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Small cars bassist
- Thread starter salmon256
- Start date
Just bought a Mazda CX 30 this week. My two GK Neo IV 112 cabs fit perfectly with enough room left for my amp and accessories bag…………………….and a guitar player on passenger seat and a small female singer in the back !
Nice. How are you liking the car? I have a 2012 Mazda 3 that's having some issues (and I recently learned it uses a manual shifter cable that Mazda stopped making in 2019 and is difficult to find). I test drove a 3 hatch but didn't like the blind spots, but the CX30 seems better.
All my gigs are now ampless, but in the old days, I could fit a full stack, and a bass, along with chair, stool, guitar stand, and cables in my Nissan cube.
Just discovered yesterday that my wife's CX30 can comfortably fit my Legacy 800 212 combo standing upright with both seats up due to the curve of the glass. Very cool and came in handy!
The CX 30 is a small suv so you’re sitting higher than a sedan or a hatchback car therefore, visibility is better. Not as good as a Subaru Forester but much better than my daughter's 2022 Corolla hatchback. Not as comfortable as my wife’s 2023 Corolla Cross though but a better road handling and acceleration.
The fact I can carry my two 12" bass cabs counts for 90% of the reasons why I bought it !
Cool, thanks. I often drive SUVs and the like when shuttling parents or doing volunteer work, but I still prefer the nimbleness of compacts. As I live in a rural area (in the US) having so many other vehicle headlights at my eye level has gotten problematic, so something a little higher yet still nimble may be the way to go.The CX 30 is a small suv so you’re sitting higher than a sedan or a hatchback car therefore, visibility is better. Not as good as a Subaru Forester but much better than my daughter's 2022 Corolla hatchback. Not as comfortable as my wife’s 2023 Corolla Cross though but a better road handling and acceleration.
The fact I can carry my two 12" bass cabs counts for 90% of the reasons why I bought it !
Did you take the bass cabs to the dealer/seller before you bought it? I've thought of doing that, either with an amp or my mountain bike.
I brought just a tape measure………………..……….but I verified with the cabs as soon as I arrived home !
I'm the same. I have a HR-V, I like it but honestly I'm gonna go with Civic or Corolla for personal car. Those models these days aren't exactly small like they use to be but they are "small" for American roads and still pretty compact. I'm also thinking of just getting a used Fit.
Yeah. My "compact" 2012 Mazda 3 is about the size of the "midsize" 2002 Honda Accord my parents had.
I keep looking at Fits, too. It's interesting that 2018 Fits are going for around $18K, which is what they were new. Seven years ago I wouldn't have expected the Fit to be a depreciation-free car.
Yup! As crazy as it is, dealerships have good deals on them I know that is insane to say... at least the two Honda ones near me, they had a 2019 Fit for 16k if Finance but if you pay right there only 14k and it was the top trim... the CarFax on both of the cars looked good they were both in the 30k miles range I think it seemed like an Old person might of owned it and went to the dealership with it religiously but then again who knows... It was bought within 2 months same with the other one. - Don't get me wrong that isn't cheap and they are still insanely overprice. But most online vendors are charging literally 20k like new prices...
Personally I hate to say modern cars have spoil us and seeing the lacking features on the Fit - which is already a bottom of the bottom economical car (But Honda really outdone themselves making it one of the top Subcompacts in its class if you ask me) so I think I would go with a newer Civic since it is bigger than a Fit but still isn't wide and still feels small at least the hatchback one. But a Fit can be a great around the town car.
I think it's probably easier to make friends with a neighbor who owns one... an old man down my block owns a 2020 haven't made friends with him yet but gonna try
Yeah. The cons for my getting a Fit are the amount of driving I do on rural highways and interstates, as well as my current car's 540+ mile range spoiling me a bit. But a neighbor who has a Fit should be a good person to get to know. If he's like most Fit owners I've met, he's probably pretty down to earth and loves talking about his car.Yup! As crazy as it is, dealerships have good deals on them I know that is insane to say... at least the two Honda ones near me, they had a 2019 Fit for 16k if Finance but if you pay right there only 14k and it was the top trim... the CarFax on both of the cars looked good they were both in the 30k miles range I think it seemed like an Old person might of owned it and went to the dealership with it religiously but then again who knows... It was bought within 2 months same with the other one. - Don't get me wrong that isn't cheap and they are still insanely overprice. But most online vendors are charging literally 20k like new prices...
