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Does anybody gig with cheapies? Share your experiences!

#41
Major Havoc said:
savit260,what mods did you do to the sx.I am thinking of buying one next week.probablly get the sx spj-62 in vintage white with the black pg or maybe just the lake placid blue sx like yours,what do you think of the color of the lake placid blue? i will put on a badass II bridge that i have and also throw on a set of roto's roundwound bs66's.do you have any experience with the sx 5 strings? is the b string good on them.As for what i play live for at least 15 yrs.,i have used a bass my dad bought me in 1983 fender jazz copy with pj pups.which i swapped out and put in some emg's a badass II bridge.Black blocked and bound neck with very thin frets,it almost feels fretless.I cherish this bass it was the bass my father tought me theory on.....Rest in Peace Dad.the sx i want to use as a back up for my geddy
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The only mods to the blue one were a Fender '62 RI pickup, a 500K volume, an upgraded 250K tone pot, and some fret work. That's it for the functional stuff. I wanted to get the sound as close to my '64 P as possible, as it was originaly used as it's backup. Didn't, and still don't want to mess around with E.Q. if I break a string or need to change a bass for any reason. The stock p/u actually sounded pretty good, but I'm kind of picky about stuff like that. The fretwork was done because I like stupid low action i.e. 2/32" @ the 12th fret. The Sunburst is set at 3/32" @ the 12th w/ stock, untouched fretwork. Everything else is stock, exept for the pickguards, and that's obviously just cosmetic. The stock bridge and tuners work very well. Never comes out of tune, and the intonation is spot on. I tend to play pretty hard too. No problems at all with the hardware. Perfectly functional.

The LPBlue looks pretty darned good. A few friends who are also vintage hounds commented on how good it lookes. I think it looks better in person than in the picuters. No flaws at all in the finish anywhere on either of them, save for the bumps and bruises it's got from being out working.

No experience with the 5er's. I'm a 4 string kind of guy.:)
 
#46
I've been gigging a Schecter Diamond Elite four string for the last six months. Good basic tone, dead quiet and one of the lightest basses I've owned. Previous was a CIJ '51 P. Before that, a MM SUB.

I've only gigged one really nice bass (Les Paul Recording) and it was terrifying. I was happy the day I traded it for a hammered P with a really fine neck. That was the last "nice" bass I've owned, and that was in the late '70's!

I greatly appreciate fine workmanship, as well as the refined tone and feel present in high end instruments. Those instruments just are not for me. Once I get out "in the wild," it is all about basic tone, playability and reliability. Might have to get one of those SX's.
 
#49
I gig with my Squiers - an Antique Burst Standard Jazz ($185), and a new Vintage Modified P ($213). My Geddy stays home, and goes some places, but I read too many threads here about stuff running out the door, and the Geddy is very recognizable. I love my Squiers!!!
 
#51
Splosh said:
Happy New Year Gang........ :hyper:

Me, My Bass and My Band did our first public gig last weekend!!!
I am still using and only posess the first bass I ever bought (last June!!!) I used it on Sunday, and am now desperately seeking another....
I am presently using a stagg......... 'nuff said!!!!!!!

The Hum was ridiculous, and when I changed the strings, found that the neck was "well bowed"......

Need new bass..... But don't know what to get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Jon
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I wouldn't recommend a stagg.
 
#53
I'm digging this thread a lot. You see more foreign Fenders, more midline Ibanez, Peavey, Yamaha, and even the ultra-cheap lines like SX and Turser are showing up on stages and being used by very good players at all levels of the showbiz ladder.

Guitarists have been using budget guitars onstage for years before we did. They'd goof on us for buying our $2000 and up basses while they showed up to the gig with a Squier Strat that someone left at their house and sound great on it. And we'd goof on them for not caring about their art enough to buy the very best. Hey, you have to have some reason to justify that Alembic Series II!

But in the last couple years, bassists finally realized that what really matters is what you do with it, and if they find a bass that does what they want for $500 or less, why not use it? And even if your tastes run to active pickups and neck-thru-body, you can find great ones for slightly more than $500, too. So why not buy a cheap bass and spend that money on something else? It's a fact that most players will never make a living playing music, so why invest all that money and not make near that much back with it? And even if you do make a living with music, you're not getting paid in accordance with what you spend.

My current main squeeze is a $250 Jay Turser violin bass. It sounds and feels great and satisfies my needs on most gigs as well as any bass I've ever played. Why not? I doubt I'll ever pay more than $500 for a bass ever again. I get paid just as much to show up with my Turser as I do the most expensive bass I own. Maybe one day I'll buy that 57 Precision as an investment, but not for a stage bass.

There will always be a market for expensive basses, and make no mistake...I'm not against expensive basses. I own a couple that I really love. If people think they're worth it, then they're worth it. But I'm finally glad to see bass players unashamed to show up with their cheapos and kick just as much ass as anyone else.
 
#54
JimmyM said:
I'm digging this thread a lot. You see more foreign Fenders, more midline Ibanez, Peavey, Yamaha, and even the ultra-cheap lines like SX and Turser are showing up on stages and being used by very good players at all levels of the showbiz ladder.

Guitarists have been using budget guitars onstage for years before we did. They'd goof on us for buying our $2000 and up basses while they showed up to the gig with a Squier Strat that someone left at their house and sound great on it. And we'd goof on them for not caring about their art enough to buy the very best. Hey, you have to have some reason to justify that Alembic Series II!

