Advice on my first guitar

[Biscuit_Bass]

Hi all,

 

So I've been looking at my options for a first instrument. It has come to light that a friend of my father who took up the bass but didn't persue it has offered to let me have his guitar and amp for free. I don't yet know what the instrument is but will hopefully find out later today.

For someone who's just starting out, would you say a free instrument is perfectly fine, regardless of what model it is? I'm guessing most beginner basses are fit for purpose, at least for the very short term to see if I think it's something I want to continue with before I spend a lump of money?

The alternative would be to invest in something like a Yamaha TRBX304 for ~£340, plus an amp.

What are your thoughts?

Many thanks

[Maude]

I'd say wait and see what bass is being offered. 

Very generally speaking, any newer bass will be fine regardless of price when new, but budget basses from the mid/early eighties and earlier can be problematic. 

That said, nearly any budget bass can be made to play reasonably well if enough time is spent setting it up. There are very few truly unplayable basses. 

 

But wait and see what is offered, and keep us posted, I'm intrigued.

🙂👍

[Dan Dare]

Spend £350 or nothing on something you're not sure whether you'll want to continue with? No brainer for me.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. If you don't get on with it, you could donate it to a local school or similar - I appreciate that selling something you have been given is not really cricket.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Dan Dare

[Biscuit_Bass]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

I'd say wait and see what bass is being offered. 

Very generally speaking, any newer bass will be fine regardless of price when new, but budget basses from the mid/early eighties and earlier can be problematic. 

That said, nearly any budget bass can be made to play reasonably well if enough time is spent setting it up. There are very few truly unplayable basses. 

 

But wait and see what is offered, and keep us posted, I'm intrigued.

🙂👍

 

2 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Spend £350 or nothing on something you're not sure whether you'll want to continue with? No brainer for me.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. If you don't get on with it, you could donate it to a local school or similar - I appreciate that selling something you have been given is not really cricket.

Well, turns out it's not an option now! He's got rid of the guitars already.

So now the question is:

Yamaha TRBX174EW
Yamaha TRBX204
Squier Affinity Jazz/Precision Bass

or slightly more expensive:

Yamaha TRBX304.

These all look pretty good from the reviews/videos I've been looking at. In terms of aesthetics I really like some of the colour options available on the 174EW. Specifically the Tobacco Brown Sunburst and the Mango Wood Bass, Natural.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Biscuit_Bass

[SteveXFR]

At that price range, I think I'd go used. In a years time you'll quite possibly either want to upgrade or maybe give up either way you'll probably lose half the cost of it.

I'd look for a used Squier Jazz, Ibanez SR300, Sterling SUB Ray or Yamaha TRBX.

I found a Jazz style (narrow) neck easier when starting out but now prefer something wider.

[TheGreek]

What @SteveXFR said...

[Boodang]

Honestly you can't go wrong with any of those choices. I'd say at this stage the most important thing is how they feel to play for you. Go into a shop and just pick one up to see how it fits the hands and feels, you don't have to play anything and one of them just might 'feel' like the right thing. If then you have no preference pick the one that looks the best!

If you're going to be playing with other musicians you'll need an amp but if you are not and it's just practice at home get a small mixing desk (a small Behringer will cost about £50) then you can play with headphones and mix in tracks and lessons to play along with. Or get a preamp like a TC Electronic spectradrive which does a similar thing but you'll also be able to use later when you're in a band.

If you do need an amp you'll need to get advice on what will suit. Don't underestimate how much it takes to be heard over a drummer! Nothing worse than turning up to a rehearsal to find you can't be heard. If it's just low volume acoustic levels then it's a lot easier. 

Good luck and let us all know what you get.

[bassman7755]

10 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Honestly you can't go wrong with any of those choices.

 

Havnt played those exact bases but budget yamaha stuff is always very solid. 

 

28 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

At that price range, I think I'd go used.

Possibly an option if you buy one from a reputable shop or classified like basschats sales, wouldnt recomment a complete newbie go for something random off ebay/craigslist/faebook though.

[Boodang]

If you do buy second hand I'd still pop into a shop, hopefully they're nice and friendly. Then you might know if you prefer chunky P type necks or the thinner jazz necks.

[Marvin]

I'd go along to a shop and get the feel of some instruments, but don't feel pressured into buying something on your first visit. Maybe go back and try the bass you think could be OK again a couple of weeks later. 

 

When I started way back when I always wanted a Warwick,  I used to lust after them. Then a few years ago I got to practice and gig one.  I hated it, the most uncomfortable bass I've ever played. 

 

Out of your list, the only bass I could comment on would be the Yamaha TRBX304. I had the next one up, the 504. Probably the most comfortable bass to play I've ever had. Body sits well on the strap. Nice weight. Neck is slim (from the back to front) and us very easy to play. But that's me,  others may think differently. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Marvin

[naxos10]

As per replies above regarding going along to a shop. Also try out long and short scale basses as well as different makes.

Best of luck on your bass journey.

[Biscuit_Bass]

Thanks all. I'll definitely go into my local music shop and have a feel of the models I like the look of.

