Though it may be a while before we acquire this one, I'm listening to some demos I've recorded and I can't help but wonder....

Bass is a tough instrument for me to play - I can play it but my thin fingers get tired quickly. My left hand pinky is pretty much useless for bass.
The best bass for me was one a friend of mine lent me for a while - a Gibson SG bass. Thin neck, smooth action. I could play that one for hours.... But it was a bit dark, w/ its only pick-up in the neck position.

I've tried some of those Fender Squiers (P and J), but found them pretty hard to play. I'm a guitar player first and foremost - just trying to find a way to simplify the process of laying down the bass lines... 

What are the non-bass players folk using for bass?

I have the same troubles and bought a 5 String Schector pretty much for the same reason, to simplify the process of making music.

Action is low and smooth but my hands get fatigued pretty fast.  Gotta love the Punch Ins  LOL

For some tracks I've had good results with the Native Instruments Scarbee bass instruments. You have to do a certain amount of tweaking but you can get a very realistic bass sound, worth listening to the demos. 

There's also a guitar-to-bass effect in Guitar Rig (not sure if it comes with Guitar Rig per se or with Komplete) which works well in some scenarios (probably not if you're after an "authentic" bass sound though).

Of course you could always work on strengthening your left hand. A good exercise to do is to take a whole double sheet of a newspaper with one hand, and crush it up into a ball using only that hand. Do this every day with a whole newspaper and you'll have hands like Popeye in no time.  

I have an Indonesian made Squire P J bass. I tried a bunch of different ones and for my big hands with fingers that hardly bend any more, it played the best. The neck was the thinnest at the nut out of all the ones I tried. 

I dont know if it is this particular bass ... or all of them, but it sounds its best with new strings. It gets very muddy after a few days of heavy prqctice.

It sounds great through a tube pre qnd tube comp.

Get a Dean...

http://www.guitarcenter.c...ctric-Bass-Bass.gc?o=1

digi2ns


I have the same troubles and bought a 5 String Schector pretty much for the same reason, to simplify the process of making music.

Action is low and smooth but my hands get fatigued pretty fast.  Gotta love the Punch Ins  LOL

I used to like mine too before I had to sell it.  Now I just have a much better than average Ibanez (talk about cheap!).
 

Ibanez. Some of the thinnest necks and very reasonable prices.

Rain

 
What are the non-bass players folk using for bass?

Trillian

http://www.spectrasonics....cts/trilian-videos.php

It's FANTASTIC.

Before that, I used Prominy SR5 Bass, also really good, but you only get one type of bass so a bit limited.  Sounds great for rock with Amplitube3 trace elliot amp/cab.
http://www.prominy.com/SR5.htm

Rain    
What are the non-bass players folk using for bass? 

I use bapu.^TM




Seriously, tho, I either use Band in a Box Real Tracks (essentially the same thing as loops) or I get someone to play it for me.


I bought an Epiphone EB-0 which is a short neck SG style bass and I play around with it, but if I want something solid on my recording, I use BIAB or I ask someone else to play bass for me (and bapsi has done a few tracks for me!)

I have
Gibson RD active (the one with the Moog electronics)(broken)(sorta fixed, I need to test it out).
Aria Pro 5 string.
Epiphone SG bass.


If I can play them for hours with my little girlie hands without getting tired you should be able to...   As with most things, it's not strength it's technique and you only learn that through practise.