The newbie armor quests didn't exist in the Classic -> Velious era. The only class armor that exists for bards can be found
here. Without buying either lambent or Singing Steel, you are basically left with scrounging up cloth/leather/bronze until you can quest lambent starting in the late 20s (with a group). You could also buy a set of banded for dirt cheap in EC.
I've quested any lambent pieces I have solo starting in the low 40s without much issue. And then when you hit 46 get into a guild and run hate. Imbrued drops frequently and there aren't many bards out there. And stat-wise, imbrued bests all but the BP/legs of Singing Steel.