Noob Bass help

jhalliday89

Hi chaps, 
Long time guitar player, looking to start learning bass. I don't want to spend a fortune on a bass to start out with  so looking at either:

Squire classic vibe P Bass (Interested in 50s, 60s or 70s - probably whichever has the slimmer neck).
Vintage V4 

I am willing to push my budget to a Fender Player mustang too if these are really worth the extra cash!

Can find loads of stuff on the squiers but not much on the Vintage, I've had vintage guitars in the past and was always really impressed for the price.

Also if anyone has any bargains going in the P Bass or Mustang flavour please let me know!

Winny_Pooh

Squier or Vintage should do fine. Get a P bass rather than a shorter scale Mustang, they just sound right and are less fiddly to get working. 

jhalliday89

Ok great, big fan of Paul Simonon and the Vintage V4 in white with maple neck really catches my eye.

MattBanshee

Mustangs are for children, leave well alone.

Vintage V4 is cheap shite.

Get the Squier, but also explore the G&L Tribute lines if budget allows. They have some really nice looking basses at around the £329 mark.

mart

MattBanshee said:

Mustangs are for children, leave well alone.
...

Er, or for Alan Lancaster, so may be a very good choice depending on your taste.

MattBanshee

mart said:

MattBanshee said:

Mustangs are for children, leave well alone.
...

Er, or for Alan Lancaster, so may be a very good choice depending on your taste.

Sorry, children or dreadful, dreadful music

jhalliday89

MattBanshee said:

Mustangs are for children, leave well alone.

Vintage V4 is cheap shite.

Get the Squier, but also explore the G&L Tribute lines if budget allows. They have some really nice looking basses at around the £329 mark.

This is interesting - Always liked G&L, didn't realise they had anything around this price point, will explore asap

Funkfingers

jhalliday89 said:

the Vintage V4 in white with maple neck really catches my eye.

Check out the classified listings in Basses £. You may find a bargain.

IMHO, appearances are secondary to sound and playability. 

jhalliday89 said:

Squier classic vibe P Bass (Interested in 50s, 60s or 70s - probably whichever has the slimmest neck).

Fifties profile should be deep and wide.
Early Sixties should be shallow and wide.
Seventies should be all over the place and smothered in poly finish.

Some modern interpretations have the narrower Jazz Bass nut width and string spacing. A compromise 42mm nut is fairly common.

The Fender Mustang Bass was designed to be a “student” model. Thus, Matt Banshee’s seemingly dismissive comment is entirely correct. To be fair, Alan Lancaster is - in politically correct parlance - vertically challenged.

MattBanshee

jhalliday89 said:

MattBanshee said:

Mustangs are for children, leave well alone.

Vintage V4 is cheap shite.

Get the Squier, but also explore the G&L Tribute lines if budget allows. They have some really nice looking basses at around the £329 mark.

This is interesting - Always liked G&L, didn't realise they had anything around this price point, will explore asap

This is almost pocket-money price;

https://www.andertons.co.uk/g-l-tribute-jb-2-bass-in-sonic-blue-clear-satin-neck-brazilian-cherry-fingerboard-ti-jb2-111r07r00?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=CjwKCAjwmMX4BRAAEiwA-zM4JoQgZGU6-F_8FZkFeSzSS42-sH8QZImqeFiFk62zs5BTubZX9gHj5hoCk84QAvD_BwE

ICBM

MattBanshee said:

Sorry, children or dreadful, dreadful music

Not just Alan Lancaster but also Bill Wyman, Roger Glover, Trevor Bolder, Tina Weymouth, Justin Meldal-Johnsen... all dreadful music? They're not all that small, either.

It's actually a very nice little bass with its own distinct sound. But if you want a traditional P-Bass sound, not the right bass.

cgumtree

Can't comment on the P Bass, but I received a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz bass earlier this week. Also a long time guitar player looking to learn bass. I'm really impressed with the Squier - great build quality, and seems playable enough. I'm definitely being held back by lack of skill, and not the instrument!

mbe

ICBM said:

MattBanshee said:

Sorry, children or dreadful, dreadful music

Not just Alan Lancaster but also Bill Wyman, Roger Glover, Trevor Bolder, Tina Weymouth, Justin Meldal-Johnsen... all dreadful music? They're not all that small, either.

