I'm looking to delve into the world of Bass Guitar. I have absolutely no idea what to look for, what style I want or anything like that. I just wanna find a good beginner's bass that can be had second hand for around $300 ish.

It doesn't have to be awesome, just good for the money.

Any suggestions?

do you have an amp, you cant realy play bass without it. you should be able to get a cheap bass/amp combo for around 300-500, that would be the way to go.

last edited by `ViPER` at 17:42:23 26/Jun/08

http://venuemusic.com.au/Products.asp?ProdID=2119

http://venuemusic.com.au/Products.asp?ProdID=9279

http://venuemusic.com.au/Products.asp?ProdID=2180

http://venuemusic.com.au/Products.asp?ProdID=3185



last edited by `ViPER` at 17:41:00 26/Jun/08

I just don't understand bass players. how can it be fun playing the same single riff over and over again?

Edit: I should say, the bass player in my band is depressed as all hell whenever we play. Never smiles.

last edited by Phooks at 17:47:09 26/Jun/08

Pay off your loan first fagot

cash converters for the win
i bought mine for 150, plugged it into my sound card and taught myself with tabs which have pretty much been banned from the internet :<
and now i only sortv suck

I don't know about basses but since someone posted I'll backup Venue Music, bought at least $15,000+ of music equipment through them over the years, awesome store.

fender squier, either jazz or precision

pretty good for that price range

but yeah obviously amp and other accessories will come on top of that

also a bass isn't a guitar

Phooks - come & watch me play my 6 string Warwick tonight at Irish Murphies (9pm ~ 1am). If you miss that come tomorrow (O'Malleys), Sat night (The Brewhouse) or Sun night (the Victory).

See if my bass playing is boring.

Pharcyde - 2nd hand for the win. Try a Squier (as suggested by Insom) or an Ibanez SDGR. I've got >$20k of bass gear. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.

I bought one a cheap new one ... I still can't play it for s***

Need to get the something that'll let me play it with earphones on so I don't annoy the missus (ie. cheap amp with out the phones out for the lose)

^ Obes - look into headphone amps (cheaper than buying a whole combo amp, just to use the headphones out socket).

These can run off batteries or normal juice (via a power brick) & are small enough to fit inside your bass case.

I used these when I was working in New Zealand & up north at the coal terminals.

do you have a youtube presentation for those of us that can't afford to leave qgl bassman?

The bass are biting well at North Pine Dam at the moment.

I'd probably look at something like an 8-12lbs rod, and a suitable 2500 spinning reel. If you have access to live shrimp then they're a good bait to use with a simple paternoster rig. If you want to try lures then I'd give Ausspin spinnerbaits a go ( add a stinger hook ), or a lipless crank like a G-Vibe. Purple colours are all the rage right now.

Cast the lure deep, wait until it sinks to the bottom ( but be ready for a strike on the drop ) and then bring it in with a slow roll.

Atm Bass can be schooling deep, so metal slugs ( or soft plastics with a heavy jighead ) can be a good move. Again let them sink down and retrieve them back at varying speeds.

hmmm i might be at the brewhouse on saturday night.

bass can be boring if you want it to be, just sit in the background and play boring root note stuff, but id suggest that its harder to sound like a good bass player than to sound like a good guitar player.

I got bored playing bass cause I wasnt goot enough, so I swithed to playing guitar.

obes what about a bass effects unit, they can come pretty cheap (200-300?)
give you some toys to give you a bit of variety, still works with an amp as well as a pc for recording, and usually have a headphone jack

Didn't know a bass effects unit could be used like that ...

As for headphone amps I looked but Bass specific ones all I found (in OZ) was 3 and 400 dollar units. Like the Tascam units.

I'd love to learn the Bass some day, it seems better suited to my fat fingers than guitar.

line6 bass effects have headphones mode
http://line6.com/bassfloorpod/ manuals are online which is pretty cool

they'll be dearer than 200-300 though I think

bumma, they listed amazon as a buy-online site and amazon had the goods there for only USD$400 but they won't deliver to aus :(
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009PRRIO/?tag=line6-20

these'd probably be closer to a grand in bend-me-over-i-live-in-australia

Not that it really adds to the thread at all, but i want a bass :-(
I'm sure i'd be hopeless.. they're just so damn funky.

i just bought a cheapo electric guitar/amp set for 300 bucks, from billy hyde. i highly reccomend, good service and coz im beginning i didnt really want to spend too much, i'll upgrade later :)

i found my ESP B-50 to be an awesome bass, nice and comfy to play and a good solid feel about it compared to alot of other bass guitars ive played on.

Havent been using it much for the past year, only been playing acoustic and ended up selling my bass cab.. so dont have much use for it anymore. PM me if ya keen to check it out.

http://www.bmusic.com.au/images/aeb50.jpg