Buying a Bass

[hillaas]

OK. My friends and I are making a band and i have been apointed bass player. Problem is, I don't actually have a bass. I can play a bit of guitar and i will teach myself how to play.

We are looking at spending the least amount of money we can. We need to get a bass amp and a horizontal bass guitar. There are 4 of us and we are all gonna split the bill 4 ways to buy it, but we don'tr want to spend much money at all.

Any suggestions on what bass and amps i can get for little money?

[mel_bound]

Squiers seem pretty good, a P bass is better for 'rock' and Jazz's are, in my opinion, easier to play and better looking ;) The cheap ones are about $200-$300. Also look out for second hand ones, you might be able to get something else.
Can't help you with a bass amp though!

[Disease]

Splitting the bill is always dangerous, so I hope you know what you're doing there. If you split the bill between the four of you you'd better have a plan for what you're gonna do with the gear once the band parts ways. Don't want there to be any misunderstandings or hard feelings..

[hillaas]

Yeah, thats what were trying to figure out. The thing is, i don't want to play bass that much, i'm happy just to sing. But they insist i do it so we agreed to get one and pay 4 ways.

Thanks for the advice Mel. I was thunking about a squire. It seems like a cheap and easy option. Maybe i can get a bass and amp pack?

[mel_bound]

Yeah, thats what were trying to figure out. The thing is, i don't want to play bass that much, i'm happy just to sing. But they insist i do it so we agreed to get one and pay 4 ways.

Thanks for the advice Mel. I was thunking about a squire. It seems like a cheap and easy option. Maybe i can get a bass and amp pack?

Packs would probably be the way to go, my advice is to go to a place and ask for advice! :p

Also, could you possibly rent one from school or somewhere else if you don't want to play that much, or if a friend or someone could lend you theirs for a while...

[hillaas]

School is too much. Like $60 or $80 a term, so it's worth buying one. And were happy to go 4 ways so we can all use it.

I just made the thread to see what advice people had. I will ask in the shop anyway when we go to get one.

[damo0945]

trading post is always a good option, i got a 160W laney combo amp (i think its actually made for keyboard) for $350, depends how big an amp you want

[hillaas]

Just a small one. Maybe 10W. Were not looking at spending much money at all.

[Bec]

If you're going to be playing with a band you might want to buy something a bit bigger than a 10W amp, or else the sound quality is pretty crappy if you turn it up loud enough to be heard against drums and a guitar
Although if you get a good brand it might not be as bad, I dunno. I'm not an expert or anything that's just from experience.
I got my bass in a beginners kit thingo, it's a sammick and came with a silvertone 10W amp and a set of spare strings. I can't remember how much it cost, I think it was around $350 altogether. The bass isn't anything amazing but I haven't had any problems with it. I'd recommend going to a few music stores, checking out what beginners kits they have and choosing which one you like best that is in your budget, that's pretty much what I did.

[Kevin]

check out cash converters, they usually have lots of amps

[hillaas]

The amp size doesn't matter that much as we all just plug into whatever amps we have and we all have a variety of sizes. It just depends what we have at the time as we usually make do with what we have. As long as we don't spend much money we will be happy.
I'll have a look in cash converters next weekend i think Kevin.

[Daniel]

andre ur not singing

this is the first i heard of this band thing man
who appointed u bass player? nads ripps ur ass

so basically

liam - drums
nads - bass
rod- guitar
daniel - guitar

and vocals can be decided l8ter
the last thing i want to hear is u singing
+ 2 guitars is way much already not 3

u can........?


also guys how about

if the whole pack cost $300

the person who puts in the most gets to keep the bass + amp
with silent bidding oooOooo

sounds alright

[Bec]

Ooh err

Has Andre been kicked out of the band before it even started?

[hillaas]

Yeah Daniel, have I? Even though i have been playing a musical for like 8 years and Liam has for...let me see, 6 days?