 

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

Honestly you can't go wrong with any of those choices. I'd say at this stage the most important thing is how they feel to play for you. Go into a shop and just pick one up to see how it fits the hands and feels, you don't have to play anything and one of them just might 'feel' like the right thing. If then you have no preference pick the one that looks the best!

If you're going to be playing with other musicians you'll need an amp but if you are not and it's just practice at home get a small mixing desk (a small Behringer will cost about £50) then you can play with headphones and mix in tracks and lessons to play along with. Or get a preamp like a TC Electronic spectradrive which does a similar thing but you'll also be able to use later when you're in a band.

If you do need an amp you'll need to get advice on what will suit. Don't underestimate how much it takes to be heard over a drummer! Nothing worse than turning up to a rehearsal to find you can't be heard. If it's just low volume acoustic levels then it's a lot easier. 

Good luck and let us all know what you get.

 To begin with at least, I'll mostly just be practicing solo through headphones. I'd like to be able to play along to backing tracks as well. Can this be done with an amp or would I need a mixing desk for that as well?

I think mixing in tracks will come later on so wouldn't be one of my priorities to start with.

Cheers

[bassman7755]

8 minutes ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

Thanks all. I'll definitely go into my local music shop and have a feel of the models I like the look of.

 

 To begin with at least, I'll mostly just be practicing solo through headphones. I'd like to be able to play along to backing tracks as well. Can this be done with an amp or would I need a mixing desk for that as well?

I think mixing in tracks will come later on so wouldn't be one of my priorities to start with.

Cheers

 

Get a zoom b1-4, the veritable swiss army knife of bass gear, does everything you want and loads more.

[naxos10]

A lot of practice combo amps have an auxilliary input for an mp/cd player that also allows a tablet or computer to be connected normally via the headphone or line out sockets.

 

Alternatively you could use a headphone amplifier like the valeton/vox or Blackstar which plug into the cable socket of the guitar and you just plug headphones in. If you are interested in going this route let me know as I have a spare unit that you could have which will allow you to concentrate on getting the bass first.

[Velarian]

2 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

 

Get a zoom b1-4, the veritable swiss army knife of bass gear, does everything you want and loads more.

Was just about to say exactly this. Effects and amp modelling, with an aux input will take you a long way. 

[Velarian]

I have both a Zoom B1-4 and a Vox bass headphone amp. The Vox is not as versatile as the Zoom and is a bit noisy but it’s very convenient. I just leave it plugged into the bass I’m currently favouring, pick it up, plug in headphones and off I go. It has an aux input too. 

[TheGreek]

Make sure you sign up to Scott's Bass Lessons and work your way through the beginners lessons. These will give you a good basis to build on.

[Nicko]

41 minutes ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

To begin with at least, I'll mostly just be practicing solo through headphones. I'd like to be able to play along to backing tracks as well. Can this be done with an amp or would I need a mixing desk for that as well?

Not sure where you are but I have a small practice amp available free to anyone who can collect it from West London.  It has phones socket and an aux in so you can jam along.  PM me if you are interested.

[SteveXFR]

5 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Make sure you sign up to Scott's Bass Lessons and work your way through the beginners lessons. These will give you a good basis to build on.

 

I really didn't get on with SBL.

It's OK for the very basic stuff but after that I very quickly got very bored with the lack of variety in musical styles.

Any video featuring Scott you can skip the first half of the video because it'll just be jazz noodling or talking about his morning. 

I preferred the Talking Bass lessons, great teachers and more musical variety. 

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Make sure you sign up to Scott's Bass Lessons and work your way through the beginners lessons. These will give you a good basis to build on.

Scott's Bass Lessons or something similar. You can go through the free stuff on youtube but then you're just scratching the surface whereas completing a program really helps you dig in and internalise the information.

For beginners tho I would recommend SBLs fretboard accelerator program. At the end of it you'll have fluidity around the neck, know where the notes are, know your triads and have a good understanding of the basics. Can't ask for more really. 

[Barking Spiders]

On 30/10/2021 at 17:19, SteveXFR said:

 

I really didn't get on with SBL.

It's OK for the very basic stuff but after that I very quickly got very bored with the lack of variety in musical styles.

Any video featuring Scott you can skip the first half of the video because it'll just be jazz noodling or talking about his morning. 

I preferred the Talking Bass lessons, great teachers and more musical variety. 

 I also would recommend Mark Smith's Talking Bass site over SBL any day of the week. The TB site probably owes a fair bit to Google for inspiration, no nonsense plain white background, a well laid out site directory and just MS with his basses up against a white background so no distraction.  MS is by far the best online bass tutor and I've tried out a good 20 of the better known ones, i.e. those with the larger numbers of YT subscribers.

 

As for a first bass, IMO you can get perfectly good preowned models well under £200 by Ibanez, Squier, Harley Benton and Yamaha. Mostly I'd say don't equate budget production models with low quality and high priced boutique basses with top end quality. Same for all guitars. BTW I have several acoustics from a £1,200+ Martin Dreadnought down to an Ibanez TCY 12E electric acoustic for £150. For  tone the TCY is my fave and current #1 go to.