Beginner – Upgrade guitar or amp?

[Ducky]

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.
 

[JapanAxe]

You will probably hear the most improvement by getting a better amp. You will get the most from your money by buying used - there are some absolute bargains to be had on Basschat Marketplace!

[BassApprentice]

If you're saying your playing never felt clean on your current gear - it could be poorly set up with dead spots along the neck or the strings need changed? However, I am never one to stand in front of acquiring more gear!

 

Part of improving is finding gear that makes you want to play and want to improve, so if you can find that within your budget. You could maybe go bass first and get a cheap headphone amp (NUX MightyPlug) for now - then go for a new amp? Or go for the amp first (Fender Rumble range is very well regarded) and use any leftover getting your current bass a set up. There are very few genuinely bad instruments out there these days so your current one could last you longer than you think.

 

Happy learning and buying!

[lemmywinks]

Amp first every time, those little practice combos are almost always the weakest link with starter kit. Check local listings on Facebook Marketplace and eBay, if you don't mind a heavier/bulkier combo you can score a significant upgrade for half your budget or less like Hartke, Ashdown, Trace Elliot etc.

 

If you just want a better P bass then a Squier CV will likely be all you ever need at around £200-£250 used, you should be able to sell your G4M kit for about £50 or so. Those starter kits are a bit of a dead end tbh, they might seem like a good deal (and I understand why shops have to sell them) but you'll want to upgrade pretty much everything in a surprisingly short time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[neepheid]

If you haven't already done so, you should look into how to do setups on the bass - it's free, lots of videos show you what to do, but you'd be amazed how a tweak of the truss rod or an adjustment of the action can transform how a bass plays.  And as long as you have the simple tools (allen keys 4/5mm generally for truss rod, 1.5mm frequently for bridge saddles, phillips screwdriver) to hand, it's free apart from your time.

Edited yesterday at 12:03 by neepheid

[lemmywinks]

Your bass could also most likely do with a setup but unless you know someone who'll do it as a favour (or can do it yourself) then you'll have to weigh up throwing money at something which has very little value against putting it towards something much better. 

[MartinB]

54 minutes ago, Ducky said:

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.

 

Take your own bass to the shop and try it through the same Fender amp. If it still sounds bad, then you'll know that a new amp is not the solution.

[Cato]

Bottom line is that a 10k bass will always sound bad through a bad amp, whereas a half decent amp will make almost any bass giggable.

 

We're not talking £1000s either,  for example, you should be able to pick up a 100w Fender Rumble on the second hand market for a lot less than the £300 budget and it will almost certainly be a huge step up from the practice amp you started with, certainly good enough to pair with any bass at any price point,and you can gig with it too.

 

 

[Lozz196]

It`s def a case of two arguments:

 

Better amp - sounds better so makes you want to play more. Not much can be done to make an amp sound better than it already does.

 

Better instrument - plays better so makes you want to play more. Re this as other mentioned a decent set-up can turn a budget instrument into a great player, so always worth getting optimum performance from your existing instrument.

[Cato]

I suppose, if the OP has no plans to gig soon, a compromise might be a good little heaphone amp like a Vox Amplug or maybe even a budget multi fx that can be paired with headphones like the old Zoom B1on if they can find one.

 

It will still be a decent sonic upgrade on the practice amp and should leave enough change for a bass upgrade too.

Edited yesterday at 13:09 by Cato

[JoeEvans]

I would always upgrade the instrument first - you get so much more pleasure and satisfaction from playing a good instrument. Buy secondhand, perhaps on here, and you should be able to sell it on for pretty much what you paid sometime down the line.

£300 should get you something good enough to gig with. You could then sell both old bass and amp, and buy a slightly better secondhand amp.

[Joe Nation]

Another vote for a new amp and a set-up. Amps turn the signal from the pickup into sound, so getting a good one is crucial if you want a better exp-ear-ience (made-up word). The guitar is the tool you use to create that signal - as long as it's set up well, you can get a decent signal out of almost anything. Definitely plug your G4M into a better amp and see what happens to the sound (and try a better guitar in your own amp if possible).

[Jonesy]

Heya and welcome to the wonderful (and expensive!) world of bass playing!

 

Where abouts are you in London? I'm sure there'll be someone here nearby who would be willing to meet up and take a look at the setup of your bass. Starter packs are great for getting going, but the bass will almost 100% need to be setup properly to eliminate fret buzz and get a decent action. Even if no one is near to you, a decent setup is worth paying for when you're looking at budget guitars. Or, like @neepheid mentioned, there are loads of handy videos on YouTube walking you through what you need to do (if you're handy. Word of warning if you do give it a go yourself - don't give the truss rod more than a quarter turn at a time).

 

If you still fancy an upgrade though, there are 2 ways to look at it as to which you should do first...

 

- Guitar first. If you're just learning and playing at home then I'd upgrade the bass first. It'll feels loads better, encourage you to pick it up more and just play the thing. Most basses still need a setup to suit the player, but if you go second hand and get from here you'll almost certainly get something that doesn't need to be tinkered with.

 

- Amp first. Do this if you're gigging. A bad bass through a good amp will sound loads better than a good bass through a bad amp. However, bear in mind that the increase in size and volume doesn't make a gig worth amp too convenient to play at home. Most of the time I'm practicing at home I use headphones and Zoom B1Four or a 15w Fender practice amp - even with this I have the volume at roughly at 7/8 o clock and it's plenty loud enough.

