Gigged a "cheapo" bass last night,

[Les]

Picked up an Epiphone EB-0 on Friday, played it a bit on Saturday to check everything was as it should be. It was a very different thing to my current weapon of choice, my Mustang and I was umming and aghhing about it, then thought, sod it, gig with it, don't take a back up and then you'll defo know after a full gig.

What a revelation, it was great, well put together, it looks truly beautiful (it's the ebony one), the neck is very good, slim and fast and it sounded good, the band liked it.

I paid £62.50 for this on ebay but [b]these things are only 140 quid new[/b].

Where does this quality come from ? I've been playing for 35 years now and after a couple of seriously rubbishy starter basses I've had 3 P's, a Mustang and a Stingray so I've had decent basses for a long time. I swear there was nothing this quality in the equivalent price range when I was starting out. This thing is so far removed from the "planks with strings" I had when I was embarking on my bass playing journey.

I've read the reviews and heard all the one trick pony stuff, and to be fair it is, but what a usable tool for that money.

The only thing I can find fault with is the neck dive, it's really bad, had to use a wide leather strap and that helped a lot, but if I end up not using this much it will be cos' of the neck dive and nothing else.



Amazed of Wigan

[Prime_BASS]

The accuracy of CNC machines these days.

I would argue that something a but more expensive will last a fair bit longer, abd the hardware on those cheap Epiphone to me is rather soft. Also I hate with a passion the 3 point bridge.

[alyctes]

I don't know, but the obvious answer is CNC machining.

[Phil Adams]

I'm sort of beginner to intermediate standard, and for me confidence and comfort are king. I find that my cheapest relics play best, so I stick with them, and I save the Fender for when (if) I have to record. If I'm comfortable, I'm more likely to get in the groove and "play".

[Paul S]

I bought one about a year ago and found much the same thing. I was surprised how playable it is - slim neck and *extremely* lightweight. Weighs less than my Hohner B2A! Being an inveterate fiddler I changed the bridge to a Hipshot, the pickup to a Dimarzio Model 1 and wiring loom to Ki0gon, all of which are improvements over stock and made it a better bass. Neck dive is helped by a wide, non-slippy strap - quite happy to gig/rehearse with it on bad back days when only the lightest of basses will do.

[chriswareham]

As others have said, CNC milling has lowered the cost and increased the quality of budget guitars. The Chinese and other far Eastern factories are also a factor, as the exchange rate (deliberately kept low in some cases) makes exports cheaper in the destination markets. If I compare a Squier Jazz that I played recently with the horrendous Aria Pro II that was my first bass, the quality of the Squier is nothing short of amazing - for less than the Aria cost regardless of inflation!

[stingrayPete1977]

The only thing to remember is the conditions at the factories most of the cheap(er) version guitars are made is less than ideal, if they protest then the companies behind them just close them and open in a new country.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlzXFuFOz_0[/media]

Also take a minute to think that it is a surprise this clip exists really as in the countries involved often free speech is not exactly an option is it?

Edited August 25, 2013 by stingrayPete1977

[Roger2611]

I gigged Friday night with an £80 EBay buy Mike Dirnt Squier Precision bass, it played brilliantly and the band commented on how good it sounded.

[Les]

I guess the lady in Pete's clip answered my question about this bass punching so far above it's weight when she ask's us to ask ourselves why is this guitar so cheap ?

My electric guitar is actually a Cort M700 too

I suppose deep down most of us know this state of affairs exists and choose to ignore it. There's probably a similar clip pertinent to the jeans and T-shirt I'm wearing.

[discreet]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377459686' post='2187840']
There's probably a similar clip pertinent to the jeans and T-shirt I'm wearing.
[/quote]

+1 And the computer you're using, and your phone and TV and hi-fi, etc. etc. Difficult to avoid. Goat farming beckons.

Edited August 25, 2013 by discreet

[Dandelion]

I have gigged an EB0 too. It is a perfectly adequate bass for providing a bit of tuneful thump. But I cannot get the action down to where I want it for accessing the higher frets, maybe it needs a shim or something. Or maybe I need to stick to the frets 1 to 5. It is crazy good value bass though.

