Hi,
I am a 59 year old guitar player looking to buy his first bass. I have been playing guitar for the past 40 years, own several electrics and acoustics and know my way aropund a fretboard pretty well. What kind of bass would you all recommend? I was just going to run out and get a Fender MIM Preceision, but then I thought I would get some feedback from this forum first.
Thanks so much and keep pluckin’ and slappin’!
Honestly there’s no “best” bass, there’s only the one which you like to play! I would HIGHLY recommend going and playing some at your local music shop before making a purchase. The feel is very important. Every body is different and you want to get that sucker in your hands and see if it’s comfortable.
I will say I absolutely love my MIM Fender J, very quality instrument
Go play some.
I find the step up to MIM from Squier can be very minimal sometimes, but, I also do a lot of modding if I don’t like something.
you can never go wrong with a P bass.
Go play some and take home what moves you.
I was 59 when I got my first bass also!
I’ll echo the comments - if you are comfortable with a guitar, you should go try a bunch of basses at some stores. I lucked out with my first bass as a Schecter Stilleto Studio - it has been a great bass, very versatile in tone, and takes to lots of different strings, flats and rounds well. The build is good enough that I can take it to incredibly low action, which I did for a while but backed off for smoother tone. There are lots of good 4-string basses out there. Personally, I’d find something like the Schecter - good for a lot of different styles, with great tone differentiation between playing around the neck and bridge pickups and varying the pickup mix and EQ. But that statement covers a lot of different brands and basses out there!
Internet purchases are iffy - yes, you can return stuff, but do you really want to get that bass and find something just a little off with it, then keep debating whether or not to actually return it?
I’d be very careful with a 5-string - the low B can be very finicky on lots of them. I finally found one that I like - a hand-made Volcan 5 from Vancouver, but that’s after having been disappointed with a few others. (Including a rather expensive Ibanez that only sounded good after several different string changes to find something that worked well.) If you decide to go down a 5-string path (which is not really necessary at all!), make sure to play them with a good amp and cabinet that can handle it. While that B can sound like sandpaper all on its own, adding speakers that don’t handle the frequencies can make it just awful.
I’ve done that. No debate. It works.
Welcome, @Jonniecomelately. Since you’re a longtime guitar player, you know the drill: Buy what makes you want to play. You’ll know it when you feel it and hear it.
That said, a P bass is a safe bet, but whether it fits with your choice of nut widths and neck profiles is a big “IF.” A Jazz-style is a great choice for a lot of styles and reasons. A P/J is its own thing: neither a true P nor a J, but with its own voice, depending on the individual instrument.
As with guitars, everything is subjective. Luckily, there are tons of brands and models to choose from. You might find you dig the hell out of a Music Man, or its Indonesian doppelganger, a Sterling. You might take to a Hofner violin bass. If metal’s your bag, there are shredders out there galore.
The fun is just beginning. You know the genre(s) of music you like, so take a bevy of bass beauties for a spin and see what hits you. Happy hunting!
Yes, it does work. There are some very solid internet retailers out there. And if you don’t have a good selection of basses to play locally, they may be your best choice. But there’s nothing like actually getting to play an instrument and seeing, feeling and hearing it to decide if it’s the one that makes you happy. For me, I simply don’t like the feel of the necks on Music Mans. Something you can only tell by holding and playing one. That said, lots of people do love them!
Yep, I agree. There’s nothing like playing instruments first. But, sometimes, it’s not possible, particularly for something like a Sandberg, which is as in-stock-rare as hen’s teeth. That was one I ordered and returned for ergo reasons. The bass was great, but it wasn’t a good fit.
I’ve ordered basses from all over the world and, knock on tonewood, the majority have been homeruns. Only two were returned.
It’s all subjective, though. Most beginners don’t know what will work for them, so the local music store route is the best way to go. But I’ve been a guitar player for decades, and a bass player long ago, so this go-around wasn’t my first rodeo. That said, mileage varies, so everyone should do what works best for his/her given circumstances.
It’s similar to the world of guitar but as bassist we thing our issues are more complicated, lol.
Strats, Tele, Les Paul, Ibanez, 355, etc, are all different with distinct starting tones, but of course it’s not the equipment, it’s the players and how they play it.
If you want to start tone wise, somewhere near what you hear on the “radio” a p bass or jazz bass usually get you at least half way there.
If I’d give advice to newbie-self, then I’d tell me to start with P bass because of its popularity, simplicity with one volume and one tone, and smack in the middle string spacing. Jazz would be narrower and feel faster 2 vol/ 1 tone knob, MusicMan would be wider but feel a bit slower, and for a single pickup there are more knobs 2 band(treble/ bass) or 3 band eq(treble/mid/bass depending on model.
Ranking between 3 of Leo’s children my first pick is the MusicMan, then Precision and then Jazz. Every couple of months the ranking would change, lol. Between these 3 the general tones are well defined and familiar.
Going with more contemporary designs like Ibanez, Yamaha (double humbucker), etc you’d be dealing with more tonal control options. Some people likes Jack of all trades, I’m the total opposite. Unfortunately, even the simple P bass has such range you can cover several genres of music from hiphop to country.
Yeah well, I’m a 61 yo (bad) guitar layer who’s working on bass for all of about a month. Welcome!
I bought an Ibanez SR300e and Rumble 40. I did a -little- homework on this purchase. My only previous experience on bass was on another Ibanez, I had Ibanez bias.
Basses in same price range I might choose if this one got stolen: Sire V3, Yamaha BB 234, Harley Benton Jazz style bass with Gotoh tuners. I think I might prefer all of those to my SR in a tone shootout. However, the SR is light, comfortable, balanced, nice to play, so I regard as a good choice for my purposes.
If I had a wayback machine, I would tell myself to start with a P. It sits in a mix well and you don’t have to chase tone. Just play.
As you’re a guitar player, have you considered shortscale? Something like a Mustang?
And for the record, I live in a rural spot so the discussion on playing in a store first is moot.
If you like Ibanez but are constrained by a budget, the Ibanez Mezzo is a medium scale P/J. It is really affordable, on par with the SR300 quality wise, and gives you the “familiar to you” Ibanez asthetics. I have played one and it plays and sounds really good. And you can get it in two shades of green which is always a good thing.
Welcome to the forum 
I started with guitar and still very much learning, but also wanted to try bass. My first bass was a Squire Jazz that I got in a starter pack. Coming from guitar I found it comfortable to play, albeit stretched out a little, but that goes away.
I started looking for a second bass and tried a few. I had seen an LTD, think it was the Surveyor 87 in rainbow crackle. I loved how it looked, but the neck didn’t feel right so walked away. I liked the feel of a Sterling by Music Man and think I also tried a Warwick and a Spector. These were all in the same shop and I nearly bought one, but had also seen a Schecter Riot that I wanted to try. I played it in store for probably 30mins or so and ended up buying it. Other than it looks amazing, the neck felt so nice, the body was comfortable and had a really smooth finish. I think it sounded pretty good as well, but I’m still learning so not sure what it’s like in the mix as haven’t tried recording with it yet.
I sometimes play my Squire Jazz and may never part with it as it’s a really well finished bass and plays great. I have limited time to practice and play guitar more than bass most days, otherwise this would get more use.
Not advocating a particular bass, just some background in how I picked - basically it looked and played great
First off. Welcome @Jonniecomelately ! There are so many reasonably priced entry level basses available, picking one can be a real drag.
Good advice from the forum here. A p bass is always a good investment, but your mileage may vary.
There was a video @JoshFossgreen did about entry level models and which is best, Maybe it’s worth your time to watch?
