Bass guitar contemplations

[Zandit75]

You all know I'm an acoustic player, and I've dabbled in a couple of electric builds, but have yet to play one of them on stage.
The conversation I had with my mother the other day brought to the fore some contemplations I'd been having towards getting a Bass guitar to muck around on.
The only time I've ever picked up a Bass guitar was when I was doing the sound check work for a college concert as part of an Audio Technician course that had just been introduced that year. We got to set up the gear for concerts, and play around with the mixing desk occasionally. All the roadie stuff without the poor pay!!
You may have also seen, or listened to a couple of my videos/recordings of my singing, and know that I've been getting a few gigs around the place over the last year or two.
When playing live, I'm always on my acoustic 8-string, and I sometimes have a band behind me, or just my friend Mick on his Pedal Steel(BTW, Mick wants me to look at his lapsteel design soon for some assistance. Should be interesting!) but when Mick is on stage, playing with band, more often than not he is on Bass guitar, since it's only a 3-piece group. He's just as good on Bass, as he is on acoustic/electric guitar, but he really shines on the Pedal steel.
My mother picked up on this over the weekend when we were at a 70th birthday on Saturday night. She suggested I should start learning Bass guitar, so Mick could spend more time on Pedal.
Typically, since she'd had a couple of drinks by then, and she hadn't discussed this with anyone, but then and there she thought it would be a great idea to contact one of her friends who used to teach Bass, and was going to keep an eye out for a cheap bass!
So, what's the actual point of this thread apart from telling a weird story??!!
I want to hear from those who have transitioned from Electric to Bass, and what their experiences have been?
I've had a quick look on Gumtree, (https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/pros...tar/1150777453) and there is a cheap one available about 1&1/2hrs away. They're advertising it for $75, it looks in decent condition physically, but I don't know anything about them. The brand is completely unknown to me, not that it's an issue.
There's plenty of videos on Youtube on how to learn bass, but if there are any other sites people know of, I will gladly look at them.
Thanks in advance!

[Dedman]

Build one or....
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/basses/

I started on Bass, left, came back and went to guitar, left, came back to guitar and am now considering a bass again ;D It's OK because I suck equally on either ;D

[Zandit75]

I didn't even look at the prebuilt basses!
Hmmm, they're all 5 stringers......What's the standard tuning on a 5 string base?

[wokkaboy]

Hey Zandy, yes build a bass kit will be more fun than buying a cheap one. I've mainly played electric guitar but have mucked around on basses for a while. I found once I'd built a few bass kits I am spending more time playing them. Great for increasing your finger strength and finger stretches with the heavier strings and wider fret spacings.
Have a look at Scott's bass lessons are pretty good. I haven't spent much time learning from him but am keen to sit down and learn some new scales and techniques. Link http://www.scottsbasslessons.com/

There are also heaps of his vids on Youtube. Also last year bought a big Hartke bass rig has got me more motivated to play when it shakes the whole house hahha

Tuning for a 5 string is the heaviest string is a B (lower than low E) so B E A D G

[Rick V]

If you have some time and have built guitars then you should just build one from a kit. I got a quick lesson from my buddy and then spent the next hour playing his Wal bass. I was really enjoying that bass and told him that I had to get one. Then I learned that it cost as much as a months rent, groceries, gas for my car, a car payment and if I got a raise on half my moths income lol. So the Wal bass was definitely out of my league for price of a bass guitar. So I went to the local shop and tried out a 3/4 size bass since I don't have the longest digits. I regret not buying one. Last summer I walked in on my teacher practicing his 1970's Fender Jazz Bass during lunch break and asked him if I could play it. It was awesome and I got the Bass bug again. He was the Bassist for a famous band back in the 70's but went in to Gunsmithing and became one of the top custom competition rifle builders in the world. The guy excels at everything he does in this world lol. Anyways I have been thinking about buying a bass too lately and I think I am going to end up just building one from one of the Bass kits. Also some of the best Bass players that I know, started out playing guitar first and it really helped them pick it up faster. I like playing with my fingers and slapping but mostly play with a pick when I pick up a Bass off the wall at a guitar shop. There are a lot of pretty decent basses out there for under $200.00 that you could get by on but if you have the time then you should just build one and add some pickups that you like the sound of. I don't know how it is where you live but some shops here in the US have basses and guitars that people can use during their lessons for free. But if you are playing live right now then you must be pretty good at guitar so you will probably pick up playing the bass guitar pretty quick. I can do some blues stuff and certain rock and metal bands songs on the bass but I am not spectacular at playing it. When I finally build one, I see myself playing it a lot. I would put my bass playing level at a guns n roses and alice in chains level lol. But I want to be at a Steve Harris / Cliff Burton level hahahahaha! Keep me posted and let me know how it goes for you please. Have a great night!

[Zandit75]

Thanks for the comments guys, most appreciated.
A kit would be ideal, but I'm not the most financial at the moment. The IB-5 has my attention, now that I have an idea of the tuning, thanks for that Wokks!
Rick, I'm not a lead guitar player, even though I've been playing for over 25yrs. Rhythm acoustic, and the occasional finger style playing is as good as it gets or me!

[FrankenWashie]

Build one or....
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/basses/

I started on Bass, left, came back and went to guitar, left, came back to guitar and am now considering a bass again ;D It's OK because I suck equally on either ;D

Isn't that why we build kit guitars? If we build enough of them we might find one we sound good on?? :P

[Dedman]

I like your theory Frankie

[FredA]

I built an IB5 and I'm now almost playing more bass than guitar... what's happened to me???😀
Only issue is that that 5th string always confuses me when reading tabs... in the heat of things I forget it's not the E string...

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[dave.king1]

I would have thought you could go with either a low B or a high B with a 5 stringer, bear in mind that the ear don't hear much below a low B on the bass guitar.

When you are mixing anything below 40Hz is usually just mud that you feel rather than hear and it takes away headroom, I hi pass all tracks at 40Hz for that reason