• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What cheap bass to get?

#21
spwath said:
Actually the Jaguar is brand new, and the sr500 is chipped. So I'll go with the Jaguar.
Click to expand...
The SR500 series don't have a hard finish on them so they mark up pretty easily. A brown sharpie works wonders on it though. I bought an SR506 that looked beat to hell. After a few minutes filling the dings with a brown sharpie, it looked great. If you look closely, you can still see the marks but hard to see them from a small distance.
And as for the Jaguar being new, if some has owned it, even if for just a few months, I still consider it used. But that's just me.
I'm sure you'll be happy with either bass.
 
#24
The best low cost bass I have ever played is the Ibanez TMB-100. Cost's $200. All those basses you mentioned have gone up in price. The cheapest one on your list is $175 now. I would pay the extra $25 for a brand new TMB-100. But, the Hamer Velocity 2XT looks good and it's $175. So that's a good choice too in my opinion, if you can play it to make sure it's not a dud.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ERIC31
#25
6Bass101 said:
The SR500 series don't have a hard finish on them so they mark up pretty easily. A brown sharpie works wonders on it though. I bought an SR506 that looked beat to hell. After a few minutes filling the dings with a brown sharpie, it looked great. If you look closely, you can still see the marks but hard to see them from a small distance.
And as for the Jaguar being new, if some has owned it, even if for just a few months, I still consider it used. But that's just me.
I'm sure you'll be happy with either bass.
Click to expand...
Says its still in the box.
Ill just go with that just to start.
Jrussblues said:
I'm gonna say play them first. If your budget is 150ish then go play both basses. Pick the one you like more.
Click to expand...
But I have never played bass, so one, I cant play, and 2, I dont have experience to see whats better.
ThePresident777 said:
The best low cost bass I have ever played is the Ibanez TMB-100. Cost's $200. All those basses you mentioned have gone up in price. The cheapest one on your list is $175 now. I would pay the extra $25 for a brand new TMB-100. But, the Hamer Velocity 2XT looks good and it's $175. So that's a good choice too in my opinion, if you can play it to make sure it's not a dud.
Click to expand...
No, the prices I said are what I offered the people and they accepted.

Im picking up the fender quier tomorow for 150.
 
#28
from an absolute beginner standpoint, go, pick up each instrument, plug it in and make it make a sound. Play with the knobs. Feel how high or low the strings are off of the frets and how easy or hard it is to make the bass make a different sound. A first instrument doesn't need to sound amazing or cost a bunch of money but if it is hard to press the strings down then it'll be hard to stick with. Fenders are pretty hit and miss and I know nothing about hammer basses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Old Garage-Bander
#29
Jrussblues said:
from an absolute beginner standpoint, go, pick up each instrument, plug it in and make it make a sound. Play with the knobs. Feel how high or low the strings are off of the frets and how easy or hard it is to make the bass make a different sound. A first instrument doesn't need to sound amazing or cost a bunch of money but if it is hard to press the strings down then it'll be hard to stick with. Fenders are pretty hit and miss and I know nothing about hammer basses.
Click to expand...
No electric bass will be hard to press strings compared to the upper registers of my cello, ill be fine with that.
I dealt with a cello that I could fit a thumb under the string without pulling it for a few years.
 
#30
spwath said:
No electric bass will be hard to press strings compared to the upper registers of my cello, ill be fine with that.
I dealt with a cello that I could fit a thumb under the string without pulling it for a few years.
Click to expand...
Key word *dealt with. That said, if you are dead set on the fender try to go get a nice set up on it once you buy it. It can make a world of difference. Good luck on the bass journey! It can become an addiction
 
#31
Jrussblues said:
Key word *dealt with. That said, if you are dead set on the fender try to go get a nice set up on it once you buy it. It can make a world of difference. Good luck on the bass journey! It can become an addiction
Click to expand...
Dealt with yeah, but I dont think a bass will have anything close to that. The average cello can fit a pinky under at the top register, I can do that no problem
 
#32
spwath said:
Dealt with yeah, but I dont think a bass will have anything close to that. The average cello can fit a pinky under at the top register, I can do that no problem
Click to expand...
Bass and cello are more similar in this way. Say you want to learn to play the melody to sonatina 1 on bass transposed from piano. Fairly straight forward until you get to the upper registers. Then it comes down to a couple of things. Do you have enough frets? Well either bass does so there's a point for both. Can you reach the high d (19th fret) without obstruction. Typically not on a fender but the lower horn on the hammer is more out of the way and it has 24 vs 20 frets on the fender. Is the action even enough that you don't have to worry about the notes dying out in the upper registers without drastically adjusting your right hand. Who knows? A good set up can fix most of that though.
I would say if your plan is to be able to sit down with some of your old cello miusic and classical pieces the hammer will probably fit your needs better, if you just want to play some rock music go with the fender.
Also, listen to victor Wooten, he is a former cellist turned electric bassist. Pretty inspiring stuff. His album "a show of hands" might be up your alley.
 
#33
Jrussblues said:
Bass and cello are more similar in this way. Say you want to learn to play the melody to sonatina 1 on bass transposed from piano. Fairly straight forward until you get to the upper registers. Then it comes down to a couple of things. Do you have enough frets? Well either bass does so there's a point for both. Can you reach the high d (19th fret) without obstruction. Typically not on a fender but the lower horn on the hammer is more out of the way and it has 24 vs 20 frets on the fender. Is the action even enough that you don't have to worry about the notes dying out in the upper registers without drastically adjusting your right hand. Who knows? A good set up can fix most of that though.
I would say if your plan is to be able to sit down with some of your old cello miusic and classical pieces the hammer will probably fit your needs better, if you just want to play some rock music go with the fender.
Also, listen to victor Wooten, he is a former cellist turned electric bassist. Pretty inspiring stuff. His album "a show of hands" might be up your alley.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Now what if I want to do some of both? Probably mostly rock stuff though.
 
#35
Jrussblues said:
The hammer would probably be the better choice just because it'll probably do the rock stuff just as fine as the fender does but the upper register will still be there if you want to dabble. That's my two cents anyway.
Click to expand...
Hmm. I already told fender guy I would get it tomorrow. But it will still probably be fine right?
 
#36
spwath said:
Hmm. I already told fender guy I would get it tomorrow. But it will still probably be fine right?
Click to expand...
If you've already committed to it it'll be cool. You will find quickly though that a forum is not the right place to ask about bass opinions. A lot of biases out there without asking a lot of questions. I've played a few of the squies and they are good starter basses for sure. If you find its not then you can always turn around and sell it and get something else when you get to that point. Again, bass can be quite addictive so have fun with it man.
 
#37
Jrussblues said:
If you've already committed to it it'll be cool. You will find quickly though that a forum is not the right place to ask about bass opinions. A lot of biases out there without asking a lot of questions. I've played a few of the squies and they are good starter basses for sure. If you find its not then you can always turn around and sell it and get something else when you get to that point. Again, bass can be quite addictive so have fun with it man.
Click to expand...
Ok great. Thanks for the help. I will have fun. Not that I need another hobby to suck my money.
But I got a nice amp setup, so might as well get an instrument to go with it.
That is if I can get the 150lb pa cab up the stairs....
 
#38
I like my jag
20160706_122150.jpg
 
#40
Nothing wrong with a good squier no matter what anyone says. No they aren't made with the best parts on the market but when was the last time you ever saw one fall apart that was well kept? They are more than good enough for any gig out there.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back