Looking for advice!

[lewisf81]

Hi, new here so be gentle!!

I bought my first bass about 9 months ago, it was an eBay special for about £45 new! (all I know about it is its black and says "spider" on the head)

I have been playing in a band with a few mates for a couple of months and we are looking to start gigging soon so I am looking to invest in a new bass.

I've been looking on-line for the last couple of evenings but don't really know what I'm lookin for so any advice would be much appreciated!

My requirements are:

sub £400 price tag
we mostly play rock and grunge covers at the moment so must sound good for that type of music
I want something that looks a bit different if poss, but dont like the look of the fenders or warlocks

I like the look of the ESP LTD F-104, any ideas if its any good?


thanks in advance for your time

[bassjamm]

Warwicks are pretty nice for that kind of stuff man, they may be work a check, the Streamer models tend to have warmer sound to my ears, so maybe not them! The warwicks have a big sound though mate!

[OutToPlayJazz]

For ultimate value, I'd go for a new Yamaha BB614 (the one with the active preamp & 3 band eq). Well under budget with that one. Otherwise, the ESP range you mentioned are good value. Just noticed that the Bass Centre are doing a "Tune Bass Maniac" for £329. Looks very good value

[colda]

I'd stongly suggest going to a bass shop and having a good mess around with different basses to see what you like the feel of

I've bought a few Peavey Dynabasses (see sig) as I've yet to find a 'better' bass that suits me as well (I wanna try a Tobias though), in a way I feel like I'm missing out as I'm not able to pull a 'ooohhh' bass out of my case (that said, how many in the audience would know anyway?) but what matters most is how well you can play it and getting something that you are comfortable with is paramount.

If you then come back on here and say something like 'I loved the feel of a Fender Jazz Aerodyne but....<insert downside here>' then I'm sure there will be some excellent advice to point you in the right direction.

As for now, I'd say have a look at the new Peaveys (I've not tried one as yet) but they look like a damn good bass for the money, also you'll not go wrong with a Yamaha (as mentioned)

[Musky]

I was going to suggest a Squier VM Precision, but having looked at the ESP it's quite metal looking so maybe a precision is not to your taste. The ESP is a 35" scale, which is longer than standard but would make it good for detuning if that's what you're into. On the flip side it will also make it a bit harder to play, especially if your hands aren't that big.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Musky

[simon1964]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='99403' date='Dec 5 2007, 10:18 AM']For ultimate value, I'd go for a new Yamaha BB614 (the one with the active preamp & 3 band eq). Well under budget with that one. Otherwise, the ESP range you mentioned are good value. Just noticed that the Bass Centre are doing a "Tune Bass Maniac" for £329. Looks very good value [/quote]

+1 on the Yamaha BB series, although personally I preferred the BB414 which is passive (and cheaper!).

You should also check out the Ibanez SR500 which has a fantastic spec for the money, and the Warwick Rockbass series. I would also have a look at some of the OLP Musicman copies - they come in well below your budget and are very good value.