MoominGiant Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Hi all, For my sins, I used to be a guitarist for many years. After the band I was playing in packed up a couple of years ago I decided I wanted a new challenge so got myself a V-Drum kit, spent a year learning and got myself into another band as the drummer. The bassist was very unreliable (wasn't learning his parts and then stopped turning up) so he got kicked out and it turned out that finding another bassist was very hard to do. I had an old crappy bass that I'd had bought years ago from a second hand store for the purposes of home recording and when my old Marshall guitar amp had packed up I'd bought a keyboard amp for my a Boss GT-8 FX processor (so it wouldn't colour the sound) which I'd also used for monitoring the V-Drums with the DI going to the PA. So I'm playing with a fairly crappy setup... knackered bass, crappy amp used as a DI box to PA. Clearly I need to improve this situation but have a limited budget (about £400). I've done a bit of research but with my non-bass background I'm floundering somewhat (I'd never even heard of Ampeg until I started reading this forum!) So what should I buy? There's a sticky that says a good bass into a rubbish amp will never sound as good as a rubbish bass into a good amp. But then there's another sticky talking about DI straight to PA. So it seems like I've got 3 options... 1) Buy a decent bass and continue DI-ing to the PA 2) Buy a decent amp and keep the crappy bass 3) Keep both bass and amp but buy some kind of modeller (ie. Boss ME-50) and optimistically hope that makes an improvement All advice (particularly about brands and models!) would be greatly appreciated !! Many thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I would probably get an amp, see what comes up secondhand around here more than likely to get something a bit better for the limited budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Personally,I'd check the secondhand market and try to get a decent bass and amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWRRSS Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 How crap is your bass? With a little work and new pickup/wiring it might be fine for your needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAlonBass Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Have a sniff round the "For Sale" pages on this very site. There are a few options of getting moderate/reasonable/good sounding Basses/Amps/Combos well within your budget. (No, I'm not selling anything-I'm just amazed at the stuff on offer at the moment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 [quote name='BigAlonBass' post='722715' date='Jan 23 2010, 11:25 PM']Have a sniff round the "For Sale" pages on this very site. There are a few options of getting moderate/reasonable/good sounding Basses/Amps/Combos well within your budget.[/quote] This is the way forward. If you're patient, you can pick up some well-made, basic kit at bargain prices. Circa £150 for a nice Squier Standard P-bass Special or J. £200-250 for a 300w Ashdown Mag. You might even have a few bob over for an inexpensive multi-fx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoominGiant Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 The bass I've got is a Hohner Rockbass. It's got quite a bit of fretbuzz on a couple of the strings, the tone control doesn't work and fiddling with the volume control normally causes the signal to cut out completely - so it's fairly crappy, but playable and doing an OK job. My personal preference would be to get a new bass (maybe a Warwick Rockbass Streamer or Yamaha RBX 375) but I want to make sure I do what's best for the band's overall sound. If the band ever gets some gigs then I'll be able to justify shelling out for some more kit, so I think I'd rather spend the full budget I've allocated on one item than spread it across both a cheaper bass and amp which I'll want to replace later. Not much support for the DI to PA option so far though, which I guess points me towards focusing on the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 (edited) It's a difficult one... it does matter if you have a crappy bass OR amp without a decent one or the other (and visa versa) you won't be able to get a truly decent sound. But, I've managed to get 'decent enough to get by' sounds out of cheapy basses with a decent amp, so I'd be putting the money towards an amp personally. Edited January 24, 2010 by Sarah5string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 (edited) [quote name='MoominGiant' post='722865' date='Jan 24 2010, 09:38 AM']The bass I've got is a Hohner Rockbass. It's got quite a bit of fretbuzz on a couple of the strings, the tone control doesn't work and fiddling with the volume control normally causes the signal to cut out completely - so it's fairly crappy, but playable and doing an OK job. My personal preference would be to get a new bass (maybe a Warwick Rockbass Streamer or Yamaha RBX 375) but I want to make sure I do what's best for the band's overall sound. If the band ever gets some gigs then I'll be able to justify shelling out for some more kit, so I think I'd rather spend the full budget I've allocated on one item than spread it across both a cheaper bass and amp which I'll want to replace later. Not much support for the DI to PA option so far though, which I guess points me towards focusing on the amp.[/quote] I'd get a luthier to set it up properly, adjust the action on the buzzing strings (if you're not able to do it yourself) and get the bits repaired, and then use the rest of the money towards a new amp. Just sounds like the action's set too low and/or the truss rod needs adjusting, plus some loose connections in need of soldering/rewiring to me. Edited January 24, 2010 by Sarah5string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly deluxe Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 1 - Buy a decent amp secondhand,Behringer amp simulator,service the bass,save up for a better bass. 2 - Buy a decent bass secondhand,amp simulator,save up for decent amp. I have gigged with a secondhand Jim deacon bass £80 IIR,and still use it quite often.I also bought a used Carlsboro Delta bass head £120 IIR,new Behringer 600w 2x12 cab £150,Behringer V-Amp effects unit new £75.All are giggable,so it can be done at guitar store prices.All of these were bought at the same shop,so there was no searching involved.They were'nt all bought at the same time,though they could have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickH Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 The crackly volume pot and dead tone pot are easily fixable by anyone with a little soldering iron skill. If you can get the setup on the bass fixed I'd definitely go with getting a reasonable amp first. If the bass plays OK but doesn't sound great once it's been set up, you could throw a new pickup or two in there. Often greatly enhances the sound of a budget bass for not much outlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWRRSS Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I paid the same for my pickup what I did for the bass it's in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoominGiant Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Thanks for all the advice so far... Regarding the setup, I've not done anything with the wiring yet... but I have already adjusted the action and truss rod to address the fret buzz. It's much better than it was, but still not great. I'll definitely have a go at fixing the wiring - I've held off so far because everytime I pick up soldering iron I tend to end up burning my fingers! :-) I guess a new set of strings and some contact cleaner wouldn't hurt either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I'd go for an amp / combo. You can always make a bass play, and sound better. No matter what it is. Much harder to do with an amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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