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I think I stop believing in expensive basses!

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#81
about a year ago i posted that i was done with the dirt cheap cheapos. i was wrong. i'm not only not done with them, that's about all i use anymore. i just got my modded 76 precision back from the shop and got it all nice and tweaked, but i'm more excited about using this radio shack violin bass i got a couple weeks ago for $220. call me crazy, but i love cheapos. there's no bigger thrill for me than to use a cheap bass on my big gigs, especially when there are other bassists on the bill. i like expensive basses but i've got no need for them. i like workhorses and i like stuff most people would throw out. must be the guilt i've been carrying about letting my old framus stratostar bass fall apart and rot in the garage.
 
#82
JimmyM said:
about a year ago i posted that i was done with the dirt cheap cheapos. i was wrong. i'm not only not done with them, that's about all i use anymore. i just got my modded 76 precision back from the shop and got it all nice and tweaked, but i'm more excited about using this radio shack violin bass i got a couple weeks ago for $220. call me crazy, but i love cheapos. there's no bigger thrill for me than to use a cheap bass on my big gigs, especially when there are other bassists on the bill. i like expensive basses but i've got no need for them. i like workhorses and i like stuff most people would throw out. must be the guilt i've been carrying about letting my old framus stratostar bass fall apart and rot in the garage.
Click to expand...

+1

I'll never forgive myself for getting rid of my old Kustom Kraft when I was young and stupid.
 
#83
Some people will tell you they've never paid more than five bills for a bass and ghetto are fine with that. Some can't afford to sound the bucks. Some folks do it to tweak a cheap-O. Most will either spend on a boutique bass or tell you if hey could afford it, they'd own a Ken Smith or an American made Tobias or Clement.. and blah blah, etc etc....

You won't get harmony or resolution on it b/c either personal opinion, pride or a bit of each will always influence how someone will answer.

It shouldn't matter what someone else has to say about what you play.
 
#84
Sorry pal - I don't agree at all. In my experience, you can buy something that will deliver an acceptable level of performance for cheap or mid-money. But I can hear and feel a difference with more carefully-crafted instruments.
Every time I try to cheap out, I end up regretting it. Every time I step up and buy something really good, I love it and keep it.
 
#86
I've had many experiences...mostly early on...where I found something cheap that I though rivaled anything else, but at this point knowing what I know I realize I was just not seeing the whole picture. I haven't played any cheap basses that can hold up to my Foderas.
 
#87
JimmyM said:
about a year ago i posted that i was done with the dirt cheap cheapos. i was wrong. i'm not only not done with them, that's about all i use anymore. i just got my modded 76 precision back from the shop and got it all nice and tweaked, but i'm more excited about using this radio shack violin bass i got a couple weeks ago for $220. call me crazy, but i love cheapos. there's no bigger thrill for me than to use a cheap bass on my big gigs, especially when there are other bassists on the bill. i like expensive basses but i've got no need for them. i like workhorses and i like stuff most people would throw out. must be the guilt i've been carrying about letting my old framus stratostar bass fall apart and rot in the garage.
Click to expand...

Will someone give us an "Amen"?

Hey, I own Alembic, Ken Smith, Modulus, Carvin basses but lately it's been my SX herd getting the attention. Don't get me wrong the boutique bunch does the job. I love each one for what it does and they all do it VERY well. But bass guitars aren't exactly rocket science. So that means if I buy a couple of Cheapo SX basses that are built with a decent Fender style and decent wood, I can have some fun going in and tweaking the parts that are not so perfect. In the end I have another boutique bass which cost next to nothing. Which means I can have MANY of this kind of boutique bass. Plus, I can do things that would cost a fortune if I paid someone to do them. I've got two SX six string Fender clone basses. Lately I have been SO into the idea of a fender Jazz six string. Yes, I could fork for a Steve Bailey or go lay down some serious coin at Low End, but like Boomie I have to agree that it's just plain more FUN when a lot of cash isn't riding on the line. For one thing you no longer have to be so conservative. Make a mistake on your boutique build and you are out some serious cash. Mess up your junker SX or Squier or whatever and you just buy another one without batting an eye.

And there is something else too. Sometimes older cheap stuff has amazing qualities that seem to have disappeared off the planet. I know about the joys Boomie is having over his Radio Shack. I picked up a bunch of old Silvertone, pickups for a couple of bucks from someone's junk box at a guitar show and discovered they were AMAZING. I installed them in several of my guitars. Now I find that these kind of pickups are selling for a fortune. I love when that happens. Do you have any idea what it would cost to have a custom builder go with the instructions to duplicate an old Radio Shack bass? And even then it might not sound anything like the original. A lot of money can buy you some things but not everything.

But then if you do find something cheap that is amazing and other people find it too, pretty soon it's no longer cheap! Hence the "vintage" thing.
 
#88
ya bongobenj, old kay and harmony prices are insane these days. and even the new replicas aren't cheap. but then you find a beater you can bring back to life like that realistic and it does feel darn good. had to buy a doggone rocktron hush to be able to use it without it humming, but i will look so dang cool with it! :D

there's a lot to be said for expensive basses. i've got a couple myself. they didn't break the bank but they cost over a grand 15-20 years ago. but i think the important thing in discussions like these is to let the kids without much money know that they don't have to have the top of the line everything to be taken seriously...all they have to do is rock what they've got to the best of their abilities.
 
#90
Ya know, for me right now its more about feel than sound. So for me, I would drop a grand on a bass if it had a better feel/more playability/lower action whatever than the one I have right now.

Tone you can modify, feel....well thats harder....takes more effort.....
 
#94
I just picked up a used Pedulla Thunderbass on the classifieds here. I currently play a Lakland skyline DJ5 so this is a pretty huge "upgrade". I got the bass for less than half of what it is new and I'm excited as hell to see what these boutiques are all about. I've always had more luck with more expensive basses. Seems they just satisfy my playing needs better than my squier does.
 
#97
Most decent players can perform on most any decent bass, but for the player to be able to project his/her full potential, the bass needs to be on par or better than the level of the player. This is where "better" (fewer limitations and maybe more expensive) basses become handy.
 
#98
Munjibunga said:
OK, I'll show you a couple. Now do you believe?

BN5-Twins-full.jpg
Click to expand...

That's art!
 
#99
Gizmot said:
Sorry pal - I don't agree at all. In my experience, you can buy something that will deliver an acceptable level of performance for cheap or mid-money. But I can hear and feel a difference with more carefully-crafted instruments.
Every time I try to cheap out, I end up regretting it. Every time I step up and buy something really good, I love it and keep it.
Click to expand...

And that is still an opinion, just sayin. Hell if I had the cash I'd have boutique basses!
 
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