Ed Friedland Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 The quality level of price-point basses has come up in a big way. It seems Korea has finally figured out how to make a good bass. Are there any cheap basses that are suitable for serious pro use? Are serious pros too snobby to be caught dead playing a bargain bass? www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtian_dup1 Posted February 1, 2001 Share Posted February 1, 2001 It seems that there is a secret underground of people like me who have done of the Yamaha RBX series basses. We are experienced players with a garage full of high-end basses, but sometimes we draw the curtains, turn the lights down low, and pull out our ~$200 Yamaha's and have a BLAST! Seriously, I have the RBX260F, which is a fretless 4 string with a lined neck. Mine is gloss black, weighs absolutely nothing, and with a pair of Bartolini P-style pickups and a gig bag, the whole thing cost less than $300!! It plays like a dream and I am happy to loan it out, play it on dodgy gigs, and generally not worry about it. For someone looking for a low-cost entry-level bass, or something hearty and road worthy, I say look at these Yamahas. Good stuff! - Christian Budapest, Hungary www.Crunchy-Frog.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude_dup3 Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Ed, Check out Scott Shiraki's review of the new MTD Kingston bass in the February 2001 issue of Bass Player on pgs 82 & 83. This bass rocks and is a steal at $599 base "retail" price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Addicott Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 I recently got to check out another band at a night club. The bass player in this particular band really pi**es me off http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif , because he always has a $200 bass through a $300 amp, and his tone is always right there: punchy, strong, in your face. This time was no exception. His axe of choice was no exception. He had a Squier 5-string (with J pickups and a P pickguard) ($230, brand new) and his tone was as full as ever. Yikes. I also know a couple of pro guitar players who favor their Squier Strats, and sound great to my ears. I think the key is being able to spot an exceptional axe without being swayed by the decal on the headstock. (Not to mention having good technique & being able to assert yourself & coax good sounds out of any instrument.) Personally, I've been impressed by the Dean "Edge" series, as well as some of the Japanese Fender reissues. Not enough so to buy them & take them onstage, but still... they're definitely a notch above the Samick stuff I grew up on. As Ed pointed out, the quality is definitely improving. Jeff Addicott http://www.jeffnet.org/~addicott/bass.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude_dup3 Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 I like the Dean basses as well, It's getting easier to find decent basses in the lower price ranges today...yesterday's "Cheapo" basses are now decent "Affordable" basses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted February 2, 2001 Author Share Posted February 2, 2001 The Dean stuff is good, and the Yamaha, haven't checked out the MTD in person yet. I personally have been playing a Fender Mexi-Jazz fretless that is amazing! The pickups don't hum cancel when both on full, a cost cutting measure i can't understand, but when you solo the bridge pickup on any stock J bass you get hum anyway.... I recently tried to "polish" this bass by putting on a fancy graphite neck, and while the neck did exactly what you'd want it to do, I prefered the sound of the cheapo wood neck,so I swapped it back! If you'd like to hear this bass, check out my website: www.edfriedland.com/equip.html There are pictures of most of my basses and quicktime or mp3 samples of them being played. www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainer_dup1 Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 I am still trying to convince my brother to sell me his Squire Precision. It was really cheap but plays very well, even intonation is very good, only the PUs sound muddy. Taking this bass with a set of new pickups would make a good instrument. I just sold my Dean Edge Select. It was a good instrument but the 35" neck with bridge mounted far in the body made some problems for me. My Fender Mexico belongs also to the not-so-expensive-instruments category. I replaced the PUs (now Bartolini 9S), the bridge (now Schaller 3D4) and the saddle (now pure bone) and this bass has become my darling. There's only one additional bass now: a 1987 Guild Pilot4 Fretless. The Epiphone Thunderbird sounded really strange, somehow ... and was much to long for my short arms. The bass was excellent for that little money! A steady rock bass. I exchanged it with some bucks for the Guild. Washburn XB600 Sixstring: well, not bad, very low action, a little bit sensible against humidity changes. Bad PUs without character. They were some more basses I owned ... as far as I remember .