There's no such thing as a "beginner" bass.

[brianrost]

To me a beginner bass is low priced and for kids not yet fully grown a shorter scale and smaller body is good.

Why low priced? Because if a young player gives up quickly, there’s less money wasted.

When my daughter was in 7th grade she switched from cello to bass. She was still rather short so I found an old Kay short scale for about $50 and ran her through the Mel Bay/Roger Filberto volume 1 book. It looked like she was going to stick with it so I found a Kramer Duke for about $180 which still had a short scale but sounded way better than the Kay and had a smaller body. Since she wanted to be able to play upright in the school orchestra, I found a 1/4 Kay for her. A couple of years later she shot up in height so I found a used Peavey Palaedium, a very underrated long scale bass, in purple, and let her borrow one of my two DBs for playing in the orchestra. So that was three bass guitars and two uprights over a four year period.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

"Suitable for beginners" means affordable, and they do not say experienced players cannot buy them. What should they say instead? "Our basses are for beginners only, no professionals should buy them"?.

I also like cheap instruments.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

As a parent who bought several "beginner" level guitars, violins, and a trumpet.......which are gathering dust to this day, I'm all in favor of "beginner" level instruments, just in case they become paperweights. Out of 4 sons, only one caught Bass Disease, and when we realized he meant it, got him a Jay Turser Beatle Bass clone, a very well made "beginner" bass he still owns and plays at 27 years old. I also built him a Ric clone as a graduation present, but the Turser got him through high school and college Jazz Band. When I was a teenager (mid-70's) "beginner" basses were crap, now you can get a fully playable, decent sounding bass for around $200. They cheap out a little on hardware and electronics, but they play just fine. The Ibanez GSR 200 series an example example of the species. If the kid decides they like their Playstation better than practicing bass, you are only out $200, or even less for a Glarry or Harley Benton.

 

[chris_b]

I was told to buy the second bass first.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

The beginner bass died out right around the time the first Squiers were produced around 1982, or maybe a few years earlier.
How many potentially great must have been snuffed out by the crap instruments of the 70s.

 

[Patrice B]

I sprung for Yamaha's bottom rung BB234 to be my first bass on recommendation at GC by a bass player - I'm in love with it after all the mods I made - only thing original left is the wood! But the body was ideal for building a custom intrument without radical surgery of any kind. Drop in parts were.a breeze to install and I saved a bundle in the process. My 'beginner bass' ain't going anywhere soon ...

My BB234, first bass too, is a fine instrument, whatever the price tells…

 

[DCErik]

My 'beginner' bass was an SG copy that cost $50 new in 1979, and it was woeful. Action you could ride a skateboard under, for starters, and I don't know if it even had a truss rod. Its replacement was a P-bass copy that cost $60, and was of similar quality. Back in the day there was a pretty distinct line between musical instruments and toys, as I discovered when I finally dropped $300 on a used '78 P-bass. Lucky for me the two 'beginner' basses didn't put me off entirely.

 

[trothwell]

In years (decades) past, it seemed to me that often the least expensive basses were in fact cheap. Cheaply made. Didn't stay in tune well, maybe weren't intonated well in the first place, mediocre pickups, poor fret jobs, just generally were bottom of the barrel instruments.

I think that these were specifically BAD for beginners, because the beginner had to surmount learning about music and playing the instrument in general, along with getting past a poorly-made instrument, and not being in position to judge if it sounded bad because of their skill level or because the instrument was just lousy.

An experienced player could probably make the cheaply-made instrument sound better, just by virtue of bringing their greater skill to the table.

But, I think things have improved. Even the cheapest instruments today seem to be usable. I think you do tend to get, on average, better parts and better craftsmanship by buying higher up in a given manufacturer's range, so I can understand a "professional" preferring something other than the absolute cheapest option, but even the absolute cheapest option today is still not too shabby.

 

[HelpImaRock]

but even the absolute cheapest option today is still not too shabby.

still, shabby.

