Expensive vs inexpensive basses

[lee_raff]

1. Those of us who have "wasted" thousands on beautiful, custom, hand made instruments which we consider objects of joy; be kind; life has a learning curve. We were young once, too. My first bass (a "zim-gar" thank you) was the best bass ever... until I graduated to my next (a Hagstrom!) It can take years to train one's ears.
2. If you can't be kind... at least be funny.
3. Most classic rock recordings made in the '50's, '60's, and '70's were made with Fender Precision basses. There is a reason for this! And if (in 2018) your band covers these oldies; you'll probably want to be playing a bass which has an old p-bass sound. Your "tool kit" should contain more than just a hammer, of course. But if you play rock and roll music in public; then IMHO the p-bass is your "hammer."
4. That being said; I've backed a trio (where I want a big fat wall-of-sound to fill in where the guitar isn't); but backing a larger group works best with a different "narrower" sound to "punch through" the mix. In 2018 one can do this with active electronics and modeling; but some basses are just better for some music. (Maybe a better bassist could make one bass sound great on everything; I speak for me.)
5. That being said, about 15 yrs ago, I saw a new-fangled "squire" bass which claimed to be "hand crafted" (in a large communist dictatorship in Asia); it was hanging on the wall in the former Manny's in NYC. For about a hundred bucks, it played like "butter" and I declared, I'll take it! The bass in the box the salesperson fetched from the warehouse, however, felt like garbage to me; as did the next several. Finally, I bought the actual display bass from the wall (which was probably hand-selected from hundreds in the shipment). Of course, replacing the hardware cost more than the entire original bass... but my band-mates would be upset if I played a cheap bass which malfunctioned in the middle of a gig; so that's really not an option. My band, the bar owner, (etc.) really don't care if I "like" my bass or if it was a good deal; they only care that I do my "job."
6. So I say "bravo" to all who think their $100 bass is the best in the world; may you live to look back at your own post one day and have a chuckle!

 

[Exxi3]

@Moderators, could we just maybe have ONE thread about how great or lousy cheap basses are and how expensive basses are more awesome or just awful?
And new threads that start could just be tacked on to that one?
Title could be "Cheap or Expensive Basses - there can be only ONE! (Thread)."

I second this motion

 

[Cherokee Rose]

A bass does not have to be expensive or complicated to sound great. I believe you could go your entire career and never pay more than $400 for a bass. I have some fancy basses but prefer to gig mostly with my cheap Ibanez. Been gigging with it for years and thinking of buying another one in natural wood. The Ibanez is light, plays nice, looks nice and it rocks. However, when I plug in my (real) vintage Jazz it really-really plays and sounds great. Guess I don't miss it until I play it and there is nothing like it, but it kills my neck in about 20 minutes.

 

[jaynov26]

I agree, since 9 out of 10 bass players suck, your pricey instrument makes no difference. However for us guys who can let it fly? We don't take a Hyundai to the race track!!

 

[Exxi3]

I think he got that in Germany. It was hard to find a left handed bass in the early 60's.
I am not sure if it was cheap or not.
A lot of what we consider economy brands today were once major labels making premium stuff.
Oops! I watched the video. I guess at the time is was inexpensive.

In the video he says it was 60 quid back then, which is about 670 quid of today.

 

[Exxi3]

I have a Jaguar with a 350 Chevy motor in it...

Cool, like Roadkill's Draguar!
I hope it's a bit less rusty, though ...

 

[LowEndOperative]

"Expensive vs inexpensive" is rather subject to individual budgets. Get the best bass you can afford, have it setup so it "plays like butter" (hackneyed, I know), and you're fine.

 

[jaynov26]

And....you guys would take either or both my Alembics at the drop of a hat. Yet, my new Ibanez BTB1905E which is not cheap, in fact their Premium line is really good too. You may not notice the difference if you're playing a Squire or a Dean. Believe me...the soundman does!!

