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For $500 you could get a new one:
Seems to do very well in the more heavy rock/pop/punk scenes.
I have to confess that I am terribly biased towards Yamaha bb's ....
Seems to do very well in the more heavy rock/pop/punk scenes.
I have to confess that I am terribly biased towards Yamaha bb's ....
madbass6
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- Jan 13, 2009
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find a local guitar center they usually carry both those Basses take your daughter in and have her try them both out before just buying either one. good luck!! personally I would go for fender PJ !
While I think either a P or a J both make fantastic first basses, I'm not sure starting on an active is quite the best idea. While they do offer lots of tonal versatility, they oftentimes don't play nice with conventional effects, and can sometimes have a hard time matching the tones you hear on classic (usually passive) recordings.
I started on an active, and while I've since embraced its quirks and learned to love it, it was often very discouraging to find I couldn't quite get comfortable in the mix, or to order a pedal I'd seen demo'd online only to find it was unusable with my specific instrument.
Actives offer a lot of power and versatility, but sometimes they struggle with "just being normal," and during the formative years of one's musical pursuits, it's good to have a reliable anchor. If I'd had a good reliable passive PJ to lean on back then, I might be in a nice cover band today, instead of an experimental funk hermit trying to make soundscapes with pickups on a taxidermy cat.
I call it a Catocaster.
Don't be like me. Start with a passive.
--^@
I started on an active, and while I've since embraced its quirks and learned to love it, it was often very discouraging to find I couldn't quite get comfortable in the mix, or to order a pedal I'd seen demo'd online only to find it was unusable with my specific instrument.
Actives offer a lot of power and versatility, but sometimes they struggle with "just being normal," and during the formative years of one's musical pursuits, it's good to have a reliable anchor. If I'd had a good reliable passive PJ to lean on back then, I might be in a nice cover band today, instead of an experimental funk hermit trying to make soundscapes with pickups on a taxidermy cat.
I call it a Catocaster.
Don't be like me. Start with a passive.
--^@
- Jan 26, 2014
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Not knowing your daughters experience, I would say the last priority should be achieving a "pop punk" sound, first should be playability. They don't play themselves, proper technique has more to do with a good sound than the bass does. Yes a P would be the usual tool for that style, but learning on a bass with a neck that wide can be a challenge even for adults.
Is she a beginner? How tall is she? How old? I honestly recommend most girls, boys under a certain size, even small adults, start on short scales; the good old Bronco bass is very inexpensive, has the right look, and isn't a struggle to learn proper technique on. That said, it is very much an entry level instrument with very low quality tuners and pickup, definitely a stepping stone to something better, but they are easy to sell for half retail or more.
You say she has adult size hands, if that's true, if she's 5'4 or so or taller, and especially if your daughter already has some experience, you could go with the full-size. She's lucky to have a dad ready to plunk down some serious cash
Between the 2 basses you're a looking at, I'd go with the jazz because of the thinner neck. As a teacher for over 20 years, I can say the number one thing that turns students off of their instruments is difficulty in fretting properly. As a responsible teacher, I don't just let them do it wrong, since it can lead to serious injuries (the most common problem with any beginner is collapsing the pinky and/or ring fingers... no no no no no). either of the Fenders should be able to sell for about what you buy them for, so they're a fairly safe investment, but priority 1 should be playability, so I'd go with the jazz.
Go get a Sire V7 (good sound, active/passive switch) or a Squier Jaguar bass and change the pickup for better one (cheap price and nice look)
Not sure how large your daughter's hands are, but something to factor in somewhere in your process is that the Geddy Lee has the narrower jazz neck. A P neck might(?) be more difficult for her to comfortably get around on.
^^^^ THIS...all the way THIS. Those Squires are LIGHTYEARS beyond the stuff most of us grew up playing in the 80s/90s...and a hell of a lot less worry than giving a thousand dollar instrument to a teenager
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
If the varnish on the neck has been sanded down to bare wood, that is not good. But lots of people use scotchbrite to dull down the neck finish so it is less sticky.