Personally I hate to say modern cars have spoil us and seeing the lacking features on the Fit - which is already a bottom of the bottom economical car (But Honda really outdone themselves making it one of the top Subcompacts in its class if you ask me) so I think I would go with a newer Civic since it is bigger than a Fit but still isn't wide and still feels small at least the hatchback one. But a Fit can be a great around the town car.
I think it's probably easier to make friends with a neighbor who owns one... an old man down my block owns a 2020 haven't made friends with him yet but gonna try
We've been driving a Fit as our primary car since buying it new in 2016, over 100k miles. It's maybe not as plush as other cars, but with most of the family we visit around 350 miles away, we've done many road trips with no problem, and up to 40mpg. It's too bad Honda stopped selling them here, it's a really utilitarian car
I giggled in the 80's for a while with a Yamaha B100/15II combo and a BB1200 bass out of a '77 Honda Civic: Amp through the hatchback, bass in the case in the passenger door against the passenge seat.
Earlier I gigged a Peavey Mk2 Bass head and 215BW cabinet, which always rode in the drummer's van, and the Ripper rode with me in my VW Bug convertible. Until . . .
We were on the last night/pack out night of a one month contract. We get done, and let's just say I had to leave the minute we finished for a more pressing engagement that required my, ahem, immediate attention !
The next day, the drummer told me the rig was still right on stage where I left it, and the venue is fixing to put it out on the sidewalk, and he ain't bringing the van. Drat!!
I beat it over there in the bug, not sure what to do when suddenly inspiration hit: The top was down, so I got it up on the back bumper and flipped it into the back seat, the head in the passenger seat.
I drove home with the butt end and the casters pointing at the sky, got a few funny looks.
It WAS worth it, though!
Earlier I gigged a Peavey Mk2 Bass head and 215BW cabinet, which always rode in the drummer's van, and the Ripper rode with me in my VW Bug convertible. Until . . .
We were on the last night/pack out night of a one month contract. We get done, and let's just say I had to leave the minute we finished for a more pressing engagement that required my, ahem, immediate attention !
The next day, the drummer told me the rig was still right on stage where I left it, and the venue is fixing to put it out on the sidewalk, and he ain't bringing the van. Drat!!
I beat it over there in the bug, not sure what to do when suddenly inspiration hit: The top was down, so I got it up on the back bumper and flipped it into the back seat, the head in the passenger seat.
I drove home with the butt end and the casters pointing at the sky, got a few funny looks.
It WAS worth it, though!
It really is. It is my favorite car, just so hard to convince myself to buy one when they are insanely price and the top trims do not even come with much. The blind spot monitoring as well on that generation is that right lane blind spot camera which I dislike personally. It's a hard choice but I am considering it down the line...
The Fit really was such a dumb stop by Honda. They really outdid themselves with that subcompact it was top of the class. They say Honda stop it b/c it was selling bad but if you look at sales numbers of each year it actually did pretty damn well if you ask me, but of course the average American when it comes to a car doesn't care if they aren't into cars. Most Fit buyers needed an affordable car I remember I heard a stat that 70% of new Honda Fit buyers were first time car owners. Second I live near a school and I see parents with one to two kids and never anymore with these giant huge SUVs... I think most people just don't care go to a dealership and get sold the BS that a SUV is "Safer" that you need it, it's bigger better for the kids. Hilariously during the recession the Fit, Civic, Corolla were all time sellers for obvious reasons... gas prices! They probably will never make a comeback since Hybrid's are amazing at MPG though the Fit Hybrid is insane I read it was about 65 to 78 I think MPG! I hate how the average person doesn't care about that, they rather have a SUV to brag about or think its safe and waste gas miles but again hybrid's kill that reasoning anymore... Since no car brands are doing subcompacts anymore in the US I think the Fit would have an easy day selling but it is what it is. Hell even most American brands like Ford are totally killing the sedan market... I know Japanese brands won't stop Sedans no reason to but scary to me we are force the SUV market.
Sorry my little rant lmao. Either way yeah that Fit is amazing, gotta ask my aunt if she still has hers or just gonna buy a 2016 yellow one
I have been a small car bassist for a long time since moving from a full size 77 Chevy Van that also doubled as my abode at times. Over the years I had a Ford Escort wagon, Ford SVT Focus, Mazda 3 wagon and now a Subaru Forester.
