Thinkin bout a cheapo 5er

[Wademeister63]

New bass day!

Seems like not much love for the Fury? Oh well, I got it anyway. Figured for $150 I can flip it later if I want. The price included the case, two straps, tuner and pair of 9V batteries I discovered in the front pocket. I really like these cases too, it's just like one I had before. I did have to do some setup work. Bridge saddles were all the way down on the bridge, so I shimmed the neck up with a heavy guitar pick. Relief was set a bit flat so I backed the truss rod tension off a bit. Then got the saddle heights and intonation set and she's a player! Only 8lb 10 oz too.

I'm not crazy about the tone just playing in my room but I'd bet on being able to get a decent sound in a band mix. Also I may see about stealing the Barts and preamp from my home made fretless that I never ever play anyway. Great sound, horrible neck dive, sheeze.

So what about that? The guy who had it said he'd been playing it for 17 years but it still looks almost new!

 

[Maxdusty]

New bass day!

Seems like not much love for the Fury? Oh well, I got it anyway. Figured for $150 I can flip it later if I want. The price included the case, two straps, tuner and pair of 9V batteries I discovered in the front pocket. I really like these cases too, it's just like one I had before. I did have to do some setup work. Bridge saddles were all the way down on the bridge, so I shimmed the neck up with a heavy guitar pick. Relief was set a bit flat so I backed the truss rod tension off a bit. Then got the saddle heights and intonation set and she's a player! Only 8lb 10 oz too.

I'm not crazy about the tone just playing in my room but I'd bet on being able to get a decent sound in a band mix. Also I may see about stealing the Barts and preamp from my home made fretless that I never ever play anyway. Great sound, horrible neck dive, sheeze.

So what about that? The guy who had it said he'd been playing it for 17 years but it still looks almost new!
View attachment 2760069View attachment 2760070View attachment 2760071View attachment 2760072

It still has the plastic on the battery cover and electronics panel on the back. Looks like it's never been used!
That's an awesome deal with bass, case and all, good score.
Congrats!

 

[mikeyjm2]

That's a really great deal for $150!

 

[two fingers]

For Sale - '07 Ibanez SR 505..... MINT !!

 

[Wademeister63]

Well that didn't last long! Got tired of the tone after about the first day so now she's fixed up with bart quad coil pickups and matching preamp. I took that stuff out of the fretless that sounded great but I never played. I also took the Hipshot tuners and Labella tapewounds since I was stripping stuff down.

I didn't have to drill any new holes and the pickups fit almost perfectly. I just had to trim the corners of the pickup routs a tiny bit since the bart pups aren't quite as rounded as the Peaveys. This bass is a beast now! I won't miss that fretless bass a bit, I'm super glad I did the swap.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Well that didn't last long! Got tired of the tone after about the first day so now she's fixed up with bart quad coil pickups and matching preamp. I took that stuff out of the fretless that sounded great but I never played. I also took the Hipshot tuners and Labella tapewounds since I was stripping stuff down.

I didn't have to drill any new holes and the pickups fit almost perfectly. I just had to trim the corners of the pickup routs a tiny bit since the bart pups aren't quite as rounded as the Peaveys. This bass is a beast now! I won't miss that fretless bass a bit, I'm super glad I did the swap.

View attachment 2769343

Cool....i love USA Fury basses.....what year is this btw?

Anything past the mid 90's Peavey i know little about....but this bass looks great and the main thing is the neck as with any guitar....it starts with the neck....its gotta be right.

Looks high end now and likely sounds stellar as well imo........you did good man!

 

[Wademeister63]

Cool....i love USA Fury basses.....what year is this btw?

Anything past the mid 90's Peavey i know little about....but this bass looks great and the main thing is the neck as with any guitar....it starts with the neck....its gotta be right.

Looks high end now and likely sounds stellar as well imo........you did good man!

I think this is a 2000 model or close to it. Pretty sure the guy I got it from said he bought it new 17 years ago. Made in Korea for sure. The neck is ok on it, nothing super duper quality wise, but it does feel very comfortable to me. The truss rod works properly and the action is ok but could go a good bit lower with a top notch fret job. But I like my action a little on the high side so it's fine for me. The really great thing to me is the way the B string woke up. I don't know if that's all in the strings or if the electronics also play a part but the B is really well balanced. Played some things substituting notes on the B string instead of playing them on the E and it all seemed to come out perfectly fine. Wasn't the case before, but that might've just been a dead roundwound B.

