[ZeroGravity]

I have always thought I would compliment the guitar family with a bass and today it happened. Nothing fancy, a "Spencer" clone. Picked it up for $100 Cdn from Kijiji. When I get there, she asks do you want an amp - Ibanez 10W bass amp - and a couple of gig bags. Sure. Inside the case is a strap, patch cord and tuner. So what do I do with it? Good online resources just to get started? First thing I notice is the action is miles high >5mm and I don't even know what to tune it to yet. Off to Google

http://imgur.com/dw6pQms

 

[Brett Pearson]

Congrats on the new bass! Sounds like you made out like a bandit with all those extras. standard tuning is E A D G....have a look online for help setting it up and learning some technique...google and youtube is your best friend.

 

[sambonee]

Fingers or pick it's your choice. As guitarist I don't have calluses on my r hand therefor I choose a pick round and thick.

Go for it. It's like soloing all the time.

 

[cboutilier]

Right on. I did the same thing earlier this year. Within months I was playing festivals and making money with it.

1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5

 

[capnjim]

Very nice. There are tons of online tuners out there. Great deal. Bass is pretty easy to play, but hard to master. Listen to some of James Jamerson's bass lines, they are pure poetry.
Have fun.

 

[Ronbeast]

That looks like a solid bass to learn on. Give it a nice setup and it should play and sound as a good p bass should. I find YouTube a great resource for beginners lessons and even into more advanced techniques.

These days I play 90% with a pick based on the sound I’m shooting for, but I really recommend learning with fingers first because it will improve your right hand dexterity and strength very quickly. I got to a point where I could do three finger galloping before I decided to move onto a pick. If nothing else, it just offers more versatility with the instrument.

Most of all though, just have fun with the instrument. Playing bass is a different feel than guitar, and you can really have a blast playing it, especially with a great drummer.

 

[High/Deaf]

....... and don't forget the glasses. Yous gotsta have the glasses.

 

[GTmaker]

best thing to do right away is to get it set up decent....should not be that hard and then start playing...
Play you favorite 1 4 5 tunes and play along...it will be great .

This part will get a bunch of crazy reaction but I think that at low volumes its perfectly fine to play your new bass thru any guitar amp you have...
Yes you should get a proper BAss amp and Im sure you'll get a bunch of suggestions that you should spend thousands.
I would look at kijiji for a nice Traynor or whatever combo... maybe 200 watts or so with a nice 15" speaker.
You can get these for 200-300 bucks and they sound just fine.
that's what I would do
G.

 

[zontar]

Hey--fix it up/set it up--lots of good advice above--and then Enjoy!

 

[avalancheMM]

IMO, the best online bass resource is www.talkbass.com, all bass, all the time, there is more information and experience on that site than is fathomable - have fun!

Regards

 

[ZeroGravity]

Talkbass is actually too much. There are so many posts/posters, I can't keep up. It's one of the busiest forums I've seen

 

[ronmac]

Think of it as a percussive instrument and work on getting the groove right. You can learn the right notes to play later.

 

[zontar]

Talkbass is actually too much. There are so many posts/posters, I can't keep up. It's one of the busiest forums I've seen

It can be--but if you start one post & ask stuff and stick to that--maybe that would help?