First post, old guy thinking about playing bass??

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Welcome! I started about 2 months ago, so not an expert, but made good choices and mistakes on questions you’re asking now.

My advice:
Don’t decide on a model ahead of time. Go into a shop (or several!) with a rough budget. Hold and just listen to a couple different basses. Find the one that speaks to you. That feels most “right” in your hands. That will make practicing a pleasurable experience that you want to keep doing.

Spending time and attention practicing is what will make the biggest difference, not fancy equipment. A good strap (I went with 3" leather; 4" was too wide), a good stool or guitar chair. Also a real amp. I strongly recommend the Fender Rumble 40 (I got a 25, and wish I’d gotten bigger).

Find your “Why”. Make a mental note of why you want to keep playing. Set some goals - short, medium, and long term.

B2B is a great course. I like having more variety in my training: warmups, technique exercises, a course (B2B), and full songs to learn/practice.

Also consider shopping used. Lots of options on good starter basses and saving some money. I’m glad I didn’t spend more than $300 on my first bass, because I’m sure that as I practice and learn more, I’ll develop a better idea of what tone and features I most want, and can make an educated purchase of a ~$1,000 bass in about a year.

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I didn’t know that it was a thing either till I went googling. That’s pretty cool but I’m not sure I’m into $400 worth of coolness though!

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@DaveHD Definitely sign up for B2B because it’ll get you playing Bass the right way very quickly and it’ll help a ton with confidence and sticking with it. If you’re interested in learning to read music I am currently taking “Simple Steps to Sight Reading” over at TalkingBass.net. This is an amazing course, but it is an entirely different approach compared to B2B. Personally I find that doing both is a lot of fun.

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There isn’t, but there is. I’ve also recently started learning bass, so i could be wrong, probably am, but in my (very limited) experience i’d say everything influences the sound coming out of a bass, to some degree. There’s so many variables that taking every possibility into consideration just makes no sense. There’s woods, electronics, pickups, fret wire, strings, nut material, body shape, and the list goes on. Hell, some people claim even the paint makes a difference.

I don’t know much about all that, but to me at least, strings make a big difference. Flats vs rounds, steel vs nickel, coated vs uncoated, and everything in between. But mostly new vs old. Don’t forget to replace them every once in a while.
So, my point is, i’d say the feel of the thing is much more important than the sound coming out of it, which is why buying based on reviews is… meh. Sure, you can weed out the really bad ones based on reviews, but that’s about it. It’s a filter before you go to a shop.

You can easily put any strings on, depending on what sounds right to you, you can easily make the pickups sound like just about anything with effects (including but definitely not limited to farts), but you can’t easily reshape the neck, for example.

Starting out, i’d suggest getting something of decent build quality, that feels right in your hand. Which sounds stupid, i know, because if you’ve never held a bass, you have nothing to compare it to. Either way, i’m pretty sure that i’m still practicing because the first bass i ever bought felt “right”. I had no idea what to do with it, but it felt comfortable, and i just didn’t want to put it down. Not sure if that makes sense. And everything i purchased since, i still compare to that first one.

If you try holding a Fender Player II whatever it was and it feels good, get it. If the Squire feels better, get that one. Grab an LTD, a Jackson, a Yamaha, a MusicMan, a Cort, an Ibanez, a Schecter, grab as many as you can before you decide because that first bass may very well set the tone (no pun intended) for your bass journey. However stupid that sounds.

As far as the rest of the gear, that rabbit hole is quite deep. I like having headphones (Waza Air Bass) for when i want to hear noise at 1AM, but i do prefer the sound of a proper speaker (Rumble 100).

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I’m 68 and I started to learn about 2 years ago at Christmas, then had medical issues that caused me to have to stop for over a year. Started back this February. It’s been a lot of fun and Bass Buzz is a great, easy to understand course. I tried guitar for years and never really could get much past a good beginner. Bass is easier for me.

I have a 96 Fender J bass, but I also recently purchased a Squier Sonic P-bass. It was on sale for $175 and I figured it would be a piece of junk I could practice guitar-smithing on. Turns out it’s a really nice bass! I upgraded the pickups and wiring harness and have a great bass for around $300.
I purchased the Vox headphone amp and I could barely hear anything. I ended up purchasing the Boss Air Bass headphones. They are pricey but you are basically getting an amp with effects all contained in a headphone. I can practice anytime I want and not disturb anyone. You can’t hear anything without headphones so can’t be used with other players but I’ve read some have figured out how to use a Bluetooth speaker. I have no idea how to do that.

