Help me buy an entry/mid-level bass for recording

[iacntspell]

So I'm a guitarist who has been borrowing my pops' MIM Fender Jazz bass for a while just to use for songwriting and cutting some bass tracks, but he's determined to learn to play so he wants it back. I've been meaning to get a bass of my own, so I'm not heartbroken. I'm looking to spend under $500 on a used bass which I'll use primarily for recording heavy music (anything from Katatonia to Decapitated), and I intend to generally have it set up for C-standard tuning. Until it comes to recording anything but demo's, I'll be direct injecting and using amp sims/impulses.

Since I'm a guitarist, any of the basic suggestions (i.e., 4 or 5 strings, bolt-on vs neck thru, active vs passive pups) would help. Googling and forum searching has helped a bit, but has generally left me lusting after axes twice what I'm willing to spend...

Gratzi!

 

[greyskull]

Fender Mexican Jazz
/ Thread

 

[BLUElightCory]

The best advice I can give you is to just go down to a music store (or two or three) and play EVERYTHING in your price range. Most likely there will be one or two basses that outperform the rest. I generally look for a bass that has the "piano" thing going on - the strings vibrate freely and have a lot of sustain, and the high/low end is consistent across all of the strings. A good bass will sound deep and vibrant even when unplugged.

You need to do this because there can be so much variation among basses (even two identical models) that you don't know what you're getting until you try it out. This makes buying a bass off the internet (or ordering one from a store) a bit of a crapshoot.

My main bass is an American Standard Fender Jazz.

 

[egan.]

Do what Cory said.

 

[iacntspell]

Thanks, guys. So for C-standard, 4 strings are... pretty standard?

 

[Ermz]

So long as they're 35" scale.

 

[egan.]

Can you actually name an entry/mid level 35" 4 string Ermz?

 

[Ermz]

Nope

 

[Melb_shredder]

Yeah... Bit hard to find any 35" mid levels :/
I was gonna suggest the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz... But I just scored a mid level Specter for a crazy price and it eats the Squier for breakfast. Mind you I played 3 basses of the EXACT same model and they all sounded different. QC at its finest :/

Honestly, go play around on a few basses and see how you go! But I can at least say try some Ibanez, Fender and Specter if possible even some nice LTD's are Good if you get lucky!

 

[colonel kurtz]

there's also some sweet ibanez basses for around that price, such as the sr500/505...

 

[Charlie E.]

I actually did as Cory suggest about 6 months ago and ended up getting an SR505. It even outperformed a musicman that was twice the price.

 

[iacntspell]

Some of my research led me to an Ibanez BTB... looks like used BTB1000's come up on the 'bay around $500.

 

[iacntspell]

Well... there's one for $599 now. I don't know how frequently they come in around that price.

 

[Boneman]

I bought a cheap-ass SX Jazz Bass recently. I have to say just being able to play a real bass and work on the music instead of dicking around with midi-programming is a huge benefit to the songwriting and fun level.

Also I have learnt that playing technique and really locking in to the groove is more important than sound quality for me at this stage. Once I get better at the performance side of things Im sure a higher end instrument will serve me well.

 

[ballstix]

The 5-string Brice basses on Rondo are $300 and 35" scale length. Might need a pickup swap, though.

 

[Star Ark]

There's a second hand Spector Rebop on ebay just a touch over your price. I would highly suggest this model

 

[Charlie E.]

The 5-string Brice basses on Rondo are $300 and 35" scale length. Might need a pickup swap, though.

This is a good point. I was totally oblivious to the fact that my SR505 have bartolini pickups until my friend told me that's part of the reason it sounds pretty good.

 

[iacntspell]

So I just wanted to give a bit of a follow up. I ended up going with an Ibanez BTB570FM. 4-string, 35" scale, and Bartolini MK2 pickup/EQ system. I got it a couple hours ago and just gave it a whirl and I have to say I'm thrilled. Threw some new strings on it, tuned it to C, and after a few minutes of fiddling with the Bart's EQ system I dialed in on a killer tone exactly like what I was hoping for. Plays fantastically and sounds awesome to boot. I'm going to get tons of use out of this; thanks for all your help, dudes.

 

[plague_rider]

Entry to mid level Ibanez, EDB500, I had one for years, amazing tone and handles C-Standard like a boss...

Though the Fender Mex Jazz mentioned earlier would be a good option...

 

[iacntspell]

Entry to mid level Ibanez, EDB500, I had one for years, amazing tone and handles C-Standard like a boss...

Though the Fender Mex Jazz mentioned earlier would be a good option...

Thanks for the advice. I actually went with an Ibanez BTB570 (see above).