Guitarist to bassist?

[Zatoichi]

hey ive been a guitarist for a good few years now, and recently ive just been playing acoustic fingerstyley, and have lost most interest in electric guitar so to branch out ive decided i want to try my hand at the lower frequencies.

i have a custom shop MIJ fender strat which i can prolly get a good £500 for...so theres my budget. never played bass before so i want somthing with quite a varied tonal spectrum, ya' know till i can find my sound.

any help would be much appreciated, i didnt realize the instuments where so different till i started looking for one. :chug:

[Radiobass81]

For the price, look into Yamahas and Fenders, I've also heard nice things about Stagg, but, being in Puerto Rico, I've never actually played one.

[irishslappop]

Hey man, first of all, awesome name :thumb:

now to business. I don't stay current on exchange rates, but i believe that for that budget you can get a mid-level Fender Jazz bass which are pretty versitile. If you looking to get away from Fender I would reccommend looking in Schecter. I've heard bad things about their guitars, but i know from experience that they make awesome basses. I had the Schecter Custom-5 String and it was a really great bass Tons of tonal range, good action, looked awesome.

good luck finding one you like.

[Akira]

With that much money, I think he can do a tiny bit better than Stagg. :p

I assume you need an amp too?

[Zatoichi]

schecters mid range selection make exellent budget guitars, iwas thinking about them for a bass but obviously have no experience with them so was unsure.

and im not sure about an amp, i think i'll get one at a later date i'd prefer to get abit more a quality instrument... i think i can borrow one that my step mom has lying around her house somewhere.

and ive only ever played a stagg acoustic, it was lke playing a tinbox. :P

thanks so far guys.

[Radiobass81]

Schecters are great, if you like the neck.

[irishslappop]

^ yeah. the main thing to do is to get out and play some and see what you like.

[DunCe180]

What kind of music do you like?

For example if you liked punk music or stuff like U2 id look into a Fender P bass. And if you like stuff like The Red Hot chili peppers id look into a Fender J bass. (these are just examples so dont take them litterly).

[Zatoichi]

^ yeah. the main thing to do is to get out and play some and see what you like.

never touched a bass in my life, thought it would be a good idea to get pointed in the right direction first. :)

and i play all sorts of music, like from real heavy to real jazzy. just depends on which sets of friends i jam with. 'swhy i need a happy medium.. ive got a week off work in a few weeks, ill prolly buy one then. thanks for the tips guys. :thumb:

[josh3184]

well for £530 i got my warwick jazzman 5 string, so search around and sometimes you can find sweet bargains :D

<cough>ebay<cough>

*edit* Just had a quick trawl as i like to do and here's a few to keep in mind (please note, i am a warwick whore so dont believe everything i say <.< >.> <.<)

Heard good things about Curbows, but I'm not entirely sure on em myself, maybe others can help me on this 'un?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cort-Curbow-5-string-bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ270127570150QQihZ017QQcategoryZ471 3QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Warwick, yay! This is by no means one of the best, but you still get the quality :D, got no idea how it'll be to a begineer tho...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-CORVETTE-STANDARD-BASS_W0QQitemZ150129120361QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4713Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Double Buck! I love these things, it'll be ace for metal and so on cos humbuckers give awesome bass tone IMO, but thats up to you i guess :P, no idea how it'll be on jazzy type things tho, maybe not so good... Dont think it'll quite go for £500, but you might get lucky
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WARWICK-CORVETTE-DOUBLE-BUCK-padded-case-free-stand_W0QQitemZ190120358517QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4713 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And I am aware that you dont have the mony now and are gonna wait a bit before buying anything, just thought i'd throw those into the pot!

So yeah, just a few suggestions, everyone else feel free to follow these up and disagree with me

[rh15951]

Yeah you should be able to find a Warwick, or a decent Fender for £500.

[irishslappop]

thanks for the tips guys. :thumb:


our pleasure.























BV open the casual up you nincompoop.

[rh15951]

BV open the casual up you nincompoop.

ABC, I've looked at 5 beginner threads are a few lutherie ones and theres nothing I can add that hasn't already been said...

[Thonk]

i can't really vouch for warwicks, but schecter makes amazing basses for that price.

[josh3184]

Ooh Schecter, good call

[kingcold435]

Off-topic, sorry, but one thing has me confused. Should one look for a P-bass for blues and bluesy-rock or should one opt for a stringray/Jazz-ish bass ?

Thanks.

[irishslappop]

which ever satisfies your budget/tonal needs. there is no right or wrong bass in general, there is only a right and wrong bass for YOU.

[Akira]

Off-topic, sorry, but one thing has me confused. Should one look for a P-bass for blues and bluesy-rock or should one opt for a stringray/Jazz-ish bass ?

Thanks.

There is no set rule. Try them out.

[Left Shoe]

which ever satisfies your budget/tonal needs. there is no right or wrong bass in general, there is only a right and wrong bass for YOU.

anyone else think of that weiner bass on ebay

[Radiobass81]

Off-topic, sorry, but one thing has me confused. Should one look for a P-bass for blues and bluesy-rock or should one opt for a stringray/Jazz-ish bass ?

Thanks.

Although JAzz basses are great for blues, the MIM Fenders I've played always sound too thin compared to other jazzes, but I'm one of the few with that concern, so you should play them yourself.

[Jimbobntnr]

Although JAzz basses are great for blues, the MIM Fenders I've played always sound too thin compared to other jazzes, but I'm one of the few with that concern, so you should play them yourself.

I'm one of the few, also.

[Radiobass81]

It's ironic the new Squiers sound SO much better than the Fenders :p.

[Lt Fuzzy]

I can vouch for warwicks, I found a great deal on a used corvette on ebay for about $500, and I would recommend it. I'm like you, I play all kinds of music depending on who I'm playing with, and the wicky can do it all. the neck pickup can get you a nasally trebley tone, the bridge can get you a really bassy, smooth tone, and the mix of the two can get you a really nice growl. GL with the switch to bass! :-D

[lemoley]

to be honest i wouldn't go spending all that money on a kick *** bass when you dont even know if your gonna stick with it, for example you may fall back in love with the electric guitar in a month or so

but if your set on selling it...

you say you have a custom shop Fender (yes i know it MIJ, but still..), that should get you more like 1000GBP and for that i would still buy a starter combo

yes this may be insulting to you considering you are a confident guitarist but then if you do decide to stick with bass you can always sell it and use that and the money left over from selling your guitar to buy a better set-up

thats what i would do anyway - hope i helped :)

[Alex]

http://www.pine-apples.com/pine-apple1.gif

/Hijacked this thread is now about pineapples