Low cost instruments that sound great

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1333051749' post='1596835']
I'm quite amused by the posts that say "I got a brand X cheapy bass I put a hand wound plutonium core gold plated water cooled mega pick up in it and it sounds great" - surely at this point it's no longer a low cost instrument?
[/quote]

Depends on how much you paid for your hand wound plutonium core gold plated water cooled mega pick up, I guess. If it cost you £100, would that mean the instrument was no longer "low-cost"? How about £10?

[Bigwan]

The Ibanez ATK series is always my top pick when I'm asked this question. Loved them since I A/Bed an ATK300 against 2 different 4 string Stingrays in GuitarGuitar Glasgow a few years ago. For a bass that's obviously a Stingray-a-like it beats the real thing into the dust in my book (and I've owned 4 Ernie Balls - Stingray 4 & 5 and Bongo HH 4 & 5). I bought a well used/abused ATK700 (the porno looking one in blue with the ugly double dot inlays), which plays great, for £150 and have since sold my last of Sterling Ball's wears... I plan to eventually strip it of its blue finish and cover the ugly inlays with some of those stick-on block inlays.

Also really rate Farida and the Squier CV series.

[dudewheresmybass]

Just to clarify my earlier post.
The bass was £60
Pickup £35
Pick guard recycled
Logo £15

Total £110

[iconic]

My westfield on is really very good too.....far better than should be possible for 75 quid new

And if ya minted, well its another vote for the yamaha bb414!

[joeystrange]

The Squier VM series is incredible! I got a new P Bass for less than £200 a couple of years ago and the sound and feel of it is fantastic!

[Paul S]

At risk of becoming totally predictable I would say that a Westone Thunder 1A is, for my taste, the best bass you can buy for under £150.

I also recently bought a Peavey Fury II for £77 on eBay and it is rather nice. A notch or two up on the Milestone III I had a few years ago.

[AttitudeCastle]

Played a S/H Yamaha RBX375 and was blown away, ok not perfect but the B was a monster and it played really nicely, and sounded really powerful, great all rounder.

Was only £200 as well,

[sellisnba]

Found this bass on my travels, I was originally looking for a nice P bass but couldn't find one I wanted.

Took a punt on it and was blown away. It's a monster.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69165842@N08/6886957364/

Not bad for £147 :-) I'm very happy indeed.

[Prime_BASS]

No basses I have tried that are dirt cheap and sound great, apart from a westone thunder A1 I tried at a gig once.

I brought a lemon yellow Epiphone Dot Studio that is just as good as any gibson I've tried. Finish isn't great but for a semi-acoustic guitar with a mahogony block through it it sounds pretty darn good.
It's the only guitar to survive my cull when I realised how much better bass is.

[GarethFlatlands]

+1 for the Yamaha love, I've got a de-fretted RBX170 (with the P/J pickup configuration) and it's got a nice even tone both unamplified and plugged in and plays really well. The controls feel a bit cheap and spin easily but for the cash you can get them for, it's a great bass.

A friend who knows next to nothing about basses but is a decent player went bass shopping on a budget, tried loads out and came away with an RBX.

[KingBollock]

Another here for the Westfield, but... mine wasn't quite so cheap. I paid £200 for it, new, well over 10 years ago. I'm not sure of the model name but the current one that it looks similar to is the Small Body, but it has much better hardware than the current Small Body.
I recently replaced the Pots, Capacitor and Socket, making it Volume/Blend/Tone. And stuck some Chromes Flats on it (actually the first time I'd changed the strings on it since I bought it). I left the Pick-ups in it because they sound lovely. It's a great bass to play, very light and is even a really nice colour.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1333024180' post='1596299']
Even the best guitars and basses cost peanuts when compared to the best orchestral instruments (for example).
It's all relative, YMMV, IMHO and so on and so forth.
[/quote]

This.
Also, a good synth with 5 octave keyboard would set me back 2,000 quid or more in the old days. These days, most of the time it's more. A top synth may set you back between 4 and 8 thousand. In ten years time, this synth will virtually have no value left, and that is if it still works, which is not a given.
Basses OTOH...

But you all know that.