[Daniel]

im not sure what hes on about man
we aleady have a band = danny c and the flying vs
check us out @ www.myspace.com/dannycandtheflyingvs

i think we'll just change liam on to drums then me on guitar
and andre man figure out what u can do? (every time u sing i die a little inside)

electric violin?
that would be fuken awsum !!

[hillaas]

I was trying to convince mum ot get me one tonight. I was thinkin this, get a wah pedal or some effects on it and play like all Mars Volta/MUSE-ish stuff and play all this nuts stuff.


Daniel-guitar
Rod-guitar
Liam-drums
Nads-bass
Andre-violin (drums when liam sings)

[Daniel]

liam is not singing pm me man ur wassting posts

[Kevin]

liam is not singing pm me man ur wassting posts

when andre posts it is never a waste!

:p

[hifiway]

Yeah, thats what were trying to figure out. The thing is, i don't want to play bass that much, i'm happy just to sing. But they insist i do it so we agreed to get one and pay 4 ways.

Thanks for the advice Mel. I was thunking about a squire. It seems like a cheap and easy option. Maybe i can get a bass and amp pack?

So basically you have all asigned each other with instruments sorta like a "hands up if you wanna play guitar" deal. Dont wanna sound cruel but you should play music because you love it and your passionate about your instrument. my advice is to find an instrument that YOU want to play not what your friends have given you. My adivce would be to buy a cheap 1 second hand, and also you mentioned something about sharing amps be careful, you should never put a bass into a guitar amp cause you could blow the speaker.
anyhow good luck with it, I wasn't being critical just constructive.

[hillaas]

YEah, thanks for thta advice. You reminded my why i play music in the first place.
Waht we have figured out (after today) is that I will play violin because i'm farly good at it and i can play it better than any other instrument. Now i just have to convince mum to let me get an electric one because a normal one just wont cut it:p

[hillaas]

I'm thinking of getting a cheap bass like this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250042236770&fromMakeTrack=true) from ebay. Opinions anyone?

[Bec]

I thought you decided to play electric violin?

I've never heard of that brand, doesn't necesairily mean it's bad but it's quite likely.
The bass I got is a sammick, it was pretty cheap. I take back what I said before about never having any problems, I forgot that when I first got it the strings were buzzing a heap and I had to get that fixed, plus about a week ago the bit that you plug the lead into (not sure what it's called) fell apart. I fixed it with duct tape but I should probably get it fixed properly encase something is screwed up inside.
So yeah, you get what you pay for basically.

[hillaas]

Now im playing bass because our bass player to be was being all stubborn so now hes like an extra in the band.

I am only looking for a cheap bass for now as i cant afford a good one and i dont wont to pay a of of money for a good one. I think it should be ok for a little bit and then i can upgrade further on down the track.

[Bec]

Okay, just if you're gonna upgrade later anyway, you may as well save the money and buy it straight off. If the bass you get breaks you might need to spend more money on repairing it and stuff too remember.

[hillaas]

Good point but i dunno if the band were making will continue for very long and my parents aren;t too keen on buying a bass right now so i probably will have to fund it myself adn i have little money right now so i'll see what happens.

[Wazzup]

Good point but i dunno if the band were making will continue for very long and my parents aren;t too keen on buying a bass right now so i probably will have to fund it myself adn i have little money right now so i'll see what happens.

I would get a second hand bass, from a REAL SHOP, not the ebay crap. Bring a friend who know's about guitar/bass and get a decent 2nd hand bass.

[Wazzup]

Good point but i dunno if the band were making will continue for very long and my parents aren;t too keen on buying a bass right now so i probably will have to fund it myself adn i have little money right now so i'll see what happens.

I would get a second hand bass, from a REAL SHOP, not the ebay crap. Bring a friend who know's about guitar/bass and get a decent 2nd hand bass.

As for amps, I would get a behringer. They are really good for its price.