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Good basses $250 or under PLEASE HELP
- Thread starter aalocklear
- Start date
I'll add to the "used gets you more bang for your buck" crowd.
If you just gotta have new and that's your budget, Rondo is the place most folks like. You might get a lemon (not many, but some reports), but customer service is supposed to be good, so you'll get sorted out in the end, by most reports. I considered one, but felt that I did better.
I shopped for used Yamaha or Peavey (both widely held to be usually good but undervalued on the used market) and considered a Squier VM as a possible. Fender was out for price reasons, though a sanely priced used one does have the advantage of selling easily and holding value. Insanely priced ones, less so, and I doubt you'll find any Fender that's not a Squier or trashed in that budget. I considered a Dean, researched some here, and unconsidered it - though someone above liked one. Quite a few folks seem to have good experiences with the Squier VM series.
Between bass, shipping and strings, I spent about half your budget. It also took me 3 months or so of shopping. If you can stand to shop there, being in a major metro area you might check pawn shops (the stores, not the Fender model.) You may also have more action on your local craigslist, but given the reaction to the Stagg, you would want to check in here first or stick with things well-known. Plenty of threads here to glean from and make yourself a short-list. Some folks have done well with used stuff at Guitar Center, and if it's the local one, you have the opportunity to play it before you buy (and if not local, you can return it if you don't like it, I guess - check on the details, of course.)
I think the most useful advice I've seen over and over is to play as many as possible and buy one you like, without paying too much attention to the name on the headstock, as there may be lemons or cherries in any brand.
You can certainly try the TB classifieds as well, but I found them to move so fast on the low-price end that I gave up trying, as anything I could afford was always gone before I contacted the owner. YMMV.
If you just gotta have new and that's your budget, Rondo is the place most folks like. You might get a lemon (not many, but some reports), but customer service is supposed to be good, so you'll get sorted out in the end, by most reports. I considered one, but felt that I did better.
I shopped for used Yamaha or Peavey (both widely held to be usually good but undervalued on the used market) and considered a Squier VM as a possible. Fender was out for price reasons, though a sanely priced used one does have the advantage of selling easily and holding value. Insanely priced ones, less so, and I doubt you'll find any Fender that's not a Squier or trashed in that budget. I considered a Dean, researched some here, and unconsidered it - though someone above liked one. Quite a few folks seem to have good experiences with the Squier VM series.
Between bass, shipping and strings, I spent about half your budget. It also took me 3 months or so of shopping. If you can stand to shop there, being in a major metro area you might check pawn shops (the stores, not the Fender model.) You may also have more action on your local craigslist, but given the reaction to the Stagg, you would want to check in here first or stick with things well-known. Plenty of threads here to glean from and make yourself a short-list. Some folks have done well with used stuff at Guitar Center, and if it's the local one, you have the opportunity to play it before you buy (and if not local, you can return it if you don't like it, I guess - check on the details, of course.)
I think the most useful advice I've seen over and over is to play as many as possible and buy one you like, without paying too much attention to the name on the headstock, as there may be lemons or cherries in any brand.
You can certainly try the TB classifieds as well, but I found them to move so fast on the low-price end that I gave up trying, as anything I could afford was always gone before I contacted the owner. YMMV.