My first bass was an AXL AP-800 at roughly £180. Mind ya: this was only last year - me be noob.
I didn't have the intention of switching from keyboards yet, and it was bought for recording the odd bass tone. Though it taught me that I wanted to switch to bass altogether, I thought it sounded uninspiring, and I had trouble with its look of cheap components and cheap build as well as with its twisted neck that rattled all over the place. I lost some confidence, and brought it back.
Maybe that was just undeserved; other AP-800s may be ok.

For £170 (ten quid less), I then got a B-quality Hohner B2B.
That one was perfect if you could forgive the 5 centimeters of slight discoloration of the fingerboard's side as well as the lack of a strap connector on the neck side. Luckily, I could!
Sounds very well IMHO. Very little knob turning required, but turning a knob or two does make it versatile, which was quite a surprise to me. To me, it seems to play well, and it is my fave bass for travelling lightly. Lacks a leg rest thingie though, so I must either get one of those or forever play with a strap.

Again, I'm a total noob, but I hope my experience may help another beginner.


BTW, thanks a LOT for this thread! It helps me finding a bass for a friend who wants to start this year, and helps me to understand the subject matter better.

best,
bert

Edited April 1, 2012 by BassTractor

[BassTractor]

[quote name='sellisnba' timestamp='1333228262' post='1599075']
[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/69165842@N08/6886957364/"]http://www.flickr.co...N08/6886957364/[/url]
[/quote]


What a looker!
Couldn't make out the logo though. What is it?

best,
bert

[Dandelion]

Its a vintage.

[arthurhenry]

The Danelectro DC is well known for being a fantastic sounding cheapie. The body is some kind of hardboard composite and the bridge is barely adjustable. Really fun to play aswell. They were everywhere (in stores) when they were reissued in 99/2000. Lots of people must have them.

[David Copper]

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1333054584' post='1596875']
See, I told you $$$$ doesn't always make tone!

For anyone who knows me, knows I have some unusual gear and some great stuff but on
the other hand, I have learned, over the last 35 odd years that sometime you just come across
something that works for you.

Some very surprising basses!!!!

I may draw up a list!


Cheers.
[/quote]

Quite right too. Some basses just seem to 'fit' both physically and in terms of playing style and your own ability. I've always tried to throw money at things and it rarely works. I now have a cheap not-so JapCrap VOX now and it's sounds and feels great - I am practising like crazy again and see no reason to change for a while at least. Just never gelled with my old StingRay and never sounded as together as I did today on the JapCrap.

[David Copper]

[quote name='nottswarwick' timestamp='1333050922' post='1596821']
Yep. Yamaha. Job done. Always my recommend to student of bass and guitar. Can not simply go wrong.
[/quote]
Yep - BB414 works well.

[Telebass]

Another nod for Yamaha - recently got a BB425, and it's great!

[Lfalex v1.1]

Mine's a secret.
I refuse to tell anyone how much I paid for it as it'll diminish its resale value!
Furthermore, I can't put up any pics, as it's rather readily indentifiable!

[Earbrass]

Peavey Milestone III - £50 from Cash Converters in Lewisham. My only bass (I did have 2 of them, but recently gave one away) - lightweight, well-balanced, beautiful fast neck, jazz-bass tones. I just don't look at other basses any more.

[fender73]

My recently sold OLP was a cracker, cost me 69 quid on Ebay

[Dom in Dorset]

I was including the human cost of hand winding plutonium cored pickups.

[gjones]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1333026349' post='1596356']
You've already mentioned Squire and i got one for £75 off of the bay on a total whim. Its an early 80s model - very ugly and weighs a ton. When i plugged it in i was expecting to chuckle at is inferiority compared to my "expensive" basses. And chuckle i did as it sounds stunning! I'd bought a load of hardware to customise it but ended up having to use the hardware on another project as everything on the 30 year old Squire worked perfectly.
[/quote]

A 30 year old Squier would be an early Japanese one which are sought after basses with a very good reputation. No wonder it sounded good.

p.s. £75? you lucky b********r!

[discreet]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1333439656' post='1601569']
I was including the human cost of hand winding plutonium cored pickups.
[/quote]

I skim-read this as, 'I was including the cost of a human hand...'

[louisthebass]

I tried out one of the Squier CV Jazzes on Sunday, and it played & sounded really good. I'm seriously considering buying one at the end of the month.