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I know it`s not really a production question, but I need a great bass with a great tone to suit a broad range of music. I`ll be recording Pop/Rock/Metal/R&B.I dont really mind about weight or playability or things like that because I dont know much about bass playing anyway so Ill learn to live with whatever bass I get. As long as its well built and sounds awesome I`ll be happy!Price wise, Im looking at €700 to €1500 which is about $1200 - $2300.Any ideas?

all I can say, and I am by no means any kind of bass specialist, I invested in an ibanez road gear 350 a while ago, and its never let me down, ever

As a fellow bass player, I would highly recommend a Lakland.I have a 5 string Lakland Skyline Series, found it on ebay for $600 with case and it has been the best bass ever.Your price range will get you an amazing bass!I also have a Warwick Fortress One that love as well, they don't make that series anymore and I haven't really kept up with the Warwick line, but i would definately check out the Lakland.http://www.lakland.com/

You need to play some different basses and get a feel for what you like as far as feel, neck-width, etc.And after you've done all that, go buy a Rickenbacker. It does it all, and when the day comes to sell, you'll get back more money than you paid originally.

I've been playing bass live & doing studio work for over 30 years & the thing about basses when recording is deciding what sound you want. The Motown thing is simple; fender P bass with completely dead strings. A Rick with rotosound roundwounds is gonna give that top end clean "boingy" sound. Lately I've started recording everything with an old hollowbody (60's vintage) Epiphone Rivoli with flats on it, I'm digging that "woody" thumpy sound. When I had to have one bass to do everything I used a Fender P bass modified with a single coil at the bridge, you've been able to buy them stock like that now for some time. I relied on different string choices for the different sounds. I've found that I could get my modified P bass to sound like a Rick but could never get the Rick to sound like a P bass. So I guess my long answer would be that if you had to by one bass get a P bass with single coil at the bridge, but try it first. I've been shocked at how crappy the quality control has been on Fender stuff. I've checked out $800-$900 basses that didn't play as good as their $175 Squire knockoffs.

Hey tuite,With that amount of money, probably be a good idea to getcha 2 or 3 basses. Each one having a different characteristic about it. Like marcblack30 says, Lakland's are good, got a buddy that has/had one or two of 'em. They sound SWEET! Get one of those maybe, and your standard Fender jazz or precision, and possibly for a third, an Ibanez (whatever). Now you've got a little variety ta' choose from when you're trackin' bass. Just thinkin' of a way ta' get the most bang for your bucks! I'd rather have 2 or 3 ta' choose from than just 1. But for a bass that generally has good tones ta' suit a broad range of music, usually the standard Fender Jazz or Precision gets the job done, IMO. I-468

Well, Im not really one for buying second hand instruments, when Im buying a nice instrument I like to get a brand new one. Ill prob end up going for the Fender. Can someone outline the main differences between a J-Bass n a P-Bass?

tuite,This may offer a bit of an explanation. Hope it helps.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_BassI-468

Thanks Ibanez!I`ll prob go for the P Bass then, seen as Ill be doing a lot of Pop/Pop-Rock where I want the vocal to stand out n the bass to sit down in the mix?Cheers for the help guys,Colm.

Good deal then tuite!