My daughter currently plays acoustic guitar but, after taking a while to decide between electric and bass, has decided she wants to start playing the latter.

As someone who knows little about guitars other than liking the sound that can come out of them I took her off to the Nottingham Drum and Guitar Centre for a bit of advice. She tried a few different basses and is quite keen to get an Ibanez SR300.

Firstly, is this a decent bass for a beginner? It seemed lighter than the others, with a slimmer neck and to my admitted layman’s ears if had a better sound.

Secondly, aside from the guitar is there any recommendations for other bits we need to get? Obviously we need an amp and quick research suggests getting a bass-specific one, as well as a lead, anything else?

Any help you can offer is much appreciated.

a strap?

picks – if she wants to play with a pick. Nice to have the option to try it

Tuner – these days you can just use a free smartphone app.

That’s it really – you can get bass fx pedals and stuff, but they are very far from essential, especially for a beginner

You are correct in saying you should get a bass specific amp.

Not essential but if you have too much cash the zoom bass b3 is quite fun. It does headphone amp, multi effects and tuner for you which means she can practice without the main amp but the fun part is that it’s also acts as a usb sound device so she can play along to YouTube vids just using headphones (and a ‘puter obviously)

The Roland Cube series are quite good simple portable amps – the Bass specific ones have some good effects and amp emulators on board with a tuner and an aux in for playing along with.

Anything bigger is nice but very very penetrating throughout the house.

I tried an sr500 a couple of years and liked it. I’m an ibanez tart, though. Very comfortable and easy to play, which I imagine would be good for a beginner.

Consider plugging some headphones into the amp. Might save your sanity and the neighbours will appreciate it 😀

I’d also get a gig bag or a stand/rack. There’s a daddario string trainer, which I’ve found very helpful when building up finger strength.

The Ibanez sr300 is a great beginners bass. Pay the extra and get it set up with a nice low action and lighter gauge strings. That will help encourage regular use.

I’d be tempted with an audio interface to plug in to the computer or smart phone. Far better than a cheap amp, plus she can then experiment with sounds, play along to YouTube, record in to the computer. Take a look at Line6 website.

Headphones will save your sanity as mine has saved my marriage. 😉

Second Ibanez as very comfortable and easy to play. Might be worth looking at 3/4 scale bases too e.g. Squier Mustang

Top tip. Don’t leave the guitar leaning against the amp and pop out. Bass feedback builds to a foundation shattering level… 😳

The bass cube amps are great. I have a vox valvetronic which is a guitar amp but sounds fine with bass. If your daughter practices regularly headphones will make everyone’s life easier. 20 years on and my sister still holds a grudge against my Saturday morning practices 🙂

The zoom b3 is excellent for headphones and effects, it also has a built in tuner.

Thanks for the responses so far folks.

Add on question, I’ve seen a Marshall MG30DFX for sale locally and the guy has listed it as a ‘Bass Amp’. Reading about it online I’ve seen different remarks about whether it is or isn’t suitable for bass guitar. What is the deal?

I have an SR300B as my first bass after owning a cheap one. Its superb, well built and the 3 band EQ is quite handy. I spent an additional £30 on a headphone amp from Andertons (my local shop) and can play for hours without upsetting anybody.

I have a little 10watt amp for band practice, which is plenty loud enough 🙂

Managed to pick up a Fender Rumble 15 Amp this evening for £30. Spoke to a guitarist friend of a friend earlier and he says it’s a good starter amp.

Need to pick up a lead for her guitar tomorrow. Are they pretty much standard or are there specific ones for bass guitars?

Leads are standard, anything will be fine. More money buys a bit more durability.