Just starting

For one thing, I have to agree, monkeys are pretty cool, but the most important part is that Fender MIM's are cooler

As far as started instruments go, they have everything you could need and more.

1) They're not Squires
2) They are easilly upgradable to a very nice bass later on since Fender is sort of a parts standard..
3) If you find a good one they can be just as good or better then any MIA's on the market.

That said, you definately need to buy one that you've played and thought felt good. For someone who is just starting it might be hard to figure out what "feels" and "sounds" good. I know when I started people would tell me that A sounds different from B because blah blah blah, and I could not tell enough to care. Now I've been playing a couple years (Its been that long.. wow) and I can definately tell. If you have your heart set on a Precision play as many of them as you can find and look them over. I found that if you're in a pretty good store (as far as Customer Service goes) you can *usually* get someone to set up the bass right (God only knows how many people have screwed with them) and then see how it feels set up right. While you're in the store and you see something that looks cool and is that same price range, plug it in too and see how it feels/sounds.

Hmm do you know any songs (they can be REALLY easy) that you could try and play? That was helpful to me too, having just something (it was Come as you Are by Nirvana) to play and compare how it sounds on one bass -vs- another bass..

I talk too much

Let us know how it goes

 

The MIM Fender Jazz, or any of the inexpensive ones out of the Yamaha RBX or BB series.

 

I'm not so far into the whole bass thing myself, about 9 months i've been playing now, but i must agree, fender jazz is a definite smart way to go. i had a chance to play a fender jazz fretless today, what a smooth guitar that was. i loved it and was going to try and steal it, but i'm not so sure my friend would have been pleased with that. I must say, i jammed throuhg karma police pretty damn well with the bass, lots of good sounds comeing out of the slides... definitey worth it.

As for Squire, my brother bought one, said it only cost him $400 for the bass and amp and instructional video (which, apperantly, taught him nothing) and i know why. It looks nice. Its loud. Thats as far as it goes. The thing is impossible to keep in tune, anytime i pick the damn thing up i play with it for 10 minutes befor giving up and moving on to my own bass. I don't much like the sound. But thats my opinion of it, my brother seems to like it. My advice, avoid them.

I bought a bass used from a freind for $50, which was a steal. The poor thing is in horrible shape, chipped and dull, the face plate is cracked in a number of different places and it needs new pickups, but otherwise its a fine bass. As an alternative to a brand new bass, you could look into a nice used one and pay less for something that is in fine shape or in *slight* disrepare.

So thats the advice i can offer, hope it was helpful.

 

mim dlx jazz

 

Starter bass? Definitely MIM Fender.

Jazz is better for small hands because of the slimmer neck.

As for the P, I think you can get one with a split P-and-J-pickup pickup combo, too.

Hope the dude at the store is not a sell-at-all-costs guy. (or gal) If you are lucky you'll get somebody who's knowledgeable and really cares about you getting the RIGHT bass.

BTW... you might wanna start with a 4-string, then work your way up to five if you want...