budget bassist

I'd say try out a tobias toby pro 6. Yeah they're not the best, but i have one (5 string) and it sounds pretty nice, you could swap the pickups out and it would sound great. Also it has the nicest neck I've ever played. It's just so fast and every note just feels so natural and easy. Not the best finish (hand rubbed oil, so not too bad) but it has the oval shape you're looking for and it's asymmetrical so it fits your hand perfectly, seriously give one a try! There's a couple on ebay now at the £300 mark. EDIT: seems i'm not the only one that has said that, i'd say go for dood's toby, VERY nice basses and that seems well worth the money if it's got EMGs.

They do look very nice and if you like the way it looks, sounds and plays then i see no reason why you shouldn't get it! I've also heard that the higher end ESP/LTDs are very good in the way of sound and construction. I have a friend that loves them, he's had a few ESPs, a couple of LTDs and is currently playing an edwards (ESP's japanese counterpart). I've not heard a lot wrong with them to be honest.

I don't think they have any in stock but ya know, i'll try. And it's ampeg china, says everything really. f***ing chinese build quality.

Too true, i couldn't replace the pickguard on mine fast enough! Now i like to think it looks a bit classy

I used to own a behringer ultrabass BX1200 combo, not the best sounding amp in the world, but as most of you have said, good value for money and actually more reliable than the chinese built ampeg i just bought.

Thanks guys! i'm pretty sure they don't have a replacement in there unless they got one in the last couple of days and i won't be able to get it down there until next weekend (i wish i could drive ) but i'll have to see what they can do, because not having an amp isn't really an option. Also thanks andy, that's made me a bit more hopeful!

So i have a dilemma. I bought an ampeg BA115 the about a month or so ago from sound control nottingham. Now the tweeter has gone and it's crackling persistantly. I tried both my basses, all my leads and it's definitely the amp. I went in the other day and they said if it's a faulty tweeter (which i'm in no doubt it is as other people have had problems) they would have to send it off to ampeg to get it fixed. When i got it, it took them 3 weeks to get it here, and bearing in mind it's a made in china amp it would no doubt take a good few weeks to get it fixed, during which period i would be without an amp. There's the problem, i need it for band practice, and i don't want an amp that crackles. So i was thinking take it in and see if it's repairable in the shop on that very day. If so, great! If not, i ask for a spare while they send that off to be repaired (any experience with sound control doing this?). If they say no, i ask for my money back and go round the corner and buy a fender rumble 100, same specs exactly, 100 watts, 15" speaker, tweeter, £280-£300 no more. Only thing is, i like that the ampeg has the kick-back capability so i can hear myself better at practice. But if it means buying an amp that is likely to give me less grief then so be it. (again, are they likely to just straight up give me a refund?) Your thoughts? (sorry for the essay by the way )

That lakland is so ugly it hurts.... And the musicman can do all 3 of those sounds too.... so in effect it just sounds like a musicman... Not to mention those basses are so standard, they sound nothing like the likes of wal, alembic etc etc. They're essentially just three very basic bolt on basses.

Haha cool, i wish my bass was taller than i am I also wish it was a MM bongo

ahh, i'd love to own one, but i can't afford anything anywhere near that pricey (well, i can't afford anything at the moment!) How much is the norm for one over here? i've seen them on thomann for £1400 i think? EDIT: £1800 on thomann, i think £1000 + £70 postage is pretty good.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20th-Anniversary-Ernie-Ball-Stingray-5-Music-Man_W0QQitemZ140220247433QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Here[/url] on ebay, 20th SR5 for £1000 brand new, less than you'd pay for a regular one. Again it's not mine but i noticed it and it seems a very good deal to me.

[quote name='karlbbb' post='153131' date='Mar 7 2008, 04:17 PM']I was originally looking at perhaps an Ibanez SR505.[/quote] I was actually going to suggest one of those. I've never tried one but the rest of the ibanez's i have tried have the treble for the punky stuff and you can EQ that sucker waay down for some metal. Also don't touch a P-bass 5 string, if the fender one is anything like the squier one the neck is like a spade. I couldn't fit my hand around it and i have a tobias toby pro 5 which feels amazing. On second thoughts see if you can get one of them! I use mine for metal mainly but i used to use it with a pick for stuff like rancid and it sounded pretty good. Oh and there is actually a 5 string OLP stingray dual humbucker (the newer ones just before they stopped production which were miles better) on ebay right now [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-OLP-by-Music-Man-Stingray-5S-2-HB-aktiv-Super-Bass_W0QQitemZ330225276120QQihZ014QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]here [/url] If you can stretch your budget a bit. And another [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OLP-MM-22BCB-IN-CHERRY-AND-BLACK-5-STRING-BASS-SUPERB_W0QQitemZ190181198116QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem"]here[/url] a bit cheaper. There are also a few left on gak i think but the older cheaper single H ones. Also worth taking note of is a musicman sub 5. I have a four string and they're fantastic basses, handle both punk and metal extremely well. They come up on ebay occasionally.

I like his groove... rather funky, i gotta love a bit of funk! Plus those drum solos are really good, not like most at metal concerts where it just sounds like they set a gorilla loose with a couple of toms!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MusicMan-Sub-Bass-Black-4-string-with-hard-case_W0QQitemZ330225315935QQihZ014QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Fixed the link[/url] Yeah that looks pretty nice, somebody should snap it up, i have one and they're amazing basses for the money.

haha i'm glad i'm not the only one that likes it! I'm not gay honest!

maybe wal or warmoth would do it for you?

[quote name='lwtait' post='169233' date='Apr 3 2008, 04:13 PM']no problem- the SR500 will be there then.[/quote] cool I can't wait to try some of these out!

It all depends what colour it is, silver hardware on blue quilt, gold hardware on amber Actually your blue one is rather nice, nice photo in your sig.

[quote name='kdphysio' post='169387' date='Apr 3 2008, 07:57 PM']NO.......it looks a bit too [u][b]funky[/b][/u] for me![/quote] fixed

Oh god.... that's disgusting! it's not the design.... it's the paint more than anything, looks like someone just slapped a tub of dulux on there or something!

Check [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Peavey-G-Bass-4-in-Holoflake-Black-with-carbon-neck_W0QQitemZ190210014315QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]this[/url] out! Multi coloured 'holoflake black' sparkle paint job, graphite neck, pau ferro board, made in USA and it's at £200 with no bids... it's not my bass i just thought i'd point it out because it looks sweet!

[quote name='OldGit' post='167346' date='Apr 1 2008, 12:04 AM']The calculation is a bit complex but the SXs that cost $110 end up costing around £140 all in depnding on the exchange rate ... Well under £200 though.[/quote] And this is including postage, VAT, import tax or whatever and customs and all that crap? Because if so i'm fairly interested...

If it's in good condition i usually say about 2/3 to 3/4 of shop price... seems to work for me.