Basses that are a steal...REAL value here!

[Sundogue]

The list is growing and I just don't have the time to browse the threads and add to the "master list" right now.

It is wonderful just how many basses there are out there that just don't get the love from majority of TB'ers here. There are so many manufacturers out there, and while there are certainly many expensive basses worth having, there seem to be a whole lot more basses that are under $500 (or thereabouts) that are, for the most part, perfect for gigging without mods to make them play, feel or sound great.

We are lucky as bass players living at this time. I would bet most manufacturers are outsourcing a lot of the work on bodies and necks. I'm sure they are also buying the electronics, pickups, bridges, etc. from a lot of the same sources as well. This really makes low cost, high quality basses available to anyone.

I do think that the biggest difference between high priced and low cost basses is in the finish work and setup. My guess is that the higher priced models are getting more attention paid to the finish on the bodies, fretwork, and higher quality electronics. Also, those companies that sell higher volumes of these higher priced models are probably getting better deals on components because they are buying in volume, so they can afford to put them into these basses.

I built my own custom bass and having completely torn apart and repaired/rebuilt/modded countless numbers of basses over the years, and personally setting up my own basses (working on necks, truss rods, leveling frets, wiring, etc.) I can tell a well made bass from a poor one. I can tell the difference between a bass that has had that extra "touch" done to it and one that was simply thrown together.

Because of CNC machining, outsourcing and availability of quality components these days, it it reasonable to expect low cost basses to be equal to the higher priced "name brand" mass produced (not custom-made) in quality with regards to bodies and necks. When it comes right down to it, the two most important things most bass players need from a bass is a good body that gives good natural tone and a decent neck that stays in shape. Most manufacturers can easily provide that these days. The rest of it can be modded fairly easily. And even without modifications, the plethora of amps, preamps, DI's and effects can certainly make up for a less than stellar sounding bass.

A bass player today can easily swap out bridges, pickups, preamps and tuners. So why spend a fortune for a bass when so many low cost alternatives are available? Most of these low cost basses are good as is and require no modding. Many already have high quality tuners, pickups and bridges. As long as the neck is stable and the fretwork is good, one can buy a low cost bass and mod it little by little as funds allow if one desires and have a very high quality bass that ranks right up there with any other mass produced bass that also costs a small fortune. I don't mean they are the same as the custom or boutique basses.

It seems to me, most of the appeal of these higher priced basses is name brand recognition, marketing, snob appeal and dare I say it...TalkBass itself (which I think is the major contributor to GAS). Which is why I started this thread. I would bet that if every single bass player out there never knew who made what bass they were playing, more of these so-called "budget" basses would be in the hands of the very people who look down on them.

For beginners, or even those who have been playing a long time (but just do not want to take out a second mortgage for a bass), there are plenty of wonderful low cost, high quality alternatives out there.

This thread and all who have contributed points this out.

Keep 'em coming guys! Lots of great posts thus far!

 

[Sundogue]

although I ALWAYS see the "love" for the typical names floating all over the forum, everyone seems to forget the famous GUITAR manufacturer that made a few great MIJ basses for the time period ( late 80's ) and that is.......

CHARVEL/JACKSON

well it's 20 years later and there are plenty of them out there readily available, and cheap.

if you like pointy headstocks, I have 4 of these things in different OEM configurations, and did not pay any more than 300.00 for any of them except for the black and maple which was just a little more due to it's condition.

The lead guitar player in my band (who is an accomplished musician on almost any instrument) owns 23 guitars. He has some of the most expensive, finely crafted guitars made...and yet his two most favorite gigging guitars are his Jacksons. Very cool.

 

[madbassplaya]

I didn't read through the whole thread, but when i saw the topic, I thought about ATKs.

Great basses at Great prices!

 

[texasgreg]

About a year and a half ago I bought a Rogue LX200Bf (fretless) for $60 used. A great fun diversion that could easily be gigged with. Sure, it could benefit from some new pickups and hardware, but for $60 for someone wanting to play around with fretless, it is what it is.

 

[Ric5]

I bought this bass for $150 in 1973 ... I played it for 33 years and sold it to a collector for a hefty profit.

 

[Sundogue]

Just for the heck of it (because I know someone will eventually come along and tell me there is no way a low cost, budget bass could ever equal a high end, high price bass), I decided to break down a bass into individual components for comparison.

Putting aside aesthetics (wood grain, color, shape of body or headstock, etc.), let's compare the "parts" of a bass...

When looking at a high price, high end bass that is supposed to be superior to a low cost bass, what stands out as the biggest differences between them that might justify spending perhaps $1000 to $2000 more for the high end one? I'm not talking about "custom" made basses (where one gets to pick out what they want and have it built that way).

Let's score it this way. Whichever gets the clear-cut nod in each category gets a point. If there is no clear choice it will be considered EVEN. By "clear cut" I mean that there is no way the majority of low cost basses mentioned in this thread can equal the other in quality of component.

