence of your choices, or your parents' choices, and not really something external that's forced on you.
I've never clicked with a Fender product and doubt I ever will - StingRay is my bass of choice from Leo Fender's ouvre. I've never been involuntarily out of work. In fact, my tone has been complimented all the time.
Saved the actual advice for the last: really, a bass is a bass is a bass. If yours plays in tune enough and the tone and ergonomics are acceptable to you, don't buy a new bass. A bassist gets hired on his 'feel.'** Being somewhat picky about tone and ergonomics has cost me a lot of money.
* get yourself a nice stack of European sociology - can't stress that enough, you want to grok sociology, you go to the roots - and try to wrap your brain around the concepts. I'd be happy to advise.
** on top of having good time, decent set of ears and knowing the styles he's hired to play - a good feel is indispensable to making the music click! My ears are not the best (not good enough to be a pro jazz player), and my technique is certainly more of the economical than of the knitting factory style, but the feel is there. I get hired.
welcome to class society.* Your friend cannot understand you, and you can fault him for it if you like. Well-off people quite often rationalize buying the priciest with his exact wording - you'll want the best in the long run so why not save yourself the trouble and losses associated with having to sell your initial purchase. Well, the thing is - saving up to the pricier option can take a considerable time and you'd obviously want to have the bass now. In his view of the world, going out on a limb here, your not having the money to buy the mia F is a consequence of your choices, or your parents' choices, and not really something external that's forced on you.
I've never clicked with a Fender product and doubt I ever will - StingRay is my bass of choice from Leo Fender's ouvre. I've never been involuntarily out of work. In fact, my tone has been complimented all the time.
Saved the actual advice for the last: really, a bass is a bass is a bass. If yours plays in tune enough and the tone and ergonomics are acceptable to you, don't buy a new bass. A bassist gets hired on his 'feel.'** Being somewhat picky about tone and ergonomics has cost me a lot of money.
* get yourself a nice stack of European sociology - can't stress that enough, you want to grok sociology, you go to the roots - and try to wrap your brain around the concepts. I'd be happy to advise.
** on top of having good time, decent set of ears and knowing the styles he's hired to play - a good feel is indispensable to making the music click! My ears are not the best (not good enough to be a pro jazz player), and my technique is certainly more of the economical than of the knitting factory style, but the feel is there. I get hired.
You gotta trust your own ear. Don't let someone else decide what you need.
Go to your nearest guitar center or music shop and play around on some stuff that you like that is in or near your price range. When you find something you like, go find it used ; ]
Go to your nearest guitar center or music shop and play around on some stuff that you like that is in or near your price range. When you find something you like, go find it used ; ]
Check out Craigslist for some used equipment. Lots of good deals right now.
Here are a couple of links to some CL search engines that make it easier to check out multiple cities in your area.
http://www.searchtempest.com/
http://craiglook.com/
Here are a couple of links to some CL search engines that make it easier to check out multiple cities in your area.
http://www.searchtempest.com/
http://craiglook.com/
Look theres heaps of nice basses.Theres a heap of nice amps too.
I personally play Fender Basses not because somebody told me to but cause i like how they feel, sound & look. Just saw about 4 or 5 nice Fender Zones on Ebay
They have.....
Active Electronics
3 Band eq
String-Through-Bridge
Micro Tilt
Thin Jazz Style Neck
P & J pickups
J is Noiseless
Lyte as hell &
MIM
I own a few Fender Lyte basses & love`em to death. I wouldnt worry about the Guitarist. Maybe try lookin for a better guitarist & person, i dont see you geling with him. You can move on to more striaght forward down to earth people though with muzos is hard sometimes.Its like a band attracts the most funny, weird plain out of their minds people so,
Good Luck Andy.
I personally play Fender Basses not because somebody told me to but cause i like how they feel, sound & look. Just saw about 4 or 5 nice Fender Zones on Ebay
They have.....
Active Electronics
3 Band eq
String-Through-Bridge
Micro Tilt
Thin Jazz Style Neck
P & J pickups
J is Noiseless
Lyte as hell &
MIM
I own a few Fender Lyte basses & love`em to death. I wouldnt worry about the Guitarist. Maybe try lookin for a better guitarist & person, i dont see you geling with him. You can move on to more striaght forward down to earth people though with muzos is hard sometimes.Its like a band attracts the most funny, weird plain out of their minds people so,
Good Luck Andy.
