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Best Bass under $700 (active & passive)?

#8
In the end, you're going to be splitting hairs. What I mean is this: for $700 you can buy a new G&L Tribute, a Spector Legend, a Sterling by MusicMan, or, with the benefit of a sale, a Lakland 44-01. Are any of these basses not produced in the same factory?

It becomes a question of neck profile preferences, the tone you want, etc. I really think my Tribute L-2000 is absolutely a wonderful instrument - one of the best passive instruments made and a solid preamp as a bonus. My Spector Legend Classic 6 is no slouch either, but is night and day different tone-wise. If my 44-02 was any indication, the 44-01 is going to be a GREAT player, but I'm willing to bet I won't fall in love with the tone/electronics. I'm willing to bet they it sounds very similar to my Dearmond Pilots (from the same Korean factory the 44-01 used to come from.) And then I'm dying to try out a new Sterling Ray35 - I'm sure it kills as well.

To further complicate things, Fender, Ibanez, Schecter, and ESP/LTD know how to build a great bass too. Its really a bad time to be a bass player with $700 to burn - there are way too many good choices.
 
#9
In your price range I like the Peavey Cirrus BXP, the Peaveys are very under rated but the sound great. Even the Peavey Grind bass very nice and is in around $400.

IMO for classic rock, a Fender P-bass is the way to go, for me anyway.

In the end, what people like is subjective and comes down to what you feel comfortable with and what gives your the sound your after. Bare in mind that you can get comfortable with almost any bass given enough time.
 
#10
toomanybasses said:
In your price range I like the Peavey Cirrus BXP, the Peaveys are very under rated but the sound great. Even the Peavey Grind bass very nice and is in around $400.

IMO for classic rock, a Fender P-bass is the way to go, for me anyway.

In the end, what people like is subjective and comes down to what you feel comfortable with and what gives your the sound your after. Bare in mind that you can get comfortable with almost any bass given enough time.
Click to expand...

This backs up my point. I forgot about Peavey, and I love a good P bass. Too many choices. You'll ending up wishing you could have them all.
 
#14
Even though I'm not a huge Fender fan, I might would take the MIM Jazz before buying something made in Indonesia. I'm just not feeling the whole made in Indonesia vibe that has become so hot in the past couple of years. I still think Korea turns out the best quality to price instruments, imo.
 
#18
Opinions are fine, but are you really foolish enough to blow 7 large based on someone else's opinion? It's sucha subjective thing, get off yer butt and go out and play some and shop. So many people here who are just so reluctant to go shop for a bass on their own, and so many opinions loaded with bias, it's like they don't trust their own instincts and need to vailidate through others...trust your hands and your ears...I'm not not saying you're one of those people, but you certainly could be...

Personally I'd go used for that 7 large, and get almost twice the bass for the same money. Opens up a whole nother world of possibilites.

That said, I'm just going to cut and paste this answer form now on for when this comes up again in a week. :)
 
#19
I'm with IBJamin. You could pick up a new Ibby SR500 for $500'ish or score a used one in the $350-400 range easily. Slim neck and a nice variety of tones. Although if a Peavey Cirrus is in that range, I'd be really interested in that as well. If you only need a 4 string you should be able to get a hold of a Schecter Stilleto 4 in your price range. A very underrated bass IMHO.
 
#20
Boostedrex said:
I'm with IBJamin. You could pick up a new Ibby SR500 for $500'ish or score a used one in the $350-400 range easily. Slim neck and a nice variety of tones. Although if a Peavey Cirrus is in that range, I'd be really interested in that as well. If you only need a 4 string you should be able to get a hold of a Schecter Stilleto 4 in your price range. A very underrated bass IMHO.
Click to expand...

I'd absolutely look at the Ibanez SR series -NOT the SRX (but that's just my opinion, lots of people love them, but remember, the SRX was made to make the SR series available to more people) and MIM Fenders are another great option. I'd get a MIM P and pop in a Lindy Fralin and some heavy duty pots. That's what I got (along with my Spector Euro LX)!
 

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