When you are looking at bass guitars there are so many variables to consider it can be extremely hard to narrow down your options and eventually decide on just one guitar. With so many guitars available on the marketplace it can be next to impossible to find your favourite brand unless you have years of playing experience behind you.
There are three popular types of bass guitars. They are:
Many people end up with guitar collections largely due to the variety of tones their guitars are capable of and they enjoy the differences in each guitar that they purchase. It is very important to have an idea of the kind of design you are looking for but most importantly what the top end of your budget is. You can find so many good deals on guitars that are second hand but it is important to make sure that the guitar is in good condition because repairs on a guitar can be extremely expensive depending on the problem.
It is a good idea to check into the background of the person you are buying your guitar off of so that you don’t get scammed into buying a fake guitar or one that produces poor quality sound. Guitars can run from a huge range of prices and can range anywhere from under a hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.
Buying guide:
When looking at the specific traits that you want on your bass guitar there are several factors that could be of interest to you and it can largely depend on whether you are a new guitar player or whether you are an experienced one. If you are a new guitar player and have a budget in mind; your first step will be deciding what all features you want built into the guitar or whether you just want to be able to solely adjust your sound on your amplifier.
Depending on whether you want things like a volume adjuster, a treble adjuster etc. these will make a huge difference on the overall performance and the cost of the unit in general. One huge cost factor can be what kind of wood the guitar is made from.
A guitar is generally separated into two different sections including the top and the body of the guitar. Things such as the manufacturer of the guitar and how well known they are, what the inlays are made up of in the guitar, and what kind of wood the fretboard is made up of also can have a huge effect on the overall cost and the quality of the sound the guitar makes as well as the overall quality of construction.
Image |
Product |
Price |
Rating |
 |
Dean EAB Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar | $ | 3.9/5 |
 |
Ibanez 4-String Acoustic Bass Guitar | $$ | 4.7/5 |
 |
Dean Acoustic-Electric Bass, Classic Black | $ | 4.0/5 |
 |
Ibanez Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar, Black | $$ | 4.3/5 |
 |
Crescent Electric Bass Guitar Starter Kit – Sunburst Color | $ | 4.1/5 |
| Fender CB-100CE Dreadnought Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Bass | $$ | 4.0/5 | |
| Epiphone “Toby” Standard-IV 4 String Electric Bass Guitar | $$ | 4.3/5 | |
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Epiphone Goth Thunderbird-IV Electric Bass Guitar | $$ | 4,3.5 |
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Yamaha BB Series 4-String Bass, Vintage White | $$$ | 5/5 |
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Schecter Stiletto Custom-4 Electric Bass | $$$ | 4.7/5 |
Dean EAB Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar
This guitar is a great guitar for someone just starting out. Not only is this guitar very budget friendly but it is still capable of being plugged into an amplifier to turn up the noise of the unit and even record some of your own music, if that is something that interests you. The guitar is made up of a combination of some nice looking, high quality wood that will offer you a unique playing experience that is hard to find for such a low price point. It doesn’t matter whether you are experienced and looking for a backup guitar or if you are just starting out; you will be astounded by this guitar’s eye appealing design and quality construction.
Some awesome features of this guitar include:
- This guitar has a mahogany and spruce body which is a great wood that offers a wide variety of tones.
- The 34 inch mahogany neck of the guitar has pearl dot inlays that are both appealing to the eye and easy to spot.
- This guitar also has a rosewood fingerboard.
- The guitar has built in controls that allow you to change the tone and volume of the unit.
Some major pros of this guitar are:
- The spruce wood in the guitar helps exaggerate the bass and treble that the guitar offers.
- This guitar allows you to play with or without an amp and still hear the bass.
- Built in Dean cord tuners allow you to change your sound with ease.
The cons are:
- This guitar doesn’t offer the premium sound quality that you will find in more expensive guitars when you plug it into an amplifier.
- Some users found that the guitar creates a bit of finger noise when playing largely due to the roundwounds that this guitar comes with.
To conclude:
This guitar is great for a beginner player or an experienced player that is looking for a budget friendly guitar to carry around with them so that they don’t have to worry as much about breaking or damaging their more expensive guitar. This guitar offers very good sound for the price of the unit even when it isn’t hooked up to an amplifier. If you want a guitar for learning on, this will offer you a great chance to learn the cords and be able to play with the volume and tone controls directly on your guitar.
Ibanez 4-String Acoustic Bass Guitar
This guitar is capable of producing some very good acoustic tones at a pretty reasonable price point. Made up of quality material, it is hard to find a simple guitar such as this one that is both low budget and a unique eye appealing piece.
This guitar is easier to learn on than a 5 string or 6 string guitar; 4 string guitars are the most common type of guitar and still offer some amazing bass. Generally 4 string guitars are easier to learn on because they are less complicated cord wise and there are less notes to learn.
Having fewer strings on the guitar not only makes for less notes, but it is easier to tune if you are inexperienced and learning to tune a guitar takes some time, especially if you are just doing it by ear.
Some great features of this guitar include:
- This guitar features a maple wood neck.
- The guitar also has a very nice rosewood fretboard.
- Adjustable neck allows you to play at a length that is appropriate for your personal needs.
- Very light weight guitar that also carries a very professional appearance and design.
- Mahogany top and back sides to the guitar are very eye appealing.
Some of the pros are:
- This guitar is at a fairly low price point and is made up of common guitar wood such as maple and rosewood.
- Very nice sounding guitar with a simplistic design.
Cons of this guitar are:
- This guitar comes with strings that many players deem as low quality.
- Some people don’t like plastic bridge pins, some do it is more of a personal preference.
