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Budget basses that will get you through!

SixtyCycleHum

SixtyCycleHum

Oct 16, 2021
1,572
2,757
40
Melbourne, Australia
#1
Hey gang!

So, pretty cool thing here. My 14 year old cousin has decided to try her hand at playing bass and I'm going to be teaching her some stuff. Not lessons, per say. I ain't qualified, and I'm doing it for fun. Just kind of showing her some fundamentals and basic maintenance. Good times!

So she has tried out some of my basses which I don't really play anymore. Fender/Squier is too heavy, she doesn't like the Danelectro Longhorn (fair enough), and she wants something a bit more interesting than the Yamaha RBX series, albeit it fitting her perfectly otherwise. So going by that, we're going shopping, y'all!

So my question is this. While I'm very aware of what is available in a certain price range and the fact that second hand stores are a thing, I'm just looking for GOOD recommendations for budget basses that you can do a lot with. Preferably short scale, she's a little 'un so while long is fine, I think she will like short so much better. I want to see what YOU guys know of. It will show me some stuff I haven't seen yet, and that's the idea.

Without further ado, bombs AWAY!
 
#3
The Ibanez Talman TMB30 is a good deal if she likes the look of one of the colors. The strings are really cheap, but after a new set of strings and some minor setup work (detailed in other posts) it has become my main "out of the house" bass. Honestly, it made me sell my mid-price bass ($675ish), and it sometimes makes me wonder why I even bother to keep my high price bass.

I should also add that I started playing guitar in the mid 70s, and I am continually astonished at the quality of "budget" or "student" instruments these day compared with the crap we had to deal with until the Japanese imports came along.
 
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#6
Agree with Ibanez in general. The bang/buck ratio on Ibanez is probably higher than any other bass you can get. And somehow they have always been that way - I don't know how they've managed to make such good basses at such low price points for all these years, but they have.

No specific recommendation off the top of my head, but basically you can't go wrong with any of them.

L
 
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#9
rpt50 said:
The Ibanez Talman TMB30 is a good deal if she likes the look of one of the colors. The strings are really cheap, but after a new set of strings and some minor setup work (detailed in other posts) it has become my main "out of the house" bass. Honestly, it made me sell my mid-price bass ($675ish), and it sometimes makes me wonder why I even bother to keep my high price bass.

I should also add that I started playing guitar in the mid 70s, and I am continually astonished at the quality of "budget" or "student" instruments these day compared with the crap we had to deal with until the Japanese imports came along.
Click to expand...

YES. The Talman is on the list, but we haven't got there yet. In truth, I'm thinking of scoring *myself* one. I'm hoping she goes for it, because I'll get to spend time with it!
 
#13
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