 

[Exxi3]

I just had a talk about that yesterday!!!! About how there are so many vehicles that people love but cant trust so somebody should do proper swaps lol... like an 89 Plymouth Voyager with a Honda B18. Keep in mind that this convo came up because I was furious that I psyched myself up for a gibson explorer that despite a VERY attractive price, refused to stay in tune and already had checking on the headstock/body.
Other honorable mentions from our funny car chat were 1st Dodge Neon w/ honda b18, 80's grand marquis with toyota V6, mazda rx7 with anything reliable, Geo tracker with a prius drivetrain ... just so many cars that pulled at my heartstrings..... but are a terrible idea to purchase due to lack of reliability or heinous mpg

There are so many beautifully done swaps nowadays...
Have a look a this twin turbo LS swapped RX7:

There's a beautiful single turbo RB25 swapped 240Z here too:
240Z : Season 2 - YouTube
Cheers.

 

[Exxi3]

Ill be honest.... every time a tennis match is on, I get stuck watching it. How on earth do they return those serves?

There's a mic in the ball and they have in-ears, it helps.
That's why the ball sounds so loud, btw

 

[Exxi3]

Ok... I'm gonna make OP feel better, and make the rest of Y'all very angry with Me. But, that's FINE.

I actually like the way My Masters bass "feels", a 'bit' better than My Tobias (even though they are VERY similar). Now... the Tobias DOES SOUND BETTER than the Masters. But... I can "UPGRADE" the Masters. There is at LEAST a $2000.00 difference, in what each instrument can be "had" for. If I were to choose to, for MUCH LESS than the difference, I can make My Masters bass sound very close to, if not, JUST LIKE My Tobias, with "upgrades."

Now... to be on the side of those "offended", yep... I own a bunch of MID/HIGH dollar basses. None in the 5k range. But... a few 2500/3k range. There is DEFINATELY a difference, and... OP should NOT have lit the fuse by saying, "Keep your Fedoras", etc...
He may be young, inexperienced, and unable to AFFORD such instruments, at this time. But, what He can afford, and... what His very cool Wife purchased for Him, may be well and good enough for what His level of playing, and enjoyment is, at this juncture.

We ALL started somewhere, got better, and appreciated better instruments.

Let's back him up, and grow our COMMUNITY.

BTW, has anyone asked OP, what else is in His "arsenal? What he has played? He may be experienced, and have some pretty cool stuff. Maybe, his "cheap" bass, is throwing some cool TONES, that are NEW to Him.

Peace, Brothers.
Marc
View attachment 3074643
P.S.
I'm done "Talkin" for the the night. Gonna go have some Bourbon, plug in My '79 Sabre for a while, and enjoy the worlds greatest (midrange priced) bass EVER!!!

But, but, that's the gist of most of the replies OP got before he started gear-shaming everyone who didn't agree with him. SMH...

 

[Exxi3]

All I saying is that you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on a bass when you can get a well constructed instrument for a lot less , make a few adjustments (if necessary) and you have yourself a nice axe . As Al Di Meola once put it . These are no bad guitars . Just bad players .

Nope, there are DEFINITELY bad instruments around, and even worse ones, I've played quite a few.

 

[InternetAlias]

You may not notice the difference if you're playing a Squire or a Dean. Believe me...the soundman does!!

Squire is a pretty high end bass, if you're talking about Chris Squire signature.

 

[Exxi3]

Your right . I'm also a brass player and I , just for the interest of it , checked out the prices of new brass instruments . WOW ! I picked up a baritone horn in a junk store for $25 . And it is very playable . You can't get a new one (of equal quality) for less than $2000 . Same thing with a trombone (a '50s King pro model) I just bought in a pawn shop for $90 . $2100 new . I'll be very happy with my couple hundred dollar bass , thank you too much .

