I love cheap basses!

[Greywoulf]

OK, here's my Ibby GSR100EX. I added that long thumb rest to it myself which makes it even more of a pleasure to play, and I enjoy fantasizing that it also gives the 100EX some snooty hi-class style..
T'was under $200 when purchased new, has passive single V and T controls, and is under 7lbs (6.9), with one MM style pup. With the LaBella white tape-wounds I use on it I would say the sound is perhaps midway between a MM and a P..
As Ibanez's cheapest 'starter' bass IMO it's a beautiful sleeper and one of my much liked 'cheap bass' treasures! Some day I'll probably replace it's so-so tuners with Hipshots and improve it even more!

 

[bigdaddybass12]

OK, here's my Ibby GSR100EX. I added that long thumb rest to it myself which makes it even more of a pleasure to play, and I enjoy fantasizing that it also gives the 100EX some snooty hi-class style..
T'was under $200 when purchased new, has passive single V and T controls, and is under 7lbs (6.9), with one MM style pup. With the LaBella white tape-wounds I use on it I would say the sound is perhaps midway between a MM and a P..
As Ibanez's cheapest 'starter' bass IMO it's a beautiful sleeper and one of my much liked 'cheap bass' treasures! Some day I'll probably replace it's so-so tuners with Hipshots and improve it even more! View attachment 4438389

is that the original finish?

 

[Yahboy]

Cheap , but..... Crazy great build quality , roasted maple neck and superb factory fret work!!!

The only downside is stock bridge, the saddle glove too narrow cause both .080 A and .100 E string unable fit the glove nicely.
Wilkinson brass saddle bridge solve the problems.

 

[B-Mac]

what is the seafoam?

https://www.sawtoothworld.com/epseriesbassguitars

I just saw your question post. If you use reply on the post you need an answer to you’ll get a quicker response from the poster.

Lowest price is from JCPenney

 

[Greywoulf]

is that the original finish?

Yes, it's the original "unfinish"... GSR100EX's bodies are rather 'raw', -you can really feel the wood... I fluctuate between leaving it like this or maybe coating it (eventually..) with some smooth clear gloss?

 

[avi]

https://www.sawtoothworld.com/epseriesbassguitars

I just saw your question post. If you use reply on the post you need an answer to you’ll get a quicker response from the poster.

Lowest price is from JCPenney

Ooh. I bought a Sawtooth tele through Amazon. There were soft spots in the paint all over it. Literally was wiping off. Returned it.

 

[B-Mac]

Ooh. I bought a Sawtooth tele through Amazon. There were soft spots in the paint all over it. Literally was wiping off. Returned it.

Oh no!
Glad it wasn’t the case with mine
$149 for a very nice bass.
Much better than any of my Glarry’s.

 

[Barmy]

Here's the Chinese Squier Affinity J I bought used from GC for $125. If you don't count the MIM pickups I put in, the Audere preamp I added and the cheapo block inlay stickers I put on for fun, it was a bargain!

(It's still a bargain and I really enjoy playing it.)

 

[bigdaddybass12]

lets see some more !! Maybe we can black-out your name if dont want your Sadowsky friends knowing you play a cheap bass !!

 

[ejaggers]

Here's the Chinese Squier Affinity J I bought used from GC for $125. If you don't count the MIM pickups I put in, the Audere preamp I added and the cheapo block inlay stickers I put on for fun, it was a bargain!

(It's still a bargain and I really enjoy playing it.)
View attachment 4439650

And who said Affinity's are crap????

I'm glad you can prove the nay-sayers wrong.
My AFN P is awesome too,
although I admit it's heavily modded.

Not necessarily because it needed it,
but it was my 1st mod and I went b@t-sh!t crazy....057912

 

[dasherf17]

And who said Affinity's are crap????

I'm glad you can prove the nay-sayers wrong.
My AFN P is awesome too,
although I admit it's heavily modded.

Not necessarily because it needed it,
but it was my 1st mod and I went b@t-sh!t crazy....057912

Talk about BS crazy, wait'll you see my Tbird...I was carving out the pickup cavities and the router bit rose up for some reason...had it tightened to the hilt...I coulda cried...I am very glad I bought it as a neck and body...cheap enough...

