This thread title makes no sense. Almost everybody of any instrument starts out on a cheaper model.
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Don't knock cheap basses until you try them.
- Thread starter Sendaii
- Start date
Believe me, the thought DID cross my mind...it took EVERY ounce of self control I could muster.
What was ALMOST as bad was the guy's response...."Oops.....sorry".
+1....
Two of the best playing basses that I own, these just work for me...
Ibanez GSR200 (Retail $199)
Musicman Sterling (Retail $1400)..
I understand that one is of higher quality and I get that.. But in my hands, both of them feel and play great. Thats always what matters most.
They do, but some people seem to forget this fact when they get their hands on a Sadowsky or a Stingray. I know that my trusty old Ibby couldn't hold a candle to a Sadowsky in most areas, but I love it for what it is.
(I'm starting to talk about it like it's my child
)
I recommend the Squier VM Jazz, fretted or fretless. I have both. I decided to retire my 73 Ricky from the stage as I was just sick of worrying about what could happen to it, and I have actually found that I can get a tone out of these Jazzes that is truly astounding.
That being said, something else I haven't seen mentioned on here is that your audience has NO IDEA how much you paid for your bass, or even, often, that you are PLAYING a bass.
I have quality instruments. A 73 Rickenbacker (though the tuners weren't quality). A Spector. But as with anything there is a point past which paying more money doesn't translate into better, just different. Or increments of "better" that are so fine that most people cannot tell. Since I don't do it for a living, I simply cannot see shoveling thousands into a bass guitar that I take to bars and bang around on. I have tried on extremely pricey instruments, and I think past the point of a bass sounding good with good hardware on it, the price in those instruments is about how it looks, or the reputation attached to it.
And again, your audience has NO IDEA of the difference. I play a $300 instrument as my main bass and frankly it sounds gorgeous. My listeners - maybe 30% of them know I'm the bass player, and less than that know that the boomy sounds I'm making are me. As long as I'm enjoying playing that Squier VM Jazz, and I certainly do, who cares?
Individual instruments vary, whether cheap or expensive, so a good one or a bad one is possible no matter how much you spend. I prefer my $700 Japanese Fender over my buddy's $7000 custom bass, and I really can't hear a big difference in sound. But, whatever makes you happy is what you should use. I have 22 basses, of various makes, models, and initial cost, and I have a tendency to gravitate towards the cheaper ones for gigs.
As far as cheap basses go, my Peavey Millenium BXP 5er is a fantastic bass, not perfect, but I wish I had such a good bass to start with.
For the money I can't fault it.
I prefer Ricks, but the Peavey is a fine bass in it's own right, sounds great, plays nicely, it's light, and has never let me down, stays in tune during gigs, but always goes sharp in between gigs, so could use better tuners, but it's plenty good enough.
I just like Rick basses better than others, so those are my favorites.
No one actually needs a vintage Fender or $7000 custom instrument, these are personal preferences, and we should be glad to have them if that's where our interests lie, but there are tons of perfectly servicable gig-worthy cheap basses available, even if they are rather 'vanilla'.
For the money I can't fault it.
I prefer Ricks, but the Peavey is a fine bass in it's own right, sounds great, plays nicely, it's light, and has never let me down, stays in tune during gigs, but always goes sharp in between gigs, so could use better tuners, but it's plenty good enough.
I just like Rick basses better than others, so those are my favorites.
No one actually needs a vintage Fender or $7000 custom instrument, these are personal preferences, and we should be glad to have them if that's where our interests lie, but there are tons of perfectly servicable gig-worthy cheap basses available, even if they are rather 'vanilla'.
yeah I thought about that. There was actually a squire with amp, peddle and gig bag goin on cl for 150 and an ibanez ex going for a bill.... but my fiance' drains my debit card at the begening of the month for bills :scowl: so until I get the extra scratch I'm stuck with my Traben.
