best active bass £500-£1000?

[theyellowcar]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1406564928' post='2512496']
Interesting.......and what about OLP models? Or are they significantly more expensive second hand?
[/quote]

The OLP basses were the 'Squier' basses of the MM range about a decade ago. Nice basses if you got a good one, they rarely pop up for sale nowadays, I'm assuming because everyone who has one wants to keep hold of it. These are way below your minimum budget though so probably not the kind of quality you're after.

As said above you can afford a like-new-but-used Stingray, so why settle for a budget lookalike?

[krispn]

Buy A basswitch or one of their new tone spark thingys. Fully fledged EQ with two bands of semi parametric mids as wella s a very musical bass and treble control too. The Basswitch is also an A/B box so you can keep your passive bass tone and then go active at the step of a button. Go check out the Basswitch demo's - its a total live tool too with boost, DI function etc etc

If you like how your bass plays this will be all you'd need with no mods, simply plug and play!

Edited July 28, 2014 by krispn

[Funky Dunky]

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1406567604' post='2512543']


The OLP basses were the 'Squier' basses of the MM range about a decade ago. Nice basses if you got a good one, they rarely pop up for sale nowadays, I'm assuming because everyone who has one wants to keep hold of it. These are way below your minimum budget though so probably not the kind of quality you're after.

As said above you can afford a like-new-but-used Stingray, so why settle for a budget lookalike?
[/quote]

Thanks for explaining that, I'd seen the term OLP floating about never knew exactly what it meant, I thought it was a really good, highly desirable but rare second-hand MM!

And what you say about budget look-a-likes makes sense.

[Funky Dunky]

The Spector Euro is a monster of a bass; it has just made my "dream collection" wishlist, but - and this will either be completely wrong or seem needlessly harsh - I'm not sure it's versatile enough for a function band. That huge, dark tone impresses me so much it borders on arousal, and if I were playing in say a rock/metal band, it's be absolutely immense.....but if I'm called to play Shania Twain and Beatles numbers, it might be too much of a menacing sound.

But I'll tell you what, I'd love to have one.

[drTStingray]

A 2 or 3 band Musicman Stingray used would sound great - just have to remember to play over the neck joint to get those hollow Beatles bass sounds.

Or a second hand Stingray 5 - even more variation.

[Pinball]

hah all the basses I would have suggested were mentioned in the first few boats e.g. SR Ibanaz's, Stingrays, Warwicks. I would maybe add in specifically Sterling Ray34's and Warwick FNA's

[The Badderer]

Mate you will find a decent used warwick on here no probs. i use an active warwick $$ german made and it is great. u can find one for about £500-£600 no probs just be patient. there are some fancier ones with nice woods for a bit more, but use don't gain much aside from the looks.

e.g. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/240559-price-drop-now-l850-custom-order-warwick-corvette-special-edition-no-4142-zebrano-matched-headstock/

i also use a spector and the tone is amazing. one here for £600 with a couple of repairs needed.
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/233289-spector-euro-4nscrfm-l600-inc-postage/page__p__2508656__hl__warwick__fromsearch__1#entry2508656

i also use a lakland 44-02 deluxe with bartonlini pups and it has a really great warm sound that you can tweak for a great variety of sound.

Warwick with $$ is really versatile and massive variety of tones.
Spectors are amazing and really distinctive.
Lakland is the best to play if you are after a slim neck as it has the thinnest neck front to back of any of my basses.

Be patient and buy 2nd hand. if it's not the right bass for you, you can sell it on for next to no loss.

[White Cloud]

The original question posed is the basschat version of opening a can of worms.

In this price range the world is your oyster.......play as many of your preferred options as you can - and remember that instrument choice is highly personal and subjective.

[Kev]

One thing that I don't think has been pointed out: I really wouldn't go into this thinking about spending a certain amount. Get down to a bass shop, try as many basses as you can, find basses that you like and basses that you don't, and then and [i]only[/i] then look at the prices and see if you can afford to buy new, second hand or neither. Appreciate this wont be possible for harder to find basses, but I think its the best way of finding what [i]you[/i] want, not what we think you want

[Kev]

....and get a second hand SSI

[The Badderer]

another spector http://basschat.co.uk/topic/241070-fs-spector-ns4cr-ibanez-1305-pm/

[Funky Dunky]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1406585997' post='2512861']
....and get a second hand SSI
[/quote]

:-D

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1406585997' post='2512861']
....and get a second hand SSI
[/quote]

...this!

[Funky Dunky]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1406585971' post='2512860']
One thing that I don't think has been pointed out: I really wouldn't go into this thinking about spending a certain amount. Get down to a bass shop, try as many basses as you can, find basses that you like and basses that you don't, and then and [i]only[/i] then look at the prices and see if you can afford to buy new, second hand or neither. Appreciate this wont be possible for harder to find basses, but I think its the best way of finding what [i]you[/i] want, not what we think you want
[/quote]

This. This is really sound advice. Thank you mate. And I still want an SS1.

...and a Stingray.

and a Spector.....

[warwickhunt]

Well I can sell you a SSI and a Sterling! LOL

[theyellowcar]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1406663484' post='2513581']


This. This is really sound advice. Thank you mate. And I still want an SS1.

...and a Stingray.

and a Spector.....
[/quote]

Buying any of those used poses little or no risk - the worst case if you buy one and don't like it is you flip it on to the next person for the same price!