I've been looking for a 'bone to grab locally for a while, but they're either too expensive or diyng/dead. I'll have to go the eBay route probably. What's the worst that can happen anyway, I can always use it as a plant pot
I found a very nice Selmer tenor sax for veeery cheapo though, hard case and all, and I'm very happy with it. I can't play it to save my life, but when I massacre Baker Street in the sunset out of my window my sex appeal almost doubles, or so I've been told

 

[rufus.K]

since I discovered AliExpress, I dont buy basses anywhere else.

 

[Vyvvyan]

New to all this bass stuff. Until scoring the bass I have now at a stupidly cheap price I have always played guitar. When it comes to cheap vs expensive and which is better, I've found what someone said waaaay back in the thread to be true. It's incremental, and exponential. Thanks to thieving low life scum, all my expensive axes and equipment disappeared. Then meeting my lovely wife, having two kids and a mortgage, all my axes and equipment now come from garage sales. One axe cost me $5 (then another $2000 to repair separating glue joints and the like) and turns out it's worth a mint. 1957.
I find even after dreaming around music stores trying out really expensive stuff I can never afford (justify), that this 1957 piece of acoustic magic just plays and sounds better than anything I've owned or tried. Material. Craftsmanship.

With the garage sale stuff, I don't just buy any old crap.....I try to stay to known cheap brands. I have an Epiphone "Special II" …..yeeaaah, real special..... ;-) and a fender squire strat. No capitals used in the strat description on purpose. ;-) :-D

After getting them home, I spent about an hour on each dressing frets, tightening screws and adjusting action and intonation.
They both play really well, and sound very, very good. The timber is of a lesser quality. The electrical components are cheaper. The hardware isn't as good a quality.

Surprisingly, plugged in and played anywhere from "minding my own business" right up to "neighbours are ringing the cops" volume, it's hard to fault the two of them even when compared to stuff hanging on a wall with large numbers on it in a music shop.

I found the biggest piece of the puzzle to be the missing finishing touches. Frets not level, sharp edges on frets, action, intonation, truss rod, blah,blah,blah. All ten minute stuff.

In short, I can't justify $4000 to $7000 Aud on a top flight US Strat.

An entry level US Strat is around $1500 to $1800 Aud.

Is the entry level US Strat $1000 to $1300 better than the Indonesian Squire I picked up for $100 ? ($1000 to $1300 because a new Indo strat is $400- $500)

Not from my experience.

Obviously, the $4000 to $7000 are.

There's some slight, noticeable, differences in tone between the entry level $1800 US Strat, and the Indo Squire. Not enough to annoy me, and not enough that people who don't play will ever pick it.

It's a good enough axe that people who do play are impressed (head shaking, laughing impressed....same as me.) at just how good the little cheap pile of junk is.

I still love the expensive stuff though.....

 

[Martin Risso]

I bought a used Fender Squire for $200. After I put a nice set of flat wounds on it, it works and sounds great. If I can get the balance exactly right between the P pickup and the J pickup, I can actually get a Ricky "growl" on top of Fender punch. But getting the exact right P/J balance is tricky. If I could find an active board that would make one control the volume control and the other the "balance" control with only a few dB + or - to the other, I would put it in the bass. I always leave the passive tone control wide open.

 

[wmhill]

 

[Jeff Scott]

The only neck problem I've ever had was on a brand new Alembic Series 1. I went to the factory to pick my woods and bought it through a dealer in Redwood City not far from Alembic. I went to pick it up and it was fine. I got it home and by the following day the back bow was so severe the strings were laying flat against the fingerboard. I took instruction from Alembic over the phone on how to fix it. Tightened the double truss rods to the max and it made no improvement...

Either this is a made up story, or you didn't follow instruction as to how to adjust the truss rods.

 

[lfmn16]

I second this motion

I’ve never seen a thread saying cheap basses are anything but super fantastic. I rarely see a thread bragging on expensive basses.

When you have a great bass you don’t need to justify it.