I want a good bass guitar...

[Lone Wolf]

I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days: I want a bass guitar. One of my friends plays the drums and two of my other friends play a Stratocaster and Telecaster (electric guitars), which leaves me with playing bass...not that I mind, however, because I love the bass.

Anyways, I'm thinking about getting a Rickenbacker 4003 4 string. Before you say anything, yes; FLCL has influenced me a lot. I also want to get this because it has SUPERB ratings from all over the 'net. Should I get this? Also, I know that the Azureglo (blue) color is discontinued, but is it possible that I can get the bass colored this way? If so, how?

If you know of another great bass besides this one, please name it. I'm open to suggestions about what to get.

[ithaqua]

Stingray's command respect.

Yamaha's are cheap, but suprisingly high quality. Much better tonal range than you would expect for that price.

I would avoid Fender. Something about their basses throws me off, although I can't pin it down.

You also need to consider if you want a 4, 5, or 6 string. 4 is fine for most uses, 5 is usually for metal and heavy music, and 6 stringers tend to fall in the classical and jazz category.

[badmartialarts]

I'm sure a reputable instrument repair shop could recolor an electric guitar fairly easily (since the 'guitar' section really doesn't add too much to the basic sound or the bass....though purists disagree). Or at least, remove the electronic bits so you could Krylon it.

As for style...the Flying V! (I'm a Black Heaven/Kacho Oji fan, sorry)

[Kai Stromler]

First thing to do is to get yourself to a music shop and play the hell out of everything in stock. Nobody's going to be able to tell you which bass is going to end up being right for you, because instruments are a highly personal thing: it has to fit you physically and allow you to get the musical response you want out of it.

This being said, if you want a Rick you should try hitting pawn shops and used dealers first. The current models have very low action that is hard-limited by the pickup guard, and while the neck feel is very fluid, it seems somewhat 'slick' under my hands, probably because I've played a lot of upright and am used to raw wood, which seems to give a better grip.

My current main axe is a Yamaha fretless (effective 24 frets) that I picked up for less than 300 USD. Yeah, it's a bolt-on import, and its controls don't match some of my other gear, but it plays fine and is extremely versatile. I've used it for everything from symphonic playing to black metal; the lack of frets really lets the fingering style determine the bass's tone.

As ithaqua said, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM FENDER. Their quality control sucks, and every single bass I've played from them has had at least one 'dead fret', where something about the composition of the neck just kills any note played on it. You can either not play anything that requires you to sustain notes on that fret, or you can do the smart thing and not play Fender. Yamaha and Jackson have a couple lines that approximate the 'classic' Fender styling without the quality problems.

If you can find a neck-through instrument within your budget, buy that one. The Rick's alleged magical qualities stem largely from the fact that it was the first production neck-through bass, which means superior sustain and tone quality thanks to the one beam running from the heel to the tip of the headstock. Warwick makes all neck-thrus, but they're expensive at retail; BC Rich and Jackson are cheaper due to using less exotic woods, but sound much the same.

I've played some Ibanez all-synthetics, and the best I can say is that they're not *complete* junk. Unfortunately, they have no organic tone to them at all, so it's going to come down to what style of music you're going to play, and how the bass sound is going to fit into the mix. If you've got huge hands and like to show off, you might consider a Conklin; they make the best five- or six-strings I've so far set my hands on, and the only seven-string I've ever picked up (adding to ithaqua's classification, seven unique strings and up are usually funk rigs) [unfortunately, it was like playing a board, so I couldn't really be impressed]. Their neck-heel design is also incredible; the seating is tight and the joint is so smooth and hand-friendly you'd think you were playing a neck-thru. For interesting body styles, your best bet is probably BC Rich, but Hamer (at least until recently) had a line of V- and Explorer-clones.

My gear setup:
Yamaha 2-octave fretless, four-string, black, passive only
BC Rich Mockingbird-style bolt-on, 22-fret, four-string, green, passive/active
Carvel/Jackson neck-through, 22-fret, strung contrabass*, blue, passive only
Fender 300-watt combo with 1x12

*four-string strung as BEAD, like the bottom four strings of a five-string

hth,

--K

[Kaji01]

hehehe...

I've been playing bass for about 5 years now, been playing Squiers the whole time (a 1983 4-string and a 2000 5-string). A lot of people avoid Squier as they're the cheap alternative subcompany to Fender (much like what Epiphone is to Gibson), but I've heard numerous bassists who use them tell me that they are vastly superior to their Fender counterparts.

As for Rickenbackers, if you can find one for less than $1,000, more power to you. I remember when I bought my 4-string I found a 4001 (which is what I really want, myself) for a mere $679, but unfortunately I only had $250 to spend at the time otherwise I would have gotten it without a second thought...

[Lone Wolf]

Guess what? I went to Guitar Center to take a look at their bass guitars, and a certain song came on over the speaker system. What song was it?...Tank! from Cowboy Bebop! I was like "Hahaha, how cool is that?" I could also play the bass to that song (you know the bass at the beginning of the song).

I just thought that was kind of cool.

[VcR_PheX]

Ibanez 5 String. Bassist in my band has one, very sexy

[njijin]

I would like a good bass gutar my self I saw a nice purple colored one in a pawn shop just down the street. To bad they want 250 bucks for it.