Hi all,
I've been meaning to get back into bass recently, having played in my teens but been a guitarist exclusively for far too long. Unfortunately I'd sold both my Squier Jazz and Jackson PS5 a while back, and thus I've been busy scouring the internet and browsing shops for the past few months. Last week I ventured out into Birmingham to finally try some basses hands-on, and I thought I'd give a quick run-down of my impressions and feelings - I'm hoping for some pointers and advice as the search goes on!
I had a good trek round the three big city-centre shops, which are not ideally located for a journey on-foot, but at least it wasn't raining! I had two main 'rules' for the day:[list]
[*]I wasn't going to try anything over £300. I've set a vague budget for getting my new 'first' bass, and - unlike my later guitar shopping experiences - I'm (semi) determined to stick to it. I'm a terrible shopper, and the minute I start trying anything in the next bracket up I start trying to justify spending that little bit more... and this time round I'm going to be keeping it cheap!
[*]I wasn't going to plug anything in. I know some of you will be appalled at this, but until this trip I hadn't so much as picked up a bass for years... I have simply no idea what I'm after and no real desire to seek out a particular sound. All I'm interested in is finding something that feels 'right' to me. I didn't want to be swayed by something that sounded great at this point - I just want to get an idea of which basses I felt comfortable with. Judge me.
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With that in mind, I started out with Squier, which are the instruments I really set out to try - I love the look of Fender basses, and if I was buying without trying anything, I'm fairly sure I would end up with a Fender-style something. I started out with a [b]Squier Vintage Modified Precision[/b], which to my relief felt pretty comfortable straight off the bat. As the previous owner of a Jazz, I had expected the larger neck to be a negative, but it felt good. As expected, my right hand technique was utter rubbish after all this time, but it was a good start. I followed this up with an [b]Affinity Jazz [/b]and an [b]Affinity PJ. [/b]I hadn't really considered the Affinity series before - purely through snobbery, I suppose - but they were the only other Squiers on display with satin necks. I'm not a fan of glossy necks, so I'm a little disappointed that so many of the Fender-alikes go with that option. The Affinities were definitely a mixed bag. On the plus side, they were relatively comfortable and switching between the necks on the three styles was not an issue. However, the fit and finish left a lot to be desired, with sharp fret ends all over the place. Not ideal.
This was followed by the bottom-end Yamaha on show, the [b]TRBX174. [/b]Much to my Fender-loving dismay, this immediately felt more comfortable on my lap than any of the previous models; it seemed to sit 'just right' and everything was exactly in the right place. Frets were finished very well, though the neck felt like a very deep C - possibly exaggerated in my mind because the fretboard is narrower than the Fender models? No idea. I felt quite at home with it, however. The shop assistant then suggested the [b]ESP LTD B-334[/b] which they currently had on sale. Bit more money, and not something I would have considered aesthetically had he not pointed it out, but much like the Yamaha it right away felt at home against the body; great setup with a wonderful action and just overall very playable.
I finished the day with an [b]Overwater/Tanglewood Aspiration Standard[/b], which had the worst fret job I've ever come across, and a beat-up old[b] BC Rich Innovator[/b], which was setup beautifully but tripped me up on a bashed up, gloss finished neck.
I'm not sure how I felt at that moment. On one hand, I was relieved that all the basses I had tried were comfortable to me - it's almost as though I've been away from bass so long that it doesn't actually matter what I end up with, my hands will get on with it (as long as the frets are finished nicely ). On the other, I was almost disappointed that my desire for a Fender-style had been overridden by a (resentful) acknowledgment that the others had felt slightly more at home to me.
Sorry for the long post, but if you've got any advice on what else I should be trying or whether I should just pack it in and try and find something second-hand, I'm all ears!