It's actually a very nice little bass with its own distinct sound. But if you want a traditional P-Bass sound, not the right bass.

I think my Player Mustang bass is very nice. Can actually get real tones out of it unlike my old wheezing Ibanez Soundgear bass.

Musicwolf

I’m a big fan of Ibanez basses.  I have an SR500, which may be a bit pricey, but there are models at just about every price point and a great all round bass.

pintspiller

I use a VM Jazz, now CV I think.

Would recommend you play as many different bass as you can. A lot of people have always said a guitarist who is looking to play bass should try a Jazz given the narrower neck. 

jhalliday89

Yeah I'm heading out to try a few tomorrow, either Leeds or Manchester depending on stock.
The SQ CV Jag (32 inch) has also caught my attention, I'm a half decent guitarist but absolutely no bass playing experience so I want to make the transition as painless as possible, hows the neck feel on the jag line up?

ICBM

jhalliday89 said:

The SQ CV Jag (32 inch) has also caught my attention, I'm a half decent guitarist but absolutely no bass playing experience so I want to make the transition as painless as possible, hows the neck feel on the jag line up?

Those are really nice.

I would definitely not get as hung up on the scale length as many bass players seem to - after all, Gibson EB series basses were 30.5"-scale - the same as the Mustang - and they were good enough for Jack Bruce, Andy Fraser, Bob Daisley and many others... mostly blues-rock players, but certainly good bassists.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

I would definitely not get as hung up on the scale length

If anything, string spacing will be more of an issue.

Some moves are easier to make on an early Sixties Precision (wide, shallow) profile. e.g. Motown and Stax/Volt dance music. Other styles are easier to execute on a narrower string spacing. 

IMO, the most important aspect of transitioning from guitar to bass happens between the ears. It is necessary to think differently in order to fulfil the role. The relationship between the bass and drums needs to be right. Otherwise, the whole band will sound crap.

jhalliday89

Funkfingers said

IMO, the most important aspect of transitioning from guitar to bass happens between the ears. It is necessary to think differently in order to fulfil the role. The relationship between the bass and drums needs to be right. Otherwise, the whole band will sound crap.

Absolutely agree with this!

Ready to pull the trigger tomorrow...
Does anyone practice with backing tracks? I'm new to this learning a new instrument thing and was thinking of getting an irig and hooking it up to yousician or something similar? 

Bridgehouse

jhalliday89 said:

Funkfingers said

IMO, the most important aspect of transitioning from guitar to bass happens between the ears. It is necessary to think differently in order to fulfil the role. The relationship between the bass and drums needs to be right. Otherwise, the whole band will sound crap.

Absolutely agree with this!

Ready to pull the trigger tomorrow...
Does anyone practice with backing tracks? I'm new to this learning a new instrument thing and was thinking of getting an irig and hooking it up to yousician or something similar? 

90% of my practise is playing along to a track and tweaking the Eq to drop as much of the bass out as I can without ruining the track. 

The other 10% is technique. 

jhalliday89

Fell for a squier CV Jag 32" in sunburst. The p basses were great too but a bit too chunky. Love the neck and the sounds out of the Jag. 

Thanks for all the help guys! 

Funkfingers

jhalliday89 said:

Does anyone practice with backing tracks?

In a bedroom, long ago and far, far away, I used to practice along with a primitive drum machine. It lacked any swing or shuffle capability. Hence, I had to create the illusion of swing by playing early or late relative to the strict tempo rhythm patterns.

Bridgehouse said:

tweaking the EQ to drop as much of the bass out as I can without ruining the track. 

 Stop that now. Just get a Rickenbacker 4003 and select the pickup further from the neck. :-p