And they were very helpful But I still need your help I am looking to buy a bass guitar so I can play along with my fave 70s/80s rock tunes @ in the privacy of my home with maybe a jam or two thrown in once in awhile. While I have Rickenbacker tastes, I have a Rogue budget. My question to you folks here is: What bass will you buy if you only had $300 to spend? Also, I was looking at Squier's MB4 and their P/J hybrid, so please feel free to comment on those (aside: I read all those Squier horror stories already) This looks like a great forum. TIA.
I would deffinetly check into the SX and Brice brands at www.rondomusic.net From my expirence, they're the absolute best bang for the buck you can buy. You might also want to check out OLP's basses too, or even the lower line of Spectors. Heck, add Yamaha in there too. You've got a lot of good quality basses in that range.
Some Squiers (is it pronounced squire or skweer?) are ok, but you have to be prepared to look at a lot of bad ones and shop around (which is true for almost everything). SX, Brice, Yamaha, Aria all do some nice stuff as well and you can get a lot of really nice secondhand basses for $300. Don't get fooled into trying a budget bass through a $2500 amp, though, and take your time deciding. Good luck.
SX by Rondo cream any squier and some mim jazz's that I've played. I have a SJB-62MG and it sounds great, upgrading the pickups and just need to work out the problems with the J-Retro pre.
Welcome to TB! Thanks for checking out the FAQ first. Some flavor of P, IMO - you could do much worse than a Fender Standard P Bass.
I also recommend the P-bass. Yamaha's are an excellent choice. If you do a search on Yamaha you will see that many players are happy with them at all levels. Other options include Ibanez and Peavey.
I just did a search about "Rondo" and it seems that the SX basses are well thought of around here. And the owner himself takes interest in his clientele by visiting with them! I shouldn't buy a guitar sight unseen but there were so many positive experiences shared about Rondo/SX that I went ahead and ordered this: http://www.rondomusic.net/product396.html Yeah, it's a J. I did a P vs J comparison and while, according to you knowledgeable folks, the P is THE rock bass I felt that the J's slimmer neck will fit me better (I was weaned on a bad EB clone). Thanks for the inputs! I like it here