I prefer short scale, and happily the Fender/Squier offerings have a P pickup in the middle and a jazz pickup at the bridge. The Squier Jaguar has the neck joint at 15 and the Fender Mustang at 14 so that’s a point in favour of the Jaguar. And I prefer the Jaguar neck which is a thin C. If an Epiphone EB-0 comes up second-hand locally I’ll try one.

Tonally the P attitude is more my thing, it’s so much more of a sledgehammer.

Yeah, that, I’ve never been the most subtle of creatures and the P just fits better in my meaty paws bashing out Punk and Hardcore lines. Much happier on the Roundwounds with a bit of overdrive blended in via my Sansamp.

Working on Mystery by Turnstile ATM.

Interesting piece that 👆
As a beginner, I’m trying a bit of everything, J, P and short scale, but maybe I’d improve quicker by sticking with one? 🤔

“As a beginner, I’m trying a bit of everything, J, P and short scale, but maybe I’d improve quicker by sticking with one? 🤔”

I think until you’re confident with your technique then it’s probably easier to stick with very similar dimensioned basses – string spacing at the bridge being the key thing. But the most important thing is to play lots! Playing through gear with more clarity (single coils vs big humbuckers, headphones or fancy full-range cabs vs old 15″ speakers etc) tends to force you to tidy up your playing more quickly and also shows you the expressive potential of a bass guitar (it’s very much like a bigger guitar!)

But as it isn’t a competition and there is no destination, just stops along an endless journey, then I’d enjoy the journey however you prefer.

I’m just coming here to post this morning’s find…

http://www.espguitars.com/products/26337-surveyor-87

It’s ridiculous and I love it. I might be buying my own Christmas present this year! I’ve never really looked at ESP before but they’ve got some very nice PJ style guitars on their website.

In other news… 5 month old mini-me has finally accepted that his 7pm bed time is not flexible and he’s passing out pretty consistently every night so I’ve started playing again. The new Squier P sounds lush and I’ve been really grilling it, trying to get some speed and accuracy back. It’s amazing how much I dropped off the pace by not playing for a few months. Well, since June the 6th exactly. I found it impossible to do anything for a while there!

There’s a studio/practice room set up near me which offers lessons. They’ve been shut for ages but I’ve made an enquiry. I want to play somewhere other than the living room and hopefully try playing with some real people.

Wow, that ESP looks interesting.
Not in the same league, but the Musicman Dark Ray is also shaking things up with the leds around the knobs. Definitely a bit ying to the pre-aged yang.

So, been noodling round on my old BC Rich but never massively got on with it, it’s been kept mainly for sentimental reasons. Been looking at PMTs online store and quite fancy either one of the entry level Ibanez GSR200B (£199) or the Hofner Ignition violin base (£289). Don’t want to spend too much and both guitars get rave reviews. Edging towards the Ibanez. Anyone got direct experience they can share or a recommendation around the £250 mark?

I’m not a fan of the violin basses.
For that price you’ll struggle to beat a Squire Affinity but I’d flex the budget if I could for a Yamaha TRBX304.

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/yamaha-trbx304-4-string-bass-guitar-factory-blue

That ESP looks mental, love it, not a fan of the ‘relic’ed’ look, (unless it’s an actual vintage instrument).

You won’t go wrong with a budget Yamaha, either the trbx304 or the BB234. I personally prefer the tone of the BBs but there are plenty of sound clips on YouTube

Thanks for the recommendations but I would really like to keep the spend south of £250. No thoughts on the Ibanez?

I haven’t played either. It’s an odd short list in that they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. A violin short scale and a plank long scale. I think trying a few would be a good idea to narrow it down. Of the two I’d take the Hofner because I like short scale and I quite like the bass sound on Beatles recordings.

The Ibanez are meant to be very good value for money, but you could do with getting a feel for various different types before you buy. Can you get yourself into a PMT store? I found them very accommodating and helpful. At your budget you can’t really go wrong with a Yamaha as said above, or a Squier. Depends what you want to play of course, although anyone that tells you you need a specific bass type to play specific genres is either inflexible or looking for an excuse to buy more basses ….

@hatter

Did you fall in love with your mate’s USA Jazz bass, or decide it wasn’t for you?

Asking for a friend who MAY be in the market for a USA Jazz at the right sort of price if he wants to shift it on……

It’s gone back to him now, if it was a P or a PJ I’d be working out which child to list on Ebay but yeah the thinner neck wasn’t for me.

I’ll ask him what his plans are, where’s your mate based? We’re down in St Albans.

Thanks for the recommendations but I would really like to keep the spend south of £250. No thoughts on the Ibanez?

