Buying for beginners, looks might not be everything, but...

[jd56hawk]

Buying a beginner bass...the least expensive you can find, middle of the pack, or $1,500 and up...Fender, MusicMan, Rickenbacker, Ibanez, Warwick or whatever?

Sure, playability, tone and build quality are important, but do you base your purchase on looks?

(I'm guessing most do.)

Definitely more quality "cheap" basses available now than ever before, but some people might like to buy a topnotch bass, especially if they're serious, instead of upgrading later.

I think the most important thing is to buy something you can really bond with.

(Nothing worse for a beginner than to buy the wrong bass and give up in frustration a few months down the line.)

[meterman]

I bought the cheapest bass in the shop when I was starting out, and never changed the strings for about 15 years but I absolutely played the heck out of that thing. Only upgraded to a cheap 70s Fender much later, but buying a cheapie never held me back. I did records with it and everything. It was just the need to get going that spurred me on. Had more money been available I’d have spent it originally but £65 was all I had, so that’s what I spent. Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but when this is the cheapest bass in the only shop in town and you’re skint... I polished and babyed the Shaftesbury!

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by meterman
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[BillyBass]

My first bass was an Ibanez.  I had no idea what I was buying as, being a beginner, I couldn't pick it up and play it.  I read a few online reviews and they were all positive so that was the one I got.

 

I found out later that Ibbys aren't my thing but I needed to have one to realise that.  I suppose the narrow nut width and slim neck could have been easier for me to learn on, but my second bass was a MIM P bass, which I much preferred.

[Maude]

I know it's not an answer to the question being asked but I genuinely think one of the most important things to learn as a beginner is how to do a basic set up. Nothing crazy, just neck relief, string height, intonation, pick up height, and nut slots if you're up for it. It can make almost any average bass into an excellent bass. 

Taking it somewhere to be done is all well and good but we're all different and if you don't know what you want/like then you're just getting what someone else thinks you should have. 

If your bass plays nicely then you'll want to play it, if it doesn't you won't. 

A basic set up is really very easy and can be done with less than a tenners worth of tools. 

[Lfalex v1.1]

Playability, build quality and tone come first. 

 

I actually did stick to this when I bought my first decent bass.

I'd saved up a load and was going to aim for a Warwick Thumb NT5.

 

I ended up buying a bass that was sitting (ignored) in the corner of Wapping Bass Centre.

I'd never heard of the manufacturer,  but the fit, finish, playability,  tone, weight and balance were all spot on.

So I bought it.

 

It wasn't cheap.  But 26 years later,  it's still great, and has never put a foot wrong.  Even if I have. 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Lfalex v1.1

[BigRedX]

My first bass was bought pretty much on the strength that it didn't look like anything conventional. 

 

On my way back from a visit home during university term-time in 1981 and with a little surplus grant money during a hole in my pocket I dropped by the local musical instrument shop which was opposite the bus station. Hanging on the wall amongst the truly awful late 70s Fenders and a handful of Grant and Columbus copies was what I eventually discovered was an early 60s Burns Sonic Bass. Something about it spoke to me in a way that hadn't happened with the P and J basses. I spent half an hour trying it out, and had a quick go on one of the Grant copies as a comparison. It turned out that the bass came with the original Burns hard case and the shop checked in a Fender branded strap all for £60.

 

This instrument ended up on most of my first band's recordings - although not the two that came out on vinyl and got played on John Peel's show. However it was on the demos my second band made that had CBS interested in signing us. This was my main bass until I bought a second hand Overwater Original 5-string (another unconventional looking instrument) in the early 90s for the bargain price of £350...

[Cliff Edge]

My father bought my first bass. My only input was similar to “dad a couple of school mates and I have formed a band, I’m the bass player and there’s a bass guitar in the window of (local music shop that mainly sold pianos)”. It was Framus Star Bass, and I had no idea whether it was good or bad. This was a long time ago when the only basses you ever saw were big hollow body Hofners and cheap solid body Futuramas. It was ok and I kept it for a couple of years while learning on the job as it were. Wish I still had it really. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Couldn't afford Fender. Knew Hohners were well made. Got this.

 

[Jono Bolton]

My first bass purchase was solely what was available at the time. Living on an island in the days before internet shopping and next day delivery (still not an option there) meant that pickings were slim. A boy a few years above me in school had a Peavey Foundation that he wasn't using, and a conversation between our dads in the pub meant I got it for the 14th birthday for the princely sum of £50. I should probably have looked after it better and held onto it longer in hindsight.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Jono Bolton