Pulled the trigger on my first bass!

[Lev]

So, after 25 years of playing guitar I decided it was time I owned my first bass. My budget was limited and I wanted to get as many features as possible for very little cash. As I've never played much bass before I wasn't 100% sure whether to go down a J bass pickup style or a P bass style. I also wasn't too sure about active/passive electronics either. I did pickup a few basses in a local store and decided the Jazz bass neck was more comfortable for my weedy six-string hands.

After taking everything into account I decided to order one of these:

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special - Did I make a good choice? I hope it gets to me before Xmas

Specifications:
Construction: 34" Bolt-on
Body: Basswood
Neck: Maple
Neck Shape: C Shape
Fretboard: Rosewood
Frets: 20 Medium Jumbo
Inlays: Dot
Active Bass Boost circuit, powered by a 9v battery
Bridge Pickup: Single Coil Jazz Bass Pickup
Neck Pickup: Split Single Coil Precision Bass Pickup
Bridge: Standard 4-Saddle
Finishing: Crimson Red

 

[bcdon]

Looks great! BTW, what are you doing for a bass amph?

 

[Eric]

Very nice. Looking forward to your eventual review.

 

[Tig]

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special - Did I make a good choice? I hope it gets to me before Xmas

Yes, you did well! :AOK If/when I jump back into 4 big strings, this is on my short list.

Can't wait to read more about it when it arrives.

 

[marnold]

Good choice! You may never go back to your piccolo bass (aka guitar) again!

WRT amphs, I'll put in my plug for an Acoustic B20 which will be plenty for practicing. Dirt cheap too. You'll need a lot more horsepower if you're going to gig though.

 

[Lev]

Thanks for the tip Marnold, I needed to stick to a €200 budget so I decided to put all my cash into the bass and leave the amp for another time. I do have a PODxt that I can install the bass pack onto so that I can use with headphones. My main motivation for buying a bass was to add bass to some song ideas that I've been recording so the POD should work fine for now.

In the long term though I do want to learn to play bass properly ( as a second instrument rather than a guitarist who hacks away on 4 strings). So I'm sure I will be in the market for an amp in the not too distant future.

 

[guitartango]

Thanks for the tip Marnold, I needed to stick to a €200 budget so I decided to put all my cash into the bass and leave the amp for another time. I do have a PODxt that I can install the bass pack onto so that I can use with headphones. My main motivation for buying a bass was to add bass to some song ideas that I've been recording so the POD should work fine for now.

In the long term though I do want to learn to play bass properly ( as a second instrument rather than a guitarist who hacks away on 4 strings). So I'm sure I will be in the market for an amp in the not too distant future.

Hi Lev

I did the same as you, adding a bass pack to my line6 toneport, now my demo's all sound alot better.

 

[Duffy]

I think that looks like a real nice bass. I like that black pickguard/pickups and red combination with the rosewood board. Is that your couch? Did you get the bass already?

You definitely will be able to get a lot of sounds out of the pedal.

I would "definitely" keep that away from that Club 40.

Around here I see a lot of small, under 100 watt, used bass amps at music stores for decent prices.

I have a Marshall MB30 cool little bass amp, but it is a "little" bass amp.

Right now I'm playing thru my Fender Rumble 100, which I think is a really neat amp that didn't cost a lot - fifteen inch speaker, tweeter, red light that flashes to the rhythm thru the port at the bottom of the amp and is switchable off - I like it on though, even though it is kind of corney looking. I built heavy pressure treated wooden shelves for my new amp wall and have the Rumble about a meter off the floor. I'm playing my really nice Schecter 24 fret Stiletto Elite five string straight into it. I played this rig for the first time in a long time last night for a couple hours, jamming along to some songs thru my computer sound system. I was really enjoying it. I'm getting used to that low "B" tone and I had a lot of fun. That is a really good, to me, sounding bass and amp rig.

I also had a Squier P bass that I liked but gave away when I got a Fender P bass. Most recently I got an Ibanez SR500 four string that has a great fast Ibanez type neck, probably something like your Jaguar, and I want to get that out again because it feels so good and is super easy to play. The big Schecter feels great too, contrary to what someone might think, and it plays really easy too, but it is "big" and definitely a different type of bass. It and the Ibanez are active like yours. I like the active basses.

I would venture to guess that you are really going to bond with that cool looking bass. If it feels anything like it looks, I bet it feels great and fits into your hands really well - so well that I bet it's hard to put down.

I put Rotosound 66's on my Schecter by the way and they sound pleasantly warm and full.

Good luck and have fun with that beauty.

 

[Lev]

No Duffy not my couch, I stole that photo from this site: http://deadeyeguitars.blogspot.com/2011/11/squier-vintage-modified-jaguar-bass.html
There's six or seven gorgeous photos of this bass on that link and actually these photo's really sold it to me - I think it looks amazing. I wouldn't be a big fan of the Jaguar shape for guitars but it just seems to work really well with this bass.

Yes, I'll be keeping it well away from any guitar amp. I do see those MB30's come up second hand quite a lot around here so if I can get one at a good price it might be a good option. I don't see myself as a gigging bassist anytime soon so I'm hot too worried about power for now.

I got a shipping notification today so hopefully I'll have the bass within the week... very excited!!

 

[aeolian]

I got a bass about 7 years ago for the same reason you did: I wanted to lay down basslines for recordings I was working on. I spent $170 at Musician Friends for a Fernandes bass that turned out to be very nice to play and sounded decent. Of course, you're in Ireland so what is available is completely different. I have since moved on to a better bass, but only because I found it at an unbeatable price.

 

[NWBasser]

Very cool.

HNBD!

I'm more of a jazz bass guy, but those Jaguars are very nice. I listened to a guy trying one out at the local shop and it sounded quite good.

PS - If you keep the volume down to bedroom levels (and don't smack the strings too hard), a guitar amph will work fine for bass. My basses sound pretty good through my Mustang I.

 

[progrmr]

Alright - another bass in the family! Congrats! The P/J configuration can be pretty flexible. You'll definitely have to give us a review once you get it.

 

[Lev]

Very cool.

HNBD!

I'm more of a jazz bass guy, but those Jaguars are very nice. I listened to a guy trying one out at the local shop and it sounded quite good.

PS - If you keep the volume down to bedroom levels (and don't smack the strings too hard), a guitar amph will work fine for bass. My basses sound pretty good through my Mustang I.

Thats good to know, I also have a Mustang I so that might be worth a go.

Thanks guys, will let you know when it gets here!

 

[Ch0jin]

Very cool.

HNBD!

I'm more of a jazz bass guy, but those Jaguars are very nice. I listened to a guy trying one out at the local shop and it sounded quite good.

PS - If you keep the volume down to bedroom levels (and don't smack the strings too hard), a guitar amph will work fine for bass. My basses sound pretty good through my Mustang I.

Da, this is true. I quite frequently play my bass through my guitar amp for the same reason, that is, to get bass lines down for jam ideas. I am using a 4x12 originally designed for bass though so there's that, but keep ur levels down and you'll be fine.

 

[Lev]

Pretty decent (for GearWire) demo of the bass.

 

[Lev]

It's here and it flat out rocks!!!! I absolutely love this bass. How the hell have I gone so long without a bass - sooo much fun!!

 

[NWBasser]

Welcome to the dark side Lev!

That's a very pretty bass. Congrats!

 

[progrmr]

I soon see the balance of that picture changing - soon it'll be 3 basses and 1 guitar

Nice bass!

 

[NWBasser]

I soon see the balance of that picture changing - soon it'll be 3 basses and 1 guitar

Nice bass!

:rollover