Need a Punk Rock bass!

MusicMan Stingrays are good for punk, especially older stuff; the S.U.B. series would fit within your budget. Also, the Epiphone Thunderbirds work well for that as well.

 

Mike Watt of Minutemen fame uses some modded Gibson EB 3's.
Kira Roessler used a Ric.
Actually most punk rock folks used Ric's Paul Simonon and Bruce Foxton to name a few.
Sorry fella, the "other than Fender," criteria really made it rough for me XD

 

what kind of punk are we talking? really truthfully a fender is best given that they're used so frequently for punk and can be Eq'd to be really grindy REALLY quick, and they also fit the bill aesthetically.

 

Musicman Stingrays how could I forget!
Joe Lally of Fugazi, Mike Herrera of MxPx (if you dig the Christian punk thing), Flea when he played with Fear I would imagine, if not then his showing of "I love livin' in the city," sounded great.

 

What I was going to say.

 

[DEL]Second third[/DEL] fouth vote for the Stingray, they're known for having a "growl" that's perfect for any aggressive music and have a traditional look that IMO looks right for a punk band. They're pretty bomb proof too.

 

the sterling sub just came out. Check them out 290$ and well worth it. Im picking one up tomorrow.

 

An Epiphone Tbird should be within your budget. Its got the looks, the sound and the growl.

 

Dave Riley from Big Black used too play a Peavey T-40; they're built like a tank and can stand pretty much every sort of abuse.

 

No question, I would try an Ibanez ATK.

Tough, solid, can get MM tones, Fender-ish tones, plus some gnarly sounds unique to the ATK series with that 3-coil pickup.

Been made for decades, so the used market has plenty that are priced within reason, and a lot of model variations and finishes.

 

Anything. If you think about it too much it aint punk.

 

I don't know if it's "punk", but is there somewhere you can try out a Fender Blacktop Jazz? Something about the double Precision pickups gives it an incredibly aggressive sound. Seriously, the thing's a damn cannon…very deep but snarly too! (Is "snarly" a real word? My spell-check seems to think so.) Plus, if you want a classic "P-sound", you just roll off the bridge pickup.

 

Man I swear punk is starting to turn into the new "best for Metal"!
Doesn't mater what you use for punk I've seen almost any bass that you can afford. Just play what you have until you figure out what you want.

 

P-Bass or Thunderbird!

 

P=Punk Bass

 

So the answer, is apparently literally anything. Which I agree with, I always find it bizarre when people ask for 'good/best bass for X'; you can use anything for anything. You *might* get a sound closer to what is expected for the genre, depending on who is defining the genre at the time, but no one can tell you what the sound in your head is. MM, Jazz, P, humbuckers, even a rick; you can coax a punky grind out of any of them.

For your specific budget, if it were my choice (which it's not), I'd take a mexican P or Jazz (I love Ps, personally)

 

Well, if it isn't gonna be a Fender, I'd go for a Gibson, but that's abit outta budget, maybe a Danelectro, or maybe an Epiphone Grabber/Ripper? They're both rad looking basses & have a nice punky growl through the right amps!

 

Given the budget...


Squier Jag, which can be had with a P/J or MM-like 'bucker setup.


Anything Eastwood. Try the EUB-1, not many punkers thrashed a fretless. Stormbird or Hi-flyer would do, too.

 

The former is more on the Classic Vibe side, the latter on the Vintage Modified one

Yet they're from two acclaimed punk rock bassists and well within your budget...

Otherwise I agree with the ones suggesting you to look over Ibanez Atks

Secondhand 300 (maple fingerboard) or 310 (rosewood) for a veritable cheap StingRay trickin': they sported TripleCoil pickup
with "Precision with rolldown tone-Precision with rolledup tone-Jazz parallel" sounds

If you're goin' to buy new, the brand new Atk200 is now fullon dual humbucker bridge pickup, so that everything is louder and
meatier, yet with no parallel option, if you're into dubbin' Music
Man kinda sound.

Cheers,
Wallace