Nice to know someone understands.
THANK YOU!!! 
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@REPA I forgot @JoshFossgreen did this video.
Thank you for posting it.
It would be nice if @JoshFossgreen did a similar video for cheap Bass amps for beginners to consider. Hint, Hint 
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And this is very important for beginners to realize.
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As the proud owner of a bass now for just about a week I appreciate your thoughts here which jibe with my own. After watching my teenage son start guitar a few years ago and rapidly go down the rabbit hole with a rack of pedals/mods yet never having mastered the ability to play an entire song, I have made the choice to avoid all but the essentials until I at least have finished the course. I even avoided a tuner since an iPhone app is good enough for me right now. I used Joshās recs for guitar make and went with a Rumble 40. Not to say I dont already have my eye on a zoom but my personality type will keep me bare bones till I feel I can reward myself for sticking with the basics and becoming a master newb
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Thank you.
I started this topic so that beginners would know that it is not necessary to buy all sorts of periferals to start with that are not necessary to begin to learn to play the Bassā¦
And this is why I recommended just getting a the basic equipment to get started with. 
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Exactly.
Not sure how I missed that one.
Thank you for sharing.
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I think I lucked out with my choice, from what Iāve read the Ibanez I picked has a pretty slim neck that is fairly easy to play. Iāve got pretty small hands so if Iād picked something chunkier thereās probably a good chance Iād have got frustrated and might not have carried on. As a beginner I think picking something thatās going to be easy to learn on is probably important.
Iām taking B2B, yeah. I was lucky that someone recommended that to me as well, I started off on another course but I didnāt enjoy it much so my enthusiasm was beginning to wane. Josh is really great at keeping it fun and his practical approach really suits my learning style.
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Or your next to last. Or your next to next to last. Or your next to next to next to last. Or your next to next to next to next to last.
Should I keep going? Orā¦?
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Beat me to it 
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This is like when someone doesnāt like a standard like ASTM and decides that theyāre going to start their own 
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Such a tricky topic. Iāve found what I think would be my answer to this question, but I can see where my answer may not be right for others.
My early child interests in music were met with crap toys until I proved I could sustain interest which never happened out of frustration and lack of access to instruction. I have experiences in life where Iāve cheaped out and got what I paid for. I have experiences where a good deal on something used turned out to be too good to be true.
For this I bought new. I took the hit. I bought one level above solid instrument price range. I had the money. I could let go of all my other fears and frustrations and focus on learning a great instrument with no distractions, disappointments and with the enjoyment of a piece of beautiful jewelry. And when I was struggling I certainly would have blamed a ācheapā instrument instead of hammering on my skills. It was the right answer for me and therapy for all this would have been more expensive.
I bought in the upper hundreds $US range. Easily as solid basses exist in the middle hundreds $US range without as much delightful extra. Knowing how to get good tone I bought a Squier Affinity and love it. Another couple months of liking this and Iāll sell one of the two much more expensive ones. Anyone who thinks Iām not putting out the groove with a Squier can take a leap. But Iāll still mod it just enough to confuse them. Too fun.
Thatās my path. YMM-definitely-V.
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You got that right but I wanted to show anyone interested in learning to play the Bass, from scratch, that they did not have to spend thousands of dollars to get started.
This is the same path I took with Yamaha when I started Bass at the beginning of 2021 and Iāve never looked back or have the desire for another Bass although I have to say I did end up having to move up an additional tier to get the Yamaha TRBX 504 that matched my wants.
What do you think of this package for a beginner?
Squier Affinity Series Precision Bass PJ Pack, Right Handed 4-String Electric Bass, Black Finish, Fender Model 0371982006.
Includes: Squier Affinity Series Precision Bass (Black), Fender Rumble 15 Amplifier, Fender Padded Gig Bag, Fender 10ā Instrument Cable, Strap, 3-Month Subscription to Fender Play.
I was surprised to see the combo pack price of $450.00.
This includes everything, except a tuner, and it is made in Indonesia so the quality should be OK.
Of course the cost of the B2B has to be added but that would still only bring the total price up to $650.
