The Best Beginners Bass...

[TheGreek]

Music Radar's answer to the age old question:

https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-beginner-bass-guitars

Edited May 7, 2021 by Hamster
Whole web page copied & pasted

[itu]

Oh dear, it's so nice I am not in that stage anymore. Instrument wise, I mean...

[wateroftyne]

Rather than C&P, you can just link across. It's not really fair to nick their content.

[javi_bassist]

I have to say that I'm surprised that the Yamaha BB234 is not in the list. 

My first bass was an Indonesian Squier Affinity P-bass that I still have and I think it's a really great instrument. It is a Squier and you can notice in the details, but it sounds cool. 

[Lfalex v1.1]

17 hours ago, itu said:

Oh dear, it's so nice I am not in that stage anymore. Instrument wise, I mean...

Even now I wouldn't rule some of those out if I were in the market for an instrument of that type. I reckon it's possible to coax at least one decent tone out of most of those basses, and in the sonic chaos of some live environments, even the most discerning of punters would struggle to tell that you were playing a less- expensive instrument. 

[itu]

1 hour ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

I reckon it's possible to coax at least one decent tone out of most of those basses...

I do agree, and sure many are playable instruments. Professional setup costs quite some relative to the price of these basses. And most would really benefit from the setup - and this is the point where most of the potential buyers spare. Strings may be the next issue, but there was one decent article in the same company website.

These shapes and units are not for me. That much I have learned since, oh dear, long ago.

[Lfalex v1.1]

1 hour ago, itu said:

I do agree, and sure many are playable instruments. Professional setup costs quite some relative to the price of these basses. And most would really benefit from the setup - and this is the point where most of the potential buyers spare. Strings may be the next issue.... (snip)

Those were the thoughts I was having while making my previous post;

"Were I to get a budget bass, I'd give it the best set-up that it could take, then swap out the strings for some decent ones when the originals die."

(It never ceases to amaze me how poor the intonation is on some basses when you purchase them) 

I had a Squire VM Jazz that I was (gently) modifying. It gained black Schaller control knobs and a BadAss II. It took a really good set-up and was arguably better made than my US Jazz. I put some DR Fatbeams on it and it played very well indeed.  Alas that I had to sell both jazzes to help raise funds at a difficult time. 

Pickups would've been next.... 

[OliverBlackman]

On 06/05/2021 at 18:09, TheGreek said:

Music Radar's answer to the age old question:

https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-beginner-bass-guitars

They’ve basically just looked at what the popular brands offer and left it at that.

I think looks are most important thing for a beginner - looking like an idol or just looking cool is often the inspiration behind picking a guitar up and playing it. 

Within a year of starting my perfectly fine jazz bodied Jim deacon was traded in for an epiphone Thunderbird, which really was junk to play but had the image.

[Defo]

Squier Affinity or Classic Vibe  - I still use them now alongside Warwicks, Musicman, Mayones....