Which first bass should I get?

[Royce Hayes]

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[Relayer71]

That Blessed company has a longer history than Fender, for what it's worth: I believe it was making classical guitars in Spain in the 19th century.

I recall reading that Ibanez was originally JUST a distributor with "Ibanez" being a Spanish brand of guitar they distributed.

The Japanese company later purchased the rights to the name when the Spanish company went out of business and then started making their own guitars under that name, mostly copies - but I believe this was AFTER Fender was already established (Fender being one of the brands they copied).

So that they had a longer history than Fender is a bit misleading since they were just a distributor of sheet music and instruments early on. And it wasn't until much later that they got into manufacturing their own instruments... and then years after that until they started making their own original designs.

 

[NortyFiner]

I'm kind of confused. It seems like a lot of people are recommending jazz basses. Why is that? Are jazz basses great for metal?

"Jazz Bass" is just a name that Fender came up with a long time ago for marketing reasons. Jazz basses (and their many clones and variants) can actually fit into almost any style of music, including metal. It's just a matter of how you play them.

 

[PsyDocHill]

I recall reading that Ibanez was originally JUST a distributor with "Ibanez" being a Spanish brand of guitar they distributed.

The Japanese company later purchased the rights to the name when the Spanish company went out of business and then started making their own guitars under that name, mostly copies - but I believe this was AFTER Fender was already established (Fender being one of the brands they copied).

So that they had a longer history than Fender is a bit misleading since they were just a distributor of sheet music and instruments early on. And it wasn't until much later that they got into manufacturing their own instruments... and then years after that until they started making their own original designs.

I appreciate the history-lesson. I like learning new things and thanx for the opp. With that said, I believe that Fender has become an overpriced company and I do not like playing any of its basses. Never did, actually.

Let each one of us find our axe/s. It's purely a matter of taste and various preferences stemming from style...or not.... As we read, one player's having no trouble at all playing metal on a "Jazz." That's right: It's just a name. You play whatev' you want and if you're good, you'll sound better on a Galveston no-name than on some massively overpriced hunk of wood, regardless of aforesaid's hunk o' wood's tonal qualities and magical electronics.

Just rock/jazz/metal/pop/country/world/whatev' ON, and Have a Good Time, All of The Time.

I'd rather play than talk about it. Later.

 

[RCraig]

I would also go for the spector legend. That would be my choice for sure.

 

[nbw]

I'd recommend used US made peavey basses(Foundation, millennium, t40, axcelerator, TL4/TL5, gbass/g5bass, fury). Fantastic instruments that are on par with any thousand+ dollar instrument on the market and the resale value of them is so low its almost criminal. But you should be happy with any of the other suggested instruments mentioned too..
If you don't mind pointy headstocks you can also find really good deals on high end basses from that era when they were popular then.



I think what is important though is that you may want to budget a good setup for whatever bass you decide to get. All too often I see beginners get frustrated simply because their instrument has a poor setup making it very difficult to play and/or sound horrible.(I was guilty of this myself for the longest time!).

 

[MNAirHead]

ditto on the pay to get it setup.. especially for metal.

where are you located.

 

[Relayer71]

I appreciate the history-lesson. I like learning new things and thanx for the opp. With that said, I believe that Fender has become an overpriced company and I do not like playing any of its basses. Never did, actually.

Oh, I didn't give the "lesson" to advocate Fender btw, I totally agree about them being overpriced and although I'm a long-time Fender Tele GUITAR fan, since getting back into bass this year I've become a big Ibanez fan.

I think with the SRs you're not only getting a sleeker, ergonomic, more modern looking instrument that is still beautiful but more value when you compare electronics, materials and overall quality. And their Prestige models are simply stunning.

Fenders are still classics though and the American Standards are nice instruments but i'm not impressed with the Standard/MiMs and think they're overpriced.

I have an Ibanez SR400QM that goes for $449 new (got it used though) and I can't believe Fender charges $599 for an MiM. I just don't see what makes the Fender worth $150 more. You can also get an ATK or BTB for under $500. But it's not just Ibanez, the Yamaha BB414 is also a nice bass and goes for $399. The BB614 with active EQ is $449.

As it is the Squiers are a much better deal than the MiMs.