Onwards and upwards

[Looper]

Hi, I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade my bass, I have a mid-eighties Hohner professional p-bass that is a bit knackered. Just wondering what might be a good step up from this, something that plays better without going crazy. I've not played many basses so I don't really have a bench mark, I like it more than the squire I played but was blown away when I played a 70's tele. I'm about 180 miles from the nearest shop with any real selection of basses so trying stuff out is tricky! Any opinions would be welcome. Thanks.

[BassBus]

What price range are you looking at? Where are you based? That would help narrow the choice down a bit.

[Looper]

Hi BassBus, Thanks for the reply.
I'm in the west of Ireland, middle of nowhere, so would be looking to buy online which isn't great as I wouldn't be able try before I buy. That also makes it hard to know what to spend, I'd be taking a chance whatever I pay. Like I said my Hohner is a bit knackered and would probably cost a couple of hundred euro to put right, and they sell for less than that. If I could get something that would be considerably better I'd maybe go to four or five hundred euro (£300 to £400). Just don't want to end up with something not much better than my trusty Hohner.

[charic]

The BC store is your best friend then there's some real bargains to be found in there!

Fender Jag in your price range
Warwick Corvette too! (Although shipping is an issue IIRC)

[BassBus]

I'd agree with charic. Have a look at the for sale section. The guys on here are pretty honest, in my experience anyway. If you buy used they should hold their value quite well so if a bass doesn't suit you you can always sell it on again for much the same price. I've bought some really good gear on here for very good prices. My Markbass 121p combo was as new, sold to me at nearly half the new price.

[Looper]

Thanks, will have a look. How do you think a mex Fender would compare to my Hohner? Have read such mixed reviews and not had a chance to play one.

[Ed_S]

[quote name='Looper' timestamp='1329499657' post='1543503']
Thanks, will have a look. How do you think a mex Fender would compare to my Hohner? Have read such mixed reviews and not had a chance to play one.
[/quote]

I'd say a lot of it depends on your level of experience with setting up a bass to play just how you like it (or alternatively your level of access to somebody with said experience) because I'm not entirely convinced that all the bad reviews of MIM Fenders are down to production quality. Sure, on any production line a few items will roll off the end with build issues and not be caught by QC, but I've had three MIMs, all of which were bough sight-unseen, none of which had any issues beyond a pretty tragic 'by-the-numbers' factory setup, further compounded by mediocre strings. In every case, an hour initially spent on a full and thorough setup to personal taste with decent strings, and then a few rehearsal breaks spent fine-tuning things like pickup height is all it took to realise the potential of the instrument. If you're buying second hand there's a good chance that somebody will have done all that work for you, but likewise there's a fair chance that their idea of a perfect setup won't be yours, so the ability to tweak or have tweaked is still, I think, quite important.

Given the valuation you've put on your Hohner and my (admittedly limited) experience of the brand, I'd expect a well set-up MIM to be a pleasant step up from where you're at.