mr dave

Best beginner guitar or bass is the kind with a straight neck, that stays in tune, and makes you feel cool when you look at it. Don't worry about what's written on the headstock yet.

Technically in your situation this isn't even a beginner instrument it's a learner's instrument. That's not meant to be a bad thing or dismissive. The whole point of a learner's instrument is to figure out how to play, what to expect, and what your personal desires turn out to be. You might still end up with an Epiphone or Ibanez or Yamaha, or you might end up with some no-name knock off from the 70s or 80s if you hit up pawn shops. Either way it doesn't really matter, so long as it looks cool and plays in tune you're set. This way you can also figure out what a more ideal bass for you will be and save up for something nice in the near future. As cheeky as it sounds the coolness factor is a real thing too, you're far more likely to sit down and practice if just looking at the guitar makes you feel cool.

Playing the bass is as complicated as you want to make it. Depending on the style you like it can be relatively simple. You only have 4 strings and play 1 note at a time the VAST majority of the time anyway. The other thing is the fingertips on your fretting hand are going to get monster callouses, same as your plucking fingers if you go fingerstyle.

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