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Best for $400 or less
- Thread starter Gus Borden
- Start date
I agree. I believe Ibanez guitars and acoustics are the best you can get for the price you pay. However once I picked up a violin bass, I was hooked. The short scale and the small body and sound was exactly what I was looking for. I will probably never own anything but a violin.
$400 is a good place to be when buying a bass. New or used? If you're into used at this point you can almost get an MIA P-bass for $400. It's almost insane.
I'd say Epi. T-Birds, Schecters, MIA Peaveys (as someone mentioned before), or some Ibanez models. Lots of people in here will say SX and Squier Vintage Modifieds, and I won't disagree since I don't have much experience in those areas...but I'd probably need a pretty long pole to touch those things myself.
I'd say Epi. T-Birds, Schecters, MIA Peaveys (as someone mentioned before), or some Ibanez models. Lots of people in here will say SX and Squier Vintage Modifieds, and I won't disagree since I don't have much experience in those areas...but I'd probably need a pretty long pole to touch those things myself.
Squier '60's Vibe Jazz, $350 at GC, $300 local, a friend found one for $150 used, very nice bass for the money! Hope you like white!!!
A used MIM Fender Precision or Jazz that you can upgrade and mod to your individual liking is a great under $400 bass.
4 strings = FUN!
Squier CV 60s Precision in Sonic Blue can be had for around $300.00 and is an absolute steal at that price. Find the right one and it'll equal basses costing four times as much. Don't order it online, though, without a good return policy. Some Squiers end up being lemons.
I am still digging my Spector Legend Classic ($400 - ohyea!) Staying in the stable with the Warwick Corvette 4. Now I am on to balancing it out with either 1 or 2 5-strings.
Now I have mine picked out already. Just a matter of them coming home (in the next couple of weeks). But in the interest of the simple fact that this thread is hanging on. We can up the ante. Me personally, I am a 24-fret kind of guy - I'm not a snob by any means - it's just what feels good to me when I am playing. Let's see...
5-STRING BASSES FOR LESS THAN $500 (too low? Perhaps $550?) fire away!
Now I have mine picked out already. Just a matter of them coming home (in the next couple of weeks). But in the interest of the simple fact that this thread is hanging on. We can up the ante. Me personally, I am a 24-fret kind of guy - I'm not a snob by any means - it's just what feels good to me when I am playing. Let's see...
5-STRING BASSES FOR LESS THAN $500 (too low? Perhaps $550?) fire away!
my buddy has a btb 5 and i have a spector 6. the first time he played it he said he like the ibanez better. well, he's probably played it 3 or 4 times since then, and now he's always asking me to let him take it to record, or to let him take it to a show, blah blah. spectors have 34" 4 string necks, but like the btbs, the 5s and 6s are 35". and the string spacing is just right. the neck feels a lot faster that the btb too...and thats with 6 strings instead of 5!
so i would say, get another spector! the like for your picture doesnt work, but i have the same color on my 6 string spector, and let me tell you...you will not be disappointed with the neck on those. throw in a better eq and some active pickups and you have yourself an amazing sounding bass.
Ibanez SR505, used set-neck or neckthru Schecter (or if you can find one, a Schecter California Custom 5)
A huge +1 to this, I got a '90's MIA Peavey Millenium off the classifieds here about two months ago for under $300 (including HSC!!) The thing absolutely kills, it plays and sounds like it should have cost about 7 bills more than it actually did
+1 I don't think you can find another bass of that quality for the money. A used USA Peavey Millennium 5 can be had for 400 if you you're lucky enough to find one for sale. An awesome bass!!
I hear ya's - I like the Spectors, but for the moment, I am liking BTB's and MTD Heirs - the latter being way out of the $400-500 range - but still love it.
We shall see....
We shall see....
Has anyone said LTD yet? I'v got a b-304 that I got for 500 canadian. The build quality is astounding for what I payed, IMO the quality and the versatility of this bass are better than the ibanez basses I've played. Infact I've been dissapointed by basses that cost quite a bit more than my LTD. IMO either are a better option than a squier.
You want to know what I think is so cool? There are so many good basses on the market in every price range, it's truly an embarrassment of riches. There's a perfect bass out there for virtually anyone. It makes shopping for one a lot of fun!
