Help 14nothing buy a rig

[mutant!]

Right, so, 14nothing, one of the bass forum noobs, wants to buy his first rig. He bought a Cort Action second-hand for dirt cheap which he's been playing on up until now. His parents have promised to help him sort out a proper rig (including an amp; atm he plays through the school's PA system or a borrowed guitar amp, usually).

He likes jazz, funk, old-school rock, and some indie and electronic music as well. He's going to get a fretted 4-string as his main bass. The ones below are all similarly priced in South Africa (we believe). Which one would y'all recommend in terms of sound and feel?

::Bass::
Warwick Corvette
Music Man SUB
Cort TM Stevens Funkmachine

As for an amp, what he wants to do is get an amp that has alright tone for practice purposes (and, initially, small gigs). On stage, he would then purely use it as a monitor, running his bass into a Hartke Bass Attack pedal, into the house PA, and back into the amp's power section. He would like a kickback amp, for this purpose.

::Amp::
Hartke A-70
Hartke HM-1212
Behringer BX-1200
Fender Bassman-100

I know the prices vary, but we're looking for value for money here (in both the bass and the amp). I know all the usual arguments - "Spend as much as you can now or you'll regret it later"; "Try them out yourself" - but unfortunately those are not options for my poor South African bassist.

Thanks a lot for any help guys.

[bottlerocket]

I'd guess he can get a Musicman Stingray for the same price as a Corvette...I'd put that there instead of SUB myself.

-Gav

[mutant!]

Yah, I'm just semi-confirming those prices now. I actually think the Stingray is somewhat more expensive.

EDIT: It would seem I'm right, the Stingrays are a little more expensive, and the Corvette's price is already pushing it.

Otherwise I'd have tried to feed him a Corvette $$. In Nirvana Black. mmm

[mutant!]

wtf batman

Can anyone give me a recommended retail price in USD for the Cort Funkmachine? I'm having real difficulty finding an accurate price online...

[Led_Zeppelin678]

Warwick and Hartke. The bubinga Spector Legend is amazing for the money, too.

[mutant!]

Which Hartke, the HM1212 or the A-70?

Checking out Spector now... I doubt he would like the look of the Spectors. And I've never seen them for sale in South Africa.

[Led_Zeppelin678]

I can't find any information on this HM-1212 anywhere.

[mutant!]

It would seem it's like an older version of the A-70 or something. But either way, I'm assuming you meant the A-70, and the A-70 is the cheaper of the two so meh.

[Led_Zeppelin678]

Make sure you get a Hartke with aluminum speaker cones! Also, you're probably going to want at least 150 watts if he's playing with a band.

[mutant!]

Like I said, the bass amp is usually only going to act as a monitor (except at band practices).

[acexxxoasis]

May I suggest something OTHER then hartke if he has half the problems I did hes going to hate life trying to get repairs on a hartke in South Africa honestly a peavey would do him good if he can get one

[mutant!]

:lol: How come, are Hartkes difficult to repair or what?

And which would you suggest then, the Fender or the Behringer?

[bleeding_fingers]

the behringer is a big no no, and he could get a real stingray second hand for the price of a SUB new.

[acexxxoasis]

hartkes are known to have 1. weak speakers (especially the cheaper aluminum speakers {I had the 2.5XL and blew 2 of their"top of the line" speakers at under 1/2 volume}) the amps themselves tend to have cold solder joints that tend to dissasemble themselves (happened in my hartke HA5000) honestly I LOVE the tone of the fender bassman 100

[mutant!]

He's not going to find a Stingray secondhand in this country, trust me. Does no-one read the first post? I want straight-up comparisons or similarly priced alternatives.

Which is better, the Fender or the Hartke?

EDIT: Cold solder...?

EDIT 2: No-one's mentioned the Funkmachine yet. Opinions?

[acexxxoasis]

FENDER ahah think about this Fender is THE ONLY company to make both amplifiers and guitars that are the most sought after and they have been doing both for a long time. he will not go wrong with the bassman its a tad expensive over here for what it is but it has eminence speakers and a very powerful sound if I had the money to drop on any combo I would buy the fender bassman no questions asked.

