Minininjarob

I am a beginner. I am also a huge 2nd buyer of bargains. However I don’t know much about basses so I did some homework to help me buy a 2nd hand instrument as my first bass. The problem is that my lack of experience means no matter how much I read up I could never be too sure as I couldn’t even play a tune to figure out how well it played. I would have no idea if something has been messed with or is beyond repair. I went round a few shops and decided what I really wanted was a P-bass and ended up buying a brand new Fender Standard PB in the colour I loved and it makes me want to play it every day. The only adjustment I made was a slight tweak to the truss rod to reduce the fret buzz but otherwise it’s fantastic. If I were you I’d go a get a brand new Squier P Bass if that’s what you’ve decided you want OR have a think about the music you would like to play or the bassists you want to sound like and try out what they use. Buy an instrument that gets you excited about picking it up - not just because it’s a good deal. I couldn’t care less if a PB is harder to play than a modern Yamaha or whatever, as when I picked one up and played it I suddenly felt like I was Mike Dirnt and that was everything. There’s so many amazing new budget basses nowadays - go and try a few out!

I only slid the amp section out briefly and the owner knows. I do have an electronics background and wanted to check the condition of the inside of it, it was in fantastic condition and just needed a bit of dusting out. If I bought it I’d put in a quieter fan but it works fine so I won’t be doing anything to it unless I own it.

Looks like a big beast!!!

Thanks very much. Seems the cost of buying all the stuff to make a decent box isn’t low (especially with the price of timber!) might not be worth it, especially as I’ll have to buy a new speaker cab as well.

It would be ply or maybe some nice pine, but not MDF - too heavy and I hate using it. The bolts screw in from above into the chassis so would be easy to replicate the bolt locations and types - I have a really good local bolt stockists.

Unfortunately it’s not a rack mount unit and from memory I don’t think it’s even the same width. If I made a ply box for it to go in what are the options for covering it? Also the edge protections, I like the black ones, any tips on suppliers for these?

I have a TE combo which I’ve borrowed from someone but it is crazy heavy. I quickly removed the amp section from the top of the combo to see if it needed any cleaning or servicing and found that it isn’t very heavy on its own - it’s the cabinet itself which weighs as much as a small moon. The amp itself is of excellent quality. My question is how easy is it to rehouse the amp section into another box? Are they a standard size (I’m guessing not) and so can you buy an off the shelf housing? I am assuming that if I were to make a box it’s basically just a sleeve which I bolt the amp inside, with maybe some metal corners on? I can make things out of wood so am considering making my own one day - any recommendations on a wood or other material to make the case out of?

I had seen them but it’s a long way from me in Yorkshire.

I went to PMT in Leeds - very helpful there - and tried out a few sub £400 combos. I found out the one I tried when I first went in was a very expensive Ashdown which might have explained why it sounded good but to be fair I was so excited with buying anything I was a bit blinded. I was underwhelmed with the Ampeg sound, just a bit unexiting really, and the volume on the one I tried wasn’t great despite a decent size driver. Tried an Ashdown Studio 12 and I wasn’t that impressed. It was ok but that was it. Also it was really hard to see where the level knobs were on them as they were so shiny. Weird I know but it bothered me. The staff said they were getting a lot back faulty too which is a shame. The Fender Rumble 40 was excellent, such a great open sound, punchy and clear. Controls were a joy to use too. So that’s what I would choose if the 2nd hand option doesn’t work out but I’d probably look for one 2nd hand as they are expensive new.

I couldn’t have hoped for a better response, thanks so much for the detailed advice. I don’t think I’ll be moving it around too much to start with so if the sound is ok for me I reckon I’ll go for it if the price is right. I’ve been pretty underwhelmed at the combo amps I’ve been looking at in the shops under £300 so if this is pretty cheap then it’ll be well worth it I think.

That looks amazing!!

Where did you get those from? I really like them.

Well I’m going to give it a try, thanks for the help. Are TE Amos generally decent quality?

A close friend of mine is a sound engineer and he said when he went through Uni his teachers drilled into him that his ears needed to be protected from day one so even as a student he had custom in-ears made, it’s rare I see him not wearing some sort of ear protection!! I will certainly be wearing some form of ear protection as soon as I get a bigger amp than the little practice one I have now.

That’s interesting as his bass is always pretty obvious in the mix. I tried a thicker pick and I found doing fast alternate picking is much harder with one, I can see why FM likes a very thin pick as it doesn’t get caught on the strings. Probably my lack of skill doesn’t help but it seems to make sense. I’ll get a pack of .73 as well to try.

Hi all, I have the opportunity to try out this combo - Trace Elliot GP7 SM combo amp and extension cab. I don’t know much about amps - this is my first one - but a friend is selling it and I can try it out first. Condition wise it will be perfect as I know he really looks after stuff 100%. Are they reliable? Easy to fix? As far as sound goes I like the punk sound but want to try and play a bit of everything so I’m not wedded to anything in particular. Any experience of this one? I have to say it looks flipping awesome.

I’ve just started out and I went shopping for a guitar at Rich Tone in Sheffield and they had some Fat Mike picks - had to buy them as I love NOFX. They are very thin (o.6) but I like them, but they aren’t cheap. But they are pink. 😂 I do have a single .9 Dunlop pick which has a knurled grip on it (not sure what they are called as it came in a variety pack) and I’m going to get some thinner ones of those as they feel really secure to hold.

Thanks that’s helpful, I don’t know much about them so that is important info!

I have a PB as my first instrument - got this week - and I was thinking the same thing that the knobs aren’t great to use. Could do with some sort of marker on them so I set them a little easier. Anyone recommend some nice ones?

It’s very nice indeed - if you haven’t seen the colour in person I reckon it’s gorgeous. When I saw one I knew I had to have it.