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New bass for a new player

N

nitrokid

Oct 16, 2011
1
0
#1
Hi,
This is my first ever post. I am drummer and i have played it for quite a while and have recently got my grade 8. I have always fancied having a go at learning to play the bass guitar but the first thing as a always with a new instrument is what to buy. I do like yamaha stuff as i have a yamaha drum kit. I am looking at either new or second hand but around the £200 mark. Also i will need an amp, i want quality rather than quantity so a good paractise amp will be fine for learning again i am not bothered wether new or used but at a cheap price. I am 13 so don't say i should just buy the best and have done with it.;)
 
#2
I started out the same way, I have been a drummer all my life, went from a 22-piece Pearl to a 13-piece Roland kit now, so I can play anytime I want (day or night) dont have to Mic, easy recording this way, and mirror all other drum kits from Orig. artists easily..
I bought an Ibanez GSR200FM first and learned on that, I believe there still about $250.00 and a 15Watt Pevey combo amp. $100.00 and stayed with that for a while until I decided if I really wanted to or could do this Bass thing..
 
#3
Well luckily for you, I highly doubt anyone would ever recommend buying the best and being done with it, at least not on this site! Most of us recognize that a lot of people who pick up an instrument, whether it be their first or tenth, may very well put it down forever fairly early on. As such, I second Ibanez_Bassist's post, find yourself a cheaply priced bass that feels good to your hands and sounds good to your ears, and pick up a small practice amp to go with it. Obviously, don't forget an instrument cable and tuner. You don't need effects and all of that stuff right off the bat, although it probably won't be long before you start wanting to experiment with them. When you do, check out the "Effects" forum here on TB. Also, those little starter kits aren't all that bad, so if you find, for example, that you dig the way Squier necks feel, check out the Squier starter kits, they come with everything that you need. There's a few different companies making starter kits, so it might be the way to go for you. Best of luck!
 
#4
I did forget to mention ( as Righteous Thunderer ) did already say that one of the reasons I got that particular bass was I loved the way it felt and hung off me, very comfortable for me and inexpensive .. The kits are a great idea, you will have everything in there complete depending on the kit..
 
#5
The Yamaha BB414 (4-string) or BB415 (5-string) are excellent basses. The 415 was selling for right around USD$300, new, just a year or so ago, and are now discontinued and replaced by the BB424/425 (which are reported to be even better than the 414/415).

Also, there are a lot of used U.S.-made Peavey basses in your price range and pretty much any U.S.-made Peavey bass is going to be excellent. If you want a 4-string, I would look for a used U.S. Peavey Fury, which is the same style of bass as the Fender Precision. They are pretty common (at least, here in States) in your price range.

For a quality practice amp, I don't know of anything that I personally (my opinion) think is better than an Ibanez Promethean. It's a 1x10 combo that is 250W, by itself. It has all the features you want for a practice amp. Small, portable, Aux Input, Headphone jack, Tuner out, etc.. And you can detach the amp (no tools required) and use it with a bigger cabinet (or 2). If you run it at 4 ohms, it's 500W. I've used mine to gig with, run into an Aguilar 210 and an Aguilar 115 cabinet together and it was deafening (but in a good way), until somebody told me I needed to turn it down. Buy the Promethean as a practice amp today and just need to buy a cabinet later, when you're ready to gig.
 
#6
Yamaha makes a very good starter bass; I think the model # is RB170.
It's a PJ passive model, and should serve you well for years--you'll probably keep it as a back up when you upgrade. In the US, they are under 200 dollars new.
 
#8
I'm 13 and I did just decide to get really good gear and roll with it, as together my rig costs about $1900, but to the question I second the ibanez and maybe a $100 practice amp? you can get a 15w for $100 any brand almost. and for the bass used is the way to go when you're on a tight budget.
 
#9
Search used. This site has PLENTY of steals in the classifieds. As far as amps go, if you're on a tight budget, you probably won't be getting anything huge. That's totally fine as most practice amps don't need to be huge or have tons of power. I'd say get something moveable, getting a combo amp that's too heavy can serve to be a problem sometimes.
 
#10
Go play the suggested basses, get one that you like the feel of and in your price range and then make sure to get someone in the know to do a proper setup on it. If possible see if said person will allow you to watch and learn the process as this will pay off later if you stay with the instrument. Just my .02
 
#11
Gab124 said:
Go play the suggested basses, get one that you like the feel of and in your price range and then make sure to get someone in the know to do a proper setup on it. If possible see if said person will allow you to watch and learn the process as this will pay off later if you stay with the instrument. Just my .02
Click to expand...

Then take this bass to your regional setup legend and pay them 75 to set it up
 

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