But in the last couple years, bassists finally realized that what really matters is what you do with it, and if they find a bass that does what they want for $500 or less, why not use it? And even if your tastes run to active pickups and neck-thru-body, you can find great ones for slightly more than $500, too. So why not buy a cheap bass and spend that money on something else? It's a fact that most players will never make a living playing music, so why invest all that money and not make near that much back with it? And even if you do make a living with music, you're not getting paid in accordance with what you spend.

There will always be a market for expensive basses, and make no mistake...I'm not against expensive basses. I own a couple that I really love. If people think they're worth it, then they're worth it. But I'm finally glad to see bass players unashamed to show up with their cheapos and kick just as much ass as anyone else.
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I 100% agree with this post.

Interceptor said:
I greatly appreciate fine workmanship, as well as the refined tone and feel present in high end instruments. Those instruments just are not for me. Once I get out "in the wild," it is all about basic tone, playability and reliability.
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And with that :)
 
#55
if you consider an olp and fender bullet bass cheapies than count me in.

i played guitar for 19 years on expensive and classic instruments and hated taking them to bars.

it's nice switching to cheapies and not getting bent out of shape that they're sweaty and smell like rotten ashtrays for months after being in a club.
 
#56
i havent yet, but im gunna start gigging with my 5 string sx and my defretted squire. i was just thinking how much i love that squire. its completly stock - the fretts and the pickguard broke off so the guts are hanging out. and its strung with round wounds but i coated the neck to protect it, not that it matters. i love that damn thing
 
#58
Eric618 said:
How so?

I just pulled the trigger on an SX SJB-62 5-stringer maybe an hour ago. What difference(s) do you see?


Thanks!
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I found that the spacing was pretty tight, and the pickups didn't sound as nice. Also, the tuners don't line up strait with the nut and bridge, so the strings splay out a bit after the cross the nut into the headstock. I found also that the b was a bit floppy (though not unplayably so) and the action was alot easier to dial in on the 4 string.

The 5 ers are still a great deal in bass, and I enjoyed my SJB75 5 string, but the 4 stringers seem more "refined", if you can call an sx refined. This is probably because the 5th string adds more than just one fifth more tension to the entire system, and the complications with a 5the string show up more on a lower end instrument. I'm not sure why they couldn't make the tuners in line with the strings though? (I had the fishook headstock, so maybe that had a diffeerent tuner layout?)

My SJB75 was actually pretty heavy due to the ash, and there were some glue stains on the neck, but on the -62 model these might not be problems because you have an uninlaid neck an alder body.

Hope this isn't too much of a downer. Best of luck with the instrument.
 
#59
Eilif said:
I found that the spacing was pretty tight, and the pickups didn't sound as nice. Also, the tuners don't line up strait with the nut and bridge, so the strings splay out a bit after the cross the nut into the headstock. I found also that the b was a bit floppy (though not unplayably so) and the action was alot easier to dial in on the 4 string.

The 5 ers are still a great deal in bass, and I enjoyed my SJB75 5 string, but the 4 stringers seem more "refined", if you can call an sx refined. This is probably because the 5th string adds more than just one fifth more tension to the entire system, and the complications with a 5the string show up more on a lower end instrument. I'm not sure why they couldn't make the tuners in line with the strings though? (I had the fishook headstock, so maybe that had a diffeerent tuner layout?)

My SJB75 was actually pretty heavy due to the ash, and there were some glue stains on the neck, but on the -62 model these might not be problems because you have an uninlaid neck an alder body.

Hope this isn't too much of a downer. Best of luck with the instrument.
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Not at all. I'm jut eager to get my hands on it after reading so many positive reviews of SX as a whole.

Thanks very much for your response. I appreciate it! :)
 
#60
JimmyM said:
I'm digging this thread a lot. You see more foreign Fenders, more midline Ibanez, Peavey, Yamaha, and even the ultra-cheap lines like SX and Turser are showing up on stages and being used by very good players at all levels of the showbiz ladder.

Guitarists have been using budget guitars onstage for years before we did. They'd goof on us for buying our $2000 and up basses while they showed up to the gig with a Squier Strat that someone left at their house and sound great on it. And we'd goof on them for not caring about their art enough to buy the very best. Hey, you have to have some reason to justify that Alembic Series II!

But in the last couple years, bassists finally realized that what really matters is what you do with it, and if they find a bass that does what they want for $500 or less, why not use it? And even if your tastes run to active pickups and neck-thru-body, you can find great ones for slightly more than $500, too. So why not buy a cheap bass and spend that money on something else? It's a fact that most players will never make a living playing music, so why invest all that money and not make near that much back with it? And even if you do make a living with music, you're not getting paid in accordance with what you spend.

My current main squeeze is a $250 Jay Turser violin bass. It sounds and feels great and satisfies my needs on most gigs as well as any bass I've ever played. Why not? I doubt I'll ever pay more than $500 for a bass ever again. I get paid just as much to show up with my Turser as I do the most expensive bass I own. Maybe one day I'll buy that 57 Precision as an investment, but not for a stage bass.

There will always be a market for expensive basses, and make no mistake...I'm not against expensive basses. I own a couple that I really love. If people think they're worth it, then they're worth it. But I'm finally glad to see bass players unashamed to show up with their cheapos and kick just as much ass as anyone else.
Click to expand...

I love this thread and your post, JimmyM.:) Sometimes it seems that a player has to apologize liking a cheaper bass. I've been lucky, I have three great basses that ran me between $160 and $400 that make me as happy as any basses I have owned in thirty years of crappy bass playing.:smug: I love highend basses, I was just gushing over a Ken lawrence today. I just think that it more important for a bass to be good, whatever the price.
 

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