Good first bass for adult (jazz, funk, salsa)

[Thundr]

Hi,

What’s a good first bass for an adult? I’m into funk, jazz and salsa, and would like to eventually jam along to some of my favourite tunes. I’d like to noodle along plugged or unplugged, and also confess to being a sucker for some aesthetics, hence my current wishlist:

Yamaha TRBX605;

Hofner HCT-500 VeryThin Bass; 

Yamaha BEX4 (can’t find one!);

Ibanez AGB205.

Good ideas or bad? Any further ideas? Thanks & keep thumpin’

T

[Dad3353]

Of those, I'd suggest that the Hofner (HTC500/7...) or the Ibanez would fit the bill. The Hofner has a centre block, and produces much less acoustic sound (but can be amplified to a higher volume without feedback...).  The ibanez has a fully ajustable bridge, for setting up intonation. I play a vintage Hofner Verithin bass, and for home noodling, there are no intonation issues, but the set-up is a bit more primitive than the Ibanez. One enormous advantage with any of these basses is the light weight..! A boon for an old fogie such as myself. The Hofner is a 'normal' 4-string, the Ibanez a 5-string. I can't say if that's of any great value to you or not. Be prepared to invest in a decent case for any of these guitars, as they are more easily damaged than 'planks'. Some 'soft-hard' cases for acoustic guitars can be found to fit, but the dimensions would need checking.
Hope this helps, if only slightly. 

Douglas

Edited June 30, 2020 by Dad3353

[Happy Jack]

"I’d like to noodle along plugged or unplugged".

You'll be playing at VERY low volume, then. None of those basses will produce much volume at all when played unplugged, and the solid-bodied TRBX605 pretty much nothing, even at home stereo or PC-with-speakers volumes.

If you're particularly wedded to that selection of basses, then syphon off some of your budget for a headphone amp into which you can feed an Aux signal from PC or whatever and the 1/4" instrument jack from your bass. At least that way you'll able to hear yourself play without ripping the ends of your fingers trying to get enough volume.

[hooky_lowdown]

None of your suggestions are right for the music you want to play. You require a jazz bass with nickel roundwound strings. 

For a first bass a Squier vintage modified jazz would be ideal. Even a Harley Benton jb-75 will give you the sound you want in conjunction with the nickel roundwound strings (Ernie Ball or D'Addario). 😃

[nilebodgers]

2 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

"I’d like to noodle along plugged or unplugged".

You'll be playing at VERY low volume, then. None of those basses will produce much volume at all when played unplugged, and the solid-bodied TRBX605 pretty much nothing, even at home stereo or PC-with-speakers volumes.

If you're particularly wedded to that selection of basses, then syphon off some of your budget for a headphone amp into which you can feed an Aux signal from PC or whatever and the 1/4" instrument jack from your bass. At least that way you'll able to hear yourself play without ripping the ends of your fingers trying to get enough volume.

I'd 2nd getting a headphone amp - if you are a beginner you are unlikely to develop good muting technique unless you are amplified.

[Mudpup]

Sire V7 and a headphone amp.

[hooky_lowdown]

18 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

Sire V7 and a headphone amp.

The Sire is a very good bass, but terrible suggestion for a very first bass. Too many knobs and switches for active and passive for an absolute beginner. The Sire is a very good second or even third bass. A first bass needs to be simple, plug in and play, unless you have some kind of musical background or knowledge.

[Dad3353]

Such a shame, to see such sectorism on the Forum. There's nowt wrong with any of the basses the OP was inquiring about. One may play any of the styles, and more, with any of 'em. He did explain that the aesthetics of those basses pleased him, and that noodling 'unplugged' would be a 'plus'. I maintain that the Hofner and Ibanez are fine for his needs. 

[hooky_lowdown]

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

Such a shame, to see such sectorism on the Forum. There's nowt wrong with any of the basses the OP was inquiring about. One may play any of the styles, and more, with any of 'em. He did explain that the aesthetics of those basses pleased him, and that noodling 'unplugged' would be a 'plus'. I maintain that the Hofner and Ibanez are fine for his needs. 

The Hofner is a one trick pony, does one type of sound (admittedly very well), but for funk - absolutely NOT! For the sounds the OP wants, a jazz will give much great variety of sounds.

[Dad3353]

1 minute ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The Hofner is a one trick pony, does one type of sound (admittedly very well), but for funk - absolutely NOT! For the sounds the OP wants, a jazz will give much great variety of sounds.

