What kind of bass guitar should I buy?

[Mithrandir]

Alright, my folks are giving me 250 bucks for my birthday, with which to buy a bass. I'm also planning on putting some amount of my own money towards this.

So I need suggestions here. I'm probably going to be playing some mixture of blues/rock and roll/punk riffs and some more interesting post-rock style stuff.

Now, I don't have any experience buying (or playing for that matter) electric instruments, so I'm going to need an amp too. Am I going to need any other piece of electronic equipment for this? I feel like quite the moron for having to ask, but hell I've been playing acoustic for years, and I've never really had the cash to try out the more modern electric stuff.

[ROCKSTEADY]

a fender (or squier) Jazz Bass.

[Ceraziefish]

Yeah, jazz basses have a really nice, versatile sound. With the right amp you could do pretty much anything you wanted.

I don't know too much about bass amps, though, but if you're just looking for a practice amp (If you want a huge amp, disregard this advice) don't spend too much beyond the $100 range, and you could probably get a good one for cheaper (that's going off guitar amps, though, I dunno if bass amps are more or less expensive).

You're going to need a guitar cable to connect the amp to the bass. These are pretty generic, and you don't really need to shop for a specific brand. Some cables come with "features" which are, by and large, useless, since all you need it to do is connect your guitar to the amp and sound good.

The only brand of bass amps I really know is Sunn amps you should get one of those, but they're like huge cabs for the most part, and like $1500.

EDIT: If you're going to use effects pedals, you'll need more cables, one to connect the bass to the effects pedal, one to connect the effects pedal to the amp.

[lordkuro]

For an absolute beginner, I would recommend one of those Fender/Squier p-bass packs. They're affordable and the equipment is great for learning. The pack also includes a 15w amp, which is all you'll really need at this point (easy to transport too), and all of the cables you would need. Musicians Friend should carry the pack and I believe it fits right into your price range.

[lordkuro]

It sucks that it's only a 15W amp, you can't jam with a 15W.

I would love to see a bigger amp in the package but the price is right and the 15w perfect for practice. You're right though, the equipment isn't anything special so an upgrade would be absolutely necessary at some point.

[Mithrandir]

Hmm, I think I'd rather have a slightly more professional amp, considering that I can already play the bass pretty well (I picked it up using my 4-string guitar), and also the fact that I am in a band and we'd like to do a show someday relatively soon.

[lordkuro]

Oh, I misread thought you were saying you hadn't played bass before. In that case I would go with a Fender Jazz, or if you don't mind really spending some money for quality, a Music Man Stingray.

[Wind]

Alright, my folks are giving me 250 bucks for my birthday, with which to buy a bass. I'm also planning on putting some amount of my own money towards this.

So I need suggestions here. I'm probably going to be playing some mixture of blues/rock and roll/punk riffs and some more interesting post-rock style stuff.

Now, I don't have any experience buying (or playing for that matter) electric instruments, so I'm going to need an amp too. Am I going to need any other piece of electronic equipment for this? I feel like quite the moron for having to ask, but hell I've been playing acoustic for years, and I've never really had the cash to try out the more modern electric stuff.

Get a jazz bass for tone. I have the Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass which is currently costing 800 at Guitarcenter ( http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/b...l_sku=103307765 ) *note the 323 reviews averaging 5/5 on all categories... its an amazing instrument*

Although I think my mom spent a little more when she got it for me for christmas a year and a half ago. This bass is beyond amazing in sound and playability, tone sounds so smooth, deep and wonderful. I use a Behringer amp that was about 350 bucks, and is 120 Watts.

Also effects I use are Crybaby Wah (was like 80-90$) Boss OverDrive (90), and a Phase Shifter (50-60 now I think).

Goto your local guitar / bass place and play the different cheaper jazz basses to get a feel for how the fingering is on the fret board and the tone/overall quality. (I say the fret board thing because the neck is made on the geddy lee bass to allow faster finger movement for playing scales and whatever else... Geddy I guess had that custom designed at some point in rush's career).

Also remember Cables arent cheap either, I bought a 6 inch patch cable for 8 bones, once you start talking about the long ones that will give you enough room to play live or even sit somewhere away from your amp it'll get up to around 35-60+ a cord depending on brand and quality.

Any bass questions Im your dude.

[Ceraziefish]

Also remember Cables arent cheap either, I bought a 6 inch patch cable for 8 bones, once you start talking about the long ones that will give you enough room to play live or even sit somewhere away from your amp it'll get up to around 35-60+ a cord depending on brand and quality.

...I've never spent more than about $15 on a cord, and I have one 10' and one 20' (these are estimates). I think that price is a little excessive... and I've never had a problem with sound quality or anything.

Although, Wind, I do have a somewhat off-topic bass question. I have a cheap Yamaha bass I got a few years back for super cheap, just to play around with. I didn't touch it for like... six months or so and now I think the jack is broken. Do you know about how much this would cost to fix? I ask because if it's a significant amount I'd rather just buy a bass that's actually good.

[Wind]

Well yeah it depends on what your looking to buy cord wise, monster cords get up in the expensive side as they are mainly used for recording smoothly (smoothing I need while I make galexia stuff).

I'm really sorry but that is one bass question I cannot answer, as I've never run into that problem.

[Ceraziefish]

Well, I took it into a repair shop today, one way or the other I'll be finding out how much it costs on Monday! :awesome: