What Bass should I buy?(between 1000-1500)

[TrevorR]

25 minutes ago, TJ1 said:

My location is North London. Really interested in trying a Fender and a Sandberg side by side, but any others would be interesting.

 

26 minutes ago, ClassicVibes said:

I would lower your budget and buy a Squier Precision or Jazz. You will be getting a gig worthy instrument without investing too much cash. If you decide you like playing bass and want to continue, then you can either a) keep the bass and buy a 'better' one or b) sell the Squier and purchase something else. 

Over £1k for a first instrument is crazy IMO. Hold on for the supercar when you know the way around the racetrack. 

Very good advice from  @ClassicVibes If you get a moderate priced bass to start on (and a couple of hundred quid and a browse on some of the online retailers - Andertons, GuitarGuitar, PMT, GAK etc - will furnish that by return of post) then you have something decent to start your development on. As others have said there are few fundamentally bad basses around these days. Then when we're back to some sort of normality and lockdown has been raised, in N London you're well placed to browse the really nice basses in London (Guitar Guitar, The Bass Gallery - Camden; Wunjos, The Bass Cellar - Denmark Street; PMT - Farringdon/Clerkenwell...) and find out what really floats your boat in that £1k+ price range. Lots of nice basses to look at in those shops before you even consider the Basschat classifieds here.

Also budget for a small amp too... something like a Fender Rumble 15 or 40 to facilitate your home practice.

Edited May 6, 2020 by TrevorR

[Reggaebass]

6 hours ago, TJ1 said:

A lightly used Sandberg would definitely be on my rdar.

I didn’t go to the shop to buy one, I only went to pick up a bass I had repaired, but while I was waiting I  tried them all out , and the one thing that I noticed was how nice the necks are to play, I ended up buying a custom built one  😀

[TrevorR]

For the £1k+ range I'd definitely have Sandberg at the top of my list, Maruszczyk, G&L, Lakland (though personally I don't like the shape of their bridges), Overwaters, Enfields... and maybe the higher range Reverends... lots of nice basses out there.

[ubit]

I have three P's, two J's, an Aerodyne, Sandberg California and various other basses. I find that each one becomes favourite depending on my mood.

[bassfan]

43 minutes ago, ClassicVibes said:

I would lower your budget and buy a Squier Precision or Jazz. You will be getting a gig worthy instrument without investing too much cash. If you decide you like playing bass and want to continue, then you can either a) keep the bass and buy a 'better' one or b) sell the Squier and purchase something else. 

Over £1k for a first instrument is crazy IMO. Hold on for the supercar when you know the way around the racetrack. 

Absolutely this....  ^^^^^^^^^ 

Trying the basses out would help, you’ll know what weight suits or even if it’s a factor, what neck type suit you best (p and J necks vary quite a lot, you may want an even slimmer neck)
Your tone will depend on your pickups, whether you want active or passive and your amp and cab aswell, if you are trying a bass out in a shop on £2ks worth of amp and cab it isn’t going to sound quite the same as your home rig, so, if you can, try the bass on a rig the same or similar.

[Frank Blank]

We've had a very similar thread on here lately...

...if I were you and wanted to get started now but (obviously) aren't able to get out to try everything (which you so need to if you are spending serious money), I'd get a Sire similar to the one settled on by @pepsi-abi in the above thread and put your remaining 1k+ in the bank until the lockdown is over. Once we are free to mingle your location is ideal for hooking up with BC members to try basses and you are no doubt within reasonable distance of several music shops. Just bear in mind that if you spend that £1500 right now at the beginning of your bass career you will almost certainly regret that initial purchase within months after you've tried loads of stuff out, you might not of course but that would be a fluke. Within months of joining BC I had a whole new set of gear, top to bottom, amps, cabs, basses. Hold on to that grand until you've tried everything you can and get something way cheaper if you are itching to start playing right now.

[lownote]

19 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

We've had a very similar thread on here lately...

...if I were you and wanted to get started now but (obviously) aren't able to get out to try everything (which you so need to if you are spending serious money), I'd get a Sire similar to the one settled on by @pepsi-abi in the above thread and put your remaining 1k+ in the bank until the lockdown is over. Once we are free to mingle your location is ideal for hooking up with BC members to try basses and you are no doubt within reasonable distance of several music shops. Just bear in mind that if you spend that £1500 right now at the beginning of your bass career you will almost certainly regret that initial purchase within months after you've tried loads of stuff out, you might not of course but that would be a fluke. Within months of joining BC I had a whole new set of gear, top to bottom, amps, cabs, basses. Hold on to that grand until you've tried everything you can and get something way cheaper if you are itching to start playing right now.

+1

[TheGreek]

If you are set on spending £1k+ you really need to consider an ACG - superbly built from high end components and Alan is a member here. 

You'll have to go a long way to find a dissatisfied customer - many owners have more than one.

[TrevorR]

19 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

If you are set on spending £1k+ you really need to consider an ACG - superbly built from high end components and Alan is a member here. 

You'll have to go a long way to find a dissatisfied customer - many owners have more than one.

For this user I’d currently steer well clear of custom orders... as a newbie I doubt that they’d have refined their tastes enough to be able to decide on the manifold custom options a new build entails.

[Crawford13]

One thing that grabbed me from the original post is that you want a versatile instrument, my advice would be get a bass with a P J pick up configuration, or P MM.

To take the bass jargon out:

P - Precision pick up

J - Jazz pick up

MM - Musicman Pick up (Humbucker)

If you buy used you will be able to pick up a great instrument for around £600 and if you don’t like it, get most of your money back.

[skelf]

 

 

40 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

For this user I’d currently steer well clear of custom orders... as a newbie I doubt that they’d have refined their tastes enough to be able to decide on the manifold custom options a new build entails.

At that price point there are a limited number of choices available so sorting out the spec is relatively simple and pain free.

 

Cheers

Alan

[la bam]

In all honesty, I'd buy a Sire jazz and a Sire Precision. You could even get Sire M as well for that budget. That's 3 basses for your budget and everyone will be unbelievably good and give years of service.

[OliverBlackman]

8 hours ago, TJ1 said:

That would be really nice of someone, i'd bring a six pack!

 

My location is North London. Really interested in trying a Fender and a Sandberg side by side, but any others would be interesting.

 

I had the virus four weeks ago - so guidelines state I am no longer infectious.

Just get yourself to www.thebassgallery.com in Camden. Those guys really know what they’re selling and will give you loads of good advice.

[RichValentine]

12 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Just get yourself to www.thebassgallery.com in Camden. Those guys really know what they’re selling and will give you loads of good advice.

This. Especially for your first bass so you can get used to the different tones and more importantly neck profiles/weight! If you don't enjoy playing it and find it uncomfortable you are less likely to stick with it. Even if you go there to try things out then buy used from here it would help you immensely. 

[dave_bass5]

9 hours ago, TJ1 said:

That would be really nice of someone, i'd bring a six pack!

 

My location is North London. Really interested in trying a Fender and a Sandberg side by side, but any others would be interesting.

 

I had the virus four weeks ago - so guidelines state I am no longer infectious.

Thought about something like a Yamaha P34? Lovely, lovely bass. Doesn’t quite nail classic Fender P bass, but has a more modern slant, slightly funkier i would say but still P bass territory.  Adding in the bridge pup gives a lovely growl. Second hand these are only about £850. So well within budget and nowhere near maxing it out. 

Congrats on getting through the virus. Can i ask if it was a bad experience or a mild one?

Edited May 6, 2020 by dave_bass5

[bassbiscuits]

Seriously - buy something mainstream and midpriced, which will be perfectly good enough for you to get started on and give you years of playing. Don’t get bogged down in custom builds or boutique stuff at this stage.

There’s no ‘one true bass’ that everyone will like, so try some out if at all possible. I’ve had enough instruments over the years which people have sworn are brilliant but which I’ve absolutely hated, (and vice versa).

In reality I’d say most jobbing bass players out there (including myself) use very mainstream, regular, mass produced stuff very happily.

Its only worth forking out for boutique high end stuff if you can really appreciate the difference. As a beginner it’s just not worth getting into that.

Good luck tho - there are plenty of good basses out there.  

[dave_bass5]

Agreed. Even the low end Squiers are more than gig worthy these days. You start to run out of ‘worth it’s’ as you go higher up the price range IMO. Then again, buy the right one first time and you don’t think about upgrading for a long time (as long as you don’t come on here of course). 

