Thoughts on buying a bass guitar

[MattCoops]

I got a bunch of overtime last week and want to use the extra cash for gear.
I want to spice up my beats with live bass lines.
Was thinking of getting a Novation Baas Station. But from the demo videos I've seen of it, it sounds too electronic. And it seems more for EDM type music.
Then I was thinking of a bass guitar. The videos I seen of dudes playing live bass to hip hop beats sound dope to me. Plus, the stuff I sample for bass is usually Jamerson on Motown or some 70s Funk records. I like filtered bass line techniques like from 90s era hip hop. But sometimes I hear a bass progression in my head that I wish I could strum out in tune to what I hear custom made.
Only thing is I never played guitar before so there will be quite the learning curve.
I see a bunch of videos for teaching bass guitar techniques. So it is not the impossible.
And I dreamt up an idea for a concept album of live basslines over chopped up drums off the sampler.

So should I spend the dough on a guitar?
Any of y'all play bass guitar? It seems like a good time to just jam out to.

Any suggestions on a certain guitar/amp?

[Vivian Neezhnies]

I've always wanted to play guitar, I have heard that bass guitar is fairly easy to learn too. I think you should go for it.

[MattCoops]

The videos on YouTube make it look easy to learn.
I can hear baseline rhythms in my head. If only I knew how to play those notes out.
I think it's something I could learn, plus have fun in the process.

There is a local downtown bar that does open mic night and a dude had a portable walkman that was playing a string of drum loops from cassette and he was slapping bass from his guitar over it. And it sounded so dope.
Made me want to go to Guitar Center.

I just don't want to suck and get discouraged and it collect dust or worse, go sell it to a pawn shop or something.

[distorted]

Start out with something cheap like a Squier. Learn it well and it'll supplement your productions with more ideas. Aside from that, it's fun jamming with a few bands and hitting up open mic nights.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier/Affi ... erboard.gc

[tigrinya]

Why not go for it. I play bass and it's not super easy to learn, but I do think it's much easier to pick up than guitar, especially if your ear is already tuned to funk/hip-hop/jazz music. Pick up a cheapo on Craigslist or ebay, but if you're going to buy new go for a Squire.

[Vivian Neezhnies]

How would you rate the difficulty 0-10?

[Pip Molinsky]

Bass guitar is in the category "easy to learn, hard to master" but it's worth it.

Don't buy it online. Go to a shop, play different models and pick the one that feels best to you. On several occations I went to the store to test a certain guitar and ended up buying something different because it felt better. That's why a lot of people say "you don't choose a guitar. the guitar chooses you".

If you want a smooth sound (smooth like dub or reggae bass lines) get flatwound strings.

Learn how to play four note arpeggios, the pentatonic scale, later the major scale and it's modes and always sing with it while practicing. This will improve your ability to play the lines you hear in your head.

I haven't much experience with bass amps. Usually I'm going through a DI box directly into the mixing desk.

[Pip Molinsky]

So, did you get a bass already? Or are you still thinking about whether it's worth it?

[janglesoul]

I got a used Mexico-made Fender Jazz Bass at pawnshop sale. I play it into a Tech21 Sansamp BassDriver DI. It's hard to go wrong with a classic "Fender" bass, either Jazz or Precision (P-bass). Apart from the cheaper Squire or Mexico-made, look out for older Japanese lawsuit-models.

[MattCoops]

Im still debating on whether to get a guitar.
I'm not interested in doing any live shows with it.
And I have more of a sample sound mindset rather than original melody.
I think I might try getting some cheaper gear to do lo pass filter with and stick to buying records.

[MattCoops]

I mean, I got a ST-224. So the lo pass is pretty sick.
Just gotta find some notes to chop and scale out the pitch.

[Ill Green]

I had a friend who was a pro at guitar. Watching him play, I was like "I can try that". Then he left his acoustic guitar at my house one time and I didn't hesitate to play it. I sucked playing akward 2 note melodies so I decided to stay away from guitar. Then 3 years after that, Toys R Us had a clearance on these little kid's guitars, so I bought one just to practice for twenty dollars. For some reason, I felt comfortable with that little guitar and was playing 4 to 8 note melodies with no experience. Everyday was fun practice. My mom noticed my playing advanced, she thought the sounds were coming from the TV until she caught me in my trance one night as I played some desperado shit. My father hated that little guitar because it was for kids and looked like a violin in a 6ft man's hand, so he got me an adult acoustic guitar and I began mostly playing basslines on it a lot mimicing Charles Mingus' stuff. Still no pro like my friend but the moral is to practice with some cheap guitar and develope yourself to see what you can do. Now I have 2 acoustic guitars and a bootlegged Les Paul Black Beauty electric guitar and with each one I play differently. Don't know why, but guitars has their own soul and prefer a certain way to be played.

[KIYANI]

Bass guitar has gotten me laid on several occasions. So I say yes buy one

[MattCoops]

If I never get a guitar I'll always wonder if I'd be any good at it.
If I DO get one, I fear sucking at it. And then a $300 piece of gear collects dust.

I've held off buying it because I'm a samples guy.
I love digging. And when I find a drum break or funky bassline I'm psyched.

I think I'm gonna just stick to sampling bass and try tweaking some effects on my SampleTrak.
Maybe get a MoogerFooger Lo Pass Filter.
And stick to sampling dope records.

[Durdy]

you should get a bass guitar if it helsp you make a rasta beat!