[bleeding_fingers]

Oh sorry, i missed that bit!

erm, i'd recommend a hartke out of those choices (not sure which) and the SUB - if not get a mexican fender jazz and splash the cash with the amp a bit more.

[mutant!]

It's cool. SUB > Corvette? I'm surprised to hear that. Aren't the standard passive Corvettes supposed to be real cool?

[bleeding_fingers]

well i'd personally get a Corvette $$, but the SUB suits his style more.

[Killer Fridge]

It's cool. SUB > Corvette? I'm surprised to hear that. Aren't the standard passive Corvettes supposed to be real cool?

All warwicks > SUB - but only because I really dont like them, and IMO, warwicks are the dogs bollocks :thumb:

But I would agree with what someone else said. I would personally go with a MIM Jazz bass, (maybe a CIJ if you can find one, and if so, the 60s classic is awesome) and put some more money into the amp.

[Akira]

It's cool. SUB > Corvette? I'm surprised to hear that. Aren't the standard passive Corvettes supposed to be real cool?
Isn't the SUB significantly cheaper than the 'Vette?

[bleeding_fingers]

But I would agree with what someone else said. I would personally go with a MIM Jazz bass, (maybe a CIJ if you can find one, and if so, the 60s classic is awesome) and put some more money into the amp.

that was meeeeeee

to sum up, save money on the bass and tell him to get a MIM jazz and spend more on the amp and get the bassman 100

[mutant!]

Why would you say the SUB is more suited? Just because it has better slap tone, or for other reasons as well?

EDIT: He likes his P-basses, and I was under the impression funk and reggae peeps prefer them as well. Are the MIM Ps as good as the Js?

[Killer Fridge]

Why would you say the SUB is more suited? Just because it has better slap tone, or for other reasons as well?

EDIT: He likes his P-basses, and I was under the impression funk and reggae peeps prefer them as well. Are the MIM Ps as good as the Js?

Yes, and cheaper too! :thumb:

[mutant!]

@Killer Fridge: he thinks your av is the funniest thing ever.

Anyway. Mexicanos Ps. Too bad they don't come with maple fretboards... Not now anyway. So: Mexican P versus SUB. Which to go for?

Bear in mind that he doesn't have a budget for both (so that spending less on the bass will give him a better amp). He's getting the amp now (in like 2 weeks), and then selling his Cort at the end of the year for something better. So it won't really help him out to spend less on the bass and more on the amp. However, the less he spends on an amp now, the more willing his parents would be to help out with a bass end of year.



...MIM P vs MIM J vs SUB...

[Killer Fridge]

If that is the case, then I would personally go for the Classic 50s P-bass (I think its about the same price, if not cheaper than the SUB, and its the best value for money in any bass IMO). It also comes with a maple fretboard :thumb:

http://fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0131702340

[bassmancrv]

^ i love the color scheme on that bass...

personally im not a fan of fenders... at all...

id go with the vette.. there more versatile than most people think, i own one and i love it to death, true that they are a bit expensive though

[jollygiantchris]

get the fender combo and i would get a musicman sub or like someone else said a MIM fender p or j isnt necessarily a bad deal (or a jaguar for that matter about same price and cooler body style imho)

FYI your friend knows that the necks on warwick's are gargantuan right? myself i always wanted to play a warwick and when i finally did i was absolutely disgusted with the neck shape....btw dare i recommend a tribute by G&L instead of any of those options :o

[mutant!]

G&L's unavailable in South Africa. Are they as good as their guitar counterparts?

[ebe9]

Heya, fellow South African Bassist.

Right to answer a few of your questions.

As far as the basses go:

The warwick corvette standard or the warwick corvette $$ would both be good bets. The Cort funk machine, while being a decent bass loses the whole slap, funk, wah appeal very quickly, rather get a good standard bass and add the effects later. I own the corvette $$ and it is a huge leap up from the Cort Artisan A5 in terms of what I need it to do.

