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I'm on the market for a Fender bass, but as a guitar player, I have next to no knowledge on the subject.

I've found this precision bass on gumtree: CLICK ME. It's locality is appealing, butI haven't a clue about the price.

What sort of price should one be paying for a fender bass? P-basses, jazz basses... Any personal preferences that anyone would care to share?

What kind of bass do you have? Fender or otherwise? Extra internet points for photos.

I'm primarily a bass player... I probably wouldn't go for that. Using a rough conversion that a pound is roughly double a Canadian dollar, that price isn't really much below the new price for a MIM bass (and there's little difference in price between Jazz and Precision basses); you can definitely find a better deal out there. Plus, there's a lot of variability in Mexican Fenders in terms of playability and quality; I'd really want to play it first.

As for the Precision versus Jazz thing, it comes down to feel and sound. The Precision is a chunkier playing bass, with a wider and thicker neck, but a smaller body. The pickup is also designed to emphasize the fundamental note. The Jazz bass has a larger body, but a narrower, thinner neck, and the pickups are a bit more midrange growly. There are Precision and Jazz Deluxe series basses that will give you different combinations of these features, though. For example, my Fender Aerodyne Jazz bass has a Jazz body and neck, with a Precision pickup at the neck and Jazz pickup in the bridge, giving me different tonal variations than just a Jazz or Precision. They also make them with Jazz bodies/Precision necks, Precision bodies/Jazz necks, and with either Jazz, Precision or Jazz and Precision pickup configurations. Play around, see what's out there and what you like.

Some of the Squire basses are providing some pretty great quality for the price... and are coming to be better quality than some of the Mexican Fenders. Check out the Squire Vintage Modified and Classic Vintage series basses. They're really cheap and play/sound pretty darn good. Great bang for your buck.

These are the basses I play. I primarily play the Aerodyne Jazz (left), and have basically moved away from the Yamaha 5 string entirely (right). The one in the centre is a bit of a parts bass; it started as a Precision bass copy, but the neck got warped to shit, so it now has a jazz style Yamaha fretless neck.

so weird, i have the same yamaha fivestrrangg

Cheers for the input. Loverly pictures.

I've been leaning towards a jazz bass - bassed purely on the look. Although I've just recently come across the mustang bass - which looks the bidniss in my opinion.

I'm looking for something with a thinnish neck I think. Mustangs must have thin necks, no? Anyone here have a mustang bass?

I'm Canadian myself, and from what I've gathered so far, prices seem to work out much more expensive here than back home. Do any other UK residents find that instruments are far more pricey here than in North America?

I'm looking for a used bass, and hopefully Ankhanu is correct in his assessment of the gumtree bass. The listed price of £350 is within my budget, and the idea of snagging something sweet for cheaper than that has my trousers bulging ever so slightly.

Ugh, five strings are ridiculous and stupid.

That Aerodyne is just fucking brilliant, though.

depends on your amp, i liked to dose the use of that low b string every now and then, extra ooommph. but i like the simplicity of 4 strings better, you can put more force on the e string because there's no b string in the way.

Kim your P-Bass is still hot hot hot, haven't seen a pic for a while. Do love the black and gold, and the fact it the right way round

Thom wrote:Kim your P-Bass is still hot hot hot, haven't seen a pic for a while. Do love the black and gold, and the fact it the right way round

+1 moar pics of you and it?

lol i still love it, tried to sell it, glad i didn't find buyers quick and changed my mind about it. most pics i have of it in action are with an asshole band and being overweight so bad memories really. there's more stickers on it now.

As a guitarist who plays a bit of bass, I far prefer Jazzes to Precisions. The skinnier neck suits me better, and the whole thing feels quicker and comfier.

I've never tried a Mustang bass.

I really really want a Squier Bronco bass. Just because I'd be able to fit it into a guitar-sized gigbag, and I can put comp stripes on it.

I used to own a p-bass copy (a kramer) but I sold it 'cause it seemed off to me. right now I've got a Schecter custom 4, an Epiphone Thunderbird (goth) and a Squier Musicmaster bass. My main bass is the t-bird just for the ridiculous amount of bottom end I get out of it. My amp has some decent eq settings though, so I can actually get a fair amount of tonal variation out of it (most of my other amps can't do that with the t-bird). As for fender type basses, I've played the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz bass in stores and I loved it. The Classic Vibe P-bass is great as well.

Here's a pic of (me and) my bass:

£350 isn't a very good deal for a MIM P Bass. I don't know what the going rate for them is but in terms of what you get for your money you'd be better off buying something else.

I love the Mustang basses, they sound great... but I've never had the pleasure of being in a position to try and play one (almost said I've never been in the same room as one, then remembered I've seen Sloan play live ). The Squire Bronco, as mentioned above, is a pretty sweet little bass, and pretty cheap too. The neck isn't very big, but I think they're somewhat more akin to a P style than a J. In the end though I often find these differences to be functionally pretty minor when it comes to playability.

kim wrote:so weird, i have the same yamaha fivestrrangg

Probably the same model number, but a bit different. I think mine is a bit earlier in the run and has a thinner Jazz type pickup. i have played a few like yours in stores though.

I have a Mustang Bass (RI) and it's great. Great playability, the tone is very much to my liking (kinda lika a P-bass, but more growl). It's small, doesn't weigh a lot, but it is fun. The neck is thinnish, probably the same as in Bronco. Used to have a Jazz Bass, but got bored of it, so swapped to my current Mustang. Only thing that is lacking is RF shielding, but that's easy to fix. So if you turn the knobs to max position, you'll get lot's of buzzing. Anyway, I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

Ankhanu wrote: Aerodyne Jazz

Speaking of which, there's now an Aerodyne Jazz on gumtree:CLICK

It looks quite sexy I think.

MStone wrote:

Ankhanu wrote: Aerodyne Jazz

Speaking of which, there's now an Aerodyne Jazz on gumtree:CLICK

It looks quite sexy I think.

I like that Aerodyne more than the one sold in the US. I think the pickguard and chrome control help break up all the black.

It's just way too black for me.

Ah, the smooth lines, black and smoked chrome are reminiscent of an SR71

The mustang has something in common with us humans... It's NOT meant for slapping.

Ankhanu wrote:Ah, the smooth lines, black and smoked chrome are reminiscent of an SR71

Guess I'm just more of a U2 kind of guy.