Ibanez are pretty good. I had a higher end one that played really well but didn’t get on with the thin tone on the D/G string. There are a few places doing the TRBX174 under £200 and that would probably be my first choice at your budget.

Who wants to see some Squier build quality?

A few days after I got the new P bass I noticed that the scratch plate wasn’t sitting flush. Once I saw it, it started really bugging me! Also when holding it up to the light you could see loads of unidentified crumbs and scum in the gap.

Last night I had a chance to whip it off.

This is what I found…

Wires outside of the recess, squashed by the plate and sitting (luckily) either side of the screw that was holding it down.

Also the whole thing underneath was full of paint spray and saw dust which I’ve cleaned out.

So yes, quite nice for the money, but still thrown together on a production line by people who would much rather be doing something else.

Thanks for those setup videos up above, I’m planning to go through the process when I get the time. Some of the new string zing has worn off but it’s still rattling like hell.

Dagan likes the Ibanez

Dagan likes everything. 😉

Here’s his previous cheap bass vid.
PMT cheap bass vid 1
I bought the Squier vintage modified Jaguar before seeing the vid. I went into the shop to buy a Fender Mustang but prefered the Squier. Try before you buy. Mine is on page 2 of this thread.

I’ll ask him what his plans are, where’s your mate based? We’re down in St Albans.

West Yorks, but sufficiently mobile for the right deal!

I needed a 5 string for various bits of accompaniment work and got a Squier 70s classic vibe Jazz V …… takes some getting used to, but the quality isn’t an issue. It’s made in Indonesia if that’s any statement?

Regarding less expensive basses, I’ve always felt that you can’t assume they’ll be consistent across a brand or model. Pickups and electronics and strings will usually be consistent but the core tone of a bass comes from its neck and body – to simplify it somewhat, the neck needs to be stiff, the body needs to be resonant.

With more expensive basses there’s more chance more that time and effort at the factory is going into picking the right pieces of wood. But with budget instruments I feel it’s more luck of the draw, so playing the exact bass you want to buy is a lot more important.

I always play basses unplugged at first because if it sounds great unplugged it can sound great plugged in (but might need a different pickup etc). If it doesn’t sound great unplugged then you could be fooled by the electronics but then find in the mix (which is where the core tone matters) that it’s lacking in punch, growl, etc.

@thegreatape

Scott’s (Devine) Bass Lessons have a huge following https://scottsbasslessons.com/ and there’s a 14 day free trial.

I’m using Fender Play (https://try.fender.com/play/play-now-2021) + some face to face lessons

Bass to Badass is also worth a look https://www.bassbuzz.com/lessons/

And there’s also Scott Whitely https://www.scott-whitley.com/free-bass-lesson-library/

Have a play!

Obliged, thanks!

Having sold the Fender P bass, jazz bass and Mustang and returned the Sire U5 I’ve picked up a Sandberg Elecktra VS (The manufactured in Korea, assembled in Germany) P Bass. I picked it up cheaply on eBay and it came with a set of flats.
Just wow! I found the Fenders easy to play, but the electrics were nothing special. The active pickups in the Sandberg are lovely – 2 band eq.

I also bought a used Shechter Banshee short scale from GuitarGuitar after seeing a couple of reviews. It’s alright, but not amazing, and I’ll probably return it after the weekend.

Off to Denmark St on Saturday though, so I might come back with something else!

I play with a guy whose open stage favourite is I Saw Her Standing There. I’ve dutifully learned the Lennon part on the guitar but it’s one of those strumming sequences I struggle to play and sing at the same time. So in the Covid pause I’ve learned the bass part which I can sing over. Reading about the bass line, Mc Cartney used the line from Chuck Berry’s I’m Talking ’bout You which they covered in Hamburg, two songs one bass line. The obvious step was to learn the song, now I’ve just got to persuade my mate to learn the guitar part. Here’s my part on the little Vox.

I got a bass for christmas !! it’s an encore p-bass which is perfect for a beginner like me I reckon. Having played other stuff for years the biggest hurdle is the lack of finger power and the hands not doing what my ears assume they should be able to 🙂

question, how do you mute the bottom strings if you are playing on the top two? I’m trying to lock in the habit of thumb on the back of the neck not over the top, if you move the thumb from the bottom string you get ring out

Also the action is about 5mm, is this too high? I know it should be high compared to a guitar but I reckon I could bring it down a bit, unless this is a bad idea?

edhornby
Full Member

Also the action is about 5mm, is this too high?

5mm is miles too high. 2.5mm on the G, 3mm on the E is about right. (Or to where you feel comfortable to be honest, but around there is there abouts, measured at the 12th fret, top of the fret to bottom of the string.)

