Bass newbies what basic equipment is a must have?

[tonyquipment]

Compressor / tuner

Long quality lead

Comfy strap and some strap locks

Decent amp or combo

Decent case or gig bag

[Mornats]

In all seriousness, I found the Bass Guitar for Dummies book to be really good at helping with those light-bulb moments. It really set the foundation for me to start understanding chords, chord structures, the scales within those chords and how a bass fits in with all that. For example, if my guitarist was playing an E, then a D then an A chord, what bass notes can I play along with that? It helped answer that which meant that I only need to know the chord structure of song in order to write a bass line to it, or even jam to it, making up a bass line on the spot.

Info on it here: http://eu.dummies.com/store/product/Bass-Guitar-For-Dummies-Book-Online-Video-Audio-Instruction-3rd-Edition.productCd-1118748808.html (of course you can buy it from whichever book shop you usually use, I just don't like promoting Amazon )

[Gomez68]

Basachine2112, ladywithabass, mornats, tonyquipment thank you all so much ! I have the Hal Leonard book ! I was thinking of getting the dummies book for clarification ! After Xmas an amp set up a good strap! Oh I need a bass stand and prob music stand so it's on my own Xmas list to myself oh no GAS is going take over my life ha ! Thanks all! 👏

[DrBike]

Taking the list from Tony above, here are some "reasonably" cheap recommendations from me.
Compressor / tuner
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/MOOER-MTU1-BABY-TUNER-PEDAL/dp/B00HQKA4XK/ref=sr_1_1"]Mooer Tuner[/url] £50

Long quality lead
Probably a couple of these [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fender-Performance-Series-jack-black/dp/B005PNXT6E/ref=sr_1_3"]Fender Leads[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leathergraft-inch-Softee-Leather-Strap/dp/B0056N2ANG/ref=sr_1_69"]Comfy strap[/url] and some strap locks (go for a wide leather strap with a rough finish on the inside as it will grip onto your clothes better and not slip around)

Decent amp or combo

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deluxe-25mm-padded-Bass-Guitar/dp/B00BLJ03EW/ref=sr_1_6"]Decent case or gig bag[/url]

[Gomez68]

Thanks drbike, how much for a decent strap?

[jmchich]

Gomez, I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Waves-Lock-Guitar-Strap/dp/B001PGXKI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415390794&sr=8-1&keywords=locking+strap

It has locks built into it, meaning you can use it with several basses instead of fitting straplocks to every bass. It's a bit stiff at first, but softens with time. I've been using mine for a while and have no concerns over durability.

[Geek99]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1415385842' post='2599878']
In all seriousness, I found the Bass Guitar for Dummies book to be really good at helping with those light-bulb moments. It really set the foundation for me to start understanding chords, chord structures, the scales within those chords and how a bass fits in with all that. For example, if my guitarist was playing an E, then a D then an A chord, what bass notes can I play along with that? It helped answer that which meant that I only need to know the chord structure of song in order to write a bass line to it, or even jam to it, making up a bass line on the spot.

Info on it here: http://eu.dummies.com/store/product/Bass-Guitar-For-Dummies-Book-Online-Video-Audio-Instruction-3rd-Edition.productCd-1118748808.html (of course you can buy it from whichever book shop you usually use, I just don't like promoting Amazon )
[/quote]
One lightbulb moment for me in that book was the way it explains exactly what chord tones will work well over given chords.

[Gomez68]

Brilliant that's on my Xmas list from the kids ha thanks jmchich!

[Gomez68]

Geek99 I need all the help I can get ! Think of an alien landing been handed a bass and asked to learn how to play and understand music / bass notation! My poor tutor ha ! I will get that dummies book another Xmas hint present! Thank you !

[cameltoe]

A P bass.



That is all.

[Dad3353]

Patience. You'll need quite a lot (as do we all...). Here's some to get you started; you may find you need a refill later on. [size=4] [/size]
[size=4][attachment=175775:Buck_Pati.JPG][/size]

[Gomez68]

P bass and paitience I like that combo yeah defo the patience its a long old road for me ha thanks dad3353 and cameltoe !

[Adebass]

Good choice on the sr300, I have an sr500, I wasn't sure it was for me with the active pickups but one day it clicked into place and I love it! Yours has the actives I think?

I'd say essentials for me would be, a good lead, a spare if you're wanting to gig, a spare bartery if you have active pick ups, decent strap and the locking things to stop it falling off, a tuner and that's about all I usually carry with me!

If you're looking into a bass rig at some point, this is purely opinion but ashdown stuff is my choice, some great stuff in the for sale forums on here, and welcome

[Gomez68]

Thanks adebass yeah its an active pick up ! It felt right when I held it nice fast narrow neck! Thanks for the welcome and advice! Yeah I look on the for sale section in the new year for rig etc !

[Oopsdabassist]

Hey dude welcome aboard..you know what you've let yourself in for right?

Strap, I would say a Levy suede on is the dogz bitz, had mine over 12 years still going strong.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Levys-Suede-Leather-Guitar-Strap/dp/B000XPNYPK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1415450091&sr=8-11&keywords=levy+strap

Well worth splashing out on

Oh and get strap locks of some kind, so much better than a damaged bass! Personally I prefer Schaller ones but other types are available

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=schaller

[Gomez68]

Thanks for links oopsdabassist looks great! Xmas list check ha

[alyctes]

Amp with headphone socket

[xgsjx]

So 2 pages on & have you got what the essential basic kit is yet?


Patience & deeeep pockets!

[inthedoghouse]

Don't think that you need really expensive gear to have a good sound, be a good player and have lots of fun. It would be easy to fall into that trap reading forums on BC sometimes :-)

But then there is GAS - a different kettle of fish altogether :-)

[Gomez68]

Yeah I think I got the idea from all of you guys thank you ! 😄👏

[Musky]

What you need is six of these:



Drink the contents of the bottles and then, before disposing of them, remove the red rubber seals on the swing tops. With strap in place position one seal over the top of each strap button. [i]Voilà[/i]! Tried and tested strap locks, 4 spares for your next two basses (it won't be long, trust me) and the perfect entrée for a night in.

[blamelouis]

I'd say spotify and start playing along.

[skej21]

Looks like the gear you've got is decent enough to get you going and the bass will last forever (as StingrayPete says) if you need it to.

Aside from that, try not to spend too much time on bass forums. They're full of temptation and opinions, both of which should be avoided as often as possible as they are determental to actually learning to play! Spend your money on lessons and your time on the bass :-)

[lefrash]

Its funny cos I was thinkin about this the other day. If i was to start again right now, what gear would I want? Well.. as other said decent leads and strap will make a world of difference. Takes alot of stress out of gigging. Amplification though.... I would have done totally different. I would get a decent preamp or multifx to get 'my' sound. I'd say 80% of my gigs over my 16 year bassing life have been either DI'd or going through the 'house' rig. I'd more likely now go for a basic 1x12 or 1x15 combo (or a small class D head with a cab) and make sure I have a pedal that reproduces the same sound each gig. Its nice having a lovely rig, but in my experience, not really worth it.

[blue]

After reading all the comments, I would say before thinking about gear you must have good taste in music and know what you want to do. You might want to be in a band and want to perform live, you might want to teach or be a bedroom noodler. Get a handle on those things first.

Blue