BODY - Body wood that gives the tone one is seeking. High end basses offer more choices perhaps, but mainly in custom made ones. Most low cost basses at least offer Ash or Alder as body woods. EVEN.

NECK - Let's consider all of the components of a neck combined. What does a neck have to be, to be considered high quality? Straight, stable, good truss rod that is easily adjusted. Solid and well made fingerboard. Properly cut nut. Frets that are put in place well, level and even throughout the neck. No rough frets along the edge of neck. Sufficient headstock that provides ample sustain and evenness to all notes along the neck. Good enough angle for solid stringing over nut (or a good string tree to do this). No dead spots. True and even notes throughout the neck. Comfortable to play. EVEN

BRIDGE - Solid and stable. Enough mass to provide good sustain. Easily adjusted, yet solid and providing perfect intonation. Consider that the stock Fender bridge is perfect in it's simplicity and function..and it's on even their highest end basses. EVEN

TUNERS - Solid. High gear ratio. Easy to tune and bass stays in tune. EVEN...possibly +1 to the high priced models.

PICKUPS - This is highly subjective, yet I think we can all agree that pickups should provide good output and at least be tonally pleasing in that an amp should be able to get usable tones from them. A lot of low cost basses use some of the same pickups used on high priced basses. Some don't but are still quite usable and the output tonally can be tweaked via an amp. EVEN

ELECTRONICS - This would include wiring, pots, possibly preamps, jacks. Most low cost basses are sufficient, but it's been my experience that preamps, pots and wiring in general are better on higher priced models. +1 to high priced models.

ERGONOMICS - Balance, weight and general feel of instrument that can be played all night during a gig without fatigue. Most body designs these days are fairly similar. It's a copy-cat world and there is very little difference between low cost or high price basses. Most are still based on Leo's body design, so it is somewhat of a moot point. Some low cost, but some high priced models too, can be neck heavy. EVEN

FINISH - This is probably the easiest thing to do. Most all basses have a good, durable gloss finish on them. Aside from custom models, all production basses from low cost to high end offer a variety of colors and provide quality gloss finishes over them. EVEN

So let's really compare here. Where are the big differences between high priced basses and low cost ones? There are always going to be low cost basses that cut corners and are both inexpensive and cheaply made. But most every single bass listed in this thread has come out at least EVEN with higher priced models. About the only thing higher priced basses come out higher on (generally speaking) is in the electronics and possibly tuners...and maybe even pickups. But those can be upgraded for little money.

All across the board, low cost basses offer mostly identical high quality components to those basses costing anywhere from $500 to even $2000 more. Is this priced justified? Of course it is because any manufacturer can charge what people are willing to spend, and it's highly subjective as to what one wishes to spend on a bass.

My guess is that high priced basses have one thing low cost basses do not...NAME BRAND RECOGNITION.

The bass you want to play, and what you feel is important to you in a bass is highly subjective and I am certainly not saying one shouldn't spend a lot on any bass they want, or their reasons for doing so aren't valid. Because we are all entitled to happily do so. I've done it myself and probably will again someday. However I am defending low cost, high quality basses from those who are critical of them solely to justify their own purchases of high priced models.

We have lots of choices today.

 

[mongo2]

This is getting way too complicated.

 

[NOLA Bass]

Used euro Spectors are an excellent value when you compare new vs. used IMO.

 

[Sundogue]

This is getting way too complicated.

It wouldn't need to be, if it were not for the hype and marketing that higher priced instruments get. Add on to that the general feeling that lower priced "budget" instruments have a negative stigma attached to them unnecessarily. The words "budget" or "bang for the buck" even implies that these basses are just "alright if that's all you can afford" and nothing better than that.

I'm out to cut through the BS (and that's just what it is...crap) because too many young, or poor musicians need to know that they need not buy expensive gear to be a professional gigging bass player.

I'm not the one making things complicated.

 

[Thumper]

A big shout out for the Epiphone Les Paul. I have one my wife got me as a gift. I didn't want to show my disappointment so I put on my best face and expressed gratitude. Long story short, a very nice bass I have gigged with and use/leave at practice. Mine is the red version and I have DR Red Devils on it, very classy looking, nice weight, balance, versatility and playability.

Jay Turser Beatle Bass - also gig worthy (white with gold hardware gets a lot of attention). Also a gift from wife.

Epiphone Jack Casady - used in gig rotation for 5 songs a night. Everyone should know how nice they are. Mine's strung with TIs. I wouldn't want to play it for 4 sets due to awkwardness caused by body shape/sharp edges, but the tone is undisputably great with some versatility.

 

[Wademeister63]

If you want one that's available right now, check out the Yamaha RBX5 A2 (5 strings). Just the black ones though, the white ones are an extra couple hundred bucks if you can find them at all, figure that out! I just picked up one this week for $299 brand new. Seems very well built, 7-3/4 lbs and sounds great!

