Bass/Amp recommendations

Bridgehouse · June 2018

dean111music said:

Bridgehouse said:

dean111music said:

so the fender rumble studio 40 is better than the normal rumble amp? im going to go try loads i think

The studio 40 does modelling and you can make it sound like a range of different bass amps. I tried it in PMT in Cambridge on a Fretboard jolly Boys day out.

Before trying I thought it would be gimmicky shite. Within 10 mins I’d decided it was an excellent at-home amp for trying a range of different styles. Loved it for the money and it was really really bloody lightweight

nice! will give that a try for sure.

I have Andertons, Guitar Guitar (Epsom) and GAK near me. Any other places worth travelling to?

THE bass Mecca is Bass Direct near Coventry - it’s bass heaven.

Funkfingers · June 2018

dean111music said:
My budget for the bass is looking around £300-£400. Amp wise £200.

Given a total budget of up to six hundred Pounds, I suggest that you shift the balance more towards the amplifier.

dean111music said:
which [Yamaha] models did you like?

The RBX series is a perennial favourite on the secondhand market. When keeping the price down, Yamaha cuts the right corners. Hence, the woodworking and frets are excellent. The cheap 'n' cheerful pickups and control electronics can always be upgraded in the future.

My personal favourite is the Yamaha Attitude Plus. With an American pickup and a Gotoh 201B bridge, you have a bass guitar that will deliver professional results.

vale said:

sorry for the paging after you had already landed here, Bridgehouse.

No need to apologise for that. When I first registered on this forum, gratuitously tagging Bridgehouse seemed to be a running in-joke.

vale said:

someone like ICBM, Funkfingers or Bridgehouse (the resident bass ninjas, among many!) can better advise you there.

This, on the other hand, might warrant an apology - certainly to the other two. They might prefer not to be lumped in with me. The only thing we have in common is the habit of answering the bass questions that others would pay to avoid. Bridgehouse favours the P. ICBM champions the Rick. I'm somewhere in between. This probably makes me a P/Rick.

vale said:

the further away from you that maple plank gets, the heavier the block that you attach the pickups to has to be, to counter-balance it.

My Fender AVRI '63 Precision Bass weighs next to nothing. My Squier Silver Series P Bass weighs only fractionally more. Mr. Bridgehouse has a genuine original Sixties Fender bass. I expect that it weighs very little too.

vale · June 2018

i posted this video in another bass thread a few weeks ago re octavey bass sounds, but happily fits the bill here too. & stocked by andertons, so near you. worth a try to see.

a shortscale Gretsch Electromatic G2224 Jnr Bass (bridgehouse a fan of these i think, & def on my list to try because i'm a shortscale bass fan) through a Fender Rumble 40 Bass Amp.

potentially ticks both your boxes. & prices spot on at £300-£400 each new.

Bridgehouse · June 2018

@Funkfingers - au contraire blackadder!

I would rate the P/Rick comment as one of the funniest of the week/month/year. You always give good advice - even when you disagree with me

I have tried an Attitude Plus and it was very good so in agreement there.

My 64 P is pretty much 8lbs dead on - so pretty light. Strangely the 74 I have isn’t much more, and my recent ACG is only 7. I like my light basses.

Bridgehouse · June 2018

vale said:

sorry for the paging after you had already landed here bridgehouse, no one had replied when i started writing. i'm slow typing tonight thanks to migraine brain!

I missed this! Don’t worry - I don’t mind a quick tag every now and then.. lol

pintspiller · June 2018

Bass Cube?

ICBM · June 2018

Bridgehouse said:

@Funkfingers - au contraire blackadder!

I would rate the P/Rick comment as one of the funniest of the week/month/year. You always give good advice - even when you disagree with me

And me

.

The P/Rick was funny...

I will have to concede in this case that you can't get any kind of worthwhile Rick for £400

. (Or even £600.) Anyway, the OP wants a Jazz-type, which is fair enough. There's a lot of choice in this style/price range.

All I would really add is - I don't actually agree with Funkfingers about spending more on the amp. If it was for gigging, yes - but for home and recording you can get a pretty good amp for under £200, so I would spend as much as possible on the bass and not reduce it by spending more on the amp.

And I would also avoid active basses if possible - I know this is not a fashionable opinion, but I've always found cheaper actives *reduce* the sound quality of the signal, even if they add more EQ control. If you're on a budget you're better off with quality woodwork and pickups than active circuitry.

That said, if you go second hand you can still get a decent active bass for under £400. @AuldReekie just picked up a nice Yamaha (I can't remember the model number) for just under £300, which although not a Jazz style is a very versatile pro-quality bass, and ideal for recording even without an amp.

vale · June 2018

Bridgehouse said:

@vale gives sound advice. Try lots indeed.

i think she makes it all up as she goes along & very occasionally guesses lucky!

Bridgehouse · June 2018

vale said:

Bridgehouse said:

@vale gives sound advice. Try lots indeed.

i think she makes it all up as she goes along & very occasionally guesses lucky!

I disagree:

vale said:

a shortscale Gretsch Electromatic G2224 Jnr Bass (bridgehouse a fan of these i think, & def on my list to try because i'm a shortscale bass fan) through a Fender Rumble 40 Bass Amp.