- Simple twist tune guitar is not liked by some players who do a lot of tuning or want a very accurately tuned guitar.
To conclude:
If you are a beginner player or an experienced one and looking for a guitar that you can jam out on without having to worry too much about scratching your guitar or causing minor damage, then this may be the guitar for you. The smaller neck on this guitar makes it easy to hit your notes and easier to learn on. This guitar has very good sound quality for its price point and is made from quality wood that you would still find even on a much more expensive acoustic guitar.Dean Acoustic-Electric Bass, Classic Black
This electric bass guitar made by Dean is made up of some very nice materials and has a classic eye appealing design. Although this guitar may be a little bit above the low budget price range, it does have some nice features to offer in exchange for the extra money.
Built in controls on the device offer a range of playing options and the 4 string design is both good for beginners to learn on and produces the quality sound that an experienced guitar player would expect from a unit in and above this general low budget range.
Some features are:
- This guitar has a very eye appealing 34 inch mahogany neck.
- Common pearl dot inlays are both eye appealing and do their duty.
- A rosewood fretboard adds to the quality of the guitar and the colour really compliments the body.
- Mahogany body with spruce top is quite common for this type of guitar and is included even at this reasonable price.
Some of the biggest pros include:
- Built in volume and tone controls make for easy adjustment no matter where you are.
- Very nice, classic looking black face that is complimented by the lighter colored neck of the guitar.
- This guitar offers very good quality bass and users said it does not sound muffled unlike some other guitars with similar price ranges.
Major cons are:
- This guitar has turn style tuning and this can be a negative for those that like very accurately tuned guitars.
- Some users said that this guitar was a little bit large for their liking.
- Some users did have a few technical problems such as loose strings or small varnish or wood defects.
To conclude:
This guitar is a bit above the point of being a very low budget guitar and offers a few features and a nice design to accommodate the higher price point. Although this guitar may not offer electronic tuning and may be a bit on the larger side, it does offer some very nice tones and when the guitar is tuned it brings some very good sounding, high quality bass. This guitar is made up of materials that you would likely find on guitars that are a much higher price range so this guitar is likely going to last you for a fairly long time as long as you take good care of it.Ibanez Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar, Black
This guitar is fairly budget friendly and brings a lot of nice elements for the price that you are paying. This acoustic electric bass guitar is made up of quality materials that you would find on many higher end bass guitars. This guitar has a very eye appealing design and offers a comfortable music instrument that is great for beginners and experienced players alike. If you are looking for a guitar for a reasonable price point while trying to keep quality in mind; this guitar might be something worth thinking about.
Some features include:
- This guitar has a traditional spruce top.
- A commonplace Mahogany neck is also in place on this guitar.
- The guitar also has Mahogany on the back and sides of the guitar.
- A built in tuner powered by an easy to replace nine volt battery.
- Chrome Die-Cast tuners are appealing to the eye.
- The classis black look of this guitar looks good no matter if you are in a casual or a professional setting.
Some of the pros are:
- This guitar is known for being quite loud in comparison to other guitars.
- It offers electric plug in if you want to ramp up the noise by using an amplifier.
- This guitar is pretty light weight and great for road trips or carrying around.
- The 4 string design is easier to learn on than a guitar with more strings.
- Many reviewers of this guitar boast about the great sound quality this guitar portrays.
The cons include:
- Potential small flaws in the wood and varnish due to the lower price tag.
- Some users say the battery can corrode if you leave the battery in when you plug the guitar into an amplifier.
- Does not have a built in electric tuner which some users may find essential depending on the music that they play.
To conclude:
This guitar is fairly budget friendly and doesn’t have very many problems with it, even though it is a pretty low budget guitar. It is not very often that you can find a guitar at this price range made up of the quality wood and materials that you would find on higher end guitars, which is quite impressive. This guitar is pretty much made of traditional materials and wood and therefore is of a pretty good quality construction.
Crescent Electric Bass Guitar Starter Kit – Sunburst Color
This guitar is extremely low budget but it is an amazing starter guitar and helps you to learn all of the strings, notes and cords, some of the major guitar features, and even includes a guitar tuner to help you learn the various notes that your guitar is capable of playing.
Some features are:
- This guitar has a 4 string design which is the easiest for a beginner to learn on.
- The guitar kit comes with an electronic tuner which helps you to learn to tune your guitar as well as keeps your guitar playing notes as accurately as possible.
- This guitar comes with a soft case which you can carry the guitar around in.
- The guitar has a strap so that you don’t drop it while playing or you can use your hands to hold a microphone to do some recording if that is something you are interested in.
- Extra strings are included in the set in case you wear any of the strings out or they break.
- The guitar also comes with a pick and an amp cable so that your guitar is ready to hook up as soon as it arrives at your doorstep.
Some of the pros include:
- Very difficult to find a starter pack for playing guitar, this is a kit that includes a lot of the essentials that you would have to purchase anyways if you just bought an individual guitar.
- Users report this guitar as having very nice bass especially for such a low price.
- Extremely low price for all of the many features included in the bundle.
- Includes a built in regulator for tone and volume on the guitar which is almost impossible to find at such a low price tag.
Cons of this guitar are:
- This guitar may not be as durable as some of the more expensive guitars on the market place.
- Some users say that the strap is low quality plastic and uncomfortable.
To conclude:
For such a low budget you are going to have an extremely hard time finding a guitar that has as many features as this one. It is also going to be difficult to find a guitar at this price range that gives off the quality of sound that this guitar is capable of producing. It is not very often that you find guitar bundles, but this bundle is perfect to get a beginner guitar player off their feet and begin to learn the many cords, styles of music and eventually even songs that an electric bass guitar such as this one is capable of playing.