Bass guitar advice

[orange71]

Looking to take up bass guitar. I want to play mainly funk/house/disco type music - any pointers as to the sort of guitar I should buy as a beginner?

Not intending to learn how to read music etc, just play by ear. Prob the hard way, but that's my style :roll:

 

[highlandsflyer]

You watching the Jack Bruce programme?

Do you play anything already?

Don't under rate learning how to sight read, etc. if you cannot already.

Playing by ear is great, but understanding scores opens up a whole new world.

Depends on your budget for the bass.

A fender precision is one of the best places to start.

Cheap copies of such can be excellent value.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

A cheap one.

Seriously though, a Squier P or J will be good enough to get you started, but not break the bank. Will sell fairly well if you don't enjoy it so you won't lose too much money.

You don't want to start too cheap though, as a badly built or set up bass will make learning a lot harder.

http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/bass/bass- ... -apple-red

 

[orange71]

cheers chaps.

no not watching that programme. what is it?

don't play a thing already I have a good ear though - aiming just to replicate what I hear note by note and build up speed. No rush

prob the wrong way to go about things!

will look into the squier and fender

 

[highlandsflyer]

A cheap one.

Seriously though, a Squier P or J will be good enough to get you started, but not break the bank. Will sell fairly well if you don't enjoy it so you won't lose too much money.

You don't want to start too cheap though, as a badly built or set up bass will make learning a lot harder.

Agreed, but I have to suggest a Vintage, as they tend to be better wood than the basic Squiers.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/vintage_v4mrssb.htm

 

[orange71]

thanks

read Encore were a good beginner's bass?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... TQ:GB:1123

 

[highlandsflyer]

You will thank yourself for spending a little more to be honest.

If you do decide to get such a cheapie, go to Gumtree or such so you can pop round and try it before buying.

There could be all sorts of set up problems in such a cheap bass, and a set up will cost you the difference between that and a decent starter bass.

Bass-ically, that is the musical equivalent of a BSO.

 

[orange71]

I like the analogy - I can see why people buy BSOs when they don't know any different. Even if I tried one out I probably wouldn't be able to tell a good bass from a bad

 

[highlandsflyer]

Then I would suggest taking a pal who knows their beans. Some of the cheapies can be ok, but then again...

Seriously, spend a little more and be sure of a quality instrument.

You need an amp too, but here is the thing... a good guitar will play well unplugged too.

This is a whole world of techno geekdom you are prying into.

Welcome!



What kind of music inspires you?

What players?

I know you want to play by ear and self teach, etc., but half a dozen lessons can really take you on twelve months in a month, if you know what I mean.

 

[ajm]

You definitely don't need to spend much to get a very decent bass these days.

I've been playing bass for coming up 2 years now (having played violin, guitar and mandolin for decades) and love my bass - Squier Precision Special (about £225) which is a Precision body with Jazz neck (slimmer than the usual P neck) and a jazz style bridge pickup in addition to the usual P neck pickup.

You can get a huge range of tones from it, the fit and finish is perfect and the frets nicely done; it plays very well and never goes out of tune. A million miles away from the Encore 6-string electric I learned on in the 90s - decent instruments are being churned out in vast numbers by the factories in the far east nowadays.

I've had a beautiful Rickenbacker 6-string for years and while it's a lovely bit of workmanship and a nice-sounding piece of art, when it comes down to it I've already had more pleasure out of the "cheap" Squier bass which incidentally sounds fantastic.

As regards learning to play... if you have an ear for it, that's all you need. Reading music is highly overrated in my opinion (certainly for bass); I was taught sight-reading for violin to a decent level and it's great for reminding myself of how a tune goes but for bass I quickly decided it was more satisfying to work it out by ear... others will disagree no doubt