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So, out of these basses.......

#61
Personally i think you should take the: take him to several music shops, telling him a budget, and letting him pick. The worst thing would be for him to end up with a bass he hates the sound/look/feel of...he might find Ibanez instruments ugly and if you got him one that would be awkward for him...
 
#65
the engine said:
...A friend of mine lost his dad to cancer recently...He spoke about the time that his dad...decided to let my friend get his first "real" new guitar...His dad didn't even know anything about guitars but went to a dozen guitar shops in several different towns to make sure his son didn't get ripped off AND that he got what he wanted...
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+1

Year, 1964. I remember my Dad helping me buy my first bass (age 14--I had been borrowing them for a year!). I had saved lawn-mowing business money up to the lofty figure of $67. My parents wanted me to save enough to buy my own. I found a good Japanese Kingston, but the bass was $94, and my Dad paid the difference.

I got the bass I wanted, and an appreciation of his generous heart. I have never forgotten that my Dad made it possible for me to become a musician. He had always wanted to be one, but the depression and war changed his plans. :cool:

I like the idea of letting your son pick a bass. Help him do some research ahead of time.

I envy you! :hyper:


Ps. $94 in 1964 is ~$650 in 2009 dollars.
 
#67
rayzak said:
Thanks for all the input.
Well, I guess it's going pretty much how I thought. Everyone has their own preferences. I think the smartest thing to do would be to take him and let him try a bunch of different basses. Only problem with that is finding Laklands and that particular G&L, etc.
On another topic..... do some of you truly think he's too young for a $600 - $750 bass? He has taken very good care of his MIM Fender P, except for losing a tuner bushing. Although the bass is still spotless. I don't want to spoil him, but I do want him to learn on something that will help more than hinder him.
Thanks again for all of your input. I do very much appreciate it.
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Too young for a $600 - $700 bass?

If your son is hell-bent on playing bass--which he seems to be since he plays a difficult genre like jazz, I don't think he's too young for a professional-quality instrument.

IMHO, a real-deal pro bass + a pro setup is an appropriate career-building tool for - and investment in - the future of any budding pro player.

Better a bass that he can grow into than one he'll grow out of.

DISCLAIMER: I like basses. :)

--------

EDIT: An amp too!
 
#68
MIJ-VI said:
Too young for a $600 - $700 bass?

If your son is hell-bent on playing bass--which he seems to be since he plays a difficult genre like jazz, I don't think he's too young for a professional-quality instrument.

IMHO, a real-deal pro bass + a pro setup is an appropriate career-building tool for - and investment in - the future of any budding pro player.

Better a bass that he can grow into than one he'll grow out of.

DISCLAIMER: I like basses. :)

--------

EDIT: An amp too!
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I agree completely. I'm not some rich guy just dying to throw money at him to please him. I'll be selling some things that I haven't been using(pedals, accessories, perhaps even a gu!+ar). But I think he will appreciate it and hopefully use for the rest of his life.

FWIW, he recently inherited my beloved Ampeg B-100R combo amp.

Thanks so much for all of your replies. I really appreciate all of the input from all of you.
 
#70
rayzak said:
I agree completely. I'm not some rich guy just dying to throw money at him to please him. I'll be selling some things that I haven't been using(pedals, accessories, perhaps even a gu!+ar). But I think he will appreciate it and hopefully use for the rest of his life.

FWIW, he recently inherited my beloved Ampeg B-100R combo amp.

Thanks so much for all of your replies. I really appreciate all of the input from all of you.
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A player and a 'peg. Your lad will be off to a flying start sir! :)

You and your son are most fortunate indeed.

May you both always have that which you need, and much of what you want...
 
#71
The G&L or Lakland get my vote. If you opt for either of the Ibanezes I'd suggest finding one that's a few years old with a good neck. ......I say this as a repairman; I've seen way to many skinny Ibanez necks with S-curves. This usually happens in the first year or two as inadequately dried tropical hardwoods acclimate to dryer North America.

Also, you might consider upgrading the pickups in the MIM P-bass. I've put Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pound Precision pickups into a few of those over the years and had them come out sounding better than a USA Standard. (Really! I work in a shop where I was able to A/B them.)

Good luck!
 
#72
thirtypoint87 said:
The G&L or Lakland get my vote. If you opt for either of the Ibanezes I'd suggest finding one that's a few years old with a good neck. ......I say this as a repairman; I've seen way to many skinny Ibanez necks with S-curves. This usually happens in the first year or two as inadequately dried tropical hardwoods acclimate to dryer North America.

Also, you might consider upgrading the pickups in the MIM P-bass. I've put Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pound Precision pickups into a few of those over the years and had them come out sounding better than a USA Standard. (Really! I work in a shop where I was able to A/B them.)

Good luck!
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Thanks for the warning. I would have never thought of that one:smug:
Thanks for the suggestion of replacing the pickup too. I've actually got my old '57 RI Fender P pickup that i'm probably going to drop in there over the summer;) Should be an improvement, even though it sounds pretty darn good as is.
 
#73
A Jazz bass isn't boring it's 'THE' sound that most jazz players are looking for (i use the word most sorta lossely :P) .. my current goto bass is a marcus miller I picked up used for under 600 (yeah you can find them) I have basses that are worth more but I reach for the MM more times than not... keep in mind a jazz bass is going to sound different than a P-Bass and in jazz band (which is probably a big band ~20 peices or so) I'm thinking the Jazz is going to be more tone appropriate...

Outa the choices you had I've only played the Lakland and the G&L...I'd take the G&L first
 
#74
Definitely take him with you and let him play things and decide.

I can speak from experience, even though my tastes have changed since I was 16, I would never think of letting go of the bass I picked up when I was 16. I worked three summers with my pops, helping around his shop the best I could. We always talked about what I was saving for, so he knew exactly what I had wanted the whole time. Right when I had saved up enough money, my birthday rolled around, and the bass I had wanted was waiting for me one evening when I came home from school. That bass (a 4003), means so much to me not just because of the bass, but because of the experience attached to it. Include him in the decision! Talk up a jazz bass for sure though...
 

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