Basically I would break down the bass choice as follows:

1st: Warwick Corvette $$
2nd: Warwick Corvette (Standard, I assume its the bubinga body?)
3rd: Stingray or Fender Precision


On the amp side and what we can get on this side from what I have seen.

The fender rumble would be a good choice as a decent practicve amp and for use as a monitor at a later point, the DI out also helps in its case. Keep in mind that you can get the rumble in two variants in SA. The 1X15 with the horn and now also a 2X10 (my personel prefference would be the 2X10)

So yep, thats pretty much how I would break it down with what he is looking to get and what woild suit him, once again try to stay away from the Cort Funk Machine, I can pretty much guarentee that it will not be a lasting investment like either of the warwicks would.


EDIT: I assume you and 14nothing are both down at Stellenbosch? If you get the chance to make it to Joburg, try and stop by at Music Connection, they have just moved premices to a fantastic new place and Fred (the bass chap there) is always willing to help people out in terms of working out a deal to match their budget.

[MuRd0K]

DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYBODY THAT SAYS FENDER RUMBLE!

I would never, every buy a fender rumble, unless I am desperate.

For an amp:
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/8/9/1/265891.jpg
Peavey TNT 115 Combo
Loud, nice eq, overall great. Everybody loves it.

For a bass:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Bass/Electric?sku=515055
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Bass/Electric?sku=513051

For the price, you cannot go wrong with Schecter, Ibanez, or Yamaha.

[Akira]

DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYBODY THAT SAYS FENDER RUMBLE!

I would never, every buy a fender rumble, unless I am desperate.

I'm curious, have you ever played a Rumble? They aren't special, but they are definately loud enough to gig and very sturdy. Carpeted, grilled, solid amp. The only problem I have is the weight.

[mutant!]

The warwick corvette standard or the warwick corvette $$ would both be good bets. The Cort funk machine, while being a decent bass loses the whole slap, funk, wah appeal very quickly, rather get a good standard bass and add the effects later. I own the corvette $$ and it is a huge leap up from the Cort Artisan A5 in terms of what I need it to do.
What do you think of the Corvette's neck though? 14nothing has repeatedly told me how much he loves the neck on a Fender J. Is it anything like that?

And btw, sweet bass, man. What finish is yours in? When I sell all my guitar stuff in 10 years and start playing bass, I'm sooooooo getting a Nirvana Black $$...
Basically I would break down the bass choice as follows:

1st: Warwick Corvette $$
2nd: Warwick Corvette (Standard, I assume its the bubinga body?)
3rd: Stingray or Fender Precision
So you wouldn't even consider the SUB before any of those? And it'll have to be the standard bubinga Corvette, the $$ is a tad expensive.

On the amp side and what we can get on this side from what I have seen.

The fender rumble would be a good choice as a decent practicve amp and for use as a monitor at a later point, the DI out also helps in its case. Keep in mind that you can get the rumble in two variants in SA. The 1X15 with the horn and now also a 2X10 (my personel prefference would be the 2X10)
Would you seriously recommend the Rumble over the Hartke A-100? We're looking at a R4000 cap. What else can you recommend at that price? (I'm talking standard retail prices here, we have a connection in East London who has orgasmic prices so we can beat any price you can come up with.)
EDIT: I assume you and 14nothing are both down at Stellenbosch? If you get the chance to make it to Joburg, try and stop by at Music Connection, they have just moved premices to a fantastic new place and Fred (the bass chap there) is always willing to help people out in terms of working out a deal to match their budget.
I believe there's a Music Connection in Bellville as well. No-one can even touch Paul Bothner's in Plumstead though. They're such a great bunch of guys together, bless them.

As a random side note, I'm buying a secondhand Big Muff Pi for R250 tomorrow. :cool:

[ebe9]

What do you think of the Corvette's neck though? 14nothing has repeatedly told me how much he loves the neck on a Fender J. Is it anything like that?