[TrevorR]

3 hours ago, skelf said:

 

 

At that price point there are a limited number of choices available so sorting out the spec is relatively simple and pain free.

 

Cheers

Alan

Alan, I agree but this guy, it seems has never played or owned a bass yet!!!!!! I'm guessing that a post lockdown scoot round GuitarGuitar looking at the Squiers and Ibbys will serve him best at this point. Now in a year's time when he's ready to dispose of his wad of cash... well THEN we're definitely sending him your way!

[skelf]

Hi 
 

Totally understand and don’t fundamentally disagree just pointing out it can be a pretty simple process if you want/need it to be. 
Trust you are well and getting through the current situation with minimum trouble. 
 

Cheers

 

Alan

[Woodinblack]

Get something cheap and rubbish, play it until it annoys you. Then buy something that gets rid of the thing that annoys you. 

[TJ1]

Thanks for the advice. Thinking about it spending this sort of money on a guitar at this time might be a little unwise/insane

As for buying something cheap to learn on I am not sure. When I was learning acoustic, my teacher said 'buy the best you can afford' and I have not regretted it.

Obviously I need to try them out but there look to be some pretty nice used Sandbergs on sale for 600-700, this might be the sweetspot in terms of a guitar that I might actually want to keep

 

 

[OliverBlackman]

2 hours ago, TJ1 said:

Thanks for the advice. Thinking about it spending this sort of money on a guitar at this time might be a little unwise/insane

As for buying something cheap to learn on I am not sure. When I was learning acoustic, my teacher said 'buy the best you can afford' and I have not regretted it.

Obviously I need to try them out but there look to be some pretty nice used Sandbergs on sale for 600-700, this might be the sweetspot in terms of a guitar that I might actually want to keep

 

 

You’re on basschat now, it won’t last a year 😂

[Geek99]

Take someone from here with you if you can. Second hand US or jap fender would get my vote for less money than you’ve got ready 

[OliverBlackman]

Thought I’d break down my gear story as it may help and I reckon others have similar experience:

started when I was around 12-13 and had a Jim Deacon starter kit. Good standard bass but had it in my head it was cheap so must be rubbish.

Next up was an epiphone  Thunderbird because I liked rock - it was an awful bass that played and sounded terrible.

Then I saw a bass player use a 5 string Warwick on an old Ozzy DVD. So I got an active 5 string Rockbass - Good bass but I didn’t know how to get the best out of it.

Around 16 I tried a Mexican Fender precision in a shop and loved it - I still have this bass 14 years later but with upgraded pickups.

I think it was after the precision I wanted a more rock look so bought a Jackson bass off eBay - an ok sounding bass but nothing incredible. 

Around 17 I was into the chilli peppers and so wanted a stingray. Loved the USA SUB basses but they had just been discontinued so was very fortunate to get a USA 3EQ stingray - gorgeous bass but didn’t sound as good as it looked.

I also wanted to upgrade my 5 string and saw a used American Deluxe Precision on eBay going cheep so I bought that - again looked gorgeous but the preamp was rubbish.

Roll on the uni years and I joined basschat - I traded most of my basses with other members and ended up with a Tokai jazz bass, Warwick thumb fretless, Overwater custom Jazz 5 string. I no longer have any of these following struggle for work after uni so they were all sold.

But the point of this post, is to illustrate that gear really is a journey and you have to learn what works for you and doesn’t. My early motivation was aesthetics and gear snobbery which meant a lot of money was spent. Now I know exactly what works for me and I haven’t bought another bass in the last 5 years. All the while I have tried out gear in shops including stuff at the time I couldn’t afford and even some stuff I’ll never be able to afford. But this has all helped me know what is what. I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few basschatters have been on a similar gear journey. Embrace it and enjoy it, it’s part of the fun 😁

[ClassicVibes]

3 hours ago, TJ1 said:

Thanks for the advice. Thinking about it spending this sort of money on a guitar at this time might be a little unwise/insane

As for buying something cheap to learn on I am not sure. When I was learning acoustic, my teacher said 'buy the best you can afford' and I have not regretted it.

Obviously I need to try them out but there look to be some pretty nice used Sandbergs on sale for 600-700, this might be the sweetspot in terms of a guitar that I might actually want to keep

 

 

Price doesn't always reflect quality. Remember - this is 2020. We're not in the 70s or 80s anymore.