 

 

[SimonK]

Both in London - smidgeon over your budget, will work for gigging and home practice. Of course in reality these things are highly personal, but this is what I'd get with £300!

 

 

[lemmywinks]

If you can get to Swindon this would be an absolute steal leaving you £220 for an amp:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/236179876553

Edited yesterday at 15:52 by lemmywinks

[Ducky]

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

[Skybone]

For £300, you should be able to pick up something like a Squier bass and a reasonable amp second hand, though with the amp, it's probably better to stick with a "name" brand, as the quality should be decent.

 

Even most shops should have a good selection of "starter" basses & amps.

[tauzero]

I'd be inclined to get a better bass first - there are a lot of inexpensive basses which will be a step up from the G4M one. Does the amp have a headphone output? If so, try using that rather than the speaker and see if it gives an improvement. The amp upgrade is going to depend on what you intend to do - if you're just going to be playing at home, you won't need huge amounts of power, and portability won't be so much of an issue, whereas if you want to go gigging with it, you'll want a fair amount of poke and you will probably want reasonably lightweight gear. For the time being, as others have suggested, a Nux Mighty Plug or Boss Katana Go, or a Zoom B1 or B3 or similar would give you a better listening experience with the bonus of being able to play with effects.

[Mrbigstuff]

It will be much cheaper to address the issues with the bass. Ask a luthier to look at the setup/ frets. Cheaper basses are mostly cheaper because less time gets spent on the QC. 
 

Contrary to popular belief, new gear doesn’t make you better

[PaulThePlug]

Whats ya ear pleasure?

Maybe a Secondhand Ibby SR300 (Super Skinny Necks) or do you want the conventional P (or J?) , Squier of Harley B...

[SimonK]

13 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

It will be much cheaper to address the issues with the bass. Ask a luthier to look at the setup/ frets. Cheaper basses are mostly cheaper because less time gets spent on the QC. 

 

...now this could get philosophical as I don't think I agree as while a good setup will make any bass better to play, it can only go so far.

 

The main difference I have found between cheaper basses and expensive ones is the quality of hardware, followed by the resonance/sound of the instrument, and then playability. Generally I've found that anything over about £800 or so (new) is fine as far as hardware and playability goes, but the much bigger bucks provide an instrument where everything just works together better to make it easier to sound good and feel nice (aesthetics are also a factor which you get in spades with the more expensive instruments - especially the European built custom basses). Of course each of us then need to work out where on the scale we want to sit with our instruments. For the budget the OP has I would aim for reliability first, hence the Fender Squiers or maybe an Ibanez of some form.

 

14 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Contrary to popular belief, new gear doesn’t make you better

 

...but it's like money/wealth generally - it may not make you happy/better but it sure helps (especially if it inspires you to play more)!

 

Welcome @Ducky to the black hole...

[lemmywinks]

Personally I wouldn't throw money at a cheap off brand bass as it represents a false economy, it'll likely need some attention to the frets and setups aren't particularly cheap these days so why plough £50-£70 into a £30-£40 instrument? If you have a budget to stick to then it would be wise to put up with the G4M and scour Facebook until a local bargain appears, then jump on it*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* This is a hard habit to break and you may end up with a dozen basses

[Mrbigstuff]

50 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

...now this could get philosophical as I don't think I agree as while a good setup will make any bass better to play, it can only go so far.

 

The main difference I have found between cheaper basses and expensive ones is the quality of hardware, followed by the resonance/sound of the instrument, and then playability. Generally I've found that anything over about £800 or so (new) is fine as far as hardware and playability goes, but the much bigger bucks provide an instrument where everything just works together better to make it easier to sound good and feel nice (aesthetics are also a factor which you get in spades with the more expensive instruments - especially the European built custom basses). Of course each of us then need to work out where on the scale we want to sit with our instruments. For the budget the OP has I would aim for reliability first, hence the Fender Squiers or maybe an Ibanez of some form.

 

 

...but it's like money/wealth generally - it may not make you happy/better but it sure helps (especially if it inspires you to play more)!

 

Welcome @Ducky to the black hole...

I think we need to stay in context that the OP is a beginner.

All hardware is designed to do a job, and will do it if properly setup and maintained. The tuners on my Sire and MIM P bass are excellent. 
 

The biggest difference I find when you go above budget basses is either aesthetics (fancy woods ect), preferences (scale lengths, body size, fret size ect) and setup (plays great straight out of the box).

 

Of course it is a lot more fun to buy lots of gear but as a beginner you’ll never recover the hours lost just learning to play sufficiently.

[lemmywinks]

6 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

All hardware is designed to do a job, and will do it if properly setup and maintained. The tuners on my Sire and MIM P bass are excellent. 

 

 

Sire V/P7 and above tuners (the Grover 142 copies, £24 for a 4 string set from NW Guitars) are generally very good though, I wouldn't confuse them with the budget machine heads you find on ultra cheap basses. In fact in the early days of gen 1 Sire basses they did use the cheap and nasty tuners and a fair few people (myself included) complained about them, they switched to the better ones partway through gen 1 V7 production.

 

I actually put a set of (ex-Sire) Grover copies on one of my Arias and they were a massive improvement, better than the Wilkinsons I have on my fretless.

[SimonK]

...actually I'd add Sire to the list of reliable second hand (cheaper) basses for the OP to keep an eye out for... getting one for about £150 or so would be fine.

 

EDIT - just looked on eBay and they all seem to be a bit more expensive - around £350ish for second hand instruments. Still a good choice for that price!

Edited 10 hours ago by SimonK