jrowles

So I picked up bass a little over a year ago on top of my guitar playing and I was looking for an upgrade from my Ibanez GSR200. Would a standard precision bass be a good bass to buy?

_ThePanda_

Any kind of bass would be a good bass to buy.
It depends on what genre of music you mostly play, your budget, and any preferences on a bass (pickup configuration, scale length, body wood, type of bass, etc)

MellowDeath

Like the above, what genre's do you play?

A P bass is really nice, but remember it only has one pick-up, so if you want to be dynamic with your tone maybe something with two pick-up (like the jazz bass) will be a better choice. If you wanna play heavy stuff maybe it'd be smart to look into active pick-ups or humbucker pick-ups like a Stingray.

jrowles

Sorry I forgot to mention that. I don't play too much metal. I play a bit of everything and I'm in a garage rock band so I don't think the fact that it only has one pickup would matter

Alucard817

P basses are more versatile then a lot of people think.

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Tostitos

P basses are the pinnacle of simple versatility.

A Precision can sit well in the mix and be at home in any kind of music. It may be a bit of a one trick pony but its a very good trick that'll do the job 99.9% of the time. The Fender Standard Precision (MIM) is a good bass, and definately an upgrade from an Ibanez GSR200, but you'll find it's a much much better value if you buy one used. If you're buying new, consider a Squier Classic Vibe Precision, the quality is comparable to the MIM Standard and it's significantly cheaper.

By the way, what kind of budget do you have to work with?

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jrowles

Yeah I've heard good things about those. My budget is around $600 which is about the price of the standard p bass. I'd be willing to buy used too

Alucard817

600 bucks might get you a used MIA P bass standard.

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Tostitos

He'd have to get real lucky for an American Standard. Maybe a Highway One or American Special though, and it's definitely used MIJ territory on CL.

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Alucard817

Theres a few on GC's used section, granted most are MIJ Muistangs or Jags.

In all honesty I'd rather have an older Highway 1 Jazz since they have better hardware (badass bridges)

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paul1391

the 60's cv p bass may sound sometimes better than some of the mim's so it's clearly a best buy in this range