And btw, sweet bass, man. What finish is yours in? When I sell all my guitar stuff in 10 years and start playing bass, I'm sooooooo getting a Nirvana Black $$...

So you wouldn't even consider the SUB before any of those? And it'll have to be the standard bubinga Corvette, the $$ is a tad expensive.


Would you seriously recommend the Rumble over the Hartke A-100? We're looking at a R4000 cap. What else can you recommend at that price? (I'm talking standard retail prices here, we have a connection in East London who has orgasmic prices so we can beat any price you can come up with.)

I believe there's a Music Connection in Bellville as well. No-one can even touch Paul Bothner's in Plumstead though. They're such a great bunch of guys together, bless them.

As a random side note, I'm buying a secondhand Big Muff Pi for R250 tomorrow. :cool:

I have the Corvette $$ in the nirvana black.

As for the neck, the warwick necks might not be for everyone, they were'nt for me at first but once used to the everything else seems "cheap" by comparison.

As for price i paid: Warwick Corvette $$ R6900

I can get hold of a Corvette Standard for R7500 so the $$ is cheaper.

As for the Fender Rumble 1X15, the full retail goes for about R4600 but Marshall music is having a special (www.marshallmusic.co.za (http://www.marshallmusic.co.za)) for R3100 or there abouts.

The hartke is good in my opinion, I am actually looking at buying the 2.5XL can and the HA3500 Head as an upgrade to my Peavey combo. The aluminium is not everyones taste, but they push out the lows and do it cleanly with punch hence, me likey.

The stringray just does not hold much appeal but I don't think you could go wrong with it. I am just biased to Warwick and know that I will keep buying them as not only are they great basses but also the sort that I will keep indefinitely.

I am recently out of varsity and work full time so pricing is not a huge issue on my side, but he would not regret the Corvette $$, very worthwhile investment that he can't go wrong with.

[mutant!]

I hate you.

Where did you buy your Corvette? And are those prices from the same shop? If so, I'll tell him to check out the $$ because (1) it's probably the best electronic/pickup/tonewood setup he could possibly want for the stuff he wants to do, and (2) it looks fcuking hawt. We can get the Standard for R7000 plus delivery, so I'm guessing it'll be around R6500 for the $$.

Again, any other amps you'd recommend looking at under the R4000 tag?

[ebe9]

I got my corvette $$ from music conection in JHB.

The $$ is very versitile and can go from a smooth bassy jazz tone to a agressive growly punch (to all those who say the $$ lacks growl, fix your EQ on the amp).

The price for the Corvette standard and $$ are from Music connection but the amp price is from Marshall Music.

Basically for R4000 he can get a very decent combo, be it the Rumble 1X15 or the Rumble 2X10 or the Peavey TKO 1X15. Another option for him to consider is the Hartke 2.5XL cab, which if your contact is good like you say, you should be able to do for R2500 and then get the Hartke HA2500 Head whichwill match pretty decently to that cab. That head should also be doable for about R2500.

Thus if he can drop the extra cash now he will not need to change/get new equipment for a while thus saving him in the long run.

That is the basic conclusion I have come to, save up and get the good stuff rather than buying and then selling the lower-medium range gear.

[Brad on bass]

All i have to say is.....i own a Music Man S.U.B and i know its not as good as a stingray but its rockin me well....its tone is doin wonders for anything ive played so far and it is durable and has a great feel on the neck....i recommend it, bought it new for about $1600 aussie bucks

[MuRd0K]

I'm curious, have you ever played a Rumble? They aren't special, but they are definately loud enough to gig and very sturdy. Carpeted, grilled, solid amp. The only problem I have is the weight.

Yeah, I'll critizice an amp without hearing it, or play it for months :rolleyes:.

When I was ampless, a friend of mine let me borrow it. While it did the work ok, it is FAR from being the best value. That amp is terribly overpriced, and I would still consider it like that if it costed $100 less.

[acexxxoasis]

murdok I thought people were offering the bassman which IS a good amp

[mutant!]