I gig with a Birdsong, but my backup is a $200 Gretsch Jr. Jet. I often play the Gretsch our last set when the crowd starts to get a little liquored up--especially when we're not on a riser.
Like someone upthread said, back in the 80s cheap mostly = POS. My Birdsong has better tone and playability, but my Gretsch and Batdz Maru Bronco are plenty playable and sound good enough for most gigs.
Anybody starting out now has it great. For $500-600 you can have a decent gigable bass and amp. My first rig was a Yamaha BB606 paired with an Ashdown Electric Blue 15 combo amp. I don't miss the bass, but I never should have sold the amp. I spent just over $600 in 2002 for that rig.
As much as I like my Birdsong, I like having a bass or two that are easily replaceable. I bought the Gretsch 2 weeks after an outdoor gig. I literally got my bass in the case and rig in the van about a minute before an August downpour. If we would have done an encore, close to 10K in gear could have been damaged. I'll never do that again!
Like someone upthread said, back in the 80s cheap mostly = POS. My Birdsong has better tone and playability, but my Gretsch and Batdz Maru Bronco are plenty playable and sound good enough for most gigs.
Anybody starting out now has it great. For $500-600 you can have a decent gigable bass and amp. My first rig was a Yamaha BB606 paired with an Ashdown Electric Blue 15 combo amp. I don't miss the bass, but I never should have sold the amp. I spent just over $600 in 2002 for that rig.
As much as I like my Birdsong, I like having a bass or two that are easily replaceable. I bought the Gretsch 2 weeks after an outdoor gig. I literally got my bass in the case and rig in the van about a minute before an August downpour. If we would have done an encore, close to 10K in gear could have been damaged. I'll never do that again!
Being a recent SX convert, after playing just about every brand and model out there, I love the way they hold up in a gig situation. I've played for 20 years and gig often on a professional level. My SX is my main bass. My $400 back up didn't even make it out of the car at the last gig. I understand some people's need to own and play the finest of this or that. It's what keeps this magnificent capitalist society turning. What goes thru my mind is this - when it was decided that Paul would play bass in the Beatles, he went to the local music shop and bought the cheapest used bass he could find. This was simply because he grew up poor and was always taught to be frugal. That Hoffner is now the most iconic and individually valuable bass in the world. So, is it the bass or the player?
I have a lot of inexpensive instruments, and a few "nice ones" the one that gets the most play time is my $109 Douglas 6 string. It nails that active jazz bass tone, stock, no mods.
I owned and played a few really nice basses but the only ones left in the lineup that which fulfill my needs are a MIC P Bass and a VM Jazz Bass.
I'm hotrodding a MIC Squier P Bass at the moment whose playability blew my socks off. I have $165 into it and it never ceases making me, and a lot of my bass buddies, smile.
I'm hotrodding a MIC Squier P Bass at the moment whose playability blew my socks off. I have $165 into it and it never ceases making me, and a lot of my bass buddies, smile.
- Jul 30, 2006
- 2,315
- 453
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
I have basses that are worth over 5K & also I have an Affinity Squier Jazz 5 string. It cost me $227.00 USD brand new. I did put a Hipshot bridge & a set of my favorite Dogal flatwounds on it, but that's all the mods I did. Last time I toured in France I left the 5K basses home & rocked a few festivals with the all white Squier. It sounds great, plays great & if it gets stolen I could probably get one shipped to me overnight for less than a MIA Fender. The quality of "cheap" or entry level instruments has gone way up since I started playing. I started on a Teisco bass in 1964 that was so hard to play you wouldn't believe it. I played a lot of gigs with it & finally bought a new Ric in 1969. When I started playing that Ric I thought I had gotten 10 times better overnight.....LOL.
- Jul 30, 2006
- 2,315
- 453
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
BTW thinking back I remember being confused by the ability to suddenly play so many notes. On the old Teisco I could barely play enough to fill the spaces. After I got the Ric I started playing all kinds of busy stuff "because I could". One night after a gig where I had (I thought) shredded rather magnificently, the guitarist said " I liked the way you played before better." I went back to playing my old parts on a better bass. Maybe having a hard instrument to play actually showed me the right way.
