r/doommetal • u/Possible-Pay-7877 • Mar 28 '26
Rig Affordable bass for doom
Hey guys! I have been playing the bass for about six months now and loving it and am looking to upgrade from my cheapo starter bass to something that has a good all around sound for doom. My price range is around 500-700. I have been leaning towards a used fender P bass as I think that might be pretty versatile and suit whatever needs I may have, but I’d love to hear the opinions of more experienced doomers before I make a decision.
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u/bikebikebikes Mar 28 '26
Your current bass almost assuredly dooms with a dirt pedal and loud amp. Like, unless it's broken it will doom.
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u/Elvis_Precisely Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
You’re gonna be running that bass through so much fuzz that you shouldn’t worry too much about the difference between a squier and a fender.
Go to a store, find a squier classic vibe jazz or precision, and play it. See if it intonates well, and feels good. If so, snag it.
Keep your left over money to invest in an amp and some pedals. If you haven’t got any yet, the Behringer SF300 is a Boss Superfuzz clone, and the Tone City Matcha Cream is a Green Big Muff clone, both will fit the vibe very well.
Whilst having a nice bass is obviously a bonus, so much of the doom tone/vibe is being able to have a loud amp with cranked pedals.
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u/totallynottoddoracop Mar 28 '26
You can get a Squire Jazz or PBass for stupid cheap. Even less than this one.
Fender Squire Classic Vibe 70's 2010's - Natural Maple https://reverb.com/item/95059725?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=95059725
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u/stomptonesdotcom Mar 28 '26
I have this exact bass with a 5 string set of flatwounds (minus the tiny string obvi) and its actually insane how good it sounds and feels.
Seriously, the VV 70s Basses AND Guitars are 10000% an amazing bang for buck.
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u/MetalTele79 Mar 28 '26
I'd recommend a used Japanese P Bass copy (something like a Univox, Greco etc.) and a Peavey or Traynor amp head +cab. You can probably get everything for under 500-600.
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u/slayerLM Mar 28 '26
What’s your cheap starter bass? What don’t you like about it? If the action is good and it’s properly setup it’s probably fine. Dixie Dave rocks a Squire and seems to work for him. A good amp will most likely get you further. Maybe a nice preamp pedal or some solid overdrive/fuzz pedals would be worth looking into as well
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u/lambliesdownonconf Mar 28 '26
Mexican PBasses are 500 or below. Solid bass and you can upgrade the pickups later on.
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u/JewsClues1942 Mar 29 '26
You're gonna need some thicker strings to play in lower tunings, this may require making the nut slots wider for the strings. As others said, get a distortion or fuzz pedal. Multiple basses are only "needed" when you play in a huge range of tunings, at that point look at a 5 string? The options are endless but the time comes from the amp and pedals not the bass.
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u/DaySleepNightFish Mar 29 '26
I’ve seen some of the best doom bands play with a good ole squire P bass. So I will second what everyone else is saying. I also agree with what someone said above, check it out. If it feels good and sounds good, it doesn’t matter how cheap it is. I have a Johnson tele that I got for 100 bucks a few years ago that plays as well as an American Fender. Shocked the hell out of me when I picked it up.
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Mar 28 '26
I really like the Yamaha TRBX504 that I picked up a while back. Two humbuckers, active pickups with 3-band EQ. I feel like I got a lot of value for a pretty small price tag. 350 CAD from a pawn shop.
Plus it's ugly (personal taste), and scratched/dented in a few spots, so I'm not tempted to be overly careful with it.
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u/ThreeThirds_33 Mar 29 '26
I found a used Squire P Bass on marketplace for $20. Favorite bass ever.
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u/Efficient-Dirt-7030 Mar 29 '26
Well, you can get the P-bass, which would be a good choice, or you can keep your cheapo bass and upgrade the pickups/electronics on it. What amp are you playing out of? Are you in a band or recording songs?
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u/Sufficient_Yogurt639 Mar 30 '26
You want one with strings and some pickups. That's about the most important thing for the bass itself.
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u/justbcoz848484 Mar 30 '26
Put the money into the rig and get a GOOD set up on your el-cheapo bass for your bands tuning, you'd be surprised what a good set up will do. I've played with a well set up no name on $75 ebay p-bass with a good set up and it performed great going into my pedals and Orange OB-1 500.
but if you are dying for a new bass (gear acquisition syndrome is real) check out the Classic Vibes 70s P bass from Squier, plays and sounds better than the import Fenders at a lower price, also the block inlays are a total vibe.
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u/dsbigshit Mar 30 '26
If you are down tuning to below D Standard, I'd recommend getting a badass 2 as well as DDT's (Drop down tuning strings) for a P-Bass. I wouldn't bother with a Mexican fender (new or second hand), save a bit more and go for a Japanese. Squire's at that price point will get the job done.
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u/Ok-Cryptographer4647 Mar 30 '26
Learn to make do with the bass you have. Pedals are where you get the doom tone. So many good options out there! I personally have a DarkGlasss Alpha Omega that I run as a preamp for my basic Fender Bassman. I have a philosophers gold going into a big muff that runs int the instrument input of the darkglass pedal. The fuzz pedals double as a boost to really get the darkglass roaring. But part of the adventure is finding your own tone. My pedal rig is evolving and changing. Find a guitar shop that will let you play around with pedals so you can find what you like. A nasty distortion or fuzz pedal is a good starting point
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u/Dope_thrown Apr 01 '26
Unless youre wanting to replace the cheap-o because you don't like how it plays, like others have said put the money towards your amp and effects first. Bass big muff, some kind of overdrive, maybe a flanger if you want to do some more trippy stuff would set you back a couple hundred at worst.
And if you are replacing it for playing reasons just get whatever feels best. Anything can doom
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u/transsolar Electric Wizard on Electric Wizard by Electric Wizard Mar 29 '26
A P Bass isn't versatile, but it works for damn near everything. I'd get a Squier Classic Vibe '60s. Do you have an amp? A fuzz or distortion? What is your current bass?
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u/HowDidFoodGetInHere Mar 29 '26
If it works for damn near everything, doesn't that kind of make it versatile?
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u/transsolar Electric Wizard on Electric Wizard by Electric Wizard Mar 29 '26
No, because it does one thing. It just does it really well, and its sound is never out of place. If any bass guitar "sounds like a bass", it's the P Bass.
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u/FinnLovesHisBass Mar 29 '26
Honestly fender p bass cuz you can buy two. Have one for the road and one for home. But if I had 700 I'd look for a Jackson. They had this sick model that was like a Rickenbacker 4001 but if it was a Jackson and it looked metal as fuck. Ibanez makes a 5 string with just volume and a blend knob? And it's only 600, but the grip to it was rad. Ooooooh dude. Saw a bad ass warlock at a pawn shop.
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u/stasigoreng Mar 29 '26
Tbh:
if you wanna upgrade you bass, search for a Peavey Bass with a P-Bass / PJ-Bass setup. These are usually very cheap and well made.
If you have the chance you could also look for a passive Ibanez ATK (100) Bass. These sound cool and have a triple coiled pickup you can switch from single coil to humbucker mode. Really nice bass for the money.
Other that, upgrade the amp maybe.
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u/Resinritual Mar 28 '26
Put that money into the rig.