One look through the bass section of the Sweetwater website reveals a world of low-end options that run the gamut from old-school thumpers to high-end active designs with stunning exotic tonewoods. Each bass has its own shape, controls, materials, and feel. We know that for someone just starting out, it can be overwhelming shopping for the best beginner bass guitar. So what do you look for when picking your very first beginner bass? We’ve got answers for you.
We’ve selected five electric bass guitars that the bass experts here at Sweetwater believe are some of our best beginner bass guitars, ideal for players looking to dip their toes into the low-end side of music. Among these five basses for beginners, you’ll find active designs for modern hi-fi tones, short-scale construction to nail vintage thump, and more. There are plenty more fantastic options for the beginning bassist available at Sweetwater. But we’re confident that these five will give you a head start on finding the perfect one for your musical journey.
Best Bass Guitars for Beginners:
Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass PJ
This is a beginner bass that would be a welcome addition to any bass collection. The Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass PJ is straightforward, with a maple and rosewood neck bolted to one of the most popular bass body shapes in history. Onboard, you’ll find the pickup duet of a split-P single-coil in the neck and a J-style single-coil in the bridge. This gives you the tonal ability to nail everything from raw, Steve Harris-like rock sounds to Jaco-esque solo tones with ease. In fact, the P Bass body and the PJ pickup combination is one of the most recorded and used combinations in electric bass guitar history. Oh, and did we mention that the Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass PJ is astoundingly affordable?
Best Bass Guitars for Beginners:
Fender Mustang PJ Bass
Sticking with the Fender family tree, the Fender Mustang PJ Bass is quickly becoming a favorite instrument of beginning bassists and touring pros alike. As soon as you get this bass in your hands, you’ll notice that it is quite a bit more compact than other basses. This bass guitar is fantastic for smaller-framed players and children. But this short-scale construction also injects the instrument with a ’60s-style thump that is extremely popular. Including a PJ pickup configuration similar to the Squier Vintage Modified P Bass, the Mustang PJ Bass has a lot of tonal variety waiting under the hood. When it comes to finding the best beginner bass guitar, this short-scale beauty brings a truckload of Fender quality and tone to the table.
Best Bass Guitars for Beginners:
Ibanez GSR206 GIO
With modern forms of hip-hop, jazz, and even metal, extended-range basses such as this Ibanez GSR206 GIO 6-string are all but required equipment. The 6-string design of this active bass offers both a fat low end and a higher range that’s perfect for single-note soloing and chords. It accomplishes this by adding a higher C and lower B string to most basses’ standard 4-string construction. The dual volume and single tone control layout is easy for up-and-coming players to navigate. And the bass even boasts an active bass boost for rattling the walls on demand. If you’re looking to get into fleet-fingered styles of playing or slap-based technique, you’ll be extremely hard-pressed to find a better value on a beginner bass guitar than the GSR206 GIO.
Best Bass Guitars for Beginners:
Yamaha TRBX304
If you’re as excited about getting into metal bass as you are into jazz, or you find as much inspiration in funk as you do laying down a walking blues line, then the Yamaha TRBX304 active 4-string bass may be the best beginner bass guitar for you. Its fast-playing and comfortable neck is easy for fresh hands to get around on. And with its 5-piece construction, it may have the most stable neck of the bunch. Also, the body boasts well-thought-out contours that make it surprisingly ergonomic. But this beginner bass really shines in the electronics department. Not only does the bass offer a switch for preset EQ settings that are available on the fly, but its active 2-band EQ further sculpts and shapes your sound to whatever style you’re learning. Put all that in a bass with attractive lines that will look great onstage, at home, or in the studio, and the Yamaha TRBX304 is a beginner bass that’s ready to groove.
Best Bass Guitars for Beginners:
Epiphone EB-3
The Epiphone EB-3 is an affordable take on one of the most legendary classic rock bass designs of all time. Though sharing its tone and look with basses famously found in the hands of iconic players such as Cream’s Jack Bruce, punk pioneer Mike Watt, and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, the Epiphone EB-3 has its own personality to share. With a full 34″ scale length, this beginner bass boasts an added level of punch and aggression that many of the shorter vintage examples can’t touch. It also comes in at a fraction of the cost of those old-school 4-strings, making it one of the best beginner bass guitars on the market. But with the EB-3’s massive Sidewinder humbucker in the neck position and NYT Bass mini humbucker in the bridge, the heralded sounds of good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll are never far away.
Sweetwater cares about your musical journey. That’s why, even at beginner bass values, you’ll never find a bass that we won’t stand behind 100%. All the beginner bass guitars we carry, especially the five highlighted here, are high-quality instruments that are sure to continue to inspire you for years to come. Still have a question before pulling the trigger? Sweetwater’s Sales Engineers are ready to answer any question you may have and help guide you get your very own beginner bass guitar. Give us a call at (800) 222-4700.
