Ducky

Thanks everyone. I noticed that nobody mentioned Orange amps. Are they not as highly regarded as the brands mentioned so far?

Hi all, I've attempted to setup the bass properly using THIS video as a reference, and must say that the results were pretty awesome (Thanks BassBuzz / Josh Fossgreen, in case you're here)! Adjusting the truss rod made the biggest difference, and everything sounded substantially cleaner. Thanks to everyone who directed me down this route. However, the most noticeable improvement was when I plugged in a pair of headphones to the amp. That made it sound incredible! I think that perhaps it's time to upgrade my amp. Keeping in mind that I only plan to play at home in a pretty small room, what kind of specs and brands do you think I should be looking for? I definitely won't need an immense amount of power and volume, and I would prefer to not use headphones. In terms of size, the smaller the better. I like playing heavier music, like metal, and will buy a distortion pedal at some point. Thanks again for the invaluable advice!

Thanks everyone, those are some really interesting and useful replies. Much appreciated!

Hi all, Hope everyone is doing well. I’ve recently taken up playing bass, and have reached a point where I want to upgrade either my bass guitar or amp. I started a few months ago, with an inexpensive Gear4music 4-string guitar and amp pack for about £150. I’ve gradually improved with consistent practice, but always felt that my plucking / pulling never sounded “clean”. I thought it was down to poor technique, and tried to work on it, but didn’t make any real improvement. Last weekend I happened to stumble into a high-end guitar shop and tried playing a fender bass with a fender amp, and it sounded incredible. I don’t think my playing has ever sounded so clean, which led me to realise that it wasn’t me / my technique that’s the issue. Now that I’ve come to that realisation, I want to upgrade either my guitar or amp. What do you recommend I do first? My budget is around £300, and I will eventually upgrade both, but right now I only have budget for either the guitar or amp. Also, I should mention that the guitar I tried in the shop was £900, and the amp was probably also a very expensive one. Will a £300 guitar or amp provide an improvement in tone like the one I just described? I like playing heavier music, like metal, and will also buy a distortion pedal at some point. Thanks in advance for your help.