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Looking for input on my first bass

#21
Another lefty here who plays right handed bass and guitar. I learned on family and friends instruments so I just learned playing right handed, no biggie. I'd try playing both ways in a shop if possible before you decide which to buy. (Even flipping a right handed bass over to left handed to get an idea of the feel, natural inclination) I'd also suggest renting first, or rent to own if you can find a place doing that. Or if you want to buy, $200-300 can buy a fine instrument.

Other notes: Neck length won't really matter to a beginner or make it easier to learn, I think. I wouldn't recommend starting on acoustic before going electric if it's electric bass you are interested in. Start playing on the instrument you want to play.
 
#22
Murfdog2k said:
Thank you sir! The only issue I forgot to mention is that I am left handed. I have exactly 0 friends who play left handed, so borrowing might be out of the question for me. I guess I could learn to play right handed since I never have, but not sure how it would work out? I am very left hand dominant in everything.
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I started out as a lefty, the selection of basses was next to nil back in the early 80s so I got me a lefty Fender Mustang (hated it) and while playing it, I taught myself how to play righty on a Pbass copy...my point is, its not impossible to teach yourself to be a right handed player, if this turns out to be you passion then it may be worth the effort of course only you can decide that...this all. Rock on.
FWIW - I too am left hand dominant but I became ambidextrous over the years with a lot of work...I throw right handed, but bat left handed, golf left handed, bowl left handed, write with either hand, shoot left handed...play bass right handed...no longer able to play lefty after all these years.
 
#23
ashtray said:
(Background: I started on electric guitar at age 13, and bought my first electric bass at age 14. 34" scale, never had an issue.)

Is it possible you might take to a right handed bass? The left hand does a lot of work - the right hand "just" thumps on the string. Something to consider.
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Hari Seldon said:
Checking in as another left-handed person who plays right-handed basses. If you stick with the hobby you'll find that you have many many more options for instruments if you play righty. Also, it's been a while since I was a beginner but I don't think when you're starting out that it'll make much of a difference. The coordination is going to feel weird at the beginning regardless of orientation. In fact, I would argue that it makes more sense for your more agile hand (your left, presumably) to be your fretting hand.
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Agreed with the above two posters. I am a lefty who does everything lefty except bass! You will have many more options for instruments. Try each one and see how it feels.
 
#24
Do a YouTube search on Squier Vintage Modified Jazz bass and check out some of the people playing that instrument. Point being, its around $300 new and as a beginner I don't think it would hold you back. Available left-handed. Forget acoustic, and only go short scale if you have tiny hands or will never want to play long scale. Then buy the loudest/best used combo bass amp you can find with the leftover cash. Have fun with it!
 
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#25
Read again what jd56hawk has to say and couple one of those basses with a good used combo amp, (the amp won't care if left handed or not). Many happy playing days ahead.
 
#26
Yep, at least try to play righty.
Neither of your hands have any prior bass playing experience,
so they should be equally lost and confused, at first.

It you just can't do it, it's way easier to sell a right handed bass
and start over with a lefty, which should be paid for be the sale of the righty.

If you do go acoustic, look for a Fender or Dean (Exotica is better).
Both 34 inch scale and under 500 bux.
 
#27
I gotta agree with everybody else in saying that there is no reason to start with a semi-acoustic. You can get a Fender rumble amp with 25 watts for 100$ for example, the amp won't be a big deal. Go to music stores and try out Basses until you find one that you love. Squires are pretty good, especially the vintage modified line. The Stirling SUB series is fantastic quality, if very heavy. Follow the look sound and feel that you are drawn to. I doubt that this applies to all of Ibanez's cheap Basses, but the GSR200, I know for sure has a terrible preamp if you plan to get into slap.
 