 

[Wfrance3]

There's no such thing as a "beginner" bass.​

I think that's seemingly reasonable thinking for beginners, sponsored by non-musicians. It's especially typical of what happens when you don't have generational musicianship. Mom and Dad want to give Timmy a shot at playing music because he's expressed interest, but don't want to sink a fortune into the venture in the case that it was just a passing fancy. It's not malicious, but it is flawed. It feels like a valid strategy for instrument manufactures to re-jigger where they put their investment cost when they build. I wonder if a manufacturers could build a super well set up instrument for a low end price point, but give it more bench time so it's nice to play when a "beginner" gets it. - Could there be a market for a PLEK'd Glary/Burning Fire?

 

[T McClure]

IMHO () Yes there is and the primary qualifying factor is low cost.

I agree.

What they really mean by beginner bass is one cheap enough that someone not sure if they'll keep up with it won't feel bad about getting rid of it if they quit. It's a message to entice people into trying a new hobby.

 

[Dom Amato]

Sure having nice stuff is great and all, but expensive does not equal good. I have basses ranging from $200 to $2000 and love to play them all.

My American Pro II P Bass ($1,849), my player II P Bass ($799) and my Sterling Ray5HH ($450) are all great basses! Setup, good strings and a decent amp will make any "beginner" bass sound great. You can even mod your "beginner" to sound better relatively inexpensively.

Of course, YMMV...

 

[mydogfarted]

I own several sub $500 basses, and appreciate the fact that I have been able to spend time with a variety of basses without laying out a small fortune to find out what I do and do not like. I've got a short scale, two different 34" scales, and even a 35". Each has their own unique feel, and things I like and dislike about them. I spent time with each of them at the shop, but wasn't really able to pass judgement until I had them properly setup and had days to play them. I also want to learn to setup/repair/mod my own instruments, and feel a lot less anxious about possibly screwing up my new Sterling StingRay Intro Series than I would a much more expensive EBMM StingRay.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

All this said, if the prospective player is pretty serious about the instrument, having something playable right off the bat can make a big difference in the level of enthusiasm. I was exposed to bass when my Brother's friend left his crappy Japanese Jazz bass clone at our house for a couple weeks, and I started fiddling with it. In retrospect, it wasn't so much a bad bass as a bad setup, and luckily I didn't let that first impression sway me. I borrowed a couple basses from friends for a brief period, and them bought a 1978 Ric 4001, because I was obsessed with Chris Squire and Yes. It wasn't until years later that people explained to me why I "shouldn't" like it, but I did anyway. It had some ergonomic issues, like all Rics, but that TONE was unmistakable. It had a very thin neck, kinda unstable in the long run, but the action was super-low, and it was otherwise very easy to play. My obsession with it's tone and look got me through that first year or so of struggling that discourages most new instrument owners. When I got my son the Jay Turser Beatle Bass clone, I made sure to go over the whole bass, fix anything obviously wrong, do a setup, and it stuck.

 

[JimmyM]

Good lighthearted rant. I’m still going to use the term, though. It doesn’t bother me to play low end stuff when it’s good or has a quirky but usable tone.

 

[Sauron_]

I plan to gig with a 180€ Squier Bronco, go figure...

 

[Dr. Cheese]

What else are you supposed to call basses with cheap wood, cheap hardware and rough frets

Call them cheap. Nobody likes poor build quality. I have nothing against inexpensive basses. About half of what I own is budget gear, but it is well made.

 

[Clark Westfield]

I have a Yamaha BB234 that looks, sounds and plays amazing.

I’m no rookie either, and the price was right.($300)

It’s my beater and basher, so being inexpensive certainly helps.

The price indicates poorly made, but not this one.

 

[ebozzz]

The price indicates poorly made, but not this one.

There are quite a few basses that match that description these days!

 

[chris_b]

Beginner basses were a thing. The guys who started on bass in the pre CNC days will know what I'm talking about.

CNC has made the term obsolete.

Even the cheapest bass is playable these days. That wasn't always true.