Favorite bargain basses lately

[KevInDaBassment]

Ibanez...I am most definitely biased on that lol

Admittedly, most of them needs some elbow grease to really reach greatness, but once you get there you've got a tank of a bass that will keep hitting hard until it rots.

 

[Mickey666]

80’s and 90’s Japanese basses have been suggested. This is where real excellence for bargain prices still is. Asking prices have shot up, but the market on these came back down back to bargain land, but as always you have to look a bit. The RB850 on the right can still be found in the bargain range View attachment 4834398

Couple nice looking old Ibbys ya got there

 

[Standalone]

Couple nice looking old Ibbys ya got there

Thank you. They bring joy.

This one was like… $100? 140? Basket case that I cleaned up and fixed up. Now just clean sweet mojo.

 

[Iristone]

my favorite "bargain basses" have been cheapies from china (kapok,

Kapok is actually quite time-honoured around here. Along with Meisheng (beautiful sound, also Italian opera voice), Yingwu (parrot), and Bailing (Lark) these are some of the earliest guitars available in China. Some say they make the best, one-piece Strat bodies in China, but I can't confirm it since they don't even tell me the material.
PS - oops, I found it to be basswood. I wonder how a basswood bass will sound?

 

[Plain Old Barry]

80’s and 90’s Japanese basses have been suggested. This is where real excellence for bargain prices still is. Asking prices have shot up, but the market on these came back down back to bargain land, but as always you have to look a bit. The RB850 on the right can still be found in the bargain range View attachment 4834398

That white 850 is on my list of basses I wish I never sold! That looks like a beautiful example of a great bass.

 

[rpt50]

Literally every cheap ibanez

I don’t have time for my typical 4 paragraph rant about it, but I think Ibanez makes the best cheap bass on the market, and I don’t think it’s close.

I now have 3 sub $200 (new!) Ibanez basses now, and I have to agree. Sure, each one needed some work (fret polish, sanding rough edges/corners, new strings, set up, general TLC), but geez, when finished, they all can go head to head with high dollar instruments.

In the $500ish range, it seems to me that Yamaha has that locked down. Out-of-the-box they are fantastic.

 

[neil|lien]

For me, it's the Squier Mini Precision.. i have sold everything else. I suspect it would play even better with a little bit of work on the frets & rolling the edges of the fretboard etc, but it's my only bass & am too scared to mess it up to do anything looool

 

[BadSanta1281]

Stretch your budget about forty bucks and get a Yamaha TRBX174. $249 at Sweetwater.

I bought a new TRBX174ew for $200 out the door from a local music shop that was closing down.
It's an incredible value for that kind of money.

 

[Standalone]

That white 850 is on my list of basses I wish I never sold! That looks like a beautiful example of a great bass.

It’s my number one. Light. Loud. Responsive. Fat passive versatile rock tone. Drives my GK just perfectly.

 

[Mickey666]

View attachment 4837202
It’s my number one. Light. Loud. Responsive. Fat passive versatile rock tone. Drives my GK just perfectly.

High on my list of "if you happen to find a good one, grab it"

 

[B-Mac]

Other than quite a bit of obvious brands and models I was always a bit surprised at the affordability of Ibanez’ Artcore hollow and semi-hollow basses.

AGB140 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up Single Cut Florentine
AGB200 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up Single Cut Florentine
AGB205 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up 5-string Single Cut Florentine
AGB260 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up w/pick guard and in Sea Foam Green Single Cut Florentine
AFB200 Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up Single Cut Venetian
ASB140 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up Double Cut
ASB180 Semi-Hollow Short Scale 2 Pick Up Double Cut

All passive.

Of the few models they still make (AGB & AFB), to me, they still seem to be a real bargain. JMHO

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Mother of God, how many models of bass does Ibanez make? Their numbering system is incomprehensible. Great basses though.

 

[dedpool1052]

Last summer I got a factory b-stock G&L L-2000 tribute for $300 direct from G&L.

The box showed up mangled, but the bass was unharmed.

A bit weighty at 9.7lbs, but plays very well, and was a steal at that price.

 

[bigtone23]

Mother of God, how many models of bass does Ibanez make? Their numbering system is incomprehensible. Great basses though.

Haha.
There is a method to the madness... I know the guitar codes better than the basses, but it's a similar codex. The bass codes are a little more loosely applied, though. The codes are generally a little more loose now than they were 20-40 years ago.
I'll use a mid 80s guitar code for an example.
The letters are the series of instrument. RS Roadstar guitar (RB was Roadstar Bass)
The next number is the build level. 1 2 or 3 are the 'regular/inexpensive/gio lines. 4 5 6 7 8 9 are Deluxe. 10-2X are the premium/prestige/nice stuff.
The next two numbers are the pickups. 10 single humbucker, 20 two humbuckers, 30 3 single coils, 40 HSS, 50 HSH with pickguard, 70 HSH rear routed.
and on and on...
There are other codes to designate trem vs hard tail, # of strings, etc... Like my MIJ '98 2 humbucker, 6 level, hardtail 7 string RG is called the RG7621, because the trem equipped version (that was released a year earlier) is called the RG7620.
For basses, usually a 4 string will have a code that ends in a 0, where a 5 string ends in 5, 6 in 6.... SR400, SR405, SR406...

 

[kbraker510]

Sterling StingRay Ray4 bass
View attachment 4833763

i Picked up a used Seafoam green with a maple board for $199.99 from GC used. Someone did some fretwork on it. I just have to decide what strings for it, leaning towards Dunlop MM signature strings or Roto SS

 

[JIO]

In the "Unmitigated Crap" category, I'll vote for most of the Dreck available on Aliexpress. The few Ive actually played were a nearly unplayable disaster. Probably not true of all of them, but with so many excellent low budget options available from reputable manufacturers, I dont know why anybody rolls the dice. Its odd, because if South Korea and Indonesia are fully capable of making excellent basses, why so much crap from China?

China has the capacity to produce quality products - but China is huge and labor compensation is sub-standard (to say the least) so by flooding the world market with cheap crap - the owners of these companies make make lots of money. No mystery.

 

[Pluckoff]

For the quality in their price range ($450-$500) I personally like G&L Tribute's. From my understanding their bridge and pickups are the same as used on their made in California models. I own a Tribute JB and a Tribute JB-2. They are both solidly built (especially the bridges), play great and sound great, but do not sound exactly like each other.

I've tried several other manufacturer's in the same price range such as Squier, Ibanez, Tagima, Epiphone, Jackson. Could tell a quality difference between the Tribute and the other brands. Just my opinion though and others here may prefer the brands mentioned over the Tribute's.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Yep, Yamaha TRBX174, nice cond, light scratches. 8 out of 10, $100 keep it at my office to practice during lunch!

 

[johnk_10]

my Harley Benton MV-4MSB Gotoh BK is by far the nicest "bargain" bass that i've ever purchased:
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[droo46]

I think you'd have a harder time finding a bad bass these days at any price point than a good one. With the improvements to manufacturing over the years, most instruments will be perfectly playable, and many of them are even better than their price would let on. With a setup and some good strings, about any bass on the market is going to be just fine for most kinds of playing.