Sorta related, but here's one thing I really, really like about the bass: Doesn't matter what you have, you can still learn songs--and, in some cases, from the people who wrote them.
Louichi Mayorga, original bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, is posting how-tos online--and notice that he's just playing an acoustic bass in this one. Notes are notes, timing is timing.
Amps are tricky because it highly depends on the tone you are looking for
For Interstellar Sledgehammer, the recording you heard was a Peavey mark IV into a Peavey 215d 2x15 cab. It's loud as berkeley and the whole thing cost 180ish bucks. The recorder doesn't totally capture the low-end, and it's a scary amount of low-end. His big rig is an Ampeg SVT7 and 2 cabs I designed and built for him since he farts out everything with the low-end he pushes. Let me put it this way: he stacks the 2 cabs I built ( 2x15 and a 2x12 plus2x10) and has to ratchet strap them together because otherwise they will walk the stage. He has backed out the ring shanks holding my siding on his side of the band room.
It depends on the level you want to go. The better tiny practice amp I've played thru is a Crate bx25 somehow. They are cheap if you can find them and suprisingly great for what they are. He's also played thru Sunns, behringer, a Peavey f800b thru a couple different cabs.
As for tube amps.......I don't think for your first amp you should go there. Tube amps usually sound more musical overall but don't discount anything. I have said I'll play thru whatever gets me the tone I want.....tube, modeling, solid state, decomposing squirrel..,..whatever
In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :
So basically your Dad puts the 'hammer" in Interstellar Sledgehammer. Backing out the nails on the siding, walking speaker cabinets, dear God! LOL. Hope he's back at it really soon.
11GTCS said:In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :
So basically your Dad puts the 'hammer" in Interstellar Sledgehammer. Backing out the nails on the siding, walking speaker cabinets, dear God! LOL. Hope he's back at it really soon.
THIS!!! This is what I want right here!!!
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:As for tube amps.......I don't think for your first amp you should go there. Tube amps usually sound more musical overall but don't discount anything. I have said I'll play thru whatever gets me the tone I want.....tube, modeling, solid state, decomposing squirrel..,..whatever
Where should I mail you the squirrels?
I'll also vote for whatever Fender/Squire is in your price range. Whatever you do, find a reputable shop/luthier to set it up and put new strings on it.
Worth noting, there are different levels of "Made in USA" fender basses. I had a p-bass, but it was a special series (US Highway 1) and only cost ~$500 new from a big-box store. It was assembled in the USA, but didn't have the high-end tuners & components as the "pro series."
I had a bandmate with a squire p-base that was awesome. He worked in a music shop so it was perfectly set up and he upgraded/swapped out most of the components. They're pretty easy hot-rod. He took my P-bass and made it 100x better.
Amps: If you're planning on playing any gigs or jamming with friends I'd recommend a combo amp/speaker setup. Find an AMPEG head ($200 - $400) and buy a bass cab to suit the amount of sound you need. I had a 4x10 cab, which was amazing...but also a pain to move around. If I had to do it again I would have kept the head and had a smaller speaker setup, probably a 2x10 or even a 12".
I'll 2nd (or 3rd) a Class D solid state amp. I've got a GK MB500 and I love it. I've got it hooked to a little 8" cab for practice in the house at a reasonable volume but it's got more than enough power to make a 4x12 stack flutter your pants (done it). It's also got a really nice tube simulating "boost" control. Obviously not exactly the same sound as a tube amp but it's pretty dang close.
That being said, most of the time I don't even turn it on. I've got a couple of apps on my iPad and iRig dongle that let me plug my bass and headphones in and play. Multiple amp and pedal models and music apps can play at the same time. It works great. If you want to keep intial investment low, I'd recommend that. The apps I have are free and the dongle was $30 I think.
My bass is a Samick. It was cheap when I got it, and seems decent (note that I don't have any others to compare it to). My amp is a Behringer Thunderbird and it was cheap, but I mainly got it because it has a headphone jack and aux in/out jacks.
I recommend all y'all bass players to subscribe to Leland Sklar on Youtube. He's played on 100s of records you probably know, and he posts really interesting vids about music industry stuff and of himself playing famous tunes book-ended by anecdotes. He's been a session and touring player for about 50 years. He's also a car dude - he recently posted a couple of times about his cool T-bucket.
Super cool dude:
Lee Sklar is part of the "Section" as they called themselves. Linda Rondstadt, Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor are among artist they recorded with. Amazing how many songs they recorded over the years.
I knew this bass player:
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=david-knox-mcdaniel&pid=86489224
Disco (Dicknose ) Dave McDaniels in the 70's. He had a Sony Triniton that he didn't like the picture on, so he rebuilt it. I saw the picture and it looked HiDef in a world before HiDef existed. His guitar was a Yamaha. Knowing him, it had to have been completely "hot rodded" by guitar standards.
RIP Dave.
11GTCS said:In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :
So basically your Dad puts the 'hammer" in Interstellar Sledgehammer. Backing out the nails on the siding, walking speaker cabinets, dear God! LOL. Hope he's back at it really soon.
