Yes, an AliExpress question.

[Marc61]

I'd never buy from them. Seems like every time I go into a Sam Ash or GC I find entry level basses they are trying to move in the $99 range. Nothing better than the in hand test. It didn't make sense to buy on a gamble and replace the inadequate parts when you can get the whole ball of wax up front

 

[buldog5151bass]

It's a gamble.
If you can afford to be disappointed... go for it. Some sellers can actually provide parts/whole instruments customised to your specs for very little extra. But you can never be sure how good the result will be.
If you cannot afford to be disappointed and waste money... then go elsewhere.

If you have enough money that you can gamble it away on a Longshot, why not just buy something good?

 

[micguy]

Leo chose alder because... it's cheap, not too heavy, readily available wood. Swamp ash - similar, and some of it looks good enough you don't have to paint it.

Basswood, agathais, etc are woods that are... in the same category. A bass body doesn't require special wood to be decent - lots of woods work just fine. There's nothing all that special about alder. If Leo had started making basses in Asia, maybe agathis would be what people fixate on. I'd suggest you loosen up on that criteria. It'd be far better to get a bass with a different wood for the body than to buy a shoddy one.

 

[Siggy]

Will not deal with an outfit with sucha poor business ethic.

 

[Rib 13]

But SX was sold by an American company with good customer support. Kurt at Rondo has always been good to me, and if his stock didnt dry up, Id still buy from him.

When it comes to something like instruments...Western buyers should stick to Western countries if they want any hope of post purchase support.

If this was twenty years ago, I would tend to agree with that....however, in 2018, worldwide internet-based direct sales sans a distribution center or rep, is a growing worldwide concept (in everything, not just guitars)

theres many American companies themselves moving to this concept

 

[mellowgerman]

If anything about Squiers bothers you, there's no way you will be happy with an Ali Express bass.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

What I fixate on has nothing to do with tone woods but with longetivity. Carpenters, for instance, refuse to use certain woods for certain applications because the fact is some woods just aren't right for the job.

Basswood is too soft for an instrument that I plan on keeping for a long time. Soft wood just irks me in that application. Can't do it.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah, can't do basswood either. My nephew got an Aerodyne Jazz as his first bass, granted he's a fairly careless teenager, but the bass looks really beat after a couple years, lots of dings and chips. The paint is hard, but the wood is soft, recipe for a quick relic job. I think I can dent basswood with my fingernail. My dad used to use it exclusively for birdcarving beacuse it cuts so easily and cleanly. If you are seriously considering an AE bass, I'd get a "husk", just the body and neck, with no crap hardware you'll probably junk anyway. I must admit I've been tempted by the Ric Lemmy clone basses, it'd make a great project bass, and I have seen them in husk form with no hardware or electronics. I'd assume a full fret job, of course.
US $550.0 |Kpole Ricken 4 strings 4003 fireglo bass guitar engrave top neck thru body rickenback 4003 bass Free Shipping-in Guitar from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[4sight]

the bass looks really beat after a couple years, lots of dings and chips

Hey, instant mojo!

My basswood Yamaha is dented and scarred too, but it's very resonant unplugged and sounds great plugged in too, so who cares.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

That's cool, basswood sounds great, if you don't mind the dings it's all good. I know it's inevitable, but I've always tried to keep my basses as pristine as possible. I'm putting together a beater MIM P bass, looks like an alder body. It was kinda a POS to begin with, so if I drop it, no tears shed.