cheap bass

[Jimmyplaysabass]

Im learning to play the Double for my senior project, and i need a cheap, under 700$, bass to learn and practice on. It needs to be versatile, im thinking something from china?

let me know what you find and what you think

i need all the help i can get

[Francois Blais]

There's one for sale for $800 on the Classifieds here:
*SOLD* German Plywood For Sale $800

[Blacksheep]

I dont want to be "that guy", but if you read these forums for even a couple minutes, you'd see that 700 is far too short a budget, add at least 1300 to your budget, and then you'll have somewhere to start off, and options will open up.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Jimmyplaysabass

Im learning to play the Double for my senior project, ...

I figure I'm "learning to play" over a lifetime. What do you mean learning to play for a senior project? What happens after that?

[PoundinThunder]

+1^

[Jimmyplaysabass]

well i'm learning from several teachers, but i mean its basically an excuse to start and bum some free lessons.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jimmyplaysabass

Im learning to play the Double for my senior project, and i need a cheap, under 700$, bass to learn and practice on. It needs to be versatile, im thinking something from china?

let me know what you find and what you think

i need all the help i can get

I'm 56 now and will be a full fledged senior at 62. I haven't thought about my Senior Project yet..

Being serious, for me personally the only thing about a DB I can think of for $700. is a couple sets or Strings or a good set of Tuning machines. The Bass you get for $700 will either be difficult to play, cost you hundreds more to set-up or both.

If you are in High school and will be able to learn the play the DB to any degree on a $700 Bass then all the power to you.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

The Bass you get for $700 will either be difficult to play, cost you hundreds more to set-up or both.

This is absolutely true. It would be an example of penny-wise and dollar-foolish.

[liam_g]

Many luthier shops will rent good starter instruments. Some of them will also apply your rental fees to a future purchase ... Hammond Ashley in Seattle did that for me a couple of years ago. I rented a very decent laminated Christopher bass for one year, and got 100% of my rental fees applied to my purchase of a Strunal hybrid at the end of the year. I had a very workable starter bass (with a great setup, which was crucial!) for that first year, then a nice chunk paid towards a step-up instrument at the end. Alternately, if I had wanted to stick with a laminated bass, I could have bought the one I had been renting or a similar model for just about $500 above the rental credit. Very nice indeed ... and no interest was charged.

If you can find a reputable shop with good instruments and a policy similar to this one, that would be my recommendation.

But, whatever you decide, best wishes!

[Dubbin]

I can't help wonder if your post is serious or you are just coming over to the DB side and posting for purposes of watching these characters swarm in with tales of caution. I have a cheap bass (a dreaded Cremona SB-2) and have owned it for coming up on a year with no regrets. I play it every day and have been teaching myself (another cardinal sin here). I didn't get a professional set-up (should I duck?). A couple of experienced bassists have given it a try and said that it was nice. I tried to explain to them that the guys on an internet site have basically banned the very model I'm playing and I'm usually met with something like "seems fine to me" and maybe an awkward quiet moment where you shuffle your feet and look at the floor. I might upgrade someday but for the time being its been fine. According to the experts its supposed to spontaneously implode soon but it shows no signs of the same. If you do buy a cheap bass and start to enjoy it I'd recommend only looking here occasionally as its hard to not worry that you made a big mistake and might have to sell it for $500 and eat the $200 to $300 you spent on a year of fun. By way of disclosure I also play a cheap guitar and a cheap mandolin so I may be too numbed by those experiences to be taken seriously. Best, Ed

[drurb]

Thus the difference between a priori and a posteriori. It is possible to find a cheap bass that ends up being servicable. You know that after the fact. The odds (before the fact) of getting one are quite low. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Edsel, I'll say that even some of those ran fine.

[Steve Swan]

Jimmy,

As long as you stay away from the brands that are obviously crap, most notably Cremona and Palatino, you will probably be okay. If you can find a decent used European or used Chinese bass, check in with all of your uncles here at talkbass before you buy it. We are here to help steer you out of trouble.

Good luck and let us know what you find!

[Silversorcerer]

Originally Posted by francois

There's one for sale for $800 on the Classifieds here:
*SOLD* German Plywood For Sale $800

Well, I've seen some really nice German plywoods. That looks like the best bet I've seen lately for that kind of price. I'm surprised it hasn't been snapped up already.

Truly, this bass or something like it is what you need to be looking for. The graft appears to be solid and professionally done. If it were me looking for a bass under $1K, this one looks pretty fine.

Almost everybody's advice here is going to be to avoid the super cheap new basses that only can be purchased sight unseen. We all know players who have suffered through these and lost the investment that could go toward a better, actually playable, instrument. In the beginning you need an instrument that rewards your efforts or you will be sore if not injured and very frustrated when you try to get something out of it.

I'm glad there are some exceptions to the rule, but I think if there were many exceptions to that rule, the forum would be flooded with endorsements of these instead of flooded with warnings. This is a pretty open forum and a good deal of healthy controversy is tolerated, so the score card here is relevant, if not always absolute. Good luck finding a bass, do take advantage of the free lessons, and welcome to the forum.

[Pilgrim]

What about a used Kay or Englehardt if he can find one in the $700-$1000 price range?

[coreybass]

What about a used Kay or Englehardt if he can find one in the $700-$1000 price range?

Good luck finding one in decent shape for that price.