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  • Kit and Kaboodle


    If you’re ready to start playing the bass, but don’t necessarily want to go through all the fuss of piecing together all the accessories to make a go of it, you might want to consider a starter kit. A kit gets you going right out of the box, by including all the elements to have you making thunder the minute you get home.

    In a kit, however, it’s easy to be suckered in by a low price. Discount priced department store kits can come with many accessories that make the purchase look attractive, but let’s face it - if the bass is substandard, have you really gotten your money’s worth?

    Look for a brand name kit, with a reputation for quality. Most major names make good quality starter kits. After all, their ultimate wish is that you’re happy with your new bass, so stuffing the package with a cheap, nasty ax is bad for their reputation. If you’re happy with the starter kit, it’s their hope you’ll develop a brand loyalty that keeps you coming back to them for upgrades when you’re ready.

    And you? You get a quality name on your first bass!

    One starter kit that has a very good reputation is the Yamaha Gigmaker for electric bass.
    You get the very popular Yamaha RBX170 bass guitar, which is one of Yamaha’s top selling models even without the kit!

    The RBX170 is a 24-fret, 34” scale four stringer with a body of solid Agathis, a bolt-on maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. The bridge is vintage style, and the two pickups are a split single coil and a single coil. Controls include front volume, rear volume, and master tone. Available colours (as I've seen them) are black, blue, or red.

    They don’t skimp on the quality of the accessory package either.

    You get a 15 or 20 watt DRIVE bass amp (depending on the specs of the particular kit), a gig bag, a chromatic tuner, an instructional DVD (which you’ll naturally be eager to replace with the TMBG course to kick-start your learning), a strap, and a cable. The only thing I find lacking in this kit is a stand.

    The entire kit and kaboodle is usually priced between $275.00 - $300.00. Not bad.

    Kits are usually all over the place in music stores when Christmas rolls around, but most stores will keep a few of the more popular ones in stock all year round.
    Comments 6 Comments
    1. TLDTR's Avatar
      TLDTR -
      Great article, Elmeaux! I think parents of young would-be bass-players, especially, will find this most helpful. And you're right, that's a great deal on a great package. NOTE TO PARENTS AND BEGINNERS: Spare your young would-be musician the frustration of starting off with substandard or defective equipment. Do it right, with a good, solid, reputable kit like this then, if junior gives up the instrument in favor of, say, girls, football, or bull-riding, you can always recoup the bulk of your investment by re-selling the kit (something you might not have much success doing with cheap gear.)
      Just a thought,
      Ed.

      Incidentally, the term Kit and Kaboodle is 19th century U.K. for Gear and Booty. Burglars called their satchel of housebreaking equipment their Kit. "Boodle" comes from the Dutch "Bootle" meaning Booty or ill-gotten gains. Hence, if a crook got away from a job with both his gear and a reasonable amount of household silver or whatever, he had the "whole kit-and-kaboodle." (I don't know where the "ka" before "boodle" came from, perhaps it just scans better.)
    1. Elmeaux's Avatar
      Elmeaux -
      You're right. Kit and Boodle sounds too much like "kitten boodle", which brings up unpleasant connotations of a different nature...

    1. TLDTR's Avatar
      TLDTR -
      Yeah. I've cleaned up after kitten kaboodle. Totally different thing...
    1. Bassic Bill's Avatar
      Bassic Bill -
      My wife, upon my exposing her to my very long-term fantasy of playing Bass, gifted me with a starter pack at Christmas. Actually what she gave me was a promise to purchase whatever I wanted...she wasn't going to buy something as personal as an outfit for me. We went shopping on Boxing Day...only one LMS open and they had an assortment of maybe 6 makes & models. The salesman, once he determined that I was completely undecided, suggested the "pack" they were featuring on sale. I got a Peavey pack that came with pretty much everthing I needed including a Milestone Guitar, 12 Watt 'bedroom' amp and other stuff (everything except a guitar stand, which I purchased a couple days later.) I also picked up a set of strap locks because I rapidly became frustrated with my strap falling off.

      I am really happy with my rig at this point and wife has promised that if I need to upgrade in a year or so, there is no reason why I shouldn't. This woman is a keeper!
    1. Elmeaux's Avatar
      Elmeaux -
      This is the good thing about kits. If you're not sure you'll still be interested in playing a year down the road, the last thing you should do is buy some fancy $2000.00 bass that's going to end up languishing in the closet.

      You could sell it, but then you might be sad that you didn't keep it to try again later.

      Starter kits get you going so you can test the waters without breaking the bank. And if it does languish in the closet a while, it's no extreme loss. When you're ready to get back to it, you can simply un-languish it.

      Some music stores take trades too, so upgrading to better gear along the way will be an option. When I upgraded to my Rumble amp, I got a hundred bucks off the price from a trade in on my Roland amp.
    1. SilverFlame46's Avatar
      SilverFlame46 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Basic Bill View Post
      This woman is a keeper!
      Congratulation, Basic Bill. And you are correct, Your wife is a keeper!!!
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