 

[6Steve6Harris6]

Add Tradition basses to the list, man!

http://www.traditionguitars.com/basses.html

I've been playing a B100 Deluxe exclusively for a long time, now! Never let me down once, and I only paid $150 for it when I started playing some years ago.

 

[dabbler]

.

I have customs that cost around $5k new, and a couple "boutiques" that cost around $3k new, and for playability the Ibanez was just as good as those and waaaay better than SX, Turser, etc.

Everybody's opinion is valid and I respect yours. But unless you explain WHAT made the playability "better than SX, Turser, etc.", this statement is useless.

 

[undeadbass]

My gem is my Aslin Dane stingray copy I got about 8 years ago.
I was still in high school, and my stepdad (who is also a professional bassist/engineer) comes up to me one day and says "give me $200, I just found you an incredible bass." So, taking him at his word (as I always do in regards to this) I obliged, and he came back with what is STILL my main bass!
I've owned other basses since getting the Aslin Dane, but always rely on it as my main player. I've updated/modded it, but only out of necessity, like new nut, new pots, and a Hipshot D-tuner.

 

[GreaserMatt]

Fernandes copies are underpriced for what they are.

+1

I also own 4 (yes, 4) 80's kramer striker basses that I paid $100 or less for each one. They are good playing basses...

 

[GeneralElectric]

Depends on what you define as cheap.

I view basses that are sub $400 new as beginner instruments. I know there are some gems but I think they're beginners. Under a $1000 you're looking at mid-range instruments. The $1000-1500 range is what I consider working grade instruments. More expensive than that and I couldn't afford it.

While I rarely ever buy new, for the most part I've been dissatisfied with basses that are below working grade.

Already I'm finding stuff I don't like about a bass that costs about $800 new that a slightly better bass from the same company wouldn't have.

Of course there are exceptions, but I haven't seen them and if they can stand up to abuse or not.

 

[jgsbass]

In order to get us all to agree we have to determine what is the criteria for cheap.
I suggest we all post a number, add it up, average it, and then see what basses fit into that category. Otherwise if I get a Ritter for $1,700 its a great bass for that price but a useless one for comparison since cheap was mentioned. Lets define cheap.

I'll start. Less than $200 American for a professionally gigable bass.

Next?

 

[GeneralElectric]

I think sub $400 is cheap.

 

[Sundogue]

Since I started the thread...let's say under $500. Even someone starting out or even a rather poor working bass player could probably come up with that amount if they needed to.

It seems that anything over that starts getting into well known, established basses that while might be had for a good price, aren't any kind of "hidden" gem. Get it?

By "hidden" I mean these basses typically fly under the radar. That would exclude more commonly well known MIA Fenders, Lakland, Cirrus, MM Sting Ray, etc. The hidden gems also are not getting any attention from TB'ers because if you look at most of the threads posted, aside from the SX megathreads, the majority of basses getting all the hype (even if deserved) are higher priced basses.

If you look at basses that have already been posted here, you'll get the idea.

 

[Sundogue]

...I view basses that are sub $400 new as beginner instruments. I know there are some gems but I think they're beginners. Under a $1000 you're looking at mid-range instruments. The $1000-1500 range is what I consider working grade instruments. More expensive than that and I couldn't afford it.

Beginner instruments? By that I take it you mean one couldn't gig with them regularly for many years and be satisfied with the feel, playability, tone, reliability, etc.?

I won't argue with you that you couldn't, but obviously others can. I do. I started playing bass professionally in 1979 and even now I still play out 4-8 times a month and make some pretty good money at it.

I haven't owned a bass that cost me more than $250 in over 6 years. I haven't spent more than $800 on a bass in at least 15 years and I've been playing (and gigging regularly) for 30 years. I'm no beginner, nor do I feel my basses are beginner basses. I don't take your comments personally, because I know otherwise. To each his own, you know?

I would like to know why (specifically) you feel price has anything to do with quality (aside from the simplistic "you get what you pay for"). For some reason your statements sound hollow at best, and part of the "herd" mentality, because you are implying that money equates to some kind of magic dust found in the manufacturing process of higher priced instruments, that lower priced instruments don't have. Your experience with lower priced basses may very well ring true for you, but I'd like to know what components of a lower priced bass don't work for the gigging bass player. Because for a working bass player, a bass simply needs to do it's job and not impede the bass player in any way. Hopefully it plays and sounds to a level that also aids in progress of skills and inspires. I don't get where what you paid for a bass has anything whatsoever to do with that.

This is no slight to you, because you are entitled to your feelings on the subject and for you it is very true. But your comments are typical of the BS that younger bass players should not listen to. They'll find their own way if they stay with it, and end up deciding for themselves anyway. But that kind of thinking is exactly why I started this thread.