[chriswareham]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377438729' post='2187492']
Also take a minute to think that it is a surprise this clip exists really as in the countries involved often free speech is not exactly an option is it?
[/quote]

Err, that's South Korea, not China or some other dictatorship. It's actually a pretty liberal place with decent democratic institutions and low levels of corruption.

Now China on the other hand ...

[stingrayPete1977]

Well the clip is in California

[geoffbyrne]

[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1377461607' post='2187873']
I have gigged an EB0 too. It is a perfectly adequate bass for providing a bit of tuneful thump. But I cannot get the action down to where I want it for accessing the higher frets, maybe it needs a shim or something. Or maybe I need to stick to the frets 1 to 5. It is crazy good value bass though.
[/quote]

I shimmed mine with a strip of business card behind the 2 screws nearest the pickup. Gave the neck the perfect tilt to get a decent action with the bridge adjusted up just a bit. A plastic credit card was too much.

G.

[chriswareham]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377467277' post='2187957']
Well the clip is in California
[/quote]

I have to admit I was going off the video title, and had assumed it was shot in South Korea . I do seem to recall that the US ranks below South Korea (and a surprising number of other countries) in the corruption league tables though.

[Les]

Any one fitted a push pull coil split to one of these ?

[molan]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377430486' post='2187354']

I've read the reviews and heard all the one trick pony stuff, and to be fair it is, but what a usable tool for that money.

[/quote]

If that one trick is the one you're looking for then it's brilliant

I must admit that I often find very little use for loads of tonal trickery on a bass. I generally set everything flat and just make minor tweaks. About the only inboard control I use is to cut a little high end on certain songs.

I had a real cheapo EBO type bass for a while, Aria I think. I really liked the sound but the neck dive and cheese grater action eventually killed it for me.

I gave it to a young teenager who desperately wanted to learn bass. A few years later I heard he'd become a decent drummer, often wondered if the Aria put him off bass for life

[chriswareham]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377468887' post='2187992']
Any one fitted a push pull coil split to one of these ?
[/quote]

You could always ask Mark D Philips to do one of his bespoke pickup conversions .

[Paul S]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377468887' post='2187992']
Any one fitted a push pull coil split to one of these ?
[/quote]

Not exactly what you mean but there is quite a nice vid here of a Dimarzio pup swap carried out on a Gibson and all the options available. I guess the differences in the coil tap would be the same for the Epiphone one.

http://youtu.be/OFB9o9agOsA

When I fitted mine I kept it simple and didn't go for the series/parallel switch.

[Jazzneck]

Sorry I'm late and apologies to OP but I was going to start a similar thread when I got home last night - I fully understand where you're coming from.

I played a long outdoor charity gig with my £60 eBay OLP MMalike yesterday and was in seventh heaven, for similar reasons.

I used the bass , Behringer BDI21, two leads and straight into the Behringer based PA.

I had a great range of sounds and a load of fun playing everything from 1930s country blues through Little Feat to a reggaefied version of Oasis.

More than once, the rest of the band and some punters commented on how good the bass sounded and were astonished when they found out what I was using costing me less than £100 all up.

There's a moral here somewhere 'cos it certainly ain't my playing skills which made it sound good.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Jazzneck

[discreet]

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1377512339' post='2188239']
There's a moral here somewhere...
[/quote]

There is. Bass guitars are essentially simple beasts - they don't need to be expensive - and the BDI-21 is still the biggest bargain in bassdom. When you look at the big picture, even £5K basses are cheap compared with the average price of orchestral instruments.

Edited August 26, 2013 by discreet

[lurksalot]

I was at a carboot sale this morning and saw a 'swift' bass , it was offered at £60 I knew not of the brand and passed on the deal but I thought it was for nothing .........until I googled it and found they are only £50 new

[Samashton12]

I had an EB0 with a Push - Pull and DiMarzio Model One in it, it was my first proper bass.

Sold it a few months ago after realising I look silly with a shortscale as I'm 6ft 4".. heartbreaking, seeing as i would love to own a 74' EB3