great cheap basses

[Discount Saint]

I should be the owner of a new Ibanez ATK305 fairly soon.. I played the 300 and it was great - very solid feeling, good neck and frets, and the sound is very active and aggressive.. but I play 5-strings so had to order in the 305 .. for $530, it feels like a lot more money. I am also currently renting a Yamaha BB415 .. I haven't actually plugged it in yet, but I've been playing around with it and feels very solid so far. I think they go for $485 new here.

 

[Stevem627]

My vote goes for the Peavey USA basses in general and the Foundation in specific. These basses are VERY well made and sound fantastic and can be found in the $200 to $250 range for a decent one.

 

[Warpticon]

I have my share of cheap basses.

A Brice 6 string that is a nice bass, paid about $300 for it, could use better pickups. The Rogue 6 string looks almost identical to it...probably is.

A Galveston 8 string(unpaired) which is an amazing, high quality bass for $500. I've read that its made at the Dean factory. Plays and sounds great, only real problem with it is the bridge doesn't have individual string height adjustments. I made shims out of guitar picks and have killer low action on it now. Its my main bass at the moment.

Also have a 10 string(unpaired) Tennessee bass that is a piece of crap...good thing I only paid $200 for it. Stay away from Tennessee brand instruments...these turds also go under the name Starfire.

Awesome. I'd planned on getting that Galveston 8, given that it's the cheapest and also most accessible production 7+ stringer I've ever found available in lefty.

 

[rhcp32291]

The Squier Vintage Modified basses. They are very, very nice.

My VM Jazz fretless has convinced me that this is true.

 

[Darkstrike]

Hit the pawn shops and look for Korean or Chinese Squiers. Stay clear of Indonesians.

Indonesians? Like the Vintage Modified's and Delux Jazz Active V's, both of which have been raved about on here.
Also both of which I own, and can attest, there's a reason they are raved about, they rock!

 

[Dee_01]

I thought the VMs were Indonesian? They get great reviews.

They are indeed Indo. I have one here. It's a good bass except for the bridge which is mis-aligned by about 1.5mm-2.0mm.

Watch out for this. I've heard of another guy on here who's bridge is also mis-aligned. It doesn't appear to affect the playability on mine, but I have given up on the idea of fitting a Badass bridge. It's annoying because it's my only bass and I wanted a good, solid workhorse to customize and improve as and when I have the money, but now I think this bass isn't worth the effort

 

[Rossman59]

Find a used Cort. A lot of Tbers seem to like them and I like my headless ones. Great basses.