Recommendations for a first bass guitar?

I started out on an Ibanez and if I recall it was around that price range. It may have been a little bit more but you could probably get a good used one for that. They look cool and play real nice also. Make sure you take a lesson or two and then its all about practice practice practice.

You should be able to pick up the SR series for that price range. I liked mine a lot and so did a lot of other people.

http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=SR400

Oh yeah, The Ibanez SR 400 has smaller and a bit quieter pickups, as all 200 to 300 dollar basses do, but it is very forgiving in the playability unlike some of the other low priced basses. Check one out at the music store first and get something you can feel comfortable with. Each musician has his own style and uses different tools for different trades so to speak. Just dont get a harmoney or some off brand like Johnson or Hondo just because of the low low price. They make crap. I've seen some decent old harmoney guitars but they are few and far between. A decent bass will allow you to learn quicker and the playability you need to start playing like a pro.

Good Luck

Ibanez, Yamaha, and Peavey, as well as Fender, all make good basses. Try to go with 2 pickups (either J or P/J), as it will give you more tone flexibilty, which is good when you learn different styles of music.

-Laz

J and P pickups refer to pickups styled after those on the Fender Jazz bass and the Fender Precision bass. The J-bass has two rectangular pickups. The P-bass has one, but it's split into two halves, which are staggered. A bass with a P/J configuration has a P-bass pickup and also one J-bass pickup by the bridge. I agree, two pickups are great to have. I like the P/J (rather than two J-bass pickups), but your mileage may vary.

Don't forget to include an amp in your budget somewhere. Might be worth looking at a Bass and Amp package, which will have the bass guitar, a practice amp and a strap, lead, and maybe an instruction book or something.

These are good to start on, as although you'll probably want to replace the amp after a year or less, it's a great introduction to an instrument. And believe me, you don't want a huge bass amp, sure they look impressive, but they do terrible things to your back when you have to carry them about (I'm speaking from experince here...)

I agree with everyone else here, Yamaha and Ibanez are probably best for your budget. I think fender's to expensive for your price, unless you get a Squier, which are ok, but have quality control issues, so although you might get a great one, you might get something thats very badly made.

Best advice? Try playing a couple, even if you can't play bass, try some out and see what it's like to hold, how it sounds when the dude in the shop plays it etc.

Peter

I'm also thinking about taking up bass. I've been playing guitar for serveral years so I know the difference in the types, pickups, etc. Can someone please explain the basic differences in basses. Are the pickups as different has guitar humbuckers vs. single coils? What's the diffence between the Fender P Bass and Jazz bass? What's the big diffence between the $2000 Rics and the $500 Fenders? etc, etc.

The three basic pickup types are J-bass style, P-bass, and various humbuckers. The J-bass PUs are just single coils. The P-bass PUs are neat, because the split design makes them cancel hum like a humbucker, but without canceling parts of the signal like a humbucker, for a different tone. The P-bass has a P-style PU (duh), and the J-bass has two J-style. P-basses often have fatter necks.

I've seen bass playes play Slap and Pop style, finger style, and with a pick. Does any particular kind of bass suite one style better?

I don't think so. Some people may prefer a particular type of bass for a particular style of play, but some one else might prefer a different type of bass for the same style. It depends on the sound you're trying to get. There's a lot of tonal variety in all three techniques.

In the $200-$300 price range, a really nice bass to find would be an old squier (from the early 80's). It might be a little hard to find (e-Bay), but I have one, and they are as good, or better than current fenders, but for a fraction of the cost.

I agree with xg5a... because I also have an early '80s Squier bass. Which xg5a's father envies.... :-). But, they are a ver good quality instrument, made in Japan, and are a real steal if you get them at $200-$300 in decent condition.

If you are going to learn, it's best not to struggle with your instrument, so these Squier's are definitely a good choice, and still in the price range.

One of these wouldn't be too bad:

http://www.rondomusic.net/bassguitars4.html

Plus, like was mentioned, allow for an amp or a POD or something. :)

I just recently got an Ibanez "Jumpstart " set. It was the last bass set the store had, although they had several 6-string "Jumpstart" sets left. The list on it was $400-something, but they had them marked down to $279.

Besides the GSR190 bass (which I understand has been supplanted by the GSR200), the set includes an IBZ10B 10-watt amp; headphones; an instructional DVD; GU20 electronic tuner; strap; gig bag (soft case); and an accessories pouch.

I just now noticed that it has one "split" pickup. I might have been terminally confused about that, if I hadn't seen the discussion about them in this thread. :lol:

My only complaint with it so far is that I'd probably be happier with a book than the DVD, because the only DVD player in this house is on the Boss Lady's computer. (I need to figure out how to operate that while she's at work.)

All in all, a way better choice for a beginner than the Hagstrom 8-string I acquired all those years ago. That should eventually come out of storage and go to my niece, who's a better musician than I am. :oops:

--
Doug C.