Hello my name is Andy and this is my first post. I'm currently in high school and I'm in my first band. On a scale of 1-10, my friends say I'm 4.5. That's not bad considering I picked the bass back up mid-January.
The guitarist is a rich boy with all sorts of expensive equipment (he doesn't brag at all which is why he's my friend). He's got 3 guitars (2 american fenders, 1 custom shop Gibson) and 3 amps (fender deluxe, supersonic, twin). He's been taking private lessons for like 3 years. Our drummer is a humble kind of guy, currently no drum set (he uses the guitarists drum set, i forgot to mention he has that too) but he's dedicated and practices on his uncles drum set.
I'm what you would call a casual player. I got a washburn lyon bass a long time ago. I recently picked it back up because the guys needed a new bassist. So I pulled it off the rack and long story short, here I am. I can hardly read music, I memorized all the notes on the fretboard, I learned some scales, practiced some easy songs, read up on theory, jammed with my friends etc.
Thats not good enough for my guitarist though. He's a rich boy and it turns out (in his words) "You need to have Fender equipment to sound good". That just hurts because my family cant afford that ever since this economy problem. He also wants me to get better at bass. Overnight.
In my opinion, I do need a better guitar. The amp can wait cause we aren't gigging yet. I'm looking at guitars in the <$600 range but thats just not damn good enough for him. He pressures me all the time about it. He always tells me to get better at bass, even going as low as making fun of me at school and talking trash about my favorite band (Pink Floyd). If i could get lessons like he does, i would do it in a heart beat!
And thats another problem. He's more blues oriented and I'm cool with that but when we do Floyd covers, he makes it sound like Hendrix! Sometimes i tell him, why dont you use a delay or some sort of effect to change up your tone but he claims that "Effects are for people who can't make it sound good clean". What a douche!
So in conclusion, I have 2 Problems: 1) I need help finding the best basses/amps for under 700 bucks. and 2) how do i get his elitist ideas out of his head?
Sorry for making it long hahaha, help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy
Problem 1: SX. Look 'em up. They make fender copy instruments and you could pick up a P or J bass from them for about $100, and although I haven't played one myself, it seems that a lot of people swear by 'em round these parts (do a forum search, but type Essex instead of SX--the search function doesn't like 2 letter words.) As for an amp, this leaves you $600, which will get you a pretty killer amp if you look for it. I'd read up on amps a bit and look in the Talkbass classifieds for one.
Problem 2: This problem's significantly trickier. All in all, you can't force him to stop being a douche, but maybe if you get an SX and get it set up well (you may want to budget some money for this if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself) with a good amp, it'll sound good enough to make him eat his words. If not, ultimately there's no cure for douchery, and he'll just have to keep crying over your lack of a Fender while you rock out on a killer setup.
Tell the guy to have a Coke and a smile and you'll play what you damn well please. If you don't get "a Coke and a smile", Google it. You don't need a Fender or a Fender copy to sound good. There are MANY great basses out there from MANY manufacturers and there are some bassist who hate Fenders. If you are going to spend YOUR money then play a bunch of basses and buy what YOU like. If he wants you to play a Fender so badly, tell him to buy one and you'll consider playing it. On a side note, I find the Pink Floyd thing funny considering that Gilmore is such a bluesy player.
Tell your friend, very simply, that he only gets to decide what bass you play if he's going to pick up the bill for it.
As everyone else here has said, a Squier CV or an SX will probably be more than adequate for your needs, and well within your budget.
S.P.
As everyone else here has said, a Squier CV or an SX will probably be more than adequate for your needs, and well within your budget.
S.P.
Consider that if you show up with an American-made Fender, Mister Entitlement won't suddenly stop busting your chops. The question of what bass you play is just a vehicle for his power play. Take that question away, and he'll just find some other way to push your buttons.
To simplify slightly, with guys like this, you have four options:
1. When he goes out-of-bounds, shut him down hard. That is, respond to his aggressive gesture with your own aggression.
2. Adopt a Ghandi-like refusal to engage with the game he wants to pull you into. This only works if he fails whenever he tries to push your buttons, and fails in a way that he can't mistake for you simply rolling over. (That is, I'm forwarding Ghandi here not as a doormat, but as a serious cultural warrior who understood both his opponents' and his own position's strengths and weaknesses.)
