I have a suggestion for beginners, that know nothing at all about picking a Bass. that you may be able to use to help select a first Bass.
Select 3 or 4 Basses in your price range that you may like.
Now select the one you would like to have for at least the next 2 years - I used this time frame because you should have completed the B2B course by then.
Do not purchase anything.
Come back to the internet and do some research on line and look for reviews on YouTube, etc and then ask for opinions in the BassBuzz forum on your selection.
Just a suggestion and trying to help.
DIssclaimer: If there are people that are upset by this post and think that I am trying to control what they are thinking, or trying to tell them what to spend their hard earned money on, I say, you are WRONG WRONG WRONG and nothing could be further from the truth, so get it through your head, I am only trying to help beginners out. If you donāt like this post keep your opinions to yourself and donāt bother posting your feelings because I am not interested in hearing them or cluttering up this topic with them.
Or as a good friend here on the forum says: Everything I say or do will offend someone - TOO BAD You have been warned.
Definitely no need to apologize
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As a matter of fact I want to thank you for posting because if you thought that there may be others and it is not what I meant.
You will see this same thing stated all over the forum and itās true.
Itās not easy for a beginner to decide where to start and not get burned.
I only started playing Bass at the beginning of this year but I knew right away what I wanted as far as brands were concerned because I do have a long on-going history with guitar, and other instruments, and so my initial outlay was about 1.5K. About $600 of that was for equipment that already own but had to replace because it was not designed for Bass. Who knew
I thank you for posting and am glad people like yourself are posting about their start up experiences with selecting equipment.
Even though I only started Bass at the beginning of 2021, I could not do it because I knew what I wanted and pricewise alone it was no where near low end.
I was shocked at the low price of that package but thought they could have at least thrown in a tuner with it to really make it complete.
I also thought there would be a lot of negative things said about the package in this topic but you are the second person to say that as a starter it should be OK, after a proper setup.
Very true. Everybody has their thing. Iām big into the sound of the sound, so Iād find a Rumble 15 thin for my taste. Iād probably use headphones before that. Thatās my thing.
I find Joshās gear videos on basses and amps to still be relevant to drawing this line. The models he references are still in production.
This is the exact package I purchased when I started. It was great for my needs. I eventually found that the electronics are a bit limited and so I have now modified it with EMG Geezer PJ pickups and I love it. ATM, itās tuned to DGCF to play Nirvana - sounds great. There are a couple of others who have bought this bass with the purpose of modding it.
One of the main reasons I decided to add a four-string to the five-string I already had was that the low B was just in the way when I am playing along with the B2B lessons.
Me too. My starter Bass Amp is a Rumble 100 but for beginners thatās kind of overkill until they know where their Bass journey will take them.
At least the 15W has an 8" speaker not some feeble 4" of 6" and it includes a headphone jack.
I agree but itās going to cost them quite a bit more than the Squier package, actually the Rumble 40 he recommends for a practice amp is running just below $300.00 here in Canada right now.
When I decided to return to playing bass after an absence of some 45 years, I wanted a Fender P Bass because thatās what Iād played back in the day.
That lasted until I priced them.
I didnāt want to spend that kind of money when I didnāt know if I could still play at all.
There were cheap import basses around when I played before, but they were junk - necks like tree trunks, tuners that broke off in your hand, electronics that hummed and crackled - if they worked at all, etc.
So, when my Squier Affinity Series P bass arrived I was blown away. Everything worked as expected and it just felt right.
I didnāt buy the package because I wanted a bigger amp - so I got a Rumble 25. In hindsight Iād probably get the package and save a few bucks. Besides, as it turns out I hardly ever use an amp at all.
Short version: IMHO, the Squier Affinity Series Package is a great way to get started playing bass, and it wonāt break the bank.
There are folks here that like to stick to one bass, or minimal, and that is super cool.
I wish I was like that but I am a collector of things.
When I played trumpet, I had 14 at my peak.
I currently have 14 saxes, and 14 bassā¦oh wow, I am not only a collector but apparently an OCD collector of 14 of everythingā¦I better go buy another bass or sax to break this.
In hindsight Iād probably get the package and save a few bucks. Besides, as it turns out I hardly ever use an amp at all.