The bloke's beginning on bass. I doubt he'll be playing Bootsie Collins licks, slapping and popping, or envelope following for the first year or so. The Hofner will do 'funk' darned well, with the right strings (helped by some mastery of the techniques by way of the fingers, naturally...). It's certainly not the 'one trick pony' you're suggesting. How would I know (I'm a drummer...). My principle bass is a vintage Verithin, strung with black nylon, and it sounds fine for the wide repertoire our group played, back in the day. The Ibanez would give a good account of itself, too. I don't understand this notion of any one make of bass for playing at home in different styles. Still, I'm not the OP; he'll decide for himself, maybe by acquiring an Ampeg stack, a p-bass and a Bass Balls pedal. I'll leave it there... 

[hooky_lowdown]

8 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

The bloke's beginning on bass. I doubt he'll be playing Bootsie Collins licks, slapping and popping, or envelope following for the first year or so. The Hofner will do 'funk' darned well, with the right strings (helped by some mastery of the techniques by way of the fingers, naturally...). It's certainly not the 'one trick pony' you're suggesting. How would I know (I'm a drummer...). My principle bass is a vintage Verithin, strung with black nylon, and it sounds fine for the wide repertoire our group played, back in the day. The Ibanez would give a good account of itself, too. I don't understand this notion of any one make of bass for playing at home in different styles. Still, I'm not the OP; he'll decide for himself, maybe by acquiring an Ampeg stack, a p-bass and a Bass Balls pedal. I'll leave it there... 

The OP will sadly have to wade through a host of bad advice on this forum. I'd love to see a straw poll of how many jazz, funk, salsa players play a hofner or play a jazz! 

What next, might you suggest a Danelectro for metal?!? 😆

[Dad3353]

Whatever. 

@Thundr: I was joking about the Ampeg stack etc; they're not essential for playing along to jazz, funk, salsa at home 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Dad3353

[Mudpup]

57 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The Sire is a very good bass, but terrible suggestion for a very first bass. Too many knobs and switches for active and passive for an absolute beginner. The Sire is a very good second or even third bass. A first bass needs to be simple, plug in and play, unless you have some kind of musical background or knowledge.

You're contradicting yourself. You stated that 'a jazz will give much great variety of sounds' and then saying that having too many controls to create those sounds is a bad thing. Why do you need to have a musical background or knowledge to appreciate a nice bit of kit?

So set everything flat until you understand it then. And it isn't complicated - In passive mode you have a volume, tone and balance knob - exactly the same as any basic bass. You are assuming that the OP is incapable of operating or understanding what a couple of knobs just because they are a beginner. It is a great potential first bass because it is so easy to play and is actually pretty difficult to get a bad sound out of it. And it has the potential to grow as the player does.

I wish they had been around when i got my first bass!

[hooky_lowdown]

37 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

You're contradicting yourself. You stated that 'a jazz will give much great variety of sounds' and then saying that having too many controls to create those sounds is a bad thing.

You have to put things in context...

For a beginner a jazz has a variety of sounds, being passive it's a simple plug and play, which is what is most suitable for a beginner.

The Sire has too many bells and whistles for a beginner. It's like giving a Porsche to a learner driver. A great car, but not suitable for a beginner!

[yorks5stringer]

Given the OP seems to reside in 'England,West Africa' he may have issues sourcing any of his curent choices....

[Mudpup]

37 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

You have to put things in context...

For a beginner a jazz has a variety of sounds, being passive it's a simple plug and play, which is what is most suitable for a beginner.

The Sire has too many bells and whistles for a beginner. It's like giving a Porsche to a learner driver. A great car, but not suitable for a beginner!

It is a passive jazz if you want it to be! Just don't touch the other knobs if you don't want to. It's better to have the option and not use it than not have it in the first place. It's just an extra bass, treble and mid control on the bass - he'll have that on the amp. Or should he just have a volume knob on that? In case he gets confused......

And the most suitable thing for a beginner is something which is easy to play. Like a Sire. I've got one. It's probably the easiest and most instantly playable bass i've had. It's remarkably cheap. And it's so easy to play i keep picking it up for a noodle which has to be a good thing for a beginner.

Plenty of people have had Porsches for first cars and manage perfectly well in them. You can potter about in it or drive it like you stole it because it's capable of both in the first instance. Like a Sire.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Mudpup

[LukeFRC]

Anything Yamaha will be quality and good value for money

[Maude]

I have a Yamaha BEX4 and it is a seriously under rated bass. The build quality is exceptional. It has hollow body looks but has a centre block so none of the feedback issues. The soapbar pickup is the same as in my BB and due to position sounds very much like a P bass but more aggressive sounding or a slight added hollow sweetness, depending on playing attack. The piezo bridge pickup gives a lovely bright snappy tone, not really acoustic as some say. With the three band EQ I challenge anyone to find a style it's not capable of doing. It's not a light bass though as some might expect. 

If you can find one they are exceptional value for money. Not mine though as you couldn't pay me enough to let go of it. 🙂

[hooky_lowdown]

31 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

It's better to have the option and not use it than not have it in the first place. It's just an extra bass, treble and mid control on the bass - he'll have that on the amp. Or should he just have a volume knob on that? In case he gets confused......