Process to setting up a guitar is:

Buy new strings.

Tune it.

Set neck relief, put a capo on the 1st fret fret the string at the last fret. check what gap there is under the middle point between first and last point, it should be around 0.5m (Some people like less, some more)

Tune it.

Set string height, as i said around 3mm on the E 2.5m on the G, if you’ve not got a radius gauge, just measure the other strings around 2.65 and 2.85ish, you want the radius to match the fret radius. These measurements are taken from the 12th fret, top of the fret to the bottom of the string.

Tune it (Always make adjust ments to a tuned instrument, this is important after every adjustment you make and always adjust in the playing position.)

Set intonation. 12th fret harmonic and 12th fret fretted should sound the same(and look the same on the tuner(your hearing isn’t good enough to notice below 5 cents)). This is achieved but making the string longer or shorter. Probably best google this tbh.

I just bought a piece of shit Clarry jazz bass for 85 quid, cause my 5 strings electrics went kaput, active with no passive mode, so gubbed. Stuck some flat wounds on it and set it up, neck like a baseball bat, but it’ll do a job till I can save up to buy a better yin. Been pleasantly surprised tbh! 😆

Getting a guitar set up nice is half the battle, there’s nothing worse than a badly set up guitar, and it’s the main issue with cheap instruments.

edhornby
Full Member

question, how do you mute the bottom strings if you are playing on the top two?

Muting is done with both hands.

If you are playing the E string, you are muting the ADG with the left hand. if you are play the A, you are muting the DG with your left and your thumb is most likely resting on the E naturally muting, further down you can mute the EA with your right too thumb on E and another finger can rest in the A. A simplistic explanation tbh. But muting is done with both hands is the main point I’m making

tbh there’s loads of different techniques, and it’s something that changes depending on how and what you are playing, probably best to youtube it.

Here’s some crap playing on the crap Glarry! 😆

Ignore the mistakes, I’m just learning/remembering them again on this 2 day old hunk of junk! 😆

Mrs OTS treated me to a new cheap Jazz Bass for Christmas. I’ve always got on withe G&L stuff and the colour just did it for me. Sort of alike a pound shop Flea bass.

Grade 5 book now after 14 months learning. Nearly nailed Sweet Child o Mine!

I’m no really sure a 450 quid bass qualifies as cheap. 😆

£299 in the sale at GuitarGuitar – and it’s all relative 😉

fair enough. 😆 very good price, so well done!

tbh I’ve never really lusted after very expensive instruments, diminishing returns and all that. 10 or so years ago, I’d have put the sweet spot around 4-500 quid, guess these days, can probly bump that to around £6-700.

I had fender p and jazz basses that I ultimately didn’t get on with. I have a music man stingray which I’ll never sell, but other than that I tend to prefer the sub £500 kit.

thanks team – new strings are a good call as they are probably the originals on there and I’ll have a go at working on muting as that’s a good explanation Seosamh, thanks

Muting is one of the biggest challenges in moving from 6-string to Bass and its something I’ve found really only comes with time as you get more used to it.

Muting finger style is as Seosamh descibes. I base my efforts on watching Jack Bruce vids – watch players who played really loud. I have more trouble with a pic as the strings are further apart than on guitar which complicates left hand muting.

edhornby
Full Member
thanks team – new strings are a good call as they are probably the originals on there and I’ll have a go at working on muting as that’s a good explanation Seosamh, thanks

No worries, just remember, muting is somewhat of a dynamic process so it’s changing alot during a song and from song to song. There’s a lot to learn, but you get it after a while, though I do still struggle myself from time to time. it’s easy to not do it right.

Edukator
Free Member
Muting finger style is as Seosamh descibes.

On picked muting, just playing there, it’s not actually too dissimilar tbh, you are using a more guitarist orientated palm muting style, but the left hand is the same, except you are doing a kinda half palm muted thing at the back on the E and A in particular, D if you need to. But the string you are playing is ringing out as much as you want to.

With muting it’s about the sound too, cause you can mute different ways to achieve different levels of muting, pressure is quite important, as in you can mute absolutely dead or just a slight mute and everything in between really.

Just some observations cause I’ve got a beer and a bass in my hand at the minute. I am far from an expert, so better opinions are out there. 😆

I often mute the E string with the tip of the finger which is holding down the A string on guitar – that’s what I fail to do on bass. I can’t use my thumb to mute the E string on walking bass lines that require a stretch because it’s round the back of the neck. I find myself muting when there’s a finger or thumb free and trying not to hit the E string when I shouldn’t the rest of the time.