webby Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 (edited) Hi, I'm new here, and more to the point, I'm pretty new to bass playing and bass gear despite having owned a bass for 20 years! To just set the story, please read on..... I have an Aria Pro 2 SLB-2 Bass, bought around 1990/91. White, with a rosewood fretboard, and a maple neck (I think). This bass cost about £180 back then. I also have a Peavey TNT150 amp. I bought it when I was about 20 and decided that I wanted to play bass. After a few years of trying to learn my fave basslines, I moved over to guitar cos I wanted to play chords and sing along too. Did some acoustic gigs and rehearsed with a band but nothing serious. More recently, I've been rehearsing with a band with my acoustic guitar but not enjoying it that much. I then found an advert for a U2 tribute act looking for a bassist. U2 are one of my favourite bands and I thought what the hell, I'll reply to the ad. I'd barely touched the bass until I saw that ad. So, I dug it out, cleaned it up and put some new strings on it and started practising. I've had one rehearsal with the U2 band and we played 11 tracks straight through. I'd only practised at home for a couple of weeks so I was pretty pleased. I'd like to ask some questions about upgrading my bass. Would it be worth changing the pickups on my bass? If so, which should I choose? My budget would be under £100. I read good things about Kent Armstrong pickups. Does anyone know anything about the stock pickups I have in my bass and what I could do to upgrade, or improve them? Or, would it be better to buy a new bass, (in which case my budget would be around £250) with say a squier jazz bass, or a 2nd hand fender jazz? Or something else? Cheers, Webby Edited October 9, 2010 by webby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Maybe a Squier Precision would be more fitting in a U2 tribute band. Not that I'm suggesting there is anything wrong with Aria basses, just don't know if it's the right look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASainty Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 This should do the job nicely [url="http://www.basscentre.com/4-string-bass-guitars/squier-vintage-modified-precision-bass.html"]http://www.basscentre.com/4-string-bass-gu...ision-bass.html[/url] That's the cheapest iv ever found a VM P-Bass as normally they are £250+ So that's quite a steal. Plus they are quite upgradeable if you fancy changing something in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 That does look good, but out of stock. I most certainly wouldn't order from the Bass Centre unless it was in stock and no one else anywhere in Britain had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASainty Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Yea iv had a look round again found it again still pretty cheap. [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier-vintage-modified-precisi/71000"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier...d-precisi/71000[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webby Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) Thanks guys. The general consensus (at this early stage) then, is to get meself a Squier Precision of some sort, yeah? Could you put me right on some terms/abbreviations please? What is SQ, JV and CV in regards to Fender/Squier basses? And what is the Vintage Modified bass? It doesn't even say on the Squier site! What does it mean exactly? Cheers p.s. how about a Jaguar? Edited October 10, 2010 by webby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BASainty Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) Basically precision basses are a safe and very practical option they fit a wide range of styles. CV means Classic Vibe im not sure on the other two sorry! Edited October 10, 2010 by 4StringFortress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webby Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 [quote name='4StringFortress' post='983212' date='Oct 10 2010, 11:49 AM']Basically precision basses are a safe and very practical option they fit a wide range of styles. CV means Classic Vibe im not sure on the other two sorry![/quote] Ha ha. CV as the one I knew, but I added it anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nostromo Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 [quote name='webby' post='983210' date='Oct 10 2010, 11:46 AM']Could you put me right on some terms/abbreviations please? What is SQ, JV and CV in regards to Fender/Squier basses? And what is the Vintage Modified bass? It doesn't even say on the Squier site! What does it mean exactly? Cheers p.s. how about a Jaguar?[/quote] Hi there, I think JV were the original early series of Fender Japan guitars produced in the early 80's. JV stands for Japanese Vintage as I understand it. They are now highly sought after and dont come cheap ! . . . . As for the Vintage modified Bass . . . well . . . I think that model is called Vintage because its a sort of fenders own generic copy of one of their vintage Precisions (but I dont think its supposed to be a replica of any particular exact year) . . . and I suspect its called Modified because its got Semour Duncan pickups on it, which probably means it wont sound the same as a real vintage american precision . . . you'll have to look on the web, or better still go and play one, to find out exactly what the pickups are and what they sound like ? As for SQ . . . . not sure about that one ? . . . . sounds like a typical Fender serial number prefix . . . and the letter prefix's usually refer to country of origin ? (possibly a more modern japanese run/range or something like that ?) again youd need to do a web search to nail exactly what it stands for ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webby Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 Regarding Pickups, what is the best way to set the precision type pickups? i.e. Should they be angled more away from the E string cos it's a thicker string? In some pics, I've seen these pups low on the E, high in the middle, and then low on the G string. Is this to match the radius of the fretboard and therefore the strings? Or is it just a case of suck it and see, and go with what makes the sound you're happy with? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) Get one of these they're great! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvW-fn8m2WA&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvW-fn8m2WA...feature=related[/url] And you'll look just like him [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Adam_Clayton_2005_Wien_v1.jpg"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Adam_Cla...005_Wien_v1.jpg[/url] Edit : Oh and by the way they'll really cheap.......but great value [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier-/71293"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier-/71293[/url] Edited October 10, 2010 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webby Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 I'm thinking about the Squier Jaguar now. Jazz neck, J/P pickups. Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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