Choosing Your First Bass Guitar
If you’ve decided that you want to take up the guitar, but prefer to live in the engine room of any band by playing the bass, then you are obviously a lover of rhythm and the groove. The bass guitar, together with the drums, forms the rhythm section of a band and so it will be important to develop a good sense of timing and beat. Choosing the correct instrument is important, as is dedication to practicing in order to become an accomplished bassist.
Iconic bass guitars like the Fender Precision not only drove many a jazz, rock and surf band but became as recognisable as the screaming lead instruments. Unlike lead guitars, where most novices are advised to start out with an acoustic, prospective bass players will probably go straight to a four sting electric bass guitar. Great brands for starters include Washburn, Squier and Epiphone. These companies produce guitars that look good and play great for the price. Fretless, acoustic and five-string basses each have their own type of sounds and can be very powerful and sonorous, but they are very hard to learn compared with the four string electric bass. Most tutorial books or tuition CDs for beginners are written with the four-string fretted bass in mind.
You can buy a cheap, second hand bass guitar.Most used equipment drops in price over the years and can offer better quality and sound for the same price as a new bass.Many other used instruments have poor sound quality and setup with unreasonably high action, or simply do not hold tune correctly. Always check a used instrument for damage, and play it (or have someone else play it) before buying it. The time and effort you would have to put into carefully selecting a used bass guitar is substantial, and it’s probably safer to look at some of the quite reasonably priced electric guitars and bass starter packages from well known brand names.
The Behringer bass guitar pack for example includes the guitar and a bass guitar amplifier, padded gig bag, cable, an adjustable strap and picks. The Ibanez GSR190J 4-String Bass Guitar Pack also includes a 10 watt amplifier and accessories at a very affordable price.Or you could move straight to Squier Precision bass guitars.They are the worlds best-selling bass guitar because of excellent value. They feel good, sound good and fit the needs of any starting-out bass player on a budget.
Whichever route you take, always try before you buy.Most guitar shops will let you plug in and play around with any instrument so you can check how it sounds, looks, and feels in your hands. Do not buy something used without playing it first unless it comes from a reputable source you trust and has some sort of return policy. There are very reputable and well established Internet-based music stores that can generally offer better deals than high street retail but be very cautious about buying instruments on Internet sites such as eBay. Bring someone along who is an experienced bassist and let them play any instruments you are considering buying.