I got my corvette $$ from music conection in JHB.

The $$ is very versitile and can go from a smooth bassy jazz tone to a agressive growly punch (to all those who say the $$ lacks growl, fix your EQ on the amp).

The price for the Corvette standard and $$ are from Music connection but the amp price is from Marshall Music.
K cool, then I think we can wax the $$ for R6500ish. What do the controls do, exactly? And the little switches, do they do series/parallel/single or just hum/single?
Basically for R4000 he can get a very decent combo, be it the Rumble 1X15 or the Rumble 2X10 or the Peavey TKO 1X15. Another option for him to consider is the Hartke 2.5XL cab, which if your contact is good like you say, you should be able to do for R2500 and then get the Hartke HA2500 Head whichwill match pretty decently to that cab. That head should also be doable for about R2500.

Thus if he can drop the extra cash now he will not need to change/get new equipment for a while thus saving him in the long run.

That is the basic conclusion I have come to, save up and get the good stuff rather than buying and then selling the lower-medium range gear.
R5000 is too much. The thing is he really needs a kickback combo. He's pretty much going to rely on the bass and the Hartke Bass Attack for his tone (well for the next year, at least), owing to the kind of gigs we'll be playing. The deal is this: I assume you've heard of Schalk van der Merwe (Delta Blue, Bed On Bricks, formerly Valiant Swart, formerly Alta Joubert)? We had a chat with him and he said the reason he plays a gorgeous Stingray 5 through a Hartke Bass Attack into a lower-end Peavey TNT 115 is because, when you play bigger gigs with more than one band playing, after the first few bands, the sound techs get tired of re-EQing the basses properly, so they really slack off. Thus Schalk runs his bass into the pedal, into the house PA, and then back into his amp as a monitor. We've spoken to a few other gigging bassists and they've all confirmed Schalk's theory.

I'm a bit dodge on the Rumble, I've heard other people diss it before. How's the Crate BT1000?

[MuRd0K]

ebe9 mentioned the rumble.

[ebe9]

K cool, then I think we can wax the $$ for R6500ish. What do the controls do, exactly? And the little switches, do they do series/parallel/single or just hum/single?

R5000 is too much. The thing is he really needs a kickback combo. He's pretty much going to rely on the bass and the Hartke Bass Attack for his tone (well for the next year, at least), owing to the kind of gigs we'll be playing. The deal is this: I assume you've heard of Schalk van der Merwe (Delta Blue, Bed On Bricks, formerly Valiant Swart, formerly Alta Joubert)? We had a chat with him and he said the reason he plays a gorgeous Stingray 5 through a Hartke Bass Attack into a lower-end Peavey TNT 115 is because, when you play bigger gigs with more than one band playing, after the first few bands, the sound techs get tired of re-EQing the basses properly, so they really slack off. Thus Schalk runs his bass into the pedal, into the house PA, and then back into his amp as a monitor. We've spoken to a few other gigging bassists and they've all confirmed Schalk's theory.

I'm a bit dodge on the Rumble, I've heard other people diss it before. How's the Crate BT1000?

Good luck on the R6500 for the $$ (I got lucky with the R6900 on mine)

As far as the switches, Parallel, Series and single coil to the best of my knowledge. (They are 3-way switches)

On the amp side, if he likes the Hartke then he must go for it, my feeling at this point is that I have been spending too much money on basses to try and get what I was looking for when my amp is the main thing in need of an upgrade but the $$ definitly helps in the tone department.

As for the chap you are talking about, no idea, I have not heard of him before or those bands. But what he says does make sense and would be the way to go.

On the amp side, I have not had any problems with the rumble. But as for the CRATE.............WOULD NOT TOUCH WITH A BARGE POLE!

Peavey I can vouch for, good solid amps with great tone and punch especially the TKO 115.


On a side not, I was also having a look at that Hartke attack bass pedal, whats it like in terms of tone shaping? Also what did 14nothing pay for it? My girlfriend wants to get me something for my B-Day soon and am thinking that might be an idea.