software

My little sister (15 years old) has gotten into bass guitar, which is awesome by the way!, and i just took her up two days ago to buy herself her first bass rig.

She got a red squier affinity j-bass and a crate bt-50 practice amp. Just wondering what everyone thinks about the quality and sound of that bass and the amp. I thought they sounded fantastic when i heard them! The bass really surprised me with its tone, especially for something squier (but i hear the squier basses are a little nicer than the squier guitars). It sounded really crisp and clear, and on the distortion channel it sounded great too! And the amp is really cool, with a great range of clean sounds, a distortion channel, an octaver, and even a built in tuner which is easy to use! And its got a clear great punchy bass tone which i was really impressed with.

Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with this stuff?

ive seen it and played it, for relatively cheap gear it isnt bad at all. not the same as a real fender and an ampeg but perfectly workable

I'm in agreement with Jeremy.

BTW, a friend of mine upgraded the electronics on his Squire Jazz and it rips!

I've also heard some Crate amps that sound good for the price, but I'm not terribly impressed with their reliability.

According to lots of people the reliability of those crates is actually one of their strong points. I personally have had no experience yet and my sister has only had it for a few days, but lots of people including some muso friends, harmony central reviews, and a friend who works at the music shop selling them says that they've never had problems with reliability. And the shop dude says he's never seen one returned.

Interesting about the electronics...tell you what though, the squire jazz bass sounds like it rips anyway to be honest, it sounds killer! Maybe ill buy her a pickup for her birthday or something, get her started on the road to being a tone junkie like her big brother

I like my squire j-bass better than the real thing tbh. Electronics were iffy, but tone is just dandy.


Originally Posted by Young AngusAccording to lots of people the reliability of those crates is actually one of their strong points. I personally have had no experience yet and my sister has only had it for a few days, but lots of people including some muso friends, harmony central reviews, and a friend who works at the music shop selling them says that they've never had problems with reliability. And the shop dude says he's never seen one returned.

Interesting about the electronics...tell you what though, the squire jazz bass sounds like it rips anyway to be honest, it sounds killer! Maybe ill buy her a pickup for her birthday or something, get her started on the road to being a tone junkie like her big brother I may be biased in regards to Crate amps. I've seen two actually catch on fire while being used. My friend has the Dimarzio Model J's in his bass along with CTS 500k pots. It's a bright, detailed bass tone with strong fundamentals. If your sis wants to swap out the pickups in her bass, you might want to check those out.

BTW, I beleive they're noiseless to boot.

I played a squier affinity P-bass for a while. I loved the tone but the action was a little high (hey i'm a guitar player). the tighter strings also hurt my hand ... enough complaining already.

it sounded good. I ran it through a Laney bass amp with a BBE 362 in the loop and it sounded even better. that project lasted only a couple of weeks so the amp and bass went back to their respective owners. the bbe is mine and is for sale, BTW.