Bass guitar for son

[Melman Giraffe]

Hi all

My 14 year old son plays 6 string acoustic and a fender electric to a decent level but also wants a bass guitar (electric). Any pointers on what to buy him? If it helps he plays a lot of foals, pixies etc etc. Thanks

Oh and budget - I don't know what they cost but maybe £300

Edited by Melman Giraffe on Thursday 29th October 10:25

[languagetimothy]

Both the foals and pixies bass guitarists generally play Fender Precision basses (if that matters to him) Fender can be a bit out of your budget but squire (by Fender) do this type of thing

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/18062932915...

I'm a guitarist of many years but needed a new bass for home recording and got this Harley Benton PJ bass for EUR 165. Its very good, alder body etc,, same as Fender, from Thomann.

[HustleRussell]

Bass

[jet_noise]

How low can you go?

[Melman Giraffe]

languagetimothy said:

Both the foals and pixies bass guitarists generally play Fender Precision basses (if that matters to him) Fender can be a bit out of your budget but squire (by Fender) do this type of thing

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/18062932915...

I'm a guitarist of many years but needed a new bass for home recording and got this Harley Benton PJ bass for EUR 165. Its very good, alder body etc,, same as Fender, from Thomann.

That looks perfect thanks for the advice.

Also just noticed the Typo - Damn auto correct

[Scrump]

Melman Giraffe said:

Also just noticed the Typo - Damn auto correct

Fixed

[Melman Giraffe]

Merci

[hman]

Tokai are ok for that kind of budget too.

A PJ gives the flexibility of being a P and 50% of a J.

I have both a P and a J (amongst others) and they have distinctively different sounds so a PJ is a good all rounder.

Be aware of how heavy basses are too - some weigh a tonne and some are very light

[Melman Giraffe]

hman said:

A PJ gives the flexibility of being a P and 50% of a J.

I'm new to this, can you explain?

Thanks again

[hiccy18]

Has Precision style pickup with a Jazz style bridge pickup, neck is usually the thinner Jazz style too. Squire PJ's are good, bought one when I decided to take up bass again and still keep it within reach.

[Melman Giraffe]

hiccy18 said:

Has Precision style pickup with a Jazz style bridge pickup, neck is usually the thinner Jazz style too. Squire PJ's are good, bought one when I decided to take up bass again and still keep it within reach.

Thanks for explaining.

[hman]

To go further, precision uses 1 pickup so you have a tone control and volume control only. The precision was supposedly the closest you could get to a double bass.The sound is warmer and fatter than a jazz.

A jazz has 2 pickups and separate volume controls for each plus an overall tone control. The 2 pickups allow for a wider range of tones, the normal jazz tone is both volume controls taken to full and then both backed off a fraction until the pickups hit a sweet spot together - or you can go thinner by backing off the upper pickup or fatter by doing the reverse. The tone knob is effectively a brightness control.

I use the precision for rock and the jazz for pop, funk or anything with more “ping” to it.

A pj allows the fatness of a precision with some of the ping of a jazz.

Just to confuse- you can make a jazz growl too but it’s a crisp edge growl whereas the precision is a softer edge growl.

That’s why I have both - my jazz has a precision neck on it to confuse further, jazz necks are very thin at the 1st fret which isn’t to everyone’s liking. I suspect a pj would have the wider P neck too.

In summary a pj is a good all round bass

[dojo]

The Marcus Miller series of basses are a really nice alternative and pretty decent value for money too.

Yamaha make some nice instruments too. A student of mine picked up a 434 and its lovely. A little out of budget but have a hunt around.

Both of those are worth a look.