All things being equal, I would go for the Geddy. Passive electronics is one less headache, and lots of love here for those models.
All things being equal, I would go for the Geddy. Passive electronics is one less headache, and lots of love here for those models.
Regardless of which bass she gets it is cool that she is playing bass and cool that you are supportive of her desire to do so!
Totally agree, my singer is a 5-0 100lb. lady who bought a squier vintage modified jaguar (with the P/J pickup configuration) to learn the instrument and it kills. I would have no problem playing it live as opposed to my "superior" American Fender Jazz or AVRI '58 P basses! For the money it cannot be beat.
i had a Geddy ... neck was slim ... which might be better than the P for average young girl hands/fingers .. !?
if ' everyone' else has a P-bass ... my inner youngen would want to be different and rock the J .. !!
if ' everyone' else has a P-bass ... my inner youngen would want to be different and rock the J .. !!
I agree with BIGEJ2 ... also the jazz bass can be used for rock and punk music.
Your daughter should try both in a shop to check what she prefers in terms of neck shape and size.
I'd also like to suggest towards MIJ I streets which I personally repute better than the MIM.
Regards.
I have read nothing good about he MIM Geddy's, while I have read good things about the MIM Precision deluxe.
Good luck.
Good luck.
The two are very different in terms of neck shape/size, body shape, tone, etc.
It would be ideal for her to try both, but of course it's an extra 4 hours driving for you.
I'd try to get an actual weight for each bass. If they are very different, this could swing the decision in favor of whichever is lighter. There are plenty of big guys who prefer lighter weight basses, and there's no reason, given all the choices out there, that your daughter should have to struggle with a boat anchor around her neck.
Other than weight there is the neck shape. The GL is known for having a very thin neck. The Precision also has a jazz neck (that particular model) but it may not be as slim as the GL. Do you have access to a variety of instruments so she can figure out what she finds more comfortable? I wouldn't necessarily assume the slimmer neck will be better for her, but again, there's no reason she should be fighting the instrument when she doesn't have to.
The other suggestions above (Squier, Talman etc) are also good ones. I would try not to limit her choices to just these two specific basses. It's entirely possible she won't bond with either of them. At the very least I'd try to get her to a sizable shop so she can try a bunch of basses before deciding. You can always order something or go the Ebay route.
It would be ideal for her to try both, but of course it's an extra 4 hours driving for you.
I'd try to get an actual weight for each bass. If they are very different, this could swing the decision in favor of whichever is lighter. There are plenty of big guys who prefer lighter weight basses, and there's no reason, given all the choices out there, that your daughter should have to struggle with a boat anchor around her neck.
Other than weight there is the neck shape. The GL is known for having a very thin neck. The Precision also has a jazz neck (that particular model) but it may not be as slim as the GL. Do you have access to a variety of instruments so she can figure out what she finds more comfortable? I wouldn't necessarily assume the slimmer neck will be better for her, but again, there's no reason she should be fighting the instrument when she doesn't have to.
The other suggestions above (Squier, Talman etc) are also good ones. I would try not to limit her choices to just these two specific basses. It's entirely possible she won't bond with either of them. At the very least I'd try to get her to a sizable shop so she can try a bunch of basses before deciding. You can always order something or go the Ebay route.
I think someone suggested having your daughter play both basses standing up. Either bass will be fine, though I think the active Precision Deluxe might have more tonal options than the Geddy Lee. I have a Geddy Lee Jazz, it’s a great bass and it’s one of my favorites to play. I don’t have the active Precision Deluxe but I don’t have the passive special edition one that was mentioned in this post:
It’s a fantastic bass with plenty of tonal options and will fit in just about any genre of music that I need it for, including pop-punk. I expect the active one will be similar. However, how they feel when hanging on a strap is important as well. One might be heavier than the other, or not feel as comfortable in the hand. Sometimes it’s difficult for a new player to understand those things but weight could be a factor for her.
