1st Bass, on a budget

I am a guitar player, and general guitar nut. A close friend wants to pick up the bass and wants my help picking one out. He lives in the Midwest, I'm on the east coast, but will be traveling there to see him in July, so I need some help getting smart on bass guitars. I am familiar with buying and selling on CL. His budget will be $300. My plan is to start at a guitar center for him to play different models/ makes/ price brackets and then proceed from there to the used market. If it were for a regular guitar, I'd recomment the classic vibe squiers... are their bass models as good as their six string counterparts? What do you recommend?

Also gonna need an amp... thinking a Roland cube... can he use a guitar cube for his bass?

What style of music does he want to play?

+1 on what style he wants to play, his bass heroes, etc.

The Classic Vibe Squiers basses are really good. As far as amps go, I wouldn't run a bass through a guitar amp because they're not built to take those frequencies. The Roland Bass Cube is a good low-cost amp for bass; my wife uses a 30 for club gigs. She splits the signal with a Sansamp Bass Driver DI, the XLR goes to the PA while the Bass Cube 30 is her monitor.

My dad insisted I get a bass I would keep for my first. I still have my American Standard '83 P Bass. Granted it cost $420 back then - but you can't go wrong with a Fender P.

Without knowing the full story, i'll go ahead and recommend a p bass and an Acoustic B20 amp. I think a p bass is a safe general option for a new player. Classic vibe basses are supposed to quite excellent.

Without knowing the full story, i'll go ahead and recommend a p bass and an Acoustic B20 amp. I think a p bass is a safe general option for a new player. Classic vibe basses are supposed to quite excellent.

This strikes me as being the best approach from a bang-for-the-buck aspect. Good enough to not get in the way of playing and sounding good, but still quite cheap. I'll also say that the SX P-copies from Rondo punch above their weight.

Tim

The Squier Vintage Modified Precision and Jazz basses have serious bang for the buck-and excellent Duncan Designed pickups. I got my VM J-Bass in clean used shape for $200 last September, and it is a very impressive instrument----new they are between $250 and $300.
Carvin Micro Bass series amps provide serious bang for under $400.

Great input, thanks! I don't think he has a style in mind or any bass hero's... but he does like.most music, minus modern hard core metal. I think his ultimate goal is to play at church, but he has never held a guitar of any sort, that I know of. I may recomment some sort of.plug in headphone amp (like Vox has for guitars) for him to get started, while he saves for a bass he can run direct out into the church pa system.

Yes... a Squier P Bass of some sort (used) is the way I would go.
A band mate has a Squier P that he got used for $100.00.
It sounds and plays better than my '62 Fender Precision.

Is the $300 budget for bass & amp or just guitar? Sounds like you have a good plan...I read a ton of forum posts and decided I wanted a Precision or Jazz. I went to some local shops and tried them out through different amps, had someone who could actually play bass demo them while I stood back and listened.

I picked up a like new MIM P off craigslist for $350. You can probably find one with a little more wear/mojo for less. It did need a setup, but everything should have one of those. I'd recommend one of those or a CV Fender-wise. I loooove my CV 60s Strat. I had to look through a couple, but found a great one. Once you take him out he might decide he likes an Ibanez or whatever...CL has a crapton of used bases here in Colorado Springs/Denver...always some great deals.

For amps, I decided to do it a little at a time. I picked up a Gallien-Krueger MB200. RMCAudio has them for $199 shipped ($259 at Sweetwater)

I figured I'd get a decent amp that I could play through headphones until I can gather some more money for the speakers. I can also record out to my computer which is nice. My plan is to buy a couple 8-ohm cabs (the amp runs 200W @ 4ohms) one at a time. Having a head is more flexible IMO as you can use different cabs...the GK is small enough to take to the store/someones house to demo their cabs.

Good luck to you and your friend on your gear hunt...wish I had someone that would have helped me out way back when I was buying my first guitar/amp...haha

Yeah, me too! But then, that's what forced my education into these matters. I'm actually really stoker to be able to help him get started.. it'd be nice if we were close enough geographically to jam..someday.

