killswitch2011

If I could choose to play like one bassist, and one bassist alone, it would definitely be him. He's not the reason I started playing bass, but he's definitely the standard to which I aspire (an unachievable goal of course, but one can dream ), and is one of my top five favourite bassists. I was playing along to "Live At Leeds" last night, and I just couldn't keep up lol. R.I.P.

[quote name='LiamPodmore' post='1067100' date='Dec 22 2010, 08:08 PM']The Ibanez GSR200 is a brilliant bass for the money (I payed £150 in '07 for mine) especially for someone just starting out on bass, so i recommend one of those, but as always, go and play some basses in your budget and pick which one feels and sounds best to you.

Liam[/quote]

Totally agree.When I started looking a few months ago, this was my first choice by far, until I found my Washburn.
The rest of your advice makes complete sense as well

As anyone who has read the "introductions" forum may know, I have recently restarted playing, after a 20+ (!) year break, during which time I mostly DJed and occasionally made electronic music :0

I tried out several basses in the £150-250 price range, including Squiers, and several Yamaha and Ibanez models. Absolutely hated the Yamahas, and nearly decided not to bother trying again after playing those! But I decided to persevere, and try a wider range of instruments.

Loved the Ibanez basses; Squier Jazz was OK, but not quite my style. I wasn't so keen on the P-Bass (despite the fact that my first "real" bass as a teenager was a Squier Precision lol), so that was out, too. But all of these would be good choices in this price range, if they suit your style.

Unfortunately, I find a lot of basses quite uncomfortable tom play, and i think that's because I have quite small hands/fingers for a bloke lol. Even so, this didn't stop me from being described as "one of the fastest bassists in town" when I was younger haha.

After doing a wider search online, I came across the Washburn XB-100:



To me, this was as close to perfection as I was likely to find in my (low-budget) price range.

Retails at around £210 new, but I got mine second-hand, in near-mint condition, for £80. I play it at least an hour a day, and I absolutely love it. Not as easy to find as the basses mentioned above, but well worth a try.

He's the reason I started playing bass the first time around! I was a guitarist from about the age of 12, but never felt entirely comfortable with it. Then, at the age of 15, I saw Level 42 on TV, and thought to myself, "THAT'S what I want to do!".

Considering that I was, and have only ever really been, a hard rock/metal musician, this may seem a little odd! But I loved his style, and despite the fact that I never really liked Level 42's music, he got me hooked on the sound of the bass. Within a couple of years, I'd played in several bands, including one which came (iirc) second in an "England Entertains" talent contest, so I must have been reasonably good.

Unfortunately, a few years later, I got into DJing instead, so the bass was exchanged for two turntables lol. but the lure of four strings has never entirely gone away, and now I'm back haha

[quote name='MB1' post='1269517' date='Jun 15 2011, 12:50 AM']MB1.
LOCAL MANCUNIAN WELCOME! [/quote]



tbh I only joined to see if I could find some information on how to exercise my fingers, so I can play faster, lol, but I think I'm going to hang around - eventually, I may be in a position to contribute something useful, lolz

Hi,

I've recently started playing again after over 20 years!!! :0

Surprisingly, I'm not finding it too difficult to pick up the technique again, but I'm finding it physically harder than I expected. Strangely, I seem to be finding it harder to play with a pick, and much easier to play with my fingers - which is the complete opposite of how I used to play previously! Mostly into metalcore/prog metal/anything downtuned these days, which I'm sure will earn me some criticism, but that's life haha.

It will be interesting to see how I progress, especially as I can't read music any more, but I'm ambitious and determined in everything I do, and I'm prepared to work hard