I'm not a pro by any means. More of a semi-pro, I guess. So high-end basses are *not* something I can easily afford, nor can I really justify them, seeing as I don't make most of my cash by playing bass.
My tastes run to the mid range. I usually spend about $1000 to $2000 on my basses. I have a *really* Hard time going north of that range, partly because I find that that's where the price/performance ratio is at its peak. This might be high for some people, but I'm nowhere near the high end of the TB scale.
And the truth of it is that I really want a US-made Sadoswsky, but it's so far taken me three years to save up for one, with another couple of years' worth of saving to go. The chances of me going for another truly high-end bass after that are pretty slim.
There will be guys who say that their SX can outplay my MIA P or my Lakland Skyline. I personally couldn't give a tinker's cuss. *I* wouldn't make it outplay my axes, simply because if I'm not really into the instrument, I'm not playing my best.
My tastes run to the mid range. I usually spend about $1000 to $2000 on my basses. I have a *really* Hard time going north of that range, partly because I find that that's where the price/performance ratio is at its peak. This might be high for some people, but I'm nowhere near the high end of the TB scale.
And the truth of it is that I really want a US-made Sadoswsky, but it's so far taken me three years to save up for one, with another couple of years' worth of saving to go. The chances of me going for another truly high-end bass after that are pretty slim.
There will be guys who say that their SX can outplay my MIA P or my Lakland Skyline. I personally couldn't give a tinker's cuss. *I* wouldn't make it outplay my axes, simply because if I'm not really into the instrument, I'm not playing my best.
Here's the breakdown for all the mods I did on my Squier Affinity P-Bass, including what I paid for it and where I bought it:
P-Bass eBay $50.00
Fender 9050ML Stainless Flatwound Bass Strings Guitar Center 26.99
Wilkinson bass bridge eBay 21.99
Tusq nut eBay 10.74
P-Bass 3-ply pickguard eBay 5.99
P-Bass electronics parts kit guitarelectronics.com 17.80
Fender Mex P-Bass Pickups eBay 11.25
P-Bass ashtray bridge cover eBay 5.00
P-Bass chrome pickup cover eBay 12.00
total $161.76
So for a little over $160, and some due diligence, I've got me a bass which I play every day, sounds and feels great, and which I consider the equivalent of a Fender MIM P-Bass (at least the ones I've played so far). Cheap basses rule!
P-Bass eBay $50.00
Fender 9050ML Stainless Flatwound Bass Strings Guitar Center 26.99
Wilkinson bass bridge eBay 21.99
Tusq nut eBay 10.74
P-Bass 3-ply pickguard eBay 5.99
P-Bass electronics parts kit guitarelectronics.com 17.80
Fender Mex P-Bass Pickups eBay 11.25
P-Bass ashtray bridge cover eBay 5.00
P-Bass chrome pickup cover eBay 12.00
total $161.76
So for a little over $160, and some due diligence, I've got me a bass which I play every day, sounds and feels great, and which I consider the equivalent of a Fender MIM P-Bass (at least the ones I've played so far). Cheap basses rule!
The Squier VMJ I bought a little over a year ago has been a study for me. Great value out of the box, and the thing rings like a bell with bright jazz tone. My issue was playability - most players seem quite happy with minor adjustments to this bass but my left hand would mildly tire from fretting tension. (Strange to me as I've never had that issue with my '97 MIJ Ibanez SR with 45 - 130 strings - bought new in 98)
Straightened the neck and lowered the saddles way down - felt much better but that also revealed the dreaded 'rising heel' issue resulting in upper frets choking. Plus the one piece maple neck would always quickly return to a veeeery slight and usually normal bow, but I was obsessed. After more research off and on (thanks gents) I carefully filed down the nut slots a bit more, sanded down/leveled and polished frets 18 19 and 20, and I also switched to 40 - 100 gauge strings to lower tension too. Result - butter for ME everywhere on the neck, finally.