I'd definitely check out the classic vibe squiers

Well, it seems there' s better deals to be had here in Virginia than in the Midwest, so I may buy it here and fly with it in July. I prefer a fat neck and with my friend being bigger than me I thiuht he might prefer the same. From a players perspective, how are the precision basses different from the jazz basses in terms of feel and tone? Is it like comparing a strat to a tele?
Granted, playing each will show me but until I can I would like your impressions.
also, the budget now is approaching $400 just for the bass, so we'd re now getting into MIM standard territory or maybe G&L tribute. Any thoughts you have will continue to help me immensely.

for $300 you can find a nice used MIM Jazz bass

I'd be on the hunt for a used mim precision bass myself. It'll last just about forever. Also keep an eye out for the music man SUB series, they sometimes show up in that price range used and that works out to some serious bang for your buck.

P-bass= fairly hefty neck..... Jazz bass= slim neck... Squier Classic Vibe P bass has a medium feeling neck, somewhere between the P and the J. I like it on mine. New about $350.00....... They are fiesta red..... Up until about a year ago they were baby blue... Get a used one and chose your fav color at less $$. Rated 4.5 out of 5. in most polls that I have read. And, yes, Virginia has an enormous selection of guitars and basses, etc. I suggest you go out to Guitar Center and other stores and play a few. Then buy used on the internet. Just my opinion, of course. And good luck.

jazz bass is configured for a brighter tone.

Also gonna need an amp... thinking a Roland cube... can he use a guitar cube for his bass?

Belongs to the CUBE ...
There are dozens of different CUBEs ...

I have a MicroCUBE BASS RX, a CUBE BASS 100 and for guitars a CUBE-30x.
I have tried the CUBE-30x with bass and it works very well! The JC modeling as well as the Black Panel modeling (sounding like the 1960s Fender amps).

If you live in a normal house / flat, the 30x is loud enough and strong enough for bass input/output. I had no fear of ruining the speaker.
But the 30x is no bass amp! Sounds like Ampeg amps are not possible with it! The low end is missing ...

THE BASS:
I love the Squier basses (Standard, VM and CV). He should try ...

CU
Andreas

I have the Bass Cube 100, plenty loud for most uses, wide range of tone. Pretty expensive unless you luck on a deal. Peaveys are usually good bang for buck in used territory.

as far as small practice amps go I like my Fender Bassman 25 combo
you can find them used for $100, one 10" speaker, headphone jack, stereo RCA input, all make it a nice piece to practice with

I am a guitar player, and general guitar nut. A close friend wants to pick up the bass and wants my help picking one out. He lives in the Midwest, I'm on the east coast, but will be traveling there to see him in July, so I need some help getting smart on bass guitars. I am familiar with buying and selling on CL. His budget will be $300. My plan is to start at a guitar center for him to play different models/ makes/ price brackets and then proceed from there to the used market. If it were for a regular guitar, I'd recomment the classic vibe squiers... are their bass models as good as their six string counterparts? What do you recommend?

Also gonna need an amp... thinking a Roland cube... can he use a guitar cube for his bass?

Squier CV Basses are every bit as good as the guitars. I have a CVC and a CV Jazz Bass and both are very nice instruments. In fact the basses just might be the all stars of the entire CV line.

You can get closed to $300 ($322) on a new one if you wait until GC or MF offers one of their frequent 15% discounts. Used you would probably be looking at around $250 or so median price. I got by CV Jazz last fall for $250 used with a case.

He could use a Cube guitar amp with the bass as long as he keeps the volume down but guitar amps are not really voiced for a bass nor do they have bass speakers in them.

Roland makes Cube Bass Amps and I would suggest going that way if he wants a Roland. You might look at the GK MB Combo amps as a slightly lower cost alternative but in either case he'd be getting a first class small combo amp with great sound.

I own a CV Jazz Bass and a GK MB112 Combo and I've played through Cube Bass Amps before as well. Good stuff very reasonably priced. Look used if you can find. They're dependable enough to trust.

Good suggestions as always here, you can't go wrong with P or J IMHO and the MIMs and Squiers are at the price point. Loads of used ones available all the time, enjoy the search.

I've played bass for 20 odd years and had dozens of basses including MIA, MIM, CV etc...

I'd recommended the Squier VM Jaguar bass, it's the one I use all the time now. It has a nice thin jazz type neck perfect for a starter and has both P/J pickups so you get the best of both. It's really versatile and plays like a dream. I sold my other basses when I got my Jag, I just wish it was about 20 odd years ago....

lots of low dollar options here:

http://www.rondomusic.com/bassguitars4.html

Take care. Bob

Now, this is a little tricky, but being a bassist from the Midwest, I know it's possible.

I've found that the early 90's/Late 80's MIK Squiers tend to offer awesome "bang for the buck." Since they're not yet on the "vintage" pedestal and wear the "Squier" logo, the basses tend to sell for less than $200. I've rarely found one of that vintage I didn't like. In fact, a shop in Bolingbrook is currently touting a vintage cream J-bass for $150 that I'm tempted to pick up.

Having said that: There are also "Squier II's" that I don't hold in the same regard, but for some reason sell for about the same price/higher in this area. Squier II P-basses generally sport a nice neck, plywood body, crumby electrics and the tuners are hit or miss, so, watch out for those if you go the "Used Squier" route.

Just my few cents.

Great help here from you all, and I truely appreciate it. There's a classic vibe here locally for $190 in natural. The one preference my friend has named is a natural finish vice Colorado.

Just a heads up, if you're in the Chicago Suburbs, Modern Music on Ogden and Yackley has a sunburst Squier Jazz CV for $199.99, might want to have him check it out if he's around the Lisle area.

Thanks so much for your input everyone. I have assembled a couple strategy and teles... so, I was thinking I might assemble a bass for my friend. Initial thoughts are to get an allparts (or similar) unfinished body and finish it in oil and wax, hardware and electronics from GFS, and a neck from either allparts or reliable fender on ebay. I haven't priced everything yet, but I think I can do it for $400. I don't mind working for free on aproject for a friend

You can find a lot of loaded bodies on ebay.Just do a search there under Pbass for everything needed. Then a neck & you`re in with a set of strings. I think its a good strategy & one your friend will appreciate more. Take care. Bob

I too, hail from the midwest, St. Louis area to be specific. I have a CV 50's Precision that is nothing short of fantastic. I play it almost as much as my Fender Precision Plus. I actually have some gear for sale; bass, amps, pedals and such. I play in a Praise & Worship band and have played with and without amps on stage. Running direct to FOH with a Sans Amp VT & a DI or a Sans Amp BDDI gets my vote if he can do without a standard amp or combo at this time. Otherwise, an inexpensive combo should still have some conveniences like RCA inputs, headphone jack, and maybe a built in tuner. If your friend happens to be in this part of the country, feel free to have him contact me.

Sidewinder,
thanks for the offer and input. My friend is located near ft Leavenworth... hes not in prison. I love to hear how great these cv's are... I have a Cv 50s strat body which blew away the 1994 American standard body it replaced. If I could have more than one electric, It'd be the cv60s on discount locally.

Well, my friend upped the amount and found exactly what he was looking for... natural with a rosewood board. It's a MIM from 2005. I have the serial and asked Fender about the body wood or anything else they can tell us. Is this Ash? He ended paying $400 for it, which is maybe a little high here in VA, but it is EXACTLY what he wants and he got it locally in Ft Leveanworth, and he says if feels perfect to him... so he's pretty happy with it. Sore fingers and all... Thanks again to you all for your help. Here are the required pics:

That's one heckuva starter bass. It'll probably last him his entire life.

BTW, you mentioned headphone amps earlier. In addition to several guitar models, Vox makes an Amp Plug for bass, which mimics the venerable Ampeg B15 and SVT. My son has one for his CV Precision (rosewood on uber-cool Sonic Blue). Highly recommended.

That's beautiful! We're living in a Golden Age of low-cost basses!