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Yeah it’s quite addictive. I love how it feels when everyone on stage trading sound waves. It’s so dramatic especially when you have like a 4 beat break.

Some Sunday afternoon I’d crank up my volume and just close my eyes and go through my playlist so satisfying. I also make a habit of separating the audio and bass as they come from different sources.

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:100:% Do It! It’s a blast. Easy enough to learn and challenging enough to keep you interested and your mind working. You decide how far to go with it… just play some riffs for yourself or work into performing.

Take the course… it’s fun, well structured, motivating, practically applicable.

Are you still reading? You should have bought a bass already! Go. Go buy your bass. Rock on.

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Well I changed my mind and placed an order for today for a Squire Classic Vibe 70s Precision Bass and a Fender Rumble 100. If this is something I can do I’ll move up in Bass, but I don’t think I’ll ever need anymore amp than that. Unless I go full on Rock Star. :rofl:

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I’m a fan of the Sterling Singray Sub basses and I’m also in love with my new Fender Rumble 40. It can make my house shake so maybe 100 isn’t needed unless you are playing outdoors? Both of those choices are pretty affordable but it depends on what you like.

Learning something new keeps you young. I’m all in or hot/cold myself on things but so far I really like the B2BA course (I’m in wk3).

Every song you like you can probably find bass tab for. Just google search for “ bass tab”. You’ll start to find sites you like where you can just search from there.

Another awesome option is to do the same on Youtube. Lots of people record bass covers and create tab that follows along. You can change the speed of Youtube videos too. It sounds a little weird but with it slower you can learn rather than rushing and messing up.

The B2BA course has “easy” song suggestions that are pretty good. You can fire them up in Youtube and play along and it’s a great confidence builder.

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:pbass: :star2: You are already a star. Good for you. Great selections.

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Hi DaveHD,
I am near 71 years old and have just purchased a Fender MIM (made in Mexico) Jazz base and the Fender100 and love them. I too have never played any kind of instrument, but have always loved good music. Now all I need to do is sign up on B2B and learn a few things. I am also learning to read music and music theory. I might suggest to you that you get a wide strap, cable, tuner, and if you don’t have one, a bass stand. You can do this and I believe I can too, so just have fun and enjoy the ride. You only go around once!! Good luck and good playing!!
Mike J.

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76 and just got a Yahaha TRBX 304, Rumble 25 based on advice from a highly experienced friend. Little bit of music experience from 40 years ago. Just listening to some of the bass runs in the music I listen to inspired me. So when the fish aren’t biting . . .

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Welcome to BassBuzz @MikeJ and @bukbass !

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Sounds like you did well-I was going to say definately get an amp-you can always use headphones with it-but the simplicity of plugging into an amp and playing is great. Best of luck.

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Great choice !
I have the same Bass + A Rumble 40 … and a Rumble 500 (for home practice ;-). )
I really like my Squier, even more with flats
Enjoy !

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Well, DaveHD, we’re nearly in the same boat, or were. I’d never played an instrument for any length of time until I started with the bass when I was 63 and am now 69.

I highly recommend Josh’s course BassBuzz. Josh’s practice tracks are awesome, the course is spaced out great, the website is excellent, and course extras are outstanding, and pacing of material over course segments is perfect.

I started with an old Dean 4-string and old 30w amp (can’t remember the brand, it’s since been sold) that I picked up on a used website. Later when I retired folks at work chipped in and got me a Fendeer PBass (embarassed to say I don’t even know the “model”) and I love it.

Strongly recommend a setup for whichever bass you get as action on both was crazy high (string space above frets). I later purchased a Fender Rumble 40 and it’s more than enough for the house. The 40 has bunch of features I don’t use much (yet).

Finally, you say you don’t plan to play in a band and I totally get it. But I play now with group of guys I used to work with and it’s a blast. It helps that they’re all so laid back and no pressure - “just play root notes and follow the chord changes”. It’s given me motivation to keep playing and improving. Anyway…

Rock on dude!

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