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I bought a new lighter weight cab, giving it a workout at my gig last night. I realized that my amp/cab costs 3 times more than my bass !!

 

[biguglyman]

Just got this off CL reasonably cheap. Pine body. Weighs 7lb. 10oz.!

 

[58kites]

Just got this off CL reasonably cheap. Pine body. Weighs 7lb. 10oz.!

View attachment 4554540

These are well made basses.
I got one of the 2019 Indonesian (Samick) made models from GC for $289 used.
I changed out the stock white pickguard to a Black/White/Black and then swapped out the original pickup for a Duncan Stinger Stacked pickup like what Dusty Hill used in his basses.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I have saved up money to buy a decent bass but I keep looking at cheap ones !! PLEASE HELP!

 

[Snert]

I have saved up money to buy a decent bass but I keep looking at cheap ones

What does 'decent' mean in this context? Why is the 'decent' bass better?

Edit: and I posted recently several times about how much I like my Ibanez Gio 6.

 

[ruju]

I just picked up this Epiphone EB-O in black. It’s a short scale bass with I single sidewinder pickup.
I put some EB 6 string bass slinky’s on it. There 90-40 I think. Small ball ends I’m pretty sure are for a baritone or bass VI.
There’s an unassuming Black Sabbath sticker on the body as well. Super fun bass to play.
$60 for bass
$15 for strings
$ 8 for vinyl sticker.

 

[kevmac]

I just picked up this Epiphone EB-O in black. It’s a short scale bass with I single sidewinder pickup.
I put some EB 6 string bass slinky’s on it. There 90-40 I think. Small ball ends I’m pretty sure are for a baritone or bass VI.
There’s an unassuming Black Sabbath sticker on the body as well. Super fun bass to play.
$60 for bass
$15 for strings
$ 8 for vinyl sticker.



View attachment 4714559 View attachment 4714560

I bought one new for $229 in the cherry finish.I love the SG shape,the design has always been a favorite of mine. A great modding platform (although great out of the box) I installed a Hipshot 2 point bridge and a Lace bassbucker in the empty space at the bridge position.I also installed a Tone Monster preamp turning this unassuming instrument into short scale beast. As you noted it's a fun bass.

 

[C Stone]

I just picked up this Epiphone EB-O in black. It’s a short scale bass with I single sidewinder pickup.
I put some EB 6 string bass slinky’s on it. There 90-40 I think. Small ball ends I’m pretty sure are for a baritone or bass VI.
There’s an unassuming Black Sabbath sticker on the body as well. Super fun bass to play.
$60 for bass
$15 for strings
$ 8 for vinyl sticker.

Congrats, mine doesn't get much play but I agree it is a fun bass...

 

[mongo2]

Last week I received a CNZ JB Mini with a 28.6" scale and downsized body 1.5" nut width, a nice 3TB finish, tort 'guard, "imitation" rosewood fingerbord and a matte finish on the back of the neck and headstock. It has very good build quality and I paid $169 for it with free shipping.

I'm not a fan of bridge pickups but the pickups on this bass sound very robust including the bridge pickup. Very different from all the J basses I've ever owned or tried. Unfortunately, the pickups are single coils and, while they form a humbucking pair when at the same volume, when used individually they hum and the hum is something I don't like at all.

I thought about replacing the pickups with individual humbuckers pickups but I was concerned I'd lose their (IME) unique tone. I decided to go cheap and just rewire the pickups in series and see what happened. The mod leaves only the neck volume control and tone control functional but the tone is now absolutely huge and I'm very pleased with it. I also installed my favorite nylon tapewound strings and it now sounds even bigger with a nice bloom in the lows, less aggressive highs and no annoying finger squeaks which is exactly what I want from tapewounds.

The only other work I had to do on it was dress the nut slots since the E and A slots were just a bit high for my taste, reseat the treble side of two frets to get the action where I want it, and do a setup.

Best $169 I ever spent.