3. Remove him from your life.
4. Engage with him on his own terms, which in this situation seems to mean putting him in control.
In any event, understand that he might be preparing the ground to replace you in the band.
To simplify slightly, with guys like this, you have four options:
1. When he goes out-of-bounds, shut him down hard. That is, respond to his aggressive gesture with your own aggression.
2. Adopt a Ghandi-like refusal to engage with the game he wants to pull you into. This only works if he fails whenever he tries to push your buttons, and fails in a way that he can't mistake for you simply rolling over. (That is, I'm forwarding Ghandi here not as a doormat, but as a serious cultural warrior who understood both his opponents' and his own position's strengths and weaknesses.)
3. Remove him from your life.
4. Engage with him on his own terms, which in this situation seems to mean putting him in control.
In any event, understand that he might be preparing the ground to replace you in the band.
So let me get this right. I could show up with my Mike Lull and he'd say a MIM fender sounds better? What if someone came in with a Carl Thompson? There are good
Fenders and bad Fenders. Maybe you should show him this thread.
Fenders and bad Fenders. Maybe you should show him this thread.
You need to ditch this guitarist. I have played MIA Fenders, MIM Fenders, and VM Squiers, and honestly the VM Squier was better looking, slightly more comfortable, and better sounding than my MIA Jazz.
Of course, I then realized I didn't like my Jazz, and moved on. Sub $600, I would look at Lakland Skylines, Ibanez, Spector Legends, MIM Fenders/VM Squiers, and the list goes on and on.
My Ibanez SR200 ($95 used) has sometimes been picked over other basses.
Of course, I then realized I didn't like my Jazz, and moved on. Sub $600, I would look at Lakland Skylines, Ibanez, Spector Legends, MIM Fenders/VM Squiers, and the list goes on and on.
My Ibanez SR200 ($95 used) has sometimes been picked over other basses.
Sounds like he would bag obn the Squire's and MIM from what I get about him. Better amke sure he is cool with either of those if you happen toi venture that way. I would ask him to get his parents to buy him one to let you borrow...lol. I would just keep playing and find a few bass players that have played cheaper basses in their day and show him that even great players have played cheaper basses in their careers. Tell him when gig oney starts coming in, that will be the first thing you buy.
I really can't add any better information than the guys already have, but I do have one comment. I'm not sure if you like Washburns, or was just dealt that card. I have a Washburn T24 and absolutely love it. I've had several guitars, and will always keep this one. With that said, you have no idea what you'll love. Play everything from a $100 SX to a $1,600 EBMM. Once you find what you love, try to find it used.
That guitard is a major spoiled brat... F him
he seems to think people crap money...and if he does ask him to buy you a new bass
I started on the same bass as you and played it for a good 7 years, gigging and everything, what I did at some point was to put a pair of DiMarzio pickups in it, it gave me a better sound for much cheaper than a new bass.
The neck on that bass is pretty thick, but its very good practice, when I got my first job i bought a mIA Jazz and when I played that neck I was in heaven and it felt so easy
My opinion is get a good amp first and change the pickups, you will have a huge sound and if he bitches......
tell him to get his folks to buy him a "Fender" and play it at your rehearsals.
he seems to think people crap money...and if he does ask him to buy you a new bass
I started on the same bass as you and played it for a good 7 years, gigging and everything, what I did at some point was to put a pair of DiMarzio pickups in it, it gave me a better sound for much cheaper than a new bass.
The neck on that bass is pretty thick, but its very good practice, when I got my first job i bought a mIA Jazz and when I played that neck I was in heaven and it felt so easy
My opinion is get a good amp first and change the pickups, you will have a huge sound and if he bitches......
tell him to get his folks to buy him a "Fender" and play it at your rehearsals.You forgot your biggest problem. How do you get better without being able to read music?
I suggest you get better reading music and that will help you get better on bass.
And however did you read up on theory without being able to read music?
I can construct a circle of fifths for you but I can't read either. You don't need to read to know some theory, do you? Knowing how to read doesn't teach you the difference between a major and a minor seventh chord, does it?
And this is under band management, not general instruction...no? :scowl:
