Practice bass....

[bassliner50]

An ecomony bass can be completely sufficient for practice or even performance. However it must be set up well and strung with quality strings. Most beginners and early players are not aware of that and do not bother with that. What ever you have: ***Install good strings then have it set up or better yet learn to set it up yourself.***
That will make a huge difference.

 

[Leo Thunder]

I have heard of replacing strings, frets, and a few other parts but never "wearing out A bass".

Jaco tried.

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

Jaco tried.

LOL and I bet he never would have willingly parted with it.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Jaco tried.

And failed. If you can wear out or damage an instrument by playing it, your instrument is a piece of @$&-$#$.

 

[AudioTaper]

Depends on your income, I personally wouldn't take a $800+ bass to a dive bar. Nothing wrong with a standard Squier or lower level Ibanez that's set up well or has a few pickup/hardware upgrades for the really shady places.

Or, book better gigs

Edit: I debated whether of not to mention this, but it ties in to what I was getting at. Years ago, I well known local musician was shot and killed in a robbery attempt. He had a gig on a really crappy part of town and some guy tried to steal his bass when he was going to his car. I thought it was an Alembic, but I may be mistaken (and I cant find info online) If he brought a beater bass, he probably would have let it go without much hesitation.

Just be careful out there, know your area.

 

[Rib 13]

An ecomony bass can be completely sufficient for practice or even performance. However it must be set up well and strung with quality strings.

one of my beater basses is ok playable but not optimally setup and currently has a heavier gauge string on it (.45s....I mainly use .40s) thats been on it for years (its a beater practice bass so im not worried about changing its strings)....the effect is like a basketball player wearing ankle weights before a game....ill sit on the sofa unplugged and practice scales, dexterity, and whatnot throughout the week on the not-optimal beater but when I pickup one of my main basses for a gig, it feels like a hot knife going through butter

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

And failed. If you can wear out or damage an instrument by playing it, your instrument is a piece of @$&-$#$.

I thought the price goes up......

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

"Don't touch it. It can't be played".....

 

[GreyBeard]

A better instrument, if you choose wisely, should let you play better with more ease and enhance the playing experience. Letting the better one sit while you play the lesser instrument makes no sense to me. And, better doesn't always mean more expensive.

 

[TheBlueFalcon]

WWWNS. What Would Willie Nelson say about wearing out a instrument?

I have heard of replacing strings, frets, and a few other parts but never "wearing out A bass".

I didn't mean like completely wearing out a bass to the point where it is useless, I just thought a cheap practice bass might minimise wear on an expensive bass. I know it sounds a bit silly, but there was some logic behind it. Like I don't know how much it would cost for various maintenance which I may not be capable of doing myself.

 

[Koshchei]

After a few issues with getting a "new" bass, it's also given me time to think and I've slowly moved my focus from an entry level model to something a bit more substantial. I haven't yet pulled the trigger, but I'm extremely tempted.

So what I'm wondering is if people generally have a practice bass to learn and mess about with, rather than put their prized possession through daily torture.

Part of me is saying I should get something dirt cheap for practicing and messing about etc, but I don't know if I'm just being overly cautious.

Any thoughts?

I put my Rickenbacker through daily torture:
1) If anything wears out, it can be replaced.
2) I'm of the opinion that case queens sound worse than instruments that actually get played. It may be the grand fallacy of correlation =/= causation, but I'm on the side of play makes better (if only for the placebo reason that it makes me play).
3) Why wouldn't you play on something that inspires you to play? The fastest way to kill your interest is a crappy instrument that you have to fight with.

 

[TheBlueFalcon]

"Don't touch it. It can't be played".....

Haha, one of my most watched movies. Now I've seen that, I'll have to watch it again this evening!!

 

[Admiral Thrawn]

I put my Rickenbacker through daily torture:
1) If anything wears out, it can be replaced.
2) I'm of the opinion that case queens sound worse than instruments that actually get played. It may be the grand fallacy of correlation =/= causation, but I'm on the side of play makes better.
3) Why wouldn't you play on something that inspires you to play? The fastest way to kill your interest is a crappy instrument that you have to fight with.

^This x1000

 

[Admiral Thrawn]

3) Why wouldn't you play on something that inspires you to play? The fastest way to kill your interest is a crappy instrument that you have to fight with.

This right here. This almost kept me from playing bass when I first started.

There's also the idea that if you get a bass "beyond your pay grade," you will feel guilty for having such an instrument, and will therefore feel compelled to play it to justify to yourself the cost of getting it.

Or maybe that's just me.

 

[TheBlueFalcon]

This right here. This almost kept me from playing bass when I first started.

Same for me. I got a used bass over 30 years ago, but it was pretty old and knackered. I never learnt to play and I feel like it was more the condition of that bass which prevented me from doing so, to the point where I didn't think I wanted to learn. Completely regret it now, just like my failed attempt to start 10 years ago. I'm determined not to let anything get in the way this time though.

 

[JRA]

So what I'm wondering is if people generally have a practice bass to learn and mess about with, rather than put their prized possession through daily torture.

"people" might think this way, musicians don't.

In all honesty I haven't really learnt to play much at all yet.

something is moot, here...i smell it....

If it was THAT simple, everyone would do exactly that and there would be no market for anything any more expensive than $100.

some folks actually do "THAT"

I just thought a cheap practice bass might minimise wear on an expensive bass

take lessons: ask your teacher for advice on a first purchase. you can always go in other directions after you learn how to play something/anything and after you know more about your abilities from your own experience. you may never need anything more than a "practice bass!" good luck!

 

[AudioTaper]

This right here. This almost kept me from playing bass when I first started.

There's also the idea that if you get a bass "beyond your pay grade," you will feel guilty for having such an instrument, and will therefore feel compelled to play it to justify to yourself the cost of getting it.

Or maybe that's just me.

I usually have a bass that's beyond my skill level or pay grade. It's nice to have a quality instrument (plus I'm a gear head)

When I was shopping for a 5 string, mynoptions were a new Peavey Cirrus maple for about $1150 or a new Zon Sonus koa for about $1400. Both KILLER DEALS but I went with the Cirrus because it just worked better for me. it was so much fun to play, but I took care of it and 17 years later it shows minimal wear (never gigged with it)

 

[Koshchei]

This right here. This almost kept me from playing bass when I first started.

There's also the idea that if you get a bass "beyond your pay grade," you will feel guilty for having such an instrument, and will therefore feel compelled to play it to justify to yourself the cost of getting it.

Or maybe that's just me.

Totally me as well. The idea of shaging up a simple line on a hand-made virtuoso-level hippy sandwich is enough to wake me out of a sound sleep in a cold sweat.

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

I didn't mean like completely wearing out a bass to the point where it is useless, I just thought a cheap practice bass might minimise wear on an expensive bass. I know it sounds a bit silly, but there was some logic behind it. Like I don't know how much it would cost for various maintenance which I may not be capable of doing myself.

I understand. Do what feels right for you. Opinions are like butt 's! Everybody's got one.

 

[Rabidhamster]

This right here. This almost kept me from playing bass when I first started.

There's also the idea that if you get a bass "beyond your pay grade," you will feel guilty for having such an instrument, and will therefore feel compelled to play it to justify to yourself the cost of getting it.

Or maybe that's just me.

I look at it like my instruments are beyond a working musicians pay grade, but they aren’t beyond my “sucky day job” pay grade so I enjoy playing better than someone else might think I would deserve.