#29
gln1955 said:
This makes no sense. Sound like he's just setting you up to make another sale down the road. Your muscle memory will develop just fine on a solid body electric. As far as scale goes, all the talk about one being better or worse for a beginner is way overblown. After you play for a while you'll figure out what feels good to you.
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I think he must have a left handed acoustic bass that he hasn't been able to sell.
 
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#30
I would look for a used MIM Fender Jazz or maybe an Ibanez. Both usually have thinner necks which will make it easier to play. You can usually find them used for $300 to $400.
 
#33
I agree with a lot of the posts, and having gone through this for myself, and for my girlfriend, I'd say skip the acoustic and the short scale unless you have very small hands or are very short in stature. And if you're left handed, you're left handed. Scour your local craigslist for left handed electric 4-string basses and combo bass amps in the 40-200 watt range. The more watts the more you can do with it down the road, but you want to make it all easy to get out/make space for, and use for now. Find something interesting? You can research it here and online before buying.

If after a couple of weeks you don't find a bass that grabs you in the right price range, then the Squire lefty VM Jazz or one of the Ibanez lower price lefties are a good bet. Don't worry about pickup configuration or pre-amps, just get one you really like and are drawn to. If you can play with one in a store, all the better, but you don't really know what your looking for yet, so a bass you find appealing for whatever reason, will get you to spend more time with it. And get that used amp if you can. You're starting out, you'll develop your tastes, sound, and style as you go, and can change your gear as needed. You just need a good starting point equipment wise. And it might all end up working great for years to come anyway!

You can then get a basic strap, a tuner, and an instrument cable off of Musiciansfriend and you have all you need. Even if you bought a practice amp new, you should be able to get the whole package put together well under your $500.
 
#34
I recently sold an unplayed (really) 2001 MIM lefty Jazz Bass that I bought years ago for my daughter. It took forever to find a buyer and I sold it cheap. Anyone selling a lefty has probably had it for sale for a long time and will be more willing to bargain than they would if they were selling a a righty. The bass was beautiful and had a great neck. I'd have happily kept it if it weren't ass backwards
 
#36
I'm very left handed and play right handed. I felt it was easier as I had more strength and dexdarity in my left hand for fretting. I would also like to note by playing right handed, you will have many, many more choices of basses at a considerably lower cost than your left oriented bass brothers do. I'm so glad I chose to play right handed just for that reason.

Second peice of advice, skip the acoustic bass. It's a waste of money, and is more of a novelty than an actual bass guitar. I'm not knocking them either. But you will be severely limited in many areas.

Great quality basses are very cheap these days. Find a good solid body electric bass and learn on it. It's less cumbersome, and definitely more useful at your stage.


Good luck, and don't hesitate on asking questions.
 
#37
I'm a lefty and also play lefty bass. I started on a Dean Edge 09 and I would start on that again. That being said I would also look into SX basses on rondo music and Harley Benton basses, both very inexpensive and are available for lefties. If you're looking at things pricier and more long term, I would look at Sire basses. I have a lefty Sire p7 and I love it. (The bass in my avatar is a lefty SX 7/8 Ursa 3 bass, 32" scale bass, i would recommend starting full size scale if you can).
In regard to an amp, I have a 25 watt ampeg practice amp (BA108, costs around $100 new) and it's made a huge difference in my practice sessions. If you plan on practicing for a while before you go out and gig or you're not spending a lot of money at the moment on a gig worthy amp i would definelty get a practice amp over playing through headphones all the time; it gets clostraphobic.
 
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#38
I'll just add my voice to the "don't start on an acoustic bass" choir :) it's not like playing guitar, where that advice might work. it will encourage you to play bass in a way that won't work well on an electric - IMO of course.

unless you are of VERY small stature, a regular 34" scale should be fine. you can always switch to a shorter scale further down the line if you want.

lastly, we are currently in a golden age of affordable, decent quality instruments - so remember that money spent on amplification is spent well. I would aim to split your budget down the middle bass/amp-wise, or even weight it towards the amp.

good luck!
 

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