New to Bass - what should I get?

stickyfiddle

@dave_MC completely agree. You'll see loads of folks screeching about alternating 2-finger picking without exception, but in reality a flexible approach of alternating fingers, efficient finger picking (including your thumb if it works) and even using a pick sometimes is going to be better.

That said I still think a P-bass is as good a place to start as any, unless you already know you really specifically love a particular bass sound, in which case I figure there's no need to ask the question

Dave_Mc

stickyfiddle said:

@dave_MC completely agree. You'll see loads of folks screeching about alternating 2-finger picking without exception, but in reality a flexible approach of alternating fingers, efficient finger picking (including your thumb if it works) and even using a pick sometimes is going to be better.

That said I still think a P-bass is as good a place to start as any, unless you already know you really specifically love a particular bass sound, in which case I figure there's no need to ask the question

Yeah definitely. For certain things a pick is definitely what you want. A P-bass with a pick just sounds right for so much stuff. (It's kind of funny, too- you can tell "real" bassists (i.e. bassists who started on bass and for whom bass is their main instrument) from "fake" bassists (i.e. bassists who started on guitar) by how they react if told to play with a pick. The "real" ones are usually "Oh no, a pick!" whereas the fake ones are usually "Oh goody, a pick!" I deliberately try to almost always practice bass without a pick because I started on guitar, but even with that, I'm way better with a pick without even trying, lol!)

Part of me thinks you should get a second pickup... I know there are problems with PJ layouts (the big ones are getting the outputs to match, and unless it's a noiseless J you get noise in 2 out of the 3 settings), but it does give you more options. There aren't usually that many other options at that price point for 2-pickup basses, at least two pickup basses where the neck pickup is a Precision pickup- I agree with you, the P-pickup is so useful it seems a shame not to get it as one of them!

ICBM

The pick snobbery thing is ridiculous. It's just a different technique for different sounds, and although it's certainly true that there's a lot of overlap and you *can* use either for a lot of stuff, one isn't better or 'more right' than the other. You may as well say that proper bass players don't use frets.

I did start on guitar - but then so did many great bass players - but started playing bass early enough on that I hadn't really got a lot of technique set in stone. The really funny thing is that I play guitar almost exclusively with my fingers! For many years I did for bass too - until I started playing in a punk covers band. For the sounds you need for that, I had to learn to play bass with a pick .

I'm also in another band where I almost always play fretless without a pick. Does that make me more or less of a proper bass player than ones who only play fretted with their fingers? I also don't always use the alternating two-finger technique, except when I do use it. It's irrelevant - if you can play the music you want to play, it's all good.

Dave_Mc

^ Agreed.

I definitely didn't start bass early enough- I was very much a "guitar player" by the time I started. And I almost always play guitar with a pick! But (after getting some advice online about what not to do if you're coming to it from guitar) I very deliberately tried to approach it as a bass player- I'm not saying I could pass as a bass player, but hopefully it's not too obvious that I'd rather be playing guitar!

That thing I said about the pick thing, about not being comfortable with a pick- you can often even see it in really good, professional bass players. You can tell they're not that dextrous with the pick. I'm talking about really, really good bass players, who are way better than me. Yet they look about as comfortable with a pick as a guitarist who's been playing for about 3 months!

stickyfiddle

I’m very similar; ~20 years on guitar before I took up bass, and I consciously didn’t let myself use a pick until I felt I’d got a vague handle on using my fingers properly. It didn’t hurt that I finger pick on guitar a lot, but obv the techniques are still quite different. Now I’ve been at it a good couple of years I feel very comfortable using either and choosing based 99% on the sound I want to achieve. 

Dave_Mc

IIRC I actually did use a pick at the very start, just so I could play something! But I also very deliberately tried to get a handle on the fingers thing, like you said. I'm no shredder with my fingers, but I can play most standard-speed lines with my fingers just fine. Like you- I don't want to feel I'm choosing a pick because I can't play with my fingers, I want to feel I'm choosing a pick because it does the sound I want.

Reggaebass

olafgarten said:

probably aiming to spend under £200 on the guitar.

Any advice or recommendations are much appreciated. 

Did you manage to get anything yet 

Bellycaster

Classic Vibe Squier or one of the new 40th Anniversary ones. Go and try some in a store with decent stock. I think Jazz Basses sit better and are more comfortable to play than a P-Bass.