Regardless of all the science and physics behind it, I'm just really happy about this one. I feel like I ended up with a really capable 5'er on really short money. Putting the guts of my non-player bass to work in this bass was a major win IMO.

 

[bholder]

I've read good things about the Ibanez Talman TMB105, rated well at Sweetwater: Ibanez TMB-105 5-String Talman Bass - Black, well within your budget. But I vote save a bit more for a Sire. Or shop the used classifieds here for great deals too.

 

[bholder]

There's a fair bit of good advice here.

My top suggestion for a great, cheap lightweight 5-string bass would be to hunt down a Peavy Cirrus BXP. Though no longer available (replaced by a higher-end import Cirrus), the BXP models are readily available for around $400 and often less. They are really great5 stringers that are lightweight, very comfortable to play, with good electronics and the 35" scale gives a very nice tight B. They also look quite nice.

My dad has a USA cirrus and a BXP. The BXP isn't nearly as good as the USA, but it punches way above it's own class.

For a more common option I'd suggest looking for a used Ibanez Soundgear bass. Many thousands have been produced in a HUGE variety of configurations. Since they're extremely common and reguarly updated, you can often get earlier models for a very large discount. They tend to be reliable instruments so there's no reason to assume that a used example is a lemon. Much like the Cirrus, the smaller bodies and necks result in instruments that are almost always lighter than more classic-styled basses like Fender/Squire, Musicman, etc.

Yamaha and ESP/LTD are aother fairly consistent consistent brands that sells for alot less used. There aren't as many of them out there though and some models do have larger bodies that are just as heavy as traditionaly styled instruments.

All this to say, for your first 5'er I'd recommend hitting the used market. If you like 5 strings it's almost guaranteed that it won't be your last 5 string bass so get the best you can without spending much cash.
Good Luck.

Carvin is another quality brand that sells for a lot less used, fwiw.

 

[bholder]

Well that didn't last long! Got tired of the tone after about the first day so now she's fixed up with bart quad coil pickups and matching preamp. I took that stuff out of the fretless that sounded great but I never played. I also took the Hipshot tuners and Labella tapewounds since I was stripping stuff down.

I didn't have to drill any new holes and the pickups fit almost perfectly. I just had to trim the corners of the pickup routs a tiny bit since the bart pups aren't quite as rounded as the Peaveys. This bass is a beast now! I won't miss that fretless bass a bit, I'm super glad I did the swap.

View attachment 2769343

Wow, I'm late to the party sorry, that was a hell of a deal and the upgrades came out great!

 

[Wademeister63]

Agree on the Sire. I nearly broke out the credit card for that one but then when mine popped up for $150 I figured it was time to jump on it rather than go into debt for a new toy. Also since the Peavey had soapbars I figured a swap would be possible. I just got lucky in that mine were almost a perfect fit.

I thought Carvin would be a good plan too but never saw a hot deal on one of those.

 

[Eilif]

Very cool that the Barts dropped in. Using the stock pre?

Carvin is another quality brand that sells for a lot less used, fwiw.

Definitely. My LB75 was just shy of 1k in 1999, Today it would be closer to $1400. It had some wear, but when I sold it I only got $500+shipping.

since the Peavey had soapbars I figured a swap would be possible. I just got lucky in that mine were almost a perfect fit.

I thought Carvin would be a good plan too but never saw a hot deal on one of those.

Carvin's are a good deal, but it's relative. A $2000 tricked out Carvin of 10+ years might only fetch 8 or 9 hundred bucks. That's a great deal, but it's still 8 to 9 hundred bucks. The only Carvin's I've seen semi-regularly at your target price range would be someone elses built Carvin Kit bass.

 

[BadExample]

New bass day!

Seems like not much love for the Fury? Oh well, I got it anyway. Figured for $150 I can flip it later if I want. The price included the case, two straps, tuner and pair of 9V batteries I discovered in the front pocket. I really like these cases too, it's just like one I had before. I did have to do some setup work. Bridge saddles were all the way down on the bridge, so I shimmed the neck up with a heavy guitar pick. Relief was set a bit flat so I backed the truss rod tension off a bit. Then got the saddle heights and intonation set and she's a player! Only 8lb 10 oz too.

I'm not crazy about the tone just playing in my room but I'd bet on being able to get a decent sound in a band mix. Also I may see about stealing the Barts and preamp from my home made fretless that I never ever play anyway. Great sound, horrible neck dive, sheeze.

