First Bass Advice

[jrmy]

I've heard great things about the new Squier basses. I believe that Metalmariachi and Steevdeadman have both weighed in on that. I recall reading somewhere that said the Squier Jazz was more accurate to regular Jazz specs than the Squier P-bass, but take that with a grain of salt.

I wanted a cheapy short-scale bass to turn into a piccolo bass, and ended up getting a Bronco. They're light as hell, and you definitely have to play a few to find one with a good setup, but I'm happy with the end results.

[bigchiefbc]

+1 to what jrmy said. The Squire Jazzes are sweet basses. I was never a P-bass guy, so I don't have much of an opinion on the Squire. The last bass I picked up was a used ESP Viper 254, which I got for about $200. It's an SG-bass, but its much more middy/honky and not as muddy as the Gibson/Epiphones are.

[foomanfat]

I'll third the Squire jazz bass sentiment. Their Vintage Modified Jazz Bass is legit.

[jrmy]

+1 to what jrmy said. The Squire Jazzes are sweet basses. I was never a P-bass guy, so I don't have much of an opinion on the Squire. The last bass I picked up was a used ESP Viper 254, which I got for about $200. It's an SG-bass, but its much more middy/honky and not as muddy as the Gibson/Epiphones are.

The Viper is nice, but I have to say that thing weighs a TON.

That said, all of you young 'uns may not be so wimpy about instrument weight. Me, I get all

[Blurillaz]

squier jazz, or that squier tele bass.

[tuffteef]

i didnt even know maton made bass guitars still

[one bad monkey]

I'd opt, in your price range, for a Squire Vintage Modified bass. I had the fretless model, and it was built well and played very nicely. I had no problem taking it to gigs and putting it through its paces.

If you want to spend a little more, the Schecter Stiletto series are really nice. I was pretty close a year or two back in getting a Stiletto Studio 6 string. The 5 and 4 string versions I've tried have been equally as impressive. I think you can find them for the top of your budget.

[metalmariachi]

Squire vintage modified basses are the real deal. Sounds better and feels better than many of the MIM counterparts.
Go to every music store you can get to and play every bass in your price range, including used.

One will eventually go “LAAAAH”, lights will shine, it will make you smile and want to play all day. Buy that one


MM

[retinal orbita]

You mentioned the Jag, I have a Fender Jaguar bass that is fucking killer, I don't actually play it very much anymore, matter of fact it's at my brothers house right now but it's super solid and sounds amazing. I really wish I had an excuse to actually play it more often....... but that might actually be out of your price range, not sure what they retail for these days........

[futuresailors]

I have one of these and it fucking slayz. $125 shipped off the bay.

That said, I would jizz all over myself every day if I had one of these...

[theshoegazer]

I'm a Fender Jazz man myself. MIM's can be had $300-400 on CL. Also the Yamaha BB414 is a seriously underrated bass that is $400 new. Played one recently and it gave me serious GAS. Plays and sounds incredible, especially for the money.

[elbandito]

Squier Jazz Bass.



That is all.

[futuresailors]

What is this ?

A Squire bass is probably what i'll go with unless i find a used jag bass or something cooler used .

Oh sizing fail...

I found a video!


Jolana galaxis bass. The thing weighs like 2 pounds and has what I'd call a perfect neck.

[Amane]

Not sure how much they are these days.... but I recommend an Ibanez ATK series bass... should fit within your price range
Played with a few before and I quite like them, great sounding and feels good too

[warwick.hoy]

If you look around and find an old MIJ JV Squier I think that would be ideal. They've got Mojo to spare and I picked mine up for 2 bills out the door. The back story is Fender partnered with Japanese Manufacturer Fuji-Gen Gakki who at the time was making lawsuit versions of Fender (among other) instruments. Fender decided that instead of battling them they would partner with them. Initially Squier was a Japanese high quality alternative to Fender American instruments, not the entry level brand it is today. You could say that Squier was the precursor to the Fender MIJ/CIJ line. At any rate I have a JV Squier Jazz and again I paid a little over $2oo bucks for it out of a pawn shop. It plays and sounds every bit as good as any American Standard I've laid hands on.