I stumbled upon JustinGuitar lessons/courses, I went through some lessons, I quite like them so far. My plan is that - if this time I will be able to stick to the idea of learning how to play the guitar - I will at some point purchase the bass guitar (and some entry-level combo amp) - for whatever reasons the bass guitar seems to be more fun Yesterday I found some older video from Justin where he suggests that an electric guitar may be actually a better one for newcomers, due to a smaller size, lower action, as well as the fact that even entry-level electric guitars nowadays are quite fine, but entry-level (cheapest) acoustic guitars being rubbish quite often (he said that even he had problems with playing on such a guitar!).
I never thought about starting with the electric guitar. Right now I have some old acoustic guitar that I grabbed from my father. I think this guitar was not that bad - my father told me that his acquaintance which played in some band by that time helped him to pick up the guitar in the store. Unfortunately the neck was broken and later glued by my father. As I don’t have much experience with guitars I have no idea how well the guitar plays right now.
So I’m kind of wondering what to do now. I though the my current guitar allows me to go through the beginners lessons, learn chords and so on. I’m not keen on buying the electric guitar if I’m set on buying the bass later. Also I’m not really sure if it makes sense to go through Justin’s lessons with the bass guitar. I’m not sure what is the ‘proper’ way to learn playing the bass, but in general they seems to be two strings short
Any thoughts? Obviously I could maybe find someone to assess (and fix if needed) my current acoustic guitar, or maybe just go to a guitar store, test one or tho acoustic guitars and see how they compare to the one I own (how much a non-rubbish acoustic guitar is supposed to cost?).
As a (primarily) electric guitar player who later picked up and started learning bass:
Do not try Justin’s lessons with a bass guitar. They will not work!
No lessons for guitar will work for learning bass.
Whilst there are major similarities, there are far too many differences for it to work.
If you really want to play bass, then I would suggest getting a bass and looking elsewhere for lessons. Unfortunately, there aren’t really any bass sites that are as good and as free as Justin’s are for guitar.
Alternatively, if you are on the fence, get a cheap electric and an amp that will work with both guitar and bass (Yamaha THR, Blackstar Beam, Spark 40, etc.) and start learning. You can always get a bass later. There’s nothing wrong with having both. Many of us do.
Whilst Justin’s lessons (nor any guitar lessons) will not work for bass, many of the things you learn (finger control, coordination, note names on frets) are the same between guitar and bass, so learning one accelerates learning the other in many ways.
My advice is go with the sort of guitar that really gets you excited. You’ll be more motivated to practice it which is important in the early days when it’s a bit harder. For me, once I learned to play my first song all the way through, motivation became much easier.
Then don’t, learn the basics on an acoustic. That will give you some useful knowledge towards learning Bass. At the moment Justin doesn’t have a Bass course and there are a few of us wanting to learn Bass, including myself!
Save your money towards a decent Bass and amp, it will come sooner than if you go down the Electric Guitar route.
Hi @hipnoizz welcome to the community! For sure, Bass players have all the fun. When there is a Jam and there are 10 Guitarists queuing up, as one out of 2 available Bass players, you are nearly guaranteed an entire evenings fun. (If it was not for the near telepathic relationship you need to develop with the drummer.) I think @Majik gave you the right advice. If you want Bass, go Bass. But hey, Paul McCartney was a guitarist before he turned to bass, bought himself the Hohner Violin Bass, which is not nearly as large.
Ultimately I’ve decided to stick to my acoustic guitar for the time being. If I persevere enough to finish Beginners Grade 1 then I will decide if playing the guitar is for me. If yes, I will buy some electric guitar (maybe some entry-level Yamaha Pacifica, I saw them recommended here and there), and maybe some amp the would support the bass guitar as well (thanks @Majik for suggestions).
Strongly suggest you have it checked out by someone knowledgeable, as you mentioned in your OP.
Attempting to learn on an improperly repaired or improperly set up acoustic can be an absolutely miserable experience, and has led many to quit in frustration!
It is quite of funny to stumble upon my own post over 6 months later
Anyway, for anyone reading this thread, especially beginners - please heed the advise about getting your guitar set up (thx @Tbushell!), especially if it is something that spent the last decade in your attic or got damaged in some way (like mine). Around December last year I found a guy near where i live that did the set up and especially lowering the action helped a lot - playing chords got suddenly easier and i didn’t have to apply so much pressure to get a clean sound.
Yesterday I found some older video from Justin where he suggests that an electric guitar may be actually a better one for newcomers, due to a smaller size, lower action, as well as the fact that even entry-level electric guitars nowadays are quite fine, but entry-level (cheapest) acoustic guitars being rubbish quite often (he said that even he had problems with playing on such a guitar!).