Do you own a beater bass?

[ejaggers]

I bought a FirstAct for $40 two days ago, the keep my grandson out of my stable. The action on it is high even though the saddles are almost as low as they can go. It is acoustically louder than any of my basses other than my Coronado, so I grab it on occasions to play unplugged. I tossed those horrible strings, and put on some GHS Boomers that I had laying around. I wonder if I put a Squier bridge on it, can I get the action down. Does anyone know? The neck is not bad for a $40 bass.

057912

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by ejaggers

I bought a FirstAct for $40 two days ago, the keep my grandson out of my stable. The action on it is high even though the saddles are almost as low as they can go. It is acoustically louder than any of my basses other than my Coronado, so I grab it on occasions to play unplugged. I tossed those horrible strings, and put on some GHS Boomers that I had laying around. I wonder if I put a Squier bridge on it, can I get the action down. Does anyone know? The neck is not bad for a $40 bass.
057912

All it takes is a shim in the neck joint to tilt the neck back a tad. For beater basses a piece of matchbook cover from a dive bar is traditional!

If it were my beater, I'd install threaded inserts in the neck joint while I was putting in the shim. That baby will come alive in your hands!

Also excellent bridges can be had for about $20 if you find the right spacing. These are great and match SX string spacing. Don't know about First Act.

http://basspartsresource.com/bridge_musicman.htm

[johnnyt]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

'97 MIK Squire J.

Found this little guy a yard sale for $30. Figured I'd replace all of the hardware as it was loose and kinda jacked up, but realised that it's been cleaning up very nicely and only needed a few squeezes with some pliers or turns of a screwdriver to get it back into working shape. Went from a $200 refurb to <$100 after new pups, bridge (because I want to) and a pick guard.

Wow, thats basically my same beater bass! I believe mines a '96, the same color with a white guard. Ive added a badass bridge, a brass nut, and numerous sets of tuners.

It can take the abuse and keep on sounding great!

[drummer5359]

My Peavey Fury fills the "I could replace it cheap if something stupid happens" role for me. I have $125 in it.

[D.M.N.]

My AVRI 62 P-bass. Okay, well, it's not a beater so much as it's just my main, workhorse bass. I take care of it, and try not to get it damaged if it can be avoided, but I'm not paranoid about it getting beat up. It's got its buckle rash, and paint chips, the burst is starting to wear down on the arm contour, and at some point a drunk dude staying at my house decided to play rockstar with it and banged it into a table, leaving a pretty sizable chip through the finish (bigger than a quarter), though most of that chip was found and glued back into place. I'll take it to any and every gig. It's not a furniture piece, and if it was in pristine condition, I wouldn't be playing it enough.

[Edward G.]

Sort of, but not exactly. I have a great sounding parts P that I experiment on, but I don't want it to look bad. I don't worry about it looking perfect, just not abused.

[steveo33]

My beater is a early 80's Peavey T-20. Did the CL, got it for $100, sad to say it doesn't sound like the first one I pawned for my GK RCB200. I might have gotten older & more discerning im my tastes, but this one just sounds 'thin'. I dont remember the first one sounding like that. Huge E & A sound, when you hit C, and get on the D & G strings, this thing goes bye-bye. The neck is warped--action on D& G strings waaaay up from the E & A. If I had the original neck on my first T-20 on anythng else I have, I'd be stoked.
Otherwise, this thing is formidable, and I can use it as a club if we're opening for the Good Ole Boys and have to play behind chicken wire.

[Sin_Nombre]

I think I beat it too hard.

[chuck3]

the one on the left is my beater. It's a fairly cheap MIJ '51 P reissue. Only investment I made in it was to put a Seymour Duncan PUP to replace the original which hummed. It's actually not a bad bass and I've gigged it some. But I don't worry about it getting banged up. The finish is kind of plastic-like, it looks pretty cheapo up close.

[musicman666]

All my nice basses eventually morph into beater basses. I Just don't get it.

[aus_bass]

No.

My least expensive bass is my Squier CV Jazz. 4 years on and it looks like it did, the day I bought it.

I take extreme care with all my gear, no matter how much I paid for it.

[SubNoizeRat3691]

Mine is a Warwick Corvette Std. I picked it up for pretty cheap, the back is really scratched up, the JAN-II is broken (held up with pieces of pick i cut up), the saddle under the D string is missing (replaced by a piece of figured plastic) and the headstock has a few nicks.

Its strung up with D'Addario flats, and sounds GREAT!!! I don't have to be concerned with dropping it, or bumping it into anything while I'm getting into a song on stage, its the perfect gigging bass!

[BayStateBass]

Squier Affinity P bass. Got it for free. Cleaned it, set it up, put strings on it, added some cosmetic doo-dads.

The perfect beater. I'm into it for like $50 or so.

[Ken R]

SX P bass, old style headstock. It looks like the previous owner used this to pound tent pegs into the ground. It cost me $25.
Other than a high fret at the 10th fret, this thing plays fine and sounds good too.

[plankspanker13]

It's funny how I have approached my stable. There's designated "beaters," but they invariably are simply less-expensive nice instruments. If I like something enough, I'll take two. My designated beater G&L JB-2 is my second US specimen, meaning that my Indo Tribute model is to be liquidated (fellow TBer, Nick in Mesa has a reservation). When the expensive limited edition Warwick started getting more use at wine bar "lite" gigs, because I could dial in a livable low-volume tone, I realized that I would need a less expensive active instrument. At first, there was a Peavey Millenium BXP AC4, which I played a lot, and aggravated tendonitis in my right thumb, in doing so. It got liquidated, and the "beater active" is now a SBMM SUB Ray4. Guess which instrument the band leader loves best. Yep, the least expensive one. The G&Ls only come out to play for full band gigs, or hired-gun work, but the second (less fancy USA one) shall also be my designated "stand-sitter," for home use.

All of that said, I still am one to take care of my instruments to the greatest extent possible. They all have strap locks for a reason.

[wilfred]

Yup my 2000 squier affinity p bass.

[davidgoldman]

I have two, I also have five grand kids and the two "beater" basses are theirs to play to their hearts content. Keeps the rest of my collection in good shape.

[derridiandrift]

All of mine are "daily drivers" so to speak. None of them get abused. My most recent addition to the stable is a 2011 American Standard Precision. I bought it so that my old precision can stay home more often. I guess means that the new one is a "beater."

[Biggbass]

My "Beater bass" is a RW P. Love it.

[wango55]

Agreed with a lot of the other posters here, I don't beat on any of my basses, but I do have a few that if they fall over, or get a beer spilled on them during a gig, I'm not too concerned about. My main go-to is now my Franken Jazz - I take it to practice, and have gigged with it, and will continue to gig with it. I'm into it around $300, and most of the parts were pretty worn, with dings/dents/scratches in the body. I love it though, it sounds great, and the neck feels very comfortable. On second thought, I probably would be pretty upset if someone walked off with it.