My bass

My bass is a Yamaha BB234. I really like it, but it's not perfect.

Positive points:

• The precision pickups sound great.
• It's very nice to the touch, the frets don't scratch my hand.
• It's so pretty. The appearance of the instrument seems irrelevant, but it actually helps me stay motivated. Mine is black, and I love that the headstock is also painted black, most basses have their headstocks unpainted.
• Mine isn't very heavy. I think all of them are around 4kg. Still, it hurts my shoulder, despite me wearing a 10cm (3.4 inches) wide strap. So I play seated. Cons of being tiny I guess.
• The neck is thin in the upper part so it's great for my tiny hands. For reference, I'm 1,58m (5'2ft) tall.
• Construction quality is great but not the best.
• It's passive so no batteries needed!

Negative points:

• It's a bit pricey for what it is.
• The strings go out of tune every two or three weeks, I think.
• I don't really like how the jazz pickup sounds.
• The tune knob fell off. It's an easy fix, but the allen wrenches provided with the bass don't fit the knobs.
• It buzzes a lot, but only when the tone is open. When it's closed it doesn't buzz that much. My friend says it's the bass, not the amp. It's easy to fix, tho. But annoying nontheless.

Overall, would I recommend it? Yes, but for starting I think a cheaper bass would still be a great choice. I got a more pricey one because I want to keep it for a longer time before I feel I need something more professional, if that makes sense. In other words, I want to pospone selling it for as long as possible, since I don't like dealing with strangers.

And finally, a lil advice from my friend who is a luthier, bass and guitar player: get a bass that is 200€ or more, cheaper than that it'll probably suck ass, even for begginners.

Bass amp

I got a Fender Rumble 15. Sounds great. It could be cheaper, I say this because I'm certain it actually used to be cheaper, 20€ less I think. Oh well. Looks like Fender has an inflation fetish! (sorry).

• It's big, but light.
• You can plug in headphones, but you'll have to buy an adapter. I got a cheap one from Amazon and sounds great.
• People say the Rumble 40 is better but I think the 15 is more than enough.

Recommended? Yeah! But if you have enough space in your home.

Bass/guitar hanger

Mine is a Hercules GSP38WB PLUS AGS. It's solid and feels nice, but THE FOAM DYED THE NECK a bit which sucks, I mean I paid 20€ for it, for the love of god. It's supposed to be the best on the market... And the stain doesn't go away. I tried to clean it with alcohol like my luthier friend suggested, to no avail. So I covered the foam with soft cotton fabric so it doesn't get more stained, and it works, no more staining.

Do I recommend it? Dunno. I read that expensive instruments have a different finish and don't get stained, but take this with a grain of salt. If you wanna get it, COVER THE FOAM IN COTTON FABRIC.

Strap

I got a leather one. Sorry cow. These usually can't be adjusted to the exact length you want. I mean, It's like a belt, it has different holes where you can pass the strap and you can't choose the exact millimeter length you want. But they are not slippery at all which is very important.

Cable

The dude at the music store recommended me one that was 7€ and sounds great! The brand is adam hall.

Midi keyboard

Mine is a M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 MK. Feels good, though it doesn't have many extra buttons. I don't think they're needed for begginners anyway.

Go back