Beginner's amp and shortscale bass

Do a quick search here in the Bass Forum on the word "short". The top three responses have som suggestions for short scale basses.

I believe that people here like that Roland 30 as a practice amp.

Let us know what you decide...

I like my Roland bass cube 30, but it gets old not being able to really thump. It does not move enough air for me.

I'd get an amp with a 12" speaker or larger. As 97reb states, a single 10" speaker (like the one in the Cube 30), won't move as much air. Also, I don't see much reason to pay a lot more for bass amp modeling and a bunch of digital effects, but you might feel otherwise.

I picked the Fender Rumble 60 over the comparably priced offerings (under US$300) from Crate, Ampeg, Behringer and G&K. It just sounded the best with my bass. It sounds great, and can fill my church hall (~30'x50') without going through the PA, but balances better when added to the overall mix. I paid $189 for mine new at GC after haggling; I think the regular street price is $249 but you can find them for $220 at some online stores.

In hindsight, I'd have gone with the Fender Bassman 100, a little more expensive but has a tilt-back cabinet and an XLR line out with level control for patching into a PA, better speaker, etc. Even for practice in a basement or bedroom, the tilt-back cab would be a nice feature.

Also look for something with a 4-band EQ for shaping the midrange, or a 3-band with mid contour control.

How about running my Blues jr through a bass cab, as a stop gap, until I can get a proper head?

Bassist in my band (man that sounds nice) plays through a Crate BT-25 and its under $200us. Its sounds awsome, has a few effects, built in chromatic tuner. Really nice and loud, amp.

Jim

As to the basses, those JT and Rondo Beatle basses get favorable comments.

The SX short-scale j-basses sold by Rondo also get reasonably good reviews.

I really like my Fender Mustang bass, but at the $550 price point some may not consider it a "beginner's" bass. (I paid quite a bit less, but still... )

If you want to spend $$$$s on a short-scale, then Birdsongs look really nice! :)
http://www.birdsongguitars.com/cortobass.htm

Well I started looking today... confirmed my belief that it had to be short-scale, but there was never much doubt.

So far I've seen
a used Turser beatle for Can225/ new $325
a beat up old 68 Gibson EB0 for $1300
a BT25 for around $270
I still have 2 more stores to visit.

That Cortobass looks neat. If I visit my uncle in Austin I'll have to see about a closer look. Don't think it's going to be my first one though. :P

Are you only going to buy what you can put your hands on? There are good shortscale basses out there online that will only need a set-up once received. I think the SX would be worth the money and this site has two interesting ones http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/ I have the Rocket, in black.

Thanks Reb. Unfortunately, the SXs aren't much of a deal for me once shipping and Canada customs are added, but the Eastwood's look interesting and there's even a dealer near a restaurant I wanted to try. That Airline looks neat.
BTW, how's the Rocket for sitting?

Yep the Eastwoods look *really* cool.

You might also, since you mentioned the Gibson EB-0, just get the Epiphone version and maybe one of the new Bassman 100 or 150 amps. Or...the Rumble as I think someone mentioned. Good solid bass sound with nothing fancy.

Another exceptional, though rare and also hardly used by major league guys, except notably, Bill Wyman, is the Dan Armstrong 'Lucy' Lucite bass. Short scale, 24 frets (before it was popular), and a good solid tone. Kinda pricey though. I had one once - wish I still owned it.

Primeta, the Rocket, like any V would need to have the V resting on your thigh with the wings of the V on both sides of your thigh. If you have a local dealer where you can try one out, excellent. I had difficulties with mine ordered over the internet. At first, I was not happy, but after working with it, changing the strings to thicker guage and doing a set-up on it, I love it. The one pick-up it comes with has quite a nice clean sound or growl as need be for whichever sound you are looking for. Hopefully, if you find one at a local shoppe, they will have done a little bit of a set-up so they can sell it to a discerning customer. I will definitely hang on to mine forever if possible, simply due to the fact, it is fairly unique and now that I have tweaked it a little, it is quite the nice bass. BTW, I have 45-105 guage Flatwounds on mine.

I read almost everything at that Birdsong bass site. Very, very nice stuff.

This week, I tried to convince someone to sell me one of his five Birdsongs ... he was gassing over a Carl Thompson bass (and in serious negotiations with a seller) and I suggested he unload his "least favorite" Birdsong on poor me. The basic reply was "No." :cry:

But, I've gone BONGO instead. :D

Nice bass!