Need Advice

There are many folks here who would be happy to give you their/our opinions, but a bit more info from you would help.

What style of music do you play?

What sound are you looking for? (Okay to list other bands or bass players whose sound you like and would like to get close to)...

Do you want a 4, 5, or 6 string?

What is your budget?

Give us a better idea of some of the above and you might end up with more recommendations than you can stand.

There are many, MANY sites that advertise and sell basses, new and used. Best bet if you're not an experienced player/buyer, I would strongly suggest you stay away from mail order or internet. Visit a few local music stores and see what strikes your fancy, feels good and looks good to you and fits into your budget.

:^)~

 

Like Bass Kahuna said, you need to get out there and try some of these basses out. Basses are such an individual thing, the things I may like about a bass such as string spacing, wood type, feel, action, tone etc. is completely different than everyone else. It took me 6 months to find my last bass and I have been playing for a little over a year. Research is needed on your part, don't rush this process, take your time, and don't let the salesman close you right away. Just by looking here is a good start, why don't you look at some old posts on this site to give you a foundation to work with and get an idea of what basses people like and dislike and why...good luck

 

If you know any bassists, I suggest you take one with you, or at the very least a guitarest. You need someone who knows what to look for as far as problems that a new bass might show.

 

Man, guys, you are all sooo far off! The obvious and simple answer is to buy a Spector. Any Spector. As long as it has a Spector Logo on it, you'll be happy with it- I promise. They are the best basses that have been, and ever will be made. Spectors are perfect for everyone adn every style. Period. Buy one now and thank me later.

 

after that shameless spector "ad" i will now be flogging yamaha to you. another company who you could play from 200 dollar basses to easily 3.5 thousand dollar basses. yamahas are solid all the way through the price spectrum (however not all yamahas are created equil)
again... more info would help!

 

Go to the music stores and try a few basses. Remember what it was you played. Come back here and tell us what you thought about them. And we'll tell you why you're wrong *cough* er, I mean, we might be able to point out other similar basses you might like, and discuss advantages and disadvantages of the basses you tried.

 

I second the Spector, make it one of the ones you try out, even the inexpensive Spectors are sweet basses, but you should try them all out.

 

I was being sarcastic funky . I do realize that Spectors are not for eveyone (but should be) .

The yamaha suggestion is excellent. There are some very nice mid to high end yamaha basses.

musiciansfriend.com is great for browsing and seeing lots of current models, but they can be a big pain to deal with, and I wouldn't recommend buying from them. Warwick's rockbass line is fairly high quality and affordable at around $500. Lots of people bash ibanez, but tehy do ahve several good active basses that a lot of people find very comfortable due to the thin and "fast" necks.

Some universal things to keep in mind are whther the frets are comfortable and don't rub your hands with the edges, that the bass doesn't have any fuzzy or popping electronics, such as when the controls are adjusted when the bass is plugged in, and whther or not there is a lot of fret buzz. The most important thing to remember is to only buy a bass that you like the sound of, and you are comfortable playing. If you really like a particular bass, but it play s alittle funny or buzzes a lot, then have the store do a setup on it to see whether or not its just a setup issue, and nbot a problem with the bass. Good Luck!