Clearly you are confused as you just contradicted yourself. Why have a passive/active bass and only use it in passive, when an amp can control extra bass, treble and mids. 😆😆 

 

[Maude]

2 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

What next, might you suggest a Danelectro for metal?!? 

Just curious as to why a Danelectro wouldn't work for metal? Loud, punchy, clangy Rickenbackeresque tone would be well suited I'd have thought. 

[hooky_lowdown]

9 minutes ago, Maude said:

Just curious as to why a Danelectro wouldn't work for metal? Loud, punchy, clangy Rickenbackeresque tone would be well suited I'd have thought. 

Not loud, the lipstick pups are only 3.5k output. Not enough to drive an amp.

[Maude]

Mines got plenty of oomph, really nice growly tone and no quieter plugged straight into an amp than any other bass I own, louder than some. 

One of the best tones in American punk Fat Mike's Danelectro in NOFX. Certainly not lacking there at all. 

[Nebadon2000]

Those are all 'Nice looking' Basses and of decent quality, be nice if you could audition all of them. I would lean to Yamaha if auditioning is not in the equation. You could hedge your bet [albeit more cash] by taking a look at what Gretsch and Guild have to offer. [similar style]

[andruca]

For the kind of money you're looking forward to spend I strongly suggest you check a used Star Bass out, either the Warwick ProSeries (Korean preferrable) or the RockBass version (Chinese, still not bad). I've recently got a Korean ProSeries 5 string Star Bass and I couldn't be happier. Only other semi-hollow I've owned is an Epiphone Viola, but also have tried several Hofners and Jack Casadys, as well as the AGB205. The StarBass crushes them all for my taste and needs. It's not as hollow body sounding as others (still can do the job pretty well on flatwounds and is pretty loud unplugged), that's and advantage for me but it might not be to you. There's a solid block running thru' the center of the body, so the bass isn't microphonic at all nor produce any feedback, unlike other semi hollows (center block violin basses -the Epi Viola I had included- are still way too microphonic, this is 100% like a solid body in that regard). And those big single coil pickups are around J position so it really sounds like a Jazz, but with extra warmth/girth to it (humbucker lows) and some more delicate/detailed highs. Also has RIDICULOUS SUSTAIN, the lows keep pushing my preamp longer than any of my other basses (my main axes are a couple Stingray5s). IME it's much more versatile than your usual semi-hollow bass. BTW, the low B is pretty decent, unlike that of the Ibby AGB. I got my WPS Star Bass with a nice padded bag (the bass is strong enough not to need a case) for 600€ less than 2 months ago from a guy in Italy (for some reason these are way easier to spot in the 2nd. hand market there than here in Spain). It's quite a good price considering used RockBass versions are no less than 700€ used 'round here and the bass is undistinguishable from a German ProSeries (same exact materials, hardware and pickups/electronics).

I'd wanted this bass for the last decade. The bass had a major turnoff for me. The strap pin at the heel is USELESS, HANGS HORRIBLY, as happens with almost any bass of this type, makes the bass tilt forward facing the ground. I solved this by relocating the strap pin to the right place, for which I "solidified" the tip of the upper horn with epoxy, real easy and STRONG, and now it hangs great, as any bass would. The bass doesn't neckdive much but it's definitely neck heavy, moving the strap pin helped mitigate this issue too. Not as light a bass as a violin, still nothing unbearable, little over 4 kilos.

Oh, and regarding the TRBX range, well, besides being very different from the rest of options you present, IME it sounds generic, not bad instruments at all, just unremarkable as per tone (or "tone of its own"). Again, if you're between a traditional solid body and hollows/semi-hollows, the Star Bass could be the perfect intermediate solution. It's currently my sole 5 string 2 pickup fretted bass and I'm confident I'll not only do unplugged or classic or black stuff but also punk/HC/metal the crap out of it.

Edited July 1, 2020 by andruca

[Mudpup]

9 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Clearly you are confused as you just contradicted yourself. Why have a passive/active bass and only use it in passive, when an amp can control extra bass, treble and mids. 😆😆 

 

Because it just happens to come with it. You said i could only have a passive bass, not me. It has a single switch to turn the actives off. That shouldn't be too difficult to understand.

The fact remains that it's a very good quality and easy playing bass at a great price. Which would probably be the top 3 requirements on the spec sheet for a first bass. Oh and it was designed and marketed to provide a bass of quality that was easy to play for beginners. The initial question was 'what's a good first bass for an adult?' It fits the bill in my opinion but obviously i am completely wrong. I'll give Marcus Miller a ring and tell him he got it wrong too and he should contact the 1000's of beginners that have bought it to apologise for confusing them with all the knobs.

Just BTW - have you got one? Or have you played one.