Look for a bass with SC (its good for recording) and with a good arm that doesn't warp.
Remember that the bass strings make a LOT of LESS pressure on its arm.
Good luck, man.

Actually there's LESS pressure from bass strings on the neck. And HUM???? Humming basses are the WORST thing we face in the studio. The bass needs to be rock solid and clean, (except for some minor added effects if wanted,) or it simply won't cut through the mix.

I'm not a bass player either, but also wanted something to record with. I went with the Carvin bass kit. GREAT bass for not a lot of green. I got the fretless model because I felt it would be more versitile and it is! Carvin puts lines on the fretless neck so people like us know where to put our fingers. (With a fretless it's ON the line where the fret would be, not behind it as that makes it flat, so a little to get used to there.) I got the active electronics package with a humbucker and a single coil and put flat wounds on it. You have to put it together yourself and it's pretty simple. I just clear coated my body with laquer.

Most bass players come into the studio and start fiddling with it right away. Many even pull it off the wall and use it because it sounds great and, of course, different than their own. Takes a little time to get your technique down, but if you play guitar then you know what things should sound like so it not difficult to make the minor adjustments you'll already be making going to bass from guitar, just a couple more for fretless.

Just an idea for you.

Oh, and you don't need effects for bass. We had a client in the studio who had reverb on his bass. Sure the sound was bassy but, the recording was crap. Reverb washes out bass really fast.

We have a Behringer Bass VAmp. Can't see where you'd need any more effects than that unit provides. Good for recording as bass is run direct anyway. (No need to buy an amp if you're not playing it out somewhere.) We usually run bass direct through a tube pre and compressor. You will find that compressing your bass as you record will greatly improve the final result. You'll probably compress it again too, after the fact. We find that many bass players don't play all that evenly. While this is not all that noticable in a live situation, it stands out like a sore thumb in the studio.

So for effects, you should only need a compressor. Anything else is just fluff on bass and if you're recording on your computer, you probably already have a slew of plugins that can be used for effecting the final sound. Just because an effect is labeled for guitar or vocals doesn't mean you can't use it on bass!

Hum-free. I have heard a humming single-coiled bass and it made me want to kick the amp in the speaker cone to shut it up... I'm happy with dual 'buckers.
The usual drill: comfortable balance (there's more neck substance), comfortable neck ... Typical scale is 34". Some basses, 5/6-stringers or designed to facilitate lower tunings go to 35" . I like 5-strings in that the extra string puts the useful 4 strings in better placement for fingerpicking and offers a resting point for my fingers.
I use 5 year-old roundwound strings. They are not so great for sparkling slap stuff anymore, but they give a more solid fat tone that I like. I can't slap anyway... It's gonna take another 4 or maybe 14 years for me to change those strings...

I don't have a bass amp. For recording i use one of the guitar POD's clean settings.

Great info, Thanks.

Another question. Will I damage my amp by sending the output (of recorded bass tracks & mix's) from my digital recorder (has RCA style line out jacks) to my guitar amp's line inputs (labled "Tape In")?

Your guitar amp won't really respond all that well to bass frequencies. A PA or regular stereo will, but bass through a guitar amp will sound thin and possibly a bit tinny.

To directly answer your question, no. If your guitar amp has "tape ins" it may actually handle the frequencies in question. Not usual to have those inputs on a guitar amp, unless it's an acoustic guitar amp, as they handle a wider frequency range.

i don't know that much about Bass, but Peavey have some nice basses for low prices. Ampeg bass amps are pretty good.

When you go shopping, try the same model bass with a different guage of strings if possible. You may like the difference in tone a step up or down in guage can make.

The only thing I have to add is watch for cheap pickups on lower priced basses. What you'll find is very inconsistent volume from string to string. With guitar, a great amp will make a crappy guitar sound good. With bass, a crappy bass will always sound crappy.

I've been to the local guitar store three times and left each time without making a purchase. There is a descent looking Ibanez that I like for $200 which is right at my price but it only has a bridge pickup. I think I may need that neck pickup but I don't know...

It all depends on what you want to do with it. It's why I got a fretless. More versitile than a fretted bass, but a little more difficult to play. I have both bridge, (a humbucker,) and neck, (single coil,) pickups with active electronics.

Most players in the studio seem to like it. No one has complained. Some even play it instead of their own bass!

https://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=BK4A

Yeah... A little more than you want to spend, but you get something worth more than you paid and it's a great instrument besides!

I personally prefer basses with a strong attack and a very Geddy Lee type of midrange roar. Hence, I chose the Ibanez ATK300. INCREDIBLE bass. The neck is a tad wider than a Jazz bass or Ibanez other bass line, the Soundgear series (which can be awesome also).

I'm not pimarily a bassist but I do like to practice bass techniques just to expand my horizons a bit.

Anyway, the ATK300 is a great bass for not a lot of money. Mine was $450 USD because I bought the floor model. I don't have a bass DI unit yet, but I'm looking at the Tech21 Sansamp RBI.