leschirons Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Over the last few years, quite a few nice basses have been through my hands. Alembic, Vigier, Fbass, Spector, Custom shop Fender and Status. Couple of weeks ago I bought an £80 OLP MM3 5string from BC member Josh (great guy to deal with) with partly working electrics. I had planned to make this a fretless project however, after 10 minutes with a soldering iron, I fixed the problem (wire off the front vol control) and now, I seem to have found the tone and playability I'd wasted about £10,000 on trying to find. Haven't picked up anything else since and the expensive stuff have been relegated to wall hangers. Not going to defret it now. There's a lesson here somewhere. Quote
paul_5 Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Best sound I've ever had comes from a 'bitsa' that cost £150 (max) to cobble together. I too have played MUCH more expensive basses and been disappointed almost immediately. Quote
Evil Undead Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 A name on a headstock, and a higher price, a better bass do not make. Quote
Fat Rich Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1359816386' post='1960692'] ..... There's a lesson here somewhere. [/quote] Yup, it's new to you so it sounds marvellous. Then in a few weeks you'll be thinking it's maybe lacking something you can't quite put your finger on, after a few months you'll get your hands on something else that's "even better".... and the process starts again. There is no cure for GAS. Quote
paul_5 Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1359817867' post='1960721'] A name on a headstock, and a higher price, a better bass do not make. [/quote] True dat. Quote
Dom in Dorset Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I found exactly to fretless sound I was after with a bitsa bass costing about £80 with pickups off a Lindo bass (about £120 new) Quote
visog Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Well you're lucky - you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a princess! Quote
merlin Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 you are a lucky bassist,I envy you.I too have spent thousands.. Quote
mcnach Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='visog' timestamp='1359822684' post='1960801'] Well you're lucky - you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a princess! [/quote] Indeed! Nice find there. I like OLPs, I used to be very vocal about it But you need to be selective, some are truly bad. It looks like the OP got one of the better ones. Quote
waldemar Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I'm hearing you man. Best basses I've ever owned (and probably will ever own...) are two £100 planks (Jap J & bitsa P copies) that I've fettled and loved until there's really not much more I can think of that'll make them play any better... I'll still stop by a music shop on the odd occasion to try something out (or to drool over a special) but always leave with a huge smile on my face knowing that what I've got at home does it for me. The other side of the coin is that I can't stop buying crapulent £100 basses and spending the same again doing the buggers up... Quote
gub Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Know what you mean ! I love my antoria jazz to bits and would never part with it ! Quote
Antiloco Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUmtBZrOBog"]https://www.youtube....h?v=iUmtBZrOBog[/url] [color=#333333][font=arial, sans-serif][size=3]ESP-[size=5][b]LTD[/b][/size] B50[/size][/font][/color] Edited February 2, 2013 by Inti Quote
paul_5 Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1359816819' post='1960701'] Best sound I've ever had comes from a 'bitsa' that cost £150 (max) to cobble together. I too have played MUCH more expensive basses and been disappointed almost immediately. [/quote] Here it is through a DHA VT1EQ https://soundcloud.com/paul_510/fretless-o-d-demo Quote
waldemar Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='Inti' timestamp='1359827786' post='1960909'] [url="http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=iUmtBZrOBog&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiUmtBZrOBog&gl=SE"]http://m.youtube.com...mtBZrOBog&gl=SE[/url] Ltd bass. [/quote] Hahaha! Amazing. I've got [i][b]nothing whatsoever[/b][/i] against people who spend a lot of money on their instruments - except those that believe the more they spend the better they'll play, who really ought to watch this vid... w./ Quote
Pinball Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Interesting post, half of the battle is knowing when you have arrived at a good tone and sticking with it. I'm where I want to be in terms of both guitar and bass guitar tone. I have a long way to go in terms of technique though Quote
mrtcat Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I've got a couple expensive basses but nothing comes within a country mile of the two £120 yamaha bbG5's I have. Quote
Josh Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) [quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1359816386' post='1960692'] Over the last few years, quite a few nice basses have been through my hands. Alembic, Vigier, Fbass, Spector, Custom shop Fender and Status. Couple of weeks ago I bought an £80 OLP MM3 5string from BC member Josh (great guy to deal with) with partly working electrics. I had planned to make this a fretless project however, after 10 minutes with a soldering iron, I fixed the problem (wire off the front vol control) and now, I seem to have found the tone and playability I'd wasted about £10,000 on trying to find. Haven't picked up anything else since and the expensive stuff have been relegated to wall hangers. Not going to defret it now. There's a lesson here somewhere. [/quote] The joy of two volume controls on a Stingray hey? Glad you're happy with it though mate And as I said to Keith when he picked up the bass, my £200 Squier CV is one of the best purchases I've made on any incarnation of this site. Edited February 2, 2013 by Josh Quote
leschirons Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1359818147' post='1960727'] Yup, it's new to you so it sounds marvellous. Then in a few weeks you'll be thinking it's maybe lacking something you can't quite put your finger on, after a few months you'll get your hands on something else that's "even better".... and the process starts again. There is no cure for GAS. [/quote] I know what you're saying FR and it's probably true but in the past, I think I've attempted to convince myself over a certain period of time that the new exotic bass I've just bought was as great as I'd hoped it would be given the price I'd paid. This time however, it was a bit of a WOW moment, and not just for me, the rest of the band too, With the Fbass, Spector and Alembic etc, I always told myself that I'd get used to the neck, get used to the sounds, get used to the feel etc. This cheapy immediately seemed perfect to play and has the sound I've had in my head for all these years but never achieved. So, who knows? For the moment I'm happy to believe that I've found bass Nirvana and can't be arsed about what name is on the headstock. Quote
leschirons Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='Josh' timestamp='1359842503' post='1961166'] The joy of two volume controls on a Stingray hey? Glad you're happy with it though mate And as I said to Keith when he picked up the bass, my £200 Squier CV is one of the best purchases I've made on any incarnation of this site. [/quote] Happy with it? I'm over the moon Josh. Thanks again (and sorry I had no time for a chat) Stay lucky. Quote
3below Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I have been robbed, I thought my £150 bass was the nuts. I must go lower [size=4] My peavey Milestone iii at £40 is not bad. So who has the cheapest bass with a great tone (free as in given does not count) and what is it?[/size] Quote
Pinball Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 It's great when everything works together to make an exceptional sound and its not always money dependent. Someone I know from this group described his P bass as "sonically right" and it was a gem, It cost me a bit more than yours but the same principe applies. Getting that for such a low price is amazing. Quote
megallica Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1359842248' post='1961162'] I've got a couple expensive basses but nothing comes within a country mile of the two £120 yamaha bbG5's I have. [/quote] I played a lot of gigs and recorded with a BBG5S and the tone was exactly what I wanted. Quote
Vinny Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 [quote name='3below' timestamp='1359843338' post='1961186'] I have been robbed, I thought my £150 bass was the nuts. I must go lower My peavey Milestone iii at £40 is not bad. So who has the cheapest bass with a great tone (free as in given does not count) and what is it? [/quote] I love the sound of my Musima P copy. £20, but I know someone'll be along and beat that soon enough! Quote
topo morto Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Already not the lowest bidder I see but my main axe cost me £30, a 'Vintage' P-bass copy. Perfectly good P I think... well I like it anyway. Quote
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