So what about that? The guy who had it said he'd been playing it for 17 years but it still looks almost new!
View attachment 2760069View attachment 2760070View attachment 2760071View attachment 2760072

That beautiful! What brand is the case?

 

[bholder]

Very cool that the Barts dropped in. Using the stock pre?

Definitely. My LB75 was just shy of 1k in 1999, Today it would be closer to $1400. It had some wear, but when I sold it I only got $500+shipping.

Carvin's are a good deal, but it's relative. A $2000 tricked out Carvin of 10+ years might only fetch 8 or 9 hundred bucks. That's a great deal, but it's still 8 to 9 hundred bucks. The only Carvin's I've seen semi-regularly at your target price range would be someone elses built Carvin Kit bass.

Well, older more basic models from the 90s and 80s can be found cheaper occasionally. But yeah, all of their new stuff tends to be pricier to begin with I guess.

 

[bholder]

Agree on the Sire. I nearly broke out the credit card for that one but then when mine popped up for $150 I figured it was time to jump on it rather than go into debt for a new toy. Also since the Peavey had soapbars I figured a swap would be possible. I just got lucky in that mine were almost a perfect fit.

I thought Carvin would be a good plan too but never saw a hot deal on one of those.

Yeah, that really worked out amazingly well, must have good karma going or something.

 

[Wademeister63]

Very cool that the Barts dropped in. Using the stock pre?

It's the Bart pre. The knob setup went from vol/blend/bass/mid/treble to vol(pull for passive mode)/blend/ stacked bass/treble with mids on top, and 3way coil tap switches for each pickup.

Brand of case never crossed my mind but since you asked I went poking around and found this inside the front pocket!

Even got a 20 cent rebate I hadn't been expecting, lol!

 

[Paulabass]

Agreed that you get a lot off bass for the money. A place to spend a few bucks, is that the cheaper basses in general, are in need of a setup right away. A lot of dealers include some sort of setup in the price. Talk to the tech, and see what he does free, and offer to pay extra for a top drawer job. If he's willing to spend a little time, and polish the frets, and get the nut just so, your cheap bass will thank you.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I think this is a 2000 model or close to it. Pretty sure the guy I got it from said he bought it new 17 years ago. Made in Korea for sure. The neck is ok on it, nothing super duper quality wise, but it does feel very comfortable to me. The truss rod works properly and the action is ok but could go a good bit lower with a top notch fret job. But I like my action a little on the high side so it's fine for me. The really great thing to me is the way the B string woke up. I don't know if that's all in the strings or if the electronics also play a part but the B is really well balanced. Played some things substituting notes on the B string instead of playing them on the E and it all seemed to come out perfectly fine. Wasn't the case before, but that might've just been a dead roundwound B.

Regardless of all the science and physics behind it, I'm just really happy about this one. I feel like I ended up with a really capable 5'er on really short money. Putting the guts of my non-player bass to work in this bass was a major win IMO.

I have only 1 Korean built bass, a Dean fretless 5er, 35" scale with EMG HZ pickups, 3 piece neck RW board....its a very good bass overall, it needs nothing really imo.

Not sure which factories Peavey used in Korea, anyone know?

 

[Wademeister63]

Agreed that you get a lot off bass for the money. A place to spend a few bucks, is that the cheaper basses in general, are in need of a setup right away. A lot of dealers include some sort of setup in the price. Talk to the tech, and see what he does free, and offer to pay extra for a top drawer job. If he's willing to spend a little time, and polish the frets, and get the nut just so, your cheap bass will thank you.

I don't disagree one bit. I already went through and set up the neck tilt, trussrod adjustment and bridge saddle heights. If someday I decide that I really need a very low action I could work on the frets a bit or have someone do that. But I don't use a very light touch when I play and don't want a super low action anyway so as far as I'm concerned she's a player as she sits right now.

 

[BadExample]

It's the Bart pre. The knob setup went from vol/blend/bass/mid/treble to vol(pull for passive mode)/blend/ stacked bass/treble with mids on top, and 3way coil tap switches for each pickup.

Brand of case never crossed my mind but since you asked I went poking around and found this inside the front pocket! View attachment 2769505
Even got a 20 cent rebate I hadn't been expecting, lol!

Ah yes, I was wondering where to get... so it's probably more the type than the brand. I like that it has compartments to find prizes in.