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Another newbie - 'what shall i get' question!


vizzo
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Ok. Had a good browse around this v.helpful forum.

I'm looking for cheap. I played a little bit a few years ago but am really a beginner. I'm small with small hands.

Been to my local music shop - they have three possible basses:

Westfield (don't know the model but it was cheap)
Tanglewood rebel
Stagg 300

Of these i liked the stagg best. It felt better, more comfortable and was the best sound. The body is quite small and i liked this. It also looked the best of the three(!) Then I read some reviews on the net, which didn't rate it at all highly!

So now I'm off to the next nearest music shop - 30 miles away. The next one after that is about 100 miles, so we won't go there!

The next shop has the following:

Ibanez GRG 180
Peavey ML
Stagg BC300
Stagg P200
Stagg P300
Cruiser PB350
Squier Affinity P Bass

Thought i'd get some input from other people before i head off. Any views on which of the above are likely to be best and which would suit me best in terms of size?
It's quite tough trying to weigh it all up in the shop, so i want to go prepared!
Finally I appreciate people's comments on other threads about buying second hand, which i may end up doing, but first I need to find out what i want.

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I'm deffo looking at the budget end! £150 for the bass is about tops.

Difficult to buy from the forum here as I won't be able to try it out or a similar one at a shop due to living beyond the back of beyond!

Edited by vizzo
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Sorry, should have read your last post. Well, if you're going to buy from a store, it's simply a case of trying as much as you can, and pick the one you like best. Simple as that really. To warn you, I bought my young daughter her first bass from ebay, it's a Swift, and is in a simillar price range...and it's really bad to be honest, so be careful, and take your time looking.

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[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-Guitar-Yamaha-RBX374-RBX-374-Silver-Barely-used_W0QQitemZ330364363905QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4ceb402481&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-Guitar-Yamaha-R...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url]

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I'm guessing you've only listed the basses that are in your price range? I would look in the For Sale threads here and see what kind of instruments go for your budget, and see if the shops around you have any of those, or similar. As a guide, I paid £150 for my Ibanez EDB600, and resold it for a similar amount a few years later.. the RRP was something like £500. My Warwick from here cost me £600, and has an RRP of £1100 or so. £150 won't get you a great bass brand new, but it could get you something really decent second hand.

Every single piece of equipment I've bought, I've bought pretty much blind and online/second hand locally. Bar one really bad purchase, which I should've seen coming, I've had really good luck. I've also got pretty small hands and find the necks of Ibanez styled basses a lot more comfortable than a Fender style neck, if that helps.

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[quote name='Rayman' post='614098' date='Oct 1 2009, 06:45 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-Guitar-Yamaha-RBX374-RBX-374-Silver-Barely-used_W0QQitemZ330364363905QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4ceb402481&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-Guitar-Yamaha-R...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url][/quote]


That's a bargain.

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[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-GSR-180-Sunburst-Electic-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ370250222897QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Consumer_Professional_RL?hash=item5634a20d31&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-GSR-180-Sunbu...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url]

Peavey because they're generally well made basses, even at the lower end of the range. I nearly bought a Peavey Millenium once, I was very impressed.

The Ibanez would be a good buy too though, again a reliable maker. Ibanez and Yamaha make good stuff, you're pretty safe with a bass with either name on the headstock.

Edited by Rayman
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I had the Peavey Millenium as one of my first basses they're pretty good for an entry level bass the slim neck is great for smaller hands as well.

The Peavey was the only bass i bought new 2nd hand gets you much more for the cash!

Go to a shop and have a play with as many basses as you can then decide what you like even if it's out of your price range there have been some pretty good basses in the for sale section here for under £150!

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Excellent. Thanks for the info about Peavey and Ibanez.
I'll focus on those two at the guitar shop, but also will look at a bit higher in the range at the shop, in case I see something second hand

Thanks for excellent advice all

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I've always had good experiences with Peavey gear - my first bass was a peavey dynabass, which was one of the cheaper models, although I think it's now discontinued. I still keep it as a backup though and I've found this and every other peavey I've played to be nice an easy to play and extremely well balanced both sat down and stood up, which is great for posture and comfort when playing.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Kendal shop's only cheap bass is Ibanez 200, so that doesn't improve the range available. Morecombe is about an hour and a half away.

Anyway, been to the 30 mile away shop. Definitley liked the Ibanez's (180 and 200). Will see if a used 200 comes up cheapish in the next few weeks, if not can get the 180 for around £130-140 online.

Now I'll put a question in the amp section about practice amps! Thanks for all the advice

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Late to the thread, but if you're small and want a "friendly" bass then watch out for a Bass Collection by SGC Nanyo (i.e. the original Japanese-made ones). They come up quite frequently on eBay.

An SB310 will rarely fetch as much as £200, an SB320 perhaps £200 but not £250. These are VERY hard basses to beat for the money, they're small and light, and extremely well made.

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