Really taught me a lot about how very tiny adjustments work together to produce playability and comfort in an instrument. I'm guessing that to a point, the higher end you go, the more the attention to these details may show up?
Straightened the neck and lowered the saddles way down - felt much better but that also revealed the dreaded 'rising heel' issue resulting in upper frets choking. Plus the one piece maple neck would always quickly return to a veeeery slight and usually normal bow, but I was obsessed. After more research off and on (thanks gents) I carefully filed down the nut slots a bit more, sanded down/leveled and polished frets 18 19 and 20, and I also switched to 40 - 100 gauge strings to lower tension too. Result - butter for ME everywhere on the neck, finally.
Really taught me a lot about how very tiny adjustments work together to produce playability and comfort in an instrument. I'm guessing that to a point, the higher end you go, the more the attention to these details may show up?
i've been saying this for a while. brands like SX are really closing the gap between "cheap" and, at the very least, garden variety MIM Fenders. and then you have the Squier Classic Vibes...fuggadaboudit!
at this moment, if i could justify dropping $300 on a CV Precision in red/tort, i would. and i'd probably never buy another bass again. those basses are great.
My Friends,
I have to admit that I am part of the cheaper bass crowd.
My main bass for years was a red Yamaha BB300 - it has been refretted twice and had a J-bass pickup installed. IIRC it cost $259 brand new in 1986 with gig bag.
It has been replaced of late by a Yamaha RBX4-A2 purchased for $249.99.
I have learned a great deal about proper instrument setup fiddling with these two basses - I have played $2K instruments I would not trade either of these basses for, though I admit that much of this was probably due to lousy set-up on the higher-priced basses.
(Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed the trend in some music stores of really poorly set-up instruments? I tried a dozen basses at a local shop, including some $1K+ basses, and only one was correctly set-up; every other bass I picked up had truss rod issues, high action, intonation problems, or some lethal combination of these.)
My attitude towards bass pricing is one of an understanding of diminishing returns: does a $500 bass play and sound five times better than a $100 bass? Probably. Does a $2000 bass play four times better than a $500 bass? Probably not. At some point you are likely to be investing money into an instrument with higher concern for aesthetics and bragging rights than strictly based on playability and tone, not that there is anything wrong with that. I can't afford to do it, but I don't begrudge those that can. Play what you like. I will appreciate your boutique bass for the lovely musical work of art that it is, so long as you don't sneer at my cheap basses. I hold them as near and dear to my heart as you do yours.
----
Kurt
I have to admit that I am part of the cheaper bass crowd.
My main bass for years was a red Yamaha BB300 - it has been refretted twice and had a J-bass pickup installed. IIRC it cost $259 brand new in 1986 with gig bag.
It has been replaced of late by a Yamaha RBX4-A2 purchased for $249.99.
I have learned a great deal about proper instrument setup fiddling with these two basses - I have played $2K instruments I would not trade either of these basses for, though I admit that much of this was probably due to lousy set-up on the higher-priced basses.
(Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed the trend in some music stores of really poorly set-up instruments? I tried a dozen basses at a local shop, including some $1K+ basses, and only one was correctly set-up; every other bass I picked up had truss rod issues, high action, intonation problems, or some lethal combination of these.)
My attitude towards bass pricing is one of an understanding of diminishing returns: does a $500 bass play and sound five times better than a $100 bass? Probably. Does a $2000 bass play four times better than a $500 bass? Probably not. At some point you are likely to be investing money into an instrument with higher concern for aesthetics and bragging rights than strictly based on playability and tone, not that there is anything wrong with that. I can't afford to do it, but I don't begrudge those that can. Play what you like. I will appreciate your boutique bass for the lovely musical work of art that it is, so long as you don't sneer at my cheap basses. I hold them as near and dear to my heart as you do yours.
----
Kurt
