Buying a bass 101
I believe that everyone deserves to find that "best-fit" bass for themselves and hope the material below will draw you closer towards that goal.
Please note that most of the sections written below are entirely my opinion which is completely subjective and based just on my collective years of experience in playing and selling basses. There'll be obvious points of contention below, but again this is not meant to be an exhaustive end-all in what to look out for in buying a bass.
I've categorized what to look for in a bass into 5 broad criterion; Construction, Feel, Look, Tone and Budget.
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Construction:
A good bass will have...
1. A tight neck pocket (if it's a bolt-on). This means that there are no big longkangs in between the neck and the body where the neck is bolted on.
2. A good finish. This means the finish is smooth, even and glossy. If it's a clear finish, it should look like a layer of glass over the bass.
3. Good fretwork. This means that the frets are level and dressed.
4. Good hardware (i.e. tuners, bridge, knobs...). This means that the hardware function well and don't feel/look cheap. It's hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see it.
5. A good setup. This is where it all comes together. A well constructed bass will have no dead spots and will allow for a perfect setup. This is where you can get the action all the way down (i.e. with a perfectly straight neck) without any string buzzing out on any fret.
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Feel / Balance:
I'll say this first - You won't know which neck profile feels comfortable by just reading about it, so best is to try out a range of basses to get an idea of what kind of neck profile fits you and your playing best. However, having knowledge of what kind of neck you just played on will help you find that best-fit bass a lot faster.
Feel relates mostly to the neck profile of the bass. The main profiles out there are the C, D, V shaped necks and their variants - mostly in the C/D style. As a general reference, Jazz basses have C shaped necks and P basses necks are D shaped. The only bass I know that has a V neck profile are Wal basses.
Balance relates to how the bass hangs when strapped on.
Poorly balanced basses = neck dive (i.e. the neck dives to the floor when not held). T-bird basses are notorious for this.
Well balanced basses will stay in position without any problems when strapped on, and should be comfortable to play in a seated position.
======
Budget:
$100 - $999: My suggestion for basses in this category is to go for a passive bass which plays well 'cos the preamps that come with basses in this category usually suck. Look hard enough and you might find a real gem in a used Japanese Fender. SX basses fare pretty well in this category as well.
$1000 - $2500: With a number of boutique manufacturers starting "budget" line basses, it's not difficult to get decent value-for-money basses in this price category. IMO, Lakland Skylines are hard to beat in this price range with their quality parts and in-house Plek setup, plus they have a wide variety of bass styles to choose from to suit your needs.
$2501 - $5000: Plenty of choices here. You can get high-end production basses, and some custom made boutique ones in this price category. I'd suggest you explore the custom builders available to you and not settle for off-the-rack basses from the big name brands.
> $5000: The sky's the limit here, and if you're seriously considering a bass in this category, then I'd suggest you make your purchase from a store where they can provide an in-depth consultative approach in understanding your needs and proposing the right basses (and specifications!) to meet them.
========
Tone
I believe that tone is a very, very subjective matter, so instead of trying to categorize anything here, I'd say the best way to know what kind of tone you are going after is to take reference from the kind of tone you want to emulate most.
If you must, then there are probably 4 broad types that are out there: Jazz, P, Musicman and Modern. What do they sound like? Well, go and listen, listen, listen!
========
Look
I re-wrote this section many times trying to group basses into tradition/modern looking, standard/special finishes, figured/non-figured top, double/single cut... but just couldn't distill it into something easy to categorise basses in. So if it looks good to you, it looks good to you. Who cares what the other guy says? You're the one playing it!
=========
Again, everything written above is purely my completely subjective take on this subject, but I do hope that it's help shed a little light on what to look out for when buying your bass.
Thanks!
cherns
I believe that everyone deserves to find that "best-fit" bass for themselves and hope the material below will draw you closer towards that goal.
Please note that most of the sections written below are entirely my opinion which is completely subjective and based just on my collective years of experience in playing and selling basses. There'll be obvious points of contention below, but again this is not meant to be an exhaustive end-all in what to look out for in buying a bass.
I've categorized what to look for in a bass into 5 broad criterion; Construction, Feel, Look, Tone and Budget.
========
Construction:
A good bass will have...
1. A tight neck pocket (if it's a bolt-on). This means that there are no big longkangs in between the neck and the body where the neck is bolted on.
2. A good finish. This means the finish is smooth, even and glossy. If it's a clear finish, it should look like a layer of glass over the bass.
3. Good fretwork. This means that the frets are level and dressed.
4. Good hardware (i.e. tuners, bridge, knobs...). This means that the hardware function well and don't feel/look cheap. It's hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see it.
5. A good setup. This is where it all comes together. A well constructed bass will have no dead spots and will allow for a perfect setup. This is where you can get the action all the way down (i.e. with a perfectly straight neck) without any string buzzing out on any fret.
=====
Feel / Balance:
I'll say this first - You won't know which neck profile feels comfortable by just reading about it, so best is to try out a range of basses to get an idea of what kind of neck profile fits you and your playing best. However, having knowledge of what kind of neck you just played on will help you find that best-fit bass a lot faster.
Feel relates mostly to the neck profile of the bass. The main profiles out there are the C, D, V shaped necks and their variants - mostly in the C/D style. As a general reference, Jazz basses have C shaped necks and P basses necks are D shaped. The only bass I know that has a V neck profile are Wal basses.
Balance relates to how the bass hangs when strapped on.
Poorly balanced basses = neck dive (i.e. the neck dives to the floor when not held). T-bird basses are notorious for this.
Well balanced basses will stay in position without any problems when strapped on, and should be comfortable to play in a seated position.
======
Budget:
$100 - $999: My suggestion for basses in this category is to go for a passive bass which plays well 'cos the preamps that come with basses in this category usually suck. Look hard enough and you might find a real gem in a used Japanese Fender. SX basses fare pretty well in this category as well.
$1000 - $2500: With a number of boutique manufacturers starting "budget" line basses, it's not difficult to get decent value-for-money basses in this price category. IMO, Lakland Skylines are hard to beat in this price range with their quality parts and in-house Plek setup, plus they have a wide variety of bass styles to choose from to suit your needs.
$2501 - $5000: Plenty of choices here. You can get high-end production basses, and some custom made boutique ones in this price category. I'd suggest you explore the custom builders available to you and not settle for off-the-rack basses from the big name brands.
> $5000: The sky's the limit here, and if you're seriously considering a bass in this category, then I'd suggest you make your purchase from a store where they can provide an in-depth consultative approach in understanding your needs and proposing the right basses (and specifications!) to meet them.
========
Tone
I believe that tone is a very, very subjective matter, so instead of trying to categorize anything here, I'd say the best way to know what kind of tone you are going after is to take reference from the kind of tone you want to emulate most.
If you must, then there are probably 4 broad types that are out there: Jazz, P, Musicman and Modern. What do they sound like? Well, go and listen, listen, listen!
========
Look
I re-wrote this section many times trying to group basses into tradition/modern looking, standard/special finishes, figured/non-figured top, double/single cut... but just couldn't distill it into something easy to categorise basses in. So if it looks good to you, it looks good to you. Who cares what the other guy says? You're the one playing it!
=========
Again, everything written above is purely my completely subjective take on this subject, but I do hope that it's help shed a little light on what to look out for when buying your bass.
Thanks!
cherns
