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School Bass ($600)

#41
If the school budgeted $600 for a bass, then you should buy 1 bass, not 2. Whether you want / need to spend the full $600 for that bass is a separate decision, but if you spend the $600 on 2 $300 basses, you'll leave some folks wondering why they didn't budget $300 if that's all a bass costs.
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+1
used Lakland Skyline ???


... my Jazz band had an hollowbody yamaha kind of like a Gibson 335. I played my Silvertone w/ a Fender neck J .....

Got kicked out for warming up with some Rush.......:p

Good times!
 
#43
the advantage (that I see) to getting two is tonal versatility. Get a jazz, string it up with rounds, and do funk, disco, and other styles that require a brighter sound. Then get a p, put on some fat flatwounds, and do more 60's styles. The disadvantage is that the two will probably be lesser quality than a single instrument, and the music teacher might question why they spent twice as much as necessary. Either way, passive is definitely the way to go.
 
#44
Blah I don't know what kind of jazz bands you guys had. I would have been so bored in our band with a passive 4 string... but we NEVER played straight ahead swing or anything. But then again that was my taste when I was in there, and I pretty much revamped the bass tradition at our school... so now they all will use a nice active 5 string and appreciate it ;).
 
#46
Visirale said:
Blah I don't know what kind of jazz bands you guys had. I would have been so bored in our band with a passive 4 string... but we NEVER played straight ahead swing or anything. But then again that was my taste when I was in there, and I pretty much revamped the bass tradition at our school... so now they all will use a nice active 5 string and appreciate it ;).
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You get bored with 2+ octaves but 5 more notes creates excitement?
 
#47
Easy there killers!

I guess my jazz band was a lot different than most... we were an extremely competitive group. Some of the best schools were pure traditional swing kind of groups. Not us... we played a lot of funk, R&B, and latin. Those charts not only needed the lower notes (At least half our charts had notes below E written in) but the two octave reach in any given position made walking a lot easier when we did play swing. But then again we were in a metropolitan school playing a lot of charts written out of Miami.

Sorry! Just trying to give advice based on my own experiences.

Oh and the bass before I picked them their new one was an Ibanez SR505. I think that'd be perfect for a lot of groups too... In your price range too, I believe.
 
#49
spaz21387 said:
Active would be too much work for highschool kids. They might also break something changing the battery. My vote goes for getting 2 squire vms eather the vm p and the vm j. that also leaves enough money for 2 sets of strings.
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High school kids in jazz band (usually) aren't mentally handicapped. I've been playing active basses since 10th grade. It's really not that hard to figure out.

I'd say another huge factor is feeder programs. Do your middle schools have jazz bands? I may have taken that for granted too since we have a big music district here and jazz bands start in 6th grade.
 
#52
They were ******** at my school. I over heard some kid talking to another about an upright bass. And how he plays guitar so he should tune it like a guitar. They tryed to tune it up and ended up snapping the string. And then he took tape and taped the string back togather and put it back where all the instruments were stored.
 
#53
$600 for a school bass? I envy you. Back in high school, the only bass the band had was a horrifying mid 90's squier affinity p bass which looked like it was repeatedly bashed against a brick wall. I dunno whether that bass always played awful, or whether father time's assault caused it. I can say that the band director was glad that I brought my MIM Jazz to play instead...

If you go the 2 bass route, I would recommend a Squier VMJ/VMP and a Squier Deluxe Jazz V. Unlike the mid '90s squiers, the new ones (especially the VM series) is a great bang for the buck. If you go the 1 bass route, I definitely recommend shopping around for used basses. If you have to buy new, I recommend the Fender MIM Jazz (or P, depending on your tastes). At the right store you might be able to find a used Fender MIA or another decent mid level bass in that range. I would definitely visit as many shops in the area as possible. You never know what gem you will find. Since you are getting the bass for a school band, I recommend dealing local if possible. Guitar shops are not above giving discounts for schools in exchange for a mention of thanks on programs/yearbooks. Not to mention, you'll be supporting a local business, which always looks good.

Best of luck shopping for a bass.

P.S. I recommend going with a Jazz Bass or equivalent. P-Basses are nice, but jazzes have the versatility needed to handle both pep band and jazz band songs. The Jazz neck will also help for any future bassists with smaller hands. There's no guarantee that all of the future bassists will be upright bassists.
 
#55
Id say fender style basses, 4 string passive keep it simple, bear in mind alot of beginners will be using this bass so it needs to be easy to understand. a P/J config would be good since it would allow more tonal diversity. 5 string is a no go for me in this case, since that could confuse peoples idea about the classic "Bass = 4 strings" this bass needs to be able to take abuse. for my reckoning i would either go for a fender copy P or J or p/J if you can find it or a cort action you get an amazing amount of bass for the money.

and get a godamn hardcase ithink thats been said enough :D
 
#56
there's a feeder program at the middle school, but it isn't very large. My high school definitely emphasizes band and orchestra over jazz band.

I'd prefer to go passive over active, for the simple reason that batteries don't die. We did a recording session last year, and both of my actives ran out of juice within a 30 minute period, leaving me to do all the remaining songs on my backup, p copy (that somehow gets 60 hz hum...)

so, passive is preferable. Also, it's more classic, which is really the sound (and look) going for. Actives aren't rocket science, though, so passive isn't absolutely required.
 

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