Budget Electric Basses - Your Thoughts

[Gabe Lamog]

I find that the budget brands (Epiphone,MIM Fender, Sterling) match up quite well with the sound quality of your high end lines (Gibson, Fender USA, MusicMan). I have no shame in saving a couple bucks. Being able to get the sound that I need and saving a couple of (considerable) dollars is more significant than spending an arm and a leg on the name brands that do, virtually, the same thing. Thoughts?

 

[danster]

I have a Squier Starcaster Jazz that I use often. Plays well, sounds good, is good. No shame in cheap!

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I frequently feel ashamed of my expensive basses. Feel like I don't deserve my Fender, especially when I know that the Squire that costs 1/8th the price sounds at least half as good!

 

[jd56hawk]

Pretty much learned to play on a really nice Inca Silver Squier CV Jazz.
Had a set of Lace Sensor Man O' War pickups for it. Never put them in. Didn't need them because the CV Jazz tone was just fine.
I own an Epiphone Thinderbird Classic IV. No need to buy a Gibson with this one.
Plenty of Sterling SUB Ray fans, but it seems like quite a few of them change the preamp and the pickup.
And let's not forget that the G&L Tributes are very good basses, not exactly bargain basses unless you find a used one for a good price, but…

I have, however, moved onward and upward.
Nothing wrong with that, either.

 

[stigbeve]

I love the way my Ibanez GSR200's sit in the mix. They are the old passive ones with straight tuners and 3 knobs.

 

[FromTheBassMent]

I have two expensive basses, an EBMM Sterling 5 that has been my main bass for over 10 years (see avatar), and a USA Lakland fretless 5 that is almost inhumanly satisfying to play. I just acquired an Epiphone Jack Casady 4-string for under $500 to play in a 60s cover band that I recently joined, and I LOVE IT. The tone and the vibe are perfect... makes me want to play Jefferson Airplane and the Animals and the Turtles all night long. Nothing wrong with finding your bliss with a bargain bass!

 

[JRA]

Thoughts?

glad you're saving money!

 

[Joe Nerve]

I have many high end basses (well, basses around the $1500 mark).

Years ago, before having any Fenders that I was committed to, I went to a Guitar Center to hopefully add one to my stable. Had a pocket full of cash (expertly concealed in my credit card ) and was hoping to fall in love with an American Jazz. Lo and behold, on this fine day they had just unveiled a strange looking black Jazz 5 string that was active. I looked at the headstock and saw that dang "Squier" logo. I wanted to have a go at it anyhow, so I pulled it off the rack. I fell immediately in love. I hung around for about an hour more playing all the Jazz basses in the place, and had to leave with the Squier. Saved me $1000 and that bass became my main gigging bass for about a year. As much as I hate to admit this, I Sharpied out the Squier logo after a few gigs. Actually had a couple of people point at it while I was playing - no doubt because they were surprised it sounded so freaking awesome . If I got that bass nowadays, I wouldn't black out the logo. I'd be proud of it.

Sold the bass cuz it was heavy, and cuz I quit playing 5 strings.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

I've found that the SX basses sound as good to me as the Fenders I've had . I had an American Deluxe with noiseless pickups that I swapped for Nordstrands and also a Lakland Skyline JO5 with Lindy Fralins and neither sounded much better to me than the SX's that I've had . Build quality is another story but with a little TLC The SX basses for the most part are very giggable . Here's a pic of my latest with a Schaller bridge . A new Schaller bridge like this costs half as much as the bass .

 

[ThudThudThud]

I think there is a world of difference between the 'cheap' basses available in the mid-late 70s (when I started), and the 'cheap' basses available today.

 

[Jayhawk]

I have basses that I have paid from $150 to $1200 and enjoy playing them all. Other basses I have had that I didn't enjoy playing are no longer in my collection, no matter what the price paid.

 

[DigitalMan]

Cars with cloth seats provide the same transportation capability as cars with leather seats. A coffee table from Ikea is just as functional as one from Ethan Allen.

I think having a spectrum of choices is the benefit. The issue to me is when people start self-identifying as either a premium snob or a budget snob. Those are two sides of the same coin and there is no virtue in either.

 

[Flaked Beans]

Oh, another expensive basses VS cheap (budget) basses thread. Anyway, the tone is in your fingers.

 

[nerkoids]

I have a Squier Starcaster Jazz that I use often. Plays well, sounds good, is good. No shame in cheap!

Now I'm intrigued. You wouldn't have a photo, perchance?

 

[nerkoids]

Had nothing but cheap. That said, tried some expensive stuff, I can see in some instances why some folks prefer them.

 

[DigitalMan]

the tone is in your fingers

So is the sharp edge of a fret upon occasion.

 

[stringthrough]

Used MIM Fender P or J. $375-475... Next problem

 

[bass12]

Oh, another expensive basses VS cheap (budget) basses thread. Anyway, the tone is in your fingers.

I have a birth defect which lead to the tone being in my toes instead of my fingers, so the bass really does make a difference to how I sound.

 

[mdogs]

Like I always say, if you are unable to tell the difference, you might as well get the cheap one.

 

[Flaked Beans]

Like I always say, if you are unable to tell the difference, you might as well get the cheap one.

This! ^ ^ ^