Beginner's bass guitar questions?

I started playing bass right around the same time your son is. Buying on a budget isn't a bad idea if your not sure if he is 100% committed, because it can be very pricey. If you know for a fact he is 100% committed though, buying a slightly nicer brand isn't a bad idea, because it does change how it sounds for sure. For example, my first bass was a silvertone, which only ran me and my parents(we split the cost) around $189. I love this bass. Its not the best sounding thing ever, but it has an aggressive tone and its very durable (Its fallen over and off stages and didn't even come out of tune). After about a year or so of playing on that , I got an Epiphone Thunderbird. That is a great bass. It has many different things you can do with the tone and just sounds lovely. Plus it looks cool. But the Thunderbird defiantly sounds better than the silvertone.

So, I would say that look into brands that cheaper to start out with but that still sound good. Take our son to a music store and let him try out some different models. Epiphone is pretty decent though for the prices they have.

My daughter got a 2nd hand Ibanez short scale bass which was ideal for her hand size then. She's since graduated some years later to a full scale bass. Make sure you get a bass guitar amp, like the above contributor says you can trash the speaker in a regular guitar amp with a bass guitar if the volume is set too high.

I would recommend a second hand bass, you can get a really good second hand bass for a decent price usually. I'd look out for fender basses or ibanez they are a good bass guitar in my opinion.

Slightly used second hand is almost always better. I still buy my stuff second hand, just make sure you can look at it and test it out before doing so. Buying from a store, generally means you'll be getting something decent for the price.

something in good condition it's hard to play with a bad neck i did that when i first started it was hard to play, sounded like crap from my fingers not strong. if you get a bass let your son try is out and see how he feels when playing it before buying it. if he sounds bad at first it's ok it takes time to learn the bass it is a little differt from the guitar.

second hand is better, the Ibanez GO is a my model, its a jazz bass, and DON'T USE A REGULAR GUITAR AMP, i destroyed mine that way

dont get him a plank, that will just put him off - look in local ads for a decent 2nd hand bass - Fenders are pricey, but their 2nd stream, Squier,, are all good instruments.Also, ibanez, epiphone,etc