Bass suggestions

Slartibartfarst42

Whichever player happens to use a particular instrument doesn't generally bother me, other than to point me in the general direction I want to go. These days I won't touch a 'signature' guitar at all. I think the only time such a thing has influenced me was when I was struggling to choose between a PRS and a Jackson. Both were nice guitars so I went for the PRS, partly because they hold their value better and partly because at the age of 52 I felt ridiculous playing something with a pointy headstock that looked like it had been designed purely for a shredding teenager. I beautiful guitar but I'm happier with my PRS. It's more 'me'.

I know a lot less about a bass so I'm well out of my comfort zone here. I know I like the bass tones on songs by The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy but other than that, I have no particular view on basses as my attention is usually on the guitarist. Oh, there was a guy who played bass for Joe Satriani I really liked too. Stu Hamm? Something like that anyway! I know the first three at least all use Fender Precisions but that's only a base tone I'm keen to approximate. It doesn't have to be exact, as long as it's in that area and offers more versatility so that I can do other things too. The Yamaha BB424 appeals because it seems to be essentially a good PJ so I'm bound to get that tone and have more versatility than a straightforward Precision. I think it would be a great choice so why have I not plunged in? Largely because I believe it's very heavy and my back is quite weak but other than that it seems really good. I don't know anyone who plays a TRBX304 and I don't really care if they do or don't but I know a Yamaha Pacifica is a great guitar at a low price, I know they have a rock solid reputation and I thought that the switch for changing EQ settings would be a convenient way for me to go without having to constantly mess around with an EQ myself. The SR370 has been one out of left field. I'm satisfied that either Yamaha will be a better way to go than an SR300 but with the SR370 being maple, I thought it might offer something a bit different and it's pretty much exactly the same price as a TRBX304.

As I said, my son will try what he can next week as I can't but not all models will be available. The TRBX should be fine but not many people seem to be stocking either the BB424 or the SR370. I think trying a Fender Precision and Jazz is a good idea as a benchmark and will give a good idea of what the BB424 will sound like and then I can assess the TRBX in comparison to that. For the SR370 he'll just need to try whatever is closest to it in the shop.

crunchman

@Slartibartfarst42 some of the modern takes on the classics don't have the classic sound.

Before I decided to convert my Jazz to PJ configuration I tried out several basses.

I really liked the look of this Sandberg:
http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=160617298607007

It looked like a Precision with a Jazz neck, but when I tried one, it wasn't the sound I wanted.  The Mexican P that they had in the shop was much better sounding.

I don't know those Yamahas well enough, and it does look to be passive from what I can see so it might be a bit more classic sounding, but I would try to get in a shop and compare one with a Fender and/or Squier.

Slartibartfarst42

I've been speaking to an old bandmate who I always found to be a superb bass player and very knowledgeable about his instruments. He owns a TRBX and likes it but significantly wasn't keen on the TRBX304. He also felt that for what I would mostly be playing, which tends to be older material, I'd be better off with passive pickups. He commented that for him, the BB424 looked like a fantastic bass that would give me all the sounds I wanted but it might boil down to an issue of necks. He wasn't sure how thick the neck was on the BB424 but knew that as I'm coming to this as a guitarist, the SR370 would be a good fit. This all sounds very reasonable and I'm inclined to trust his judgement as it's not possible for me to try these myself so I suppose a key question I need to find the answer to is just how thick is the neck on the BB424? I've messed around with both a Precision and Jazz before and certainly preferred the Jazz neck so if it's like that, it shouldn't be a problem. My other problem is that very few people seem to stock either a BB424 or an SR370 so trying the exact models will be almost impossible for my son. I think the best I can do is find out if the neck on a BB424 is like the Jazz or Precision (or whatever else) and then get him to compare that, along with the tones of a Precision and Jazz, to whatever is the nearest Ibanez he can find. It's not ideal but it's all I can do unless I can find someone with specific knowledge of these instruments.