I hope so too. I just talked to the nurse and he was very optimistic and said he's doing well.
Recon1342 said:11GTCS said:In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :
So basically your Dad puts the 'hammer" in Interstellar Sledgehammer. Backing out the nails on the siding, walking speaker cabinets, dear God! LOL. Hope he's back at it really soon.
THIS!!! This is what I want right here!!!
If you want that tone get an EB-0. Short scales in general are beefier sounding and more fundamental sounding. The reason is basically even when tuned to the same pitch they have less string tension and are essentially....sort of downtuned.
He uses flatwounds for strings. They are super dead, they lve been on there for many years. There's a string set that kinda replicates this that I can find for you. Rubber, felt, or leather pics.
You could do a lot worse than the Peavey mark IV/ 215d setup but it is very very heavy. When you go deep you need a lot more wattage. Don't get a cab with a tweeter and be wary of all freq above 100hz. 15 inch or 18s seem to work best for him. Roll the tone knob down on the eb-0 to get rid of the mudbucker pickups highs that aren't there anyway
Add all that to the octave down( and he's used 2 octaves down on top of that before). I wish I could get a recording that would work but we have to neuter his live tone for recordings. Last time a studio tried to replicate his tone, playback blew the studio sub and 2 sets of monitors. There was one song that we recorded that was close that's on Spotify if you want a link. It's an old band, not Interstellar
Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:As for tube amps.......I don't think for your first amp you should go there. Tube amps usually sound more musical overall but don't discount anything. I have said I'll play thru whatever gets me the tone I want.....tube, modeling, solid state, decomposing squirrel..,..whatever
Where should I mail you the squirrels?
Luckily I have a wide range and variety of squirrels right on my doorstep
We totally did have a Zoom call on this recently, didn't we? 
As many have said, get something basic and classic that just works. Fender Precision or Fender Jazz, Mexican made, would be an excellent choice. Pick the one that fits better in your hands and you'll be off in no time. Some of the better Fender Squier stuff is great, like the Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe lines. For an amp, a smaller practice amp would be a good start. Ampeg, Fender, and Peavey all make excellent small amps that are affordable.
I'm more of a Jazz Bass guy. I picked up this Squier Vintage Modified '77 Jazz Bass for super cheap brand new a few years ago after trading some old gear in. It's Geddy Lee vibes just spoke to me, and I had to take it home from my local shop. They retail for around $300. It sounds great and plays great. My bass-playing nephew picked up a 1990's Fender Mexican Jazz in good shape for about $250 a few weeks later, and it's rock solid.
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:As for tube amps.......I don't think for your first amp you should go there. Tube amps usually sound more musical overall but don't discount anything. I have said I'll play thru whatever gets me the tone I want.....tube, modeling, solid state, decomposing squirrel..,..whatever
Where should I mail you the squirrels?
Luckily I have a wide range and variety of squirrels right on my doorstep
I'm up to 88 EKIA in the GWoS (Global War on Squirrels) and the bodies are piling up. So, no problem sending them over. No trouble at all. Really. Glad to help.
In reply to Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) :
Squallets seem to be pretty trendy now, maybe you should make a few?
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) :
Squallets seem to be pretty trendy now, maybe you should make a few?
The only reason we are interested in decomposing squirrels is for their feasibility in driving a bass amp with good tone...
Just thinking a little more. Whether you buy Bass A or Amp B isn't the biggest thing. After all, you can always buy more basses and amps. 
But you want something that's going to make playing pleasurable. How's that? A friend of mine is also taking lessons, and was telling me about his guitar--and how it's a total POS with fret buzz, dodgy electronics and other ills. So, instead of enjoying the art of music, he's instead driving around the problem. It's like he has a Miata with a bent chassis.
So, I'd say get something that's going to work with you: comfortable to play without any technical issues. You want something that will stay in tune and always be there for you--you know, so you can just pick it up and rock out.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
What guitar did he buy? I want to avoid the bent chassis...
In reply to Tony Sestito :
It's been a long time since I bought one, but it seems like the price of 'daily driver' guitars hasn't changed much in 35 years.
In 1985 a decent, journeyman quality electric guitar or bass was $250. In 2020, you're telling me the cost of a decent, journeyman quality electric guitar or bass is $250.
In reply to Recon1342 :
It was something left behind by a sister's ex.
In reply to Duke :
Back in '85 there were fewer SE Asian sweatshops churning out actually decent stuff. If you wanted something decent back in the day it usually required a decent luthier to produce. In 86 my mom bought an Eterna "by Yamaha" acoustic for $300. I learned to play on it 20 years ago and my little sister is learning on it now. It is a decent guitar if you don't mind a huge neck. Stable and straight. Adjusted for inflation (according to google) that $300 guitar would cost almost $700. Which is entry level Martin or Taylor stuff. Way cheaper to buy guitars today.
I do have a slight advantage with regards to cost... My brother owns a music store. Anything purchased will be through him.
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