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is this bass a good idea

I wouldn't buy one. Pawn shops and used/for parts or not working on ebay are you friends. I've got some pretty decent guitars and basses for around that price or less. If you go to a pawn shop at least you can try it out before you buy it.

I bought a bass package similar to that when I first started out a long time ago and it was just a terrible unplayable mess.
 
When my son first expressed an interest in playing bass, we bought him a package like this (not this exact one, a Gear4Music deal but they're all much of a muchness). The idea was that if he stuck with it, he could upgrade but if he didn't, we wouldn't be too out of pocket. The package arrived and it honestly was of very poor quality. The neck of the P bass felt like a plank and it wouldn't stay in tune for more than about 15 minutes at a time - and the 30w amp lasted barely a year before the speaker gave up.

In this context, I think these deals are a good idea. It could be argued that something like this could end up putting off potential new bassists but it's my opinion that anyone getting put off by this probably wasn't that commited in the first place. As it turned out, my boy got the bug, outgrew the equipment and quickly upgraded. Now he's in his own originals indie rock band and plays a MIM '70s Classic Jazz through an Ampeg BA115 amp and is doing really well.

The short and sweet version of this is, if you're not a complete beginner, you'll be wasting your money (IMO, naturally).
 
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Hi Bacowski :)

is this stingray a good bass

The short answer is: No!

The long answer is:

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Because you can' t get something for nothing! (at least not "BRANDNEW with Bluetooth amp…..")

Check the used market for a nice Ray copie (SUB, Sterling, OLP…..)

And for the blue teeth eat blueberry cake!!! :laugh:

Blueberry-Cake.png


may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass
 
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If a new Sub is $299 US, I'm guessing these share some of the same parts, made in the same factory. As always with these lower priced knockoffs, you have to be prepared to work the frets and nut, tighten the tuners, re-solder some electronics, apply quality strings, etc. Or, you might rather spend the same money on a used Sub.
 
I'd rock it. It's perfect when friends want borrow a bass and you don't want to lend out your Fodera. If he doesn't return it, who cares? Go out on the street and play for money. If it gets rained on or stolen, who cares? If your kids grab it and ride it down the stairs like a tobboggan, who cares? Smash it on stage for your big finale. Who cares? A beater bass is liberating.

Amen to that!
 
I do not recommend this "value". I do not recommend "packages". I do not recommend 20 watt amps. And the stingray option is not what you want.

Here's the deal. The Good. The bass has alder body which is just what you want in a cheapo bass. You do not want soft "forced" woods like "forced maple" or basswood or whatever. Even my Squier with Agathis (pine) is less than optimum. Those Chinese stingray bridges are great, however. $20 and I put them on all my SX basses. I also own a box of those stingray pickups. Equally cheap but not totally terrific. But here's the Stingray rub. The whole idea of a stingray is a severe active preamp. In passive it just is not there. I've got an OLP stingray clone and I've got to put a 'ray preamp on it. I mean with MUCH effort you can get one stingray tone out of it as is, but you REALLY need that preamp in there. As for package, amp is only good for headphone driving and you'd be far better off looking for sales on gig bags etcs to build your kit. Bass could work (like my OLP) but sooner or later you'd have to drop a ray preamp in there at minimum and probably a better pickup as well. I go with the recommendation that you go sniffing around stores trying things (especially used things). Look for just the bass not a "package" and then plan to collect other bits as you see deals. the quality you end up with will be much better and the "package" things won't last so you end up there anyway.
Right, but it's fine for say, a 12 year old kid's first instrument.