Indeed I think these are an excellent choice - so a solid recommendation, and not a lucky guess at all! The Gretsch is quirky but very usable, and lightweight to boot - as well as being well made. As I have commented before, I think it out Hofner's a Hofner.. and the Fender Rumble 40 is a sound choice too. The Studio 40 I tried recently was really good for the money and the biggest shock was the fact it weighed about the same as one of my shoes (!)

vale · June 2018

ICBM said:

I will have to concede in this case that you can't get any kind of worthwhile Rick for £400 . (Or even £600.)

What about a Tokai copy? I haven't tried the basses but the Tokai Ricky guitar copies i have tried were really good for a couple or three hundred. the necks were bang on Ricky slim & glossy. & far better than squier fender copies in the same price range.
one here. but definitely a case of 'try before you buy'.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tokai-Bass-Guitar-Hardcase/163104300849

if you want something fendery & throughly decent used for £300 and under, there's a brand called Fenix that made some much respected fender copies in the 1990s. maybe worth watching out for locally. when they come up on gumtree (not so much ebay, which has a bigger audience) they are often underpriced as the brand is not widely known

or, working along lines of 'light with slimish neck' maybe a better quality through-neck 1980s jap? a random thing i noticed recently, by way of illustration.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Westbury-Track-4-Bass-Guitar-Project-Matsumoku-JAPAN-/163081751044

i find 'mining the used seam' far more fun & inspiring than buying new & off the shelf. & it's a good strategy around your own subconscious brand biases.
eg when you pick up something you have never come across before & know nothing of, you can't filter it through habitual prejudices, you have to approach it with an open mind & engage with it on its own terms.
you can learn lots about what you really want, not what you think you want, by going off piste.

Funkfingers · June 2018

vale said:
What about a Tokai copy?

Looks alone do not a Rickenbacker make. (Even some of RIC's own products manage to miss the mark.)

Some of the older Japanese imitations do a reasonable job. One of my contemporaries had a Shaftsbury. My own choice would be the Ibanez 2388 or 2389 from their Seventies replica period. (Barry Adamson of Magazine used to play the latter.)

Coincidentally, on the eBay page for the Tokai, there are links to a couple Aria basses, one Cardinal/CSB and this Thor Sound TSB.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-TSB-400-Thor-sound-Bass/292608978824?_trkparms=aid=888007&algo=DISC.MBE&ao=1&asc=49130&meid=dbb17f5c072c443f99d4784fc2fd4693&pid=100009&rk=1&rkt=2&sd=163104300849&itm=292608978824&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

Bridgehouse · June 2018

I do agree with @Funkfingers - Rics are just one of those basses that need to be original - the copies just don’t have the same sound or vibe. @ICBM May disagree (I dunno!) but the combination of woods, build technique, pickups and hardware are what uniquely make a Ric what it is.

With a P bass you can get a lot of the way there with a copy as it’s all pretty stock stuff - alder/ash routed body, bolt on standard neck, standard split coil pickup and bent metal bridge with standard cts electronics. Easy to copy and put together. Same as a telecaster really.

dean111music · June 2018

What about a new Tokai Jazz bass? Are they any good? Compared to the fenders?

Bridgehouse · June 2018

dean111music said:

What about a new Tokai Jazz bass? Are they any good? Compared to the fenders?

Not tried one - but the bass collection Jazz basses are worth a look if you want a non-fender Jazz for not much money.

The sensible thing would be to have a look in the classifieds here and on Basschat and see what you can get used - 400 notes can get you an awful lot of used bass.

Rocker · June 2018

OP, don't overlook the Aria STB range of basses. Amazing gear for beer money.

dean111music · June 2018

lots and lots to go and try. Early days but what about the new offerings from fender https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-player-jazz-bass-black-maple-fretboard

dean111music · June 2018

https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/jazz-bass/player-jazz-bass/0149903525.html#start=1

looks like a satin finish on the back of the neck

Looks like a winner for me. Mexican are good quality too?

Bridgehouse · June 2018

Rocker said:

OP, don't overlook the Aria STB range of basses. Amazing gear for beer money.

dean111music said:

lots and lots to go and try. Early days but what about the new offerings from fender https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-player-jazz-bass-black-maple-fretboard

Both good suggestions - and again I totally agree with the go try lots and make sure you look in lots of shops and try lots of different makes..

But, I do also think you get a lot more used. I don’t think basses hold their value quite as well as guitars, and I’ve seen some proper bargains over recent months.

Just last year I picked up an ACG Finn - handmade custom with exotic wood top, asymmetric neck, handwound pickup and superb hardware for less than the OPs budget....

Kebabkid · June 2018

pintspiller said:

Bass Cube?

Another +1 for the Roland Bass Cube and Sire's are good and there are plenty to choose from at Andertons.

I've been using, gigging both for a couple of years now and they're good.

Bridgehouse · June 2018

Kebabkid said:

pintspiller said:

Bass Cube?

Another +1 for the Roland Bass Cube and Sire's are good and there are plenty to choose from at Andertons.

I've been using, gigging both for a couple of years now and they're good.

Bass cube give a good clear clean sound? Has it got a DI out as well?

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