Best bass around $300?

[MBAnderson]

Hi guys,
I'm new here, and I'm looking to get a fairly cheap bass to learn on. I've played jazz piano for 12 years and have just taught myself guitar, so I'm looking for something of good quality but for a decent price (used is fine, probably good). I've got a friend who's recommended against Squier Affinity basses, and has suggested Warwick or Ibanez as brands, but I'm looking for prices and your ideas here. Mainly playing jazz, not metal.

Thanks

[Wallace320]

My brother made like that: when you've got 10+ years of piano playin' and you can get thru a George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue all alone, you can teach yourself bass and guitar in a few months. After that he also found good time to teach the bass to me too. And here I am!

My friend:
Ok so beware of Squier Affinity series, but, stickin' to MIC basses, Squier Classic Vibe series or Rockbass by Warwick (leave $. 300,00 Ibanez out for the moment. They get better spendin' just a little more bucks)

Believe me...
You can't go wrong

Cheers,
Wallace

[soulman969]

Forget the Affinity. You can buy a brand new Squier CV Jazz which is what I play for a little more than $300 this weekend from Musicians Friend with their 15% off promotion.

You're gonna find that it a very well made and great playing and sounding bass and it's a perfect instrument jazz, blues, and virtually any rock with maybe the exception of metal.

I've been playing for over 30 years and I searched out a lot of basses before I decided on this one. It's one of the best bargains out there. Used you may be able to find them for around $250 but they scarce. Not many buy them and part with them.

[rockbeachbass]

the affinities do suck, but I've been seeing raving reviews of the squier modified vintage jazz bass which sells for about $300 new. But, my best advice would be to look for a used bass on Craigslist or ebay. I just purchased a used Sterling Musicman that sells for $600 new for $350. The best thing about buying used equipment is, if you want to sell it later on you don't lose any money. I could sell my Sterling for around the same price I paid for it at anytime.

[PWRL]

I'll testify to the virtues of shopping used, as well. There are plenty of great starter basses out there used in the 3-350 range.

[Zoa]

Squier VM new, Peavey Foundation/ Yamaha BB used.

[mellohawk]

If you can find a used Yamaha BB300, go for it. That's a poor man's Fender Precision. I've got a Fender P and a Yamaha BB300 and the Yamaha plays and sounds almost as good as the Fender. You could probably find one for ~$200 or less. Good luck in your search.

[deeptubes]

Used Ibanez SR505.

[whitefuneral]

Cort action basses.

[SoonerMatt]

Squier Vintage-Modified Jazz bass

[MostlyBass]

Originally Posted by deeptubes

Used Ibanez SR505.

+1

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

This is in my opinion the best bass for your budget: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/...00-bass-guitar

[2cooltoolz]

If I was helping a friend pick a first, I'd go with the Squier Classic Vibe or Vintage Modified. A lot of bass for the money IMO.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/...0s-bass-guitar

[GM60466]

Xavier from Guitar Fetish has some very well-made P basses and Jazz bass copies under $200. The P Bass I played was very good right out of the box. $169.

[Pilgrim]

The Gretsch G2220 bass, $335 at Guitar Center!

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gretsch-...06-i2082889.gc

Short scale, dual pickups, nice fast neck, BIG sound.

[Liam Wald]

There are many good choices.
If I were looking I would look for an older Ibanez. Either the SR Series or an ATK.

[exidor]

just love My Squire 77 VM Jazz bass plays and sounds nasty good!!! best bang for the buck!! $300.00

[maxgrant]

Squier VMJ Fretless. Lovely bass. Under $300. Sounds wonderful.

[tjh]

To the OP, welcome to TB and your first post ... a little neighborly hint ... your profile is your best friend when making an inquiry on here ...

with that said, IF you are near a city with a decent music store (profile info), stop in and play everything they have ... even if it does not fit your price range .. if you taught yourself guitar, you would have a enough experience to know when something feels 'right' in your hands and be able to get a general feel of what you like ... then go look for one used .. you should be able to get a $5-600 bass for that $300, or a $3-400 for $200, etc ... at the very least after you try everything you can get your hands on, you will have a bit of an idea as far as neck profile preference that fits your hand ... somebody here mentioned a short scale, make sure you try a short scale vs. standard (34") ..

BTW, if you are in a hurry, I will go against the grain and say that a $100 used Squier Affinity is a great learning tool ... you may even luck out and find a decent one that with a good set-up and a set of strings to your liking may work just fine for you ... Affinities used are everywhere, and very inexpensive ... I used one supplied at church for a while, and in all reality, they sound like a bass and the neck profiles are actually quite nice, it is the hardware and electronics used that are the places that are often issues, and if you find the right years model used, they use pretty much the same hardware as the VM line that many are suggesting to you ...

Bottom line, you need to find the one that is right for you, and you will probably be going through a few before it is over (especially if you hang around here very long)... used you can pretty much afford to buy and try and not end up losing much if at all, especially if you buy right ... JMHO

[kurosawa]

Squier Affiinity, whether you're a P or J player, and take the most experienced bassist you know with you so he can reject anything substandard and jump at a really good one, which you might run across randomly. Go to the Fender site and look at the body woods. For some reason, the dirt cheap Affinity is made of the tried-and-true vintage body wood, alder, while some more deluxe models are made of basswood or agathis. Sure, someone will tell you the more deluxe Squiers have better tuners or pickups or whatever. But you can change those if you absolutely need to. You can't change the wood. Get it in a sunburst finish. They paint the bad wood. At least with a sunburst, you can see the wood through part of the finish. Or better yet, get one off craigslist if your friend can tolerate maybe a few trips to find the best deal.