I know nothing about the Fender Bass product line but if the Bass is half decent it seemed quite reasonably priced for a beginner. The 15W amp is no great shakes but for a beginner starting out this package may be something to consider if they are on a budget.
Let me know what you think and thank you for your input.
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Thatās the package I purchased about 6 weeks ago. Picked it up from GC for $329. Iām pleased with it and itās doing everything I need it to do at this stage of my journey. As stated the amp wonāt shake the houseā¦but then again, the amp wonāt shake the house 
I practice in my basement office/mancave and itās certainly loud enough for me.
I had done a little research on basses and while there might be some less expensive options, I felt this one had everything I needed to get started. Iāve added a tuner to the mix and of course have moved away from the Fender lessons to the B2B course. Iām still playing some of the songs on the Fender course until my 90 days are up.
The only downfall of this for me was, when I purchased the kit I came home and unboxed it and started playing. It needed a setup and after about a week, I took the bass back to GC and they did a very basic setup which has helped. Iāve since done a few more tweaks based on several YT videos and lowered the string height just a bit more to what I think I like. But all and all, Iām pleased with this purchase and pleased with this being my first bass.
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Thank you so much for posting you experience with this package. Iām sure it will help some beginners decide where to start this wonderful Bass journey
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Some great advice by the OP that I mostly agree with. I donāt agree with using songs to learn to play the bass though because this approach is more likely to lead to doing things wrong, and then having to unlearn and correct bad habits later on. I think a more bottom up rather than top down is called for to learn the bass well. Get things right first
A lot of people are saying āplay what excites youā, but I disagree. When I was a beginner I didnāt know the difference between a steaming pile and a Ā£50,000 custom made bass that was telepathically tuned to my deepest bass desires. A bass was a bass to me.
I believe starting on a low/reasonably priced bass is best and most practical and that gives the beginner plenty of room for growth and time to decide what they want, and is not so expensive that much will be lost if they find the bass isnāt for them. Not every beginner bassist is going to take it up for a lifetime, whatever awesome bass they have
Buying a cheap bass also gives the beginner motivation to want to get a bass that they want AFTER they have become more discerning about what they really want and need.
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I think you took what I said out of context. I changed the OP to say
I canāt agree with you here. A lot of beginners come to the forum for advice on which Bass to purchase and that is smart but it is also a very hard question to give an answer to that suits everybody. If a lot of people on the forum are saying āplay what excites youā, and Iām one of them, maybe there is something in what they say. To put it another way, if you buy a Bass that you donāt really like what inspiration are you going to have to pick it up and practice/play it a lot?
Look at the post a couple back, of the complete Fender package @jtaylor801 purchased for $329 and was happy with. I donāt think anybody that wants to learn Bass, and is going to get much better than that. And I say this not being a Fender Bass fan.
Suggesting a Bass for a beginner is so hard because it is such a personal thing. The one thing about the Bass in the @jtaylor801 package I liked, other than the price, was the fact that I doubt if he has any issues, or worries about learning learning things like how to set it up himself, or swapping out the pickups etc. If he sticks with the Bass he will probably upgrade in the future and he can always use the one in the package as a test bed.
Again, Bass selection is a very personal thing.
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My apologies, I read what youād said to mean people could become proficient at bass from a diet of favourite songs.
I did my research too when I first started, but it was like picking a horse in The Grand National (I can hardly tell a horse from a donkey). One is the same as another. I would err on the side of caution and give myself to time to see what excites me after Iāve been playing a while and even if Iām going to enjoy playing bass, and that will be the motivation to spend a little more to have more choice. But to begin with, when buying something for me or recommending to others, I think price and value for money are the most important factors.
And like picking a horse in a horse race when you donāt know much about horse racing, picking a bass is no more of a personal thing until you know more about what you want.
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Yeah, when I started playing bass what excited me were the super expensive custom quilted maple Carvin and paper-thin Ibanez basses. The really high-end stuff at the time.
What I could afford, though, was a low-end Epiphone or Squier P-bass clone.
I started out with that package. It is good enough to see if youāre really interested in playing bass. I would recommend checking the setup though. Quality for the low end Affinity series is a bit random, but should be okay for a start.
I quickly upgraded and modded the bass that is now BEAD with EMG Geezer pickups 
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