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumblethumpyahoo.com Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 On my last visit to GC I tried a few of the Squire series basses and thought they were well worth the money. I bought a Yamaha BB200 used several years ago for $100 and installed a SD SPB2 pu. Awesome light bass for under $150 which I use often on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Ed, I must agree with you on Mexican Fender Basses. I have a '95 Standard Jazz Bass that I put a BadAss II bridge on and put EMG JV pickups wired for 18 volts. It is the bass I always go back to. I love my '99 American Standard Jazz, but my Mexican has never let me down. I am very impressed with the quality of the Mexican Fenders. I had checked out some of the Korean/Taiwanese Squires a few years ago and was distressed by the quality. Then I checked out a Squire Bronco Bass. The quality was much improved, and the sound was solid! Very punchy! The short scale made it feel like a guitar and the action made it easy to play. The only thing I would change is the cheapo die-cast tuners. I used my Bronco as my third set bass - it is very light, my Mexican is a little hefty, and got only compliments on its sound. Plus it's only $150 new! KJ ------------------- "50 million Elvis Presley fans can't be all wrong" - John Prine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST.Morigeaugte.net Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 I bought Yamamha BBG5S with the going in intention (on my theroy instr. recommend.) of gutting the electronics. Had Mike Lull here Bellevue do just that and loaded'er up with a Bartolini package. He also made some minor mod's to the neck & fretboard. It's the best $950.00 I've ever spent on a plank... Now some may say.. 'well that's still not a bargain basement special...' Or you can't polish a turd.." I say it is.. and you can. The end result is a Bass with multiple tonal personality's..... The only thing I wouldn't (or can't) stack it against is a 62' Jazz... oh and maybe the Fodera's Sadowsky's etc.. but we are talking bargin.... Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bspangleyahoo.com Posted February 7, 2001 Share Posted February 7, 2001 You know about 8 years ago (?) I saw Mr J Berlin give a clinic at a local music store here in Columbia, SC, and , at the time, he was a Peavey endorser. He had a Peavey "Jeff Berlin" bass the was very good and not very expensive. Now he uses one of his signiture "Dean" basses which is even less expensive. Guess what---he sounded great back then and I'm sure he sounds great now. I cannot see spending megabucks on solid pieces of wood. Maybe a great old upright, but not plank with strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted February 7, 2001 Author Share Posted February 7, 2001 I remember playing one of those Peavey Berlin basses. It was real nice, it had a great playing neck and a real focused sound. Nothing fancy, but I really wanted to buy one. But I didn't (I was married then! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif) www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackwon88 Posted February 13, 2001 Share Posted February 13, 2001 It's not in the Axe it's in the fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy_dup1 Posted February 13, 2001 Share Posted February 13, 2001 Well, Ed, speaking of cheap basses I do have my Ashbory! I also have a Fernandes P bass with a Duncan Antiquities pickup in it. A student has a '68 Precision. We a-b'd them and couldn't tell the difference in sound. (The real P felt better, though). The quality of the inexpensive basses has greatly increased as the price has gone down. No one nowadays has to start on the kind of instrument that I had in 1966. If I were single and didn't have a kid in college, I'd probably have a whole pile of Danelectros, Epiphones, Squiers, and Guild basses. One every color to match my outfits. Of course if I were single, I'd probably be living in my van and wouldn't have any place to keep the basses. ------------------ http://www.jps.net/jeremy/basspage.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett_dup2 Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Has anyone checked out the line of Ibanez Soundgear 5 strings? Not bad! For about $500-$600 a pop. Also, the Cort Curbow 5's are a nice piece of work. Why spend $2000 on a bass when you get the same tones out of a $500 bass and a Bass Pod. ------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted February 14, 2001 Author Share Posted February 14, 2001 I find in terms of my collecting basses, I like to have one good example from each food group. If given free reign to purchase at will, I don't think I'd get several of the same instrument. Well maybe I'd have a Sunburst P bass with a rosewood board and another one with a maple board, but I personally go for the diversified "portfolio" approach. www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST.Morigeaugte.net Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Just last night I had the opportunity to play Mexibuilt J Bass... completly off the rack...... I could very easily be a convert here. Really good, but not a great feel... sound was okay.......certainly not lacking. I wouldn't go as far as to encourage the purchase to anyone yet, but would certainly tell'em to check them out. (Ed.. listening to yer MP3's lead me to this... They definitely are not the planks we played as kids..) Very Impressionable Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianrost Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Originally posted by Brett: Why spend $2000 on a bass when you get the same tones out of a $500 bass and a Bass Pod. If that was really the case, we'd all be doing that. I found that until I started playing better basses through better amps and (ESPECIALLY) better speakers I didn't really appreciate the advantages of the premium grade stuff. Cheap basses unfortunately tend to put the money into bells and whistles rather than the wood and the pickups. Active electronics, flame tops and gold hardware just don't belong on a $500 bass. I think basses like the MTD Kingston and Dean Berlin are a step in the right direction, keep it bone simple until you have a killer feel and tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted February 16, 2001 Share Posted February 16, 2001 i bought a mexican J bass in 1999 after playing very many of that year's american standards. the mexicans felt better. a few guys at the store where i bought mine agreed with me. the same was true at a few different stores. so now i'm getting the fender vintage J replacement pickups, as the mexicans leave much to be desired. other than that, the bass is a great buy at $299. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucko Posted February 17, 2001 Share Posted February 17, 2001 I'm not a pro, and the bass I'm here to praise is not available new any more. But I still own it, and I still play it. And I'm not selling it any time soon! I'm speaking of the humble Peavey Patriot I bought new in 1987 for $200 (the case was an extra $80). It was my first decent bass, after playing nothing but junk since I started in 1970. The Patriot was a US made bolt-on. It had a 34" scale maple neck and fingerboard with a clear gloss finish, a mahogany body with translucent satin finish, one "soapbar" single-coil pickup, one volume control, and one tone control. The hardware was basic, chrome-plated stuff, but adequate to the job. In short, the Patriot is a variant on the P-bass formula. But the pickup gets a bright tone, especially with roundwounds. Think Graham Maby's tone on the early Joe Jackson CDs. Since then I've owned a couple of Carvin LB75s (and sold one). But the Patriot gets tones I can't get with the LB75, and I find it easier to play. Sure, it's going to need a fret job soon. But the neck is still straight, the finish and the chrome still look good, and the pots only need an occasional dose of contact cleaner. I'm proud to call the Patriot my "beater" bass. Don't knock 'em if you haven't tried one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted February 17, 2001 Author Share Posted February 17, 2001 I remember the Peavey basses from back then were pretty nice. I had some students with Peavey Foundations that were very nice budget axes.Youcan see a picture of me in the studio with my Peavey Dyna-Bass 5 string fretless, taken around '91. That axe had a great warm, woody tone, but the B was a little weak. www.edfriedland.com/gallery.html ------------------ www.edfriedland.com www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arvidgunardihotmail.com Posted February 17, 2001 Share Posted February 17, 2001 I played a cort artisan series. It is a bit more than the usual $500 budget bass(I mean the price). But man!! That bass is warm. It is the neck through version, with bartolini soapbar PU. My alembic Rouge at times do not even compare to it's warm. I'm dead serious. It may be my personal bias, but anybody has the chance should check that out. Unfortunately that model do not come with Bartolini anymore; i think! And it all comes back to the finger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spidey Posted March 3, 2001 Share Posted March 3, 2001 Personally I think that it's a good idea to buy a cheap bass, a beginner bass or something, and just put better pickups on it,a better bridge, and maybe some new wiring if it's old. For example you can take a cheap Ibanez beginner and fix it up a little and make it worth more that alot of the higher quality Ibanez basses out there. I've done it before only it was a cheap squire. Now I'm seeing what I can do with a Ibanez GSR200 but I can't find any info so far on what would work good with it. If you have any suggestions please write me. Spidey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Friedland Posted March 3, 2001 Author Share Posted March 3, 2001 Spidey, I've done that with my Fender Mexican Jazz fretless and it's worked well. New pickups, new bridge, and had the fingerboard sanded to perfection. It plays and sounds as good as anything out there now. www.edfriedland.com The Bass Whisperer Bass Whisperer TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stream Posted March 4, 2001 Share Posted March 4, 2001 Well, recently one of my students acquired Ibanez GIO series bass. At the beginning of every lesson, I insist to "tune" the bass a little; an excuse, just to slap the hell out of it for awhile. Cause the lesson was at the end of the week, as soon as shops opened, I rushed to the store where the bass was bought, and tried all basses in the stock, just to be disappointed and to start pondering what the hell was I thinking. Even the clerk who knows me, went "Are you really sure you want to try the Ibanez GIO?". Pondering lasted until the next lesson, when I was amazed again by how playable it is; and the sound is great too. So every now and then, when you see the falling star, another one in a million guitar is brought to the world (no matter whether it is Jim Harley (since we're talking about cheap basses), Ibanez or Fender). So I hope you'll all agree with me, that there is something about those one of a kind guitars (if we exclude all sunburst models). Maybe they were sprinkled with magic dust by fairy, while in production. :-) And if it happens to be Ken Smith, Sadowsky, Fender or Warwick even better. Stream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lug Posted March 13, 2001 Share Posted March 13, 2001 For a really cheap great bass, get on ebay and get a Peavey T-40. I have 14 billion basses but the T-40 is still one of my favorites. You can usually get one for about $200. This bass has string thru body, massive bridge, great pickups, and one of the best sounding E strings around. The only problem is it weighs as much as a small truck. This bass can cop more sounds than any other passive bass I've ever heard. Every band I've been in always compliments it's sound You can stop now -jeremyc STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbass1 Posted March 16, 2001 Share Posted March 16, 2001 Last week I picked up an MIM P-Bass for $289, it's great! Nice and loud, fast neck, sunburst. I have one of those Squier P-Bass 5 stringers ($190) that I've modded a bit pickup-wise for better coverage of the rear pickup, and it sounds nice. However I did buy a Cort Curbow 4 a couple of days ago that's going back to Mars tomorrow, dead spots galore, uneven string response, just a bad deal all around. I've read plenty of nice reviews about them, but I must have got a bad one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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