Hello all. Happy to have found your site. Let's dive right in.
I'm a longtime hack guitarist who years ago was even more of hack as a bassist. Truth is I haven't played bass at all since I sold my last decent one for food money during a lean period a few years back. Nevertheless it turns out that in the next couple months I'll likely be hooking up with some like-minded players for a short-term project and, you guessed it, I got volunteered to play bass. Truth is I'm totally psyched about it.
Problem: My current bass rig -- a grime-encrusted no-name P-style and a 65-watt Peavey amp -- ain't gonna cut it. I figured it would be easy to do a little research and find a great budget bass no prob, but instead I'm overwhelmed with info. The market seems totally oversaturated, and reading reviews isn't all that helpful as one person will call an instrument a hunk of junk and another will call it pro-caliber.
So here's where you guys can help. Recommend me your top basses in the $400 range -- cheaper is great, of course -- so I can see if there's a consensus on the top three or four, then I'll hit the stores and try 'em out. Some specifics: I'll be playing in a trio with what I'd call a medium-hard hitter on drums and a guitarist who runs a Super Reverb between 3 and 4 usually. Tunes will range from rockabilly, surf and garage through British Invasion and into Spirit o' '77 punk and maybe more. The bass would be used in the studio and in clubs with capacities of a few dozen up to a few hundred. I'm interested only in four-strings and don't like active electronics or absurd body styles. Oh, and I play with a pick. You probably figured that out already.
Researching the amp turned out to be a breeze, as it looks like tbe GK MB210 is a no-brainer for my purposes. But please let me know if there's something else in the same ballpark ($600) or less I should be looking at.
Thanks for letting me ramble and thanks in advance for your expert opinions.
Happy holidays!
I'm a longtime hack guitarist who years ago was even more of hack as a bassist. Truth is I haven't played bass at all since I sold my last decent one for food money during a lean period a few years back. Nevertheless it turns out that in the next couple months I'll likely be hooking up with some like-minded players for a short-term project and, you guessed it, I got volunteered to play bass. Truth is I'm totally psyched about it.
Problem: My current bass rig -- a grime-encrusted no-name P-style and a 65-watt Peavey amp -- ain't gonna cut it. I figured it would be easy to do a little research and find a great budget bass no prob, but instead I'm overwhelmed with info. The market seems totally oversaturated, and reading reviews isn't all that helpful as one person will call an instrument a hunk of junk and another will call it pro-caliber.
So here's where you guys can help. Recommend me your top basses in the $400 range -- cheaper is great, of course -- so I can see if there's a consensus on the top three or four, then I'll hit the stores and try 'em out. Some specifics: I'll be playing in a trio with what I'd call a medium-hard hitter on drums and a guitarist who runs a Super Reverb between 3 and 4 usually. Tunes will range from rockabilly, surf and garage through British Invasion and into Spirit o' '77 punk and maybe more. The bass would be used in the studio and in clubs with capacities of a few dozen up to a few hundred. I'm interested only in four-strings and don't like active electronics or absurd body styles. Oh, and I play with a pick. You probably figured that out already.
Researching the amp turned out to be a breeze, as it looks like tbe GK MB210 is a no-brainer for my purposes. But please let me know if there's something else in the same ballpark ($600) or less I should be looking at.
Thanks for letting me ramble and thanks in advance for your expert opinions.
Happy holidays!
