Desirability of budget brand bass's

[bozzie]

I've recently been restoring a Westone Thunder 1A, for me it was one of the best budget basses around in the 80's, price wise they are costing as much now for a second hand one as i paid , ummm several years ago brand new. It seem's loads of people talk highly of them, and remember them as good basses in there day.

I seem to recall another bass that wasn't expensive back then was an Ibanez roadster 2 series, I had one of these too, it was a great playable bass.

Any others, people remember and why are they so desirable, am I trying to regain my youth, lol, that left years ago.......

[TheGreek]

My first bass - Nice neck, well balanced, good range of tones - especially with the pre-amp turned on..blew away many of it's competition of the day..I'm waiting for a 111A to come up at a stupid price so that I can pounce...good basses in my mind..

[dave_bass5]

I have fond memories of both the Westone Thunder 1A and My Ibanez Blazer bass.. Im not sure who they would stack up against todays budget basses but they certainly did the job back then.

[chrismuzz]

I have nothing to say except that I exclusively play Peavey basses

[Dave Vader]

Check all old Tokais, Grecos etc. and obviously the old Squiers, not budget anymore are they?
*facepalm for all the ones I trashed or gave away*

[discreet]

First-ever guitar was made by 'KAY', and frankly it was rubbish.
Played it through a Woolworth's 'AUDITION' amp, and frankly it was rubbish.
Hooray for the 1970s! Not.

[Guest bassman7755]

Quality of budget instruments is way higher today than when I first played 30 odd years ago. A £170 chinese bass/guitar is probably as good as a £3/400 instrument then, and that without allowing for inflation.

[dc2009]

But fortunes can be changed. Tanglewood were not exactly high in my estimation a couple of years back, yet with the beautiful instruments they are creating for Overwater, it really shows what they are capable of - no one on here would give them bad rep for those.

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1318589594' post='1403998']
First-ever guitar was made by 'KAY', and frankly it was rubbish.
Played it through a Woolworth's 'AUDITION' amp, and frankly it was rubbish.
Hooray for the 1970s! Not.
[/quote]

Likwise. The Kay was a completely useless instrument.It didn't even burn well.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='dc2009' timestamp='1318590777' post='1404025']
But fortunes can be changed. Tanglewood were not exactly high in my estimation a couple of years back, yet with the beautiful instruments they are creating for Overwater, it really shows what they are capable of - no one on here would give them bad rep for those.
[/quote]
the acoustics have been great for years....

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1318589932' post='1404003']
Quality of budget instruments is way higher today than when I first played 30 odd years ago. A £170 chinese bass/guitar is probably as good as a £3/400 instrument then, and that without allowing for inflation.
[/quote]
I'll take that concept into blasphemous range. Many Asian cheapies are much better than pre CBS Fenders by a long shot. Maybe not as cool to post on the internet but better to play music with.

Also a new Honda outperforms a vintage Ferrari. Maybe not as cool to post on the internet...

[Marvin]

The Westone Spectrum II, one of which I purchased in the early 90's, could in no way be regarded as a desirable budget instrument Simply awful.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='dc2009' timestamp='1318590777' post='1404025']But fortunes can be changed. Tanglewood were not exactly high in my estimation a couple of years back, yet with the beautiful instruments they are creating for Overwater, it really shows what they are capable of - no one on here would give them bad rep for those.[/quote]

+1

I played a plywood P Bass made by them years ago And everything about it was shockingly bad. I'd happily play one of the newer ones any day though!

[wez]

Besides the Kay bass everyone seems to have started on, my second bass was a Hohner jazz copy. Cost £100 and played pretty well, gave it away after i got my fender, wish i hadn't.

[JTUK]

You can keep the lot of them, I wouldn't soil my hands with some.
Seriously, you'd put some straight back in the rack as soon as you looked at them.
And as for the sounds they make ha ha ha !!!

[discreet]

Agreed, but back in the day a proper bass was way too expensive for a teenager and the alternatives were crap!
Made you appreciate a proper bass when you finally got one, though.

[stingrayPete1977]

Its the same as anything, You hanker for these things from your youth then when they arrive you remember how bad they were. I have an Atari 2600 gathering dust for that very reason, it comes out for a laugh then gets put away again just like all those Kays,Westones,Auditions,Rose,Marlin,Hohners etc etc etc