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Are these two cheapo basses the same?

#21
Yes, I'm gambling on this blue one....but cheapo's serve a few purposes here:
1) Eye candy for audiences
2) Challenge 4 me and boredom preventer
3) Not too worried about damage to one
4) Rewarding to make a cheapo functional without a lot of mods.

Every once in a while, I get surprised either way.
Good surprise? Light bass, great sound using my existing patches, easy to play.
Greco LP clones, Brice T-Birds, Galveston P/J flag bass, Hondo/Fame P clone with a factory Kahler all fall in that catagory.
Bad surprise? Gets sold. My last "bad surprise" was a 2006 Gibson Thunderbird bought new. My $199 white Brice T-Bird clone from Rondo "fit the band" sound on live recordings, blew the Gibson away in larger ballrooms, and weighed much less.
The Gibson got sold, Brice got kept.
Cheap does not alway = useless garbage.

PICS?
I promise not to photoshop......LOL!
 
#22
Id say both where to cheap to concider buying myself. You can get some great new basses for low price. aka $300 and up range. But the price of these is so low as to tell me prob sub grade wood maybe even plyhwood, aka "mahogany plywood" in the case of the one claiming to be mahognay, also Id expect low qauliuty necks, frets, fretwork, pups, hardware and build.
 
#24
Received at lunch, beautiful metallic, neck feels almost like a jazz bass(natural).
Bass shipped with strings slack :( so they got tuned at noon CST so the neck would have some tension for a while.

Pics below are from a co-worker's iPhone....he loved the finish and wanted me to buy him one. The "spots" on the chrome are a mirror reflection of the ceiling tiles above my desk.
Not photoshopped.
Full shot:
BlueMMclone02Fxd.jpg

Co-worker's attempt to capture the metallic finish:
BlueMMclone01Fxd.jpg


More later after playtime.

PS: If he can get the entire bass for $$, can he get just these jazz-feel necks for $ to put on SX/Ursa's?
 
#25
Sounds good(using Line6 >> QSC2402 >> ACME B2's), plays good, looks amazing.
To do list:
1) Setup after the neck sets for a few days
2) Install Straplocs
3) Get better pics to put up this weekend(Sunday)
 
#32
chuck norriss said:
$70 for a bass? If you buy one please do a review on it. I've bought Douglas or imitation stuff in the past but never kept it. For all the dough I've spent on lesser compromises I could have bought a white limo. Save up for a tried & true instrument. It's worth the investment.
Click to expand...

I second this. :-)

There is definitely a possibility of finding a gem at a low price, but the chance is unfortunately slim to non-existant. I have bought quite a few cheap instruments, and they can't measure up to the better quality of my other instruments. :bassist:

I have currently a Shine PJ bass that is semi-decent in that I can take it gigging without it sounding horrible, but it still feels like a cheaper instrument. I have bought a couple basses from the seller in the first link that was posted, and I wouldn't buy from there again. Screwed me over. :rollno:

If you go cheap, buy from Guitarfetish.com or Rondo Music, at least those are "proven" quality and decent guys to purchase from. Stay away from the 70-80 dollar basses on eBay. They are just slightly more functional than putting strings on your firewood in the shed. :rolleyes:

Just my $0.02 :ninja:
 
#34
Review should be up Friday....possibly Thursday late, my weekend was FULL(gig Saturday, get home at 3 AM, Superbowl Sunday). Monday ~ Wednesday's are a roller coaster ride(Mon:work, home/practice, Tues: work, gig, Weds: sleep a few, work, and zombie out & early bed Wednesday due to sleep shortage).

Yes it is playable out of the box. I was going to rush a setup on it to check at Saturday's show but no time. It is slightly heavier than the Sunburst from the seller in Texas but not a deal/bass killer heavy. The pickup appears to be hotter.

I'd like to get straplocs on Thursday & use it at a show we have Friday as a LIVE test run so Saturday I could give a "Yea" or "Nay".
 
#36
The controls seem to be Volume-Passive tone/blend-Standard Tone.
Thursday I'll pull the cover and get a picture to be sure, possibly pull the cover on the other seller's sunburst one to see if they're the same. They sound like they are.

A clone MM pickup(for a different project for a Greco LP Frankenbass) has 4 wire configuration. I suspect these Chinese ones are wired the same on the "Passive/Blend" control.
 
#39
Intonation set? Check. It was pretty sharp right out of the box.
Action set? Check.
High or problem frets found? No.
Straplocs installed? Check.
Took pics? Check.
Played for about an hour? Check.
Lowered the pickup a bit so it's less hot. My pre(SVT SIM) is set to distort if I play HARD, out of the box this was making it distort if I played a tiny bit hard. Tube users might like that though.
Time to eat and then I'll get pics put up. Unless we get rained out, it goes to the job tomorrow night(Outdoor event but we play under a covered shelter).

UPDATE: pics with POS camera that rides in my gigbag

Control Cavity: Body possibly 2 pieces of wood. Look closely at inside of cavity.
ControlCavityFxd.jpg


Control Plate
ControlPlateFxd.jpg


Volume and middle tone control
VolumeAndTone1Fxd.jpg


Middle control tone cap
Tone1CapFxd.jpg


All my straplocs go about fret 16 or 17 if possible(so they all have similar reach/feel)
StraplocNeckFxd.jpg


Ebay scale says some folks may find it a bit heavy.
WeightFxd.jpg


Gig test report later.

PS: If it passes the gig test, I may get 1 or more of the $69 ones(yes, he's WAY low on the black ones) to give to aspiring bassists who have nothing or have junk(this bass ain't).
 

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