Gigging with a cheap bass

[TimR]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1411502521' post='2560221']
...
Perhaps I should have taken up violin so that I could blame my performances on the fact that I can't afford a Stradivarius
[/quote]

As you've mentioned Stradivarius twice now...

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/163896-violinists-cant-tell-the-difference-between-stradivarius-violins-and-new-ones

[Russ]

I played a Revelation 5-string today - spectacularly good instrument for £200. It's from a British company, with a natural ash body, pearloid scratchplate, blocked maple neck and great pickups with chunky MM-style polepieces. It was as good as any mid-to-high-end Jazz-type bass out there. I'm thinking of getting one and sticking a J-Retro in it. I've got some high-end gear (Sei, Spector, etc) but I still love a good cheapie.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Russ' timestamp='1411572043' post='2560788']
It was as good as any mid-to-high-end Jazz-type bass out there. . . . I'm thinking of getting one and sticking a J-Retro in it.
[/quote]

If it's that good . . . . why?

[Russ]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1411573498' post='2560820']
If it's that good . . . . why?
[/quote]

Because I like having an active bass and onboard tone shaping beyond what a passive tone control can do. It'll make an already good sounding bass sound even better. You've got to start with something that's good to begin with - you can't polish a turd.

[Earbrass]

[quote name='BigGuyAtTheBack' timestamp='1411455353' post='2559577']
Just about to gig a £40 Peavey Milestone 3 from evilbay.
[/quote]
Great bass - you can't go wrong there.

[BigRedX]

All depends on your definition of "cheap"...

AFAIAC Fender basses are cheap ones.

[Bottle]

Funny old world, ain't it?

My go-to bass is still the Ibanez I bought from new more than six years ago. Only cost me £150-ish. Pretty much stock - same hardware. Only after-market mods were a better set of knobs and a pickup selector switch (Fender S1 style). With a good setup and new strings it blows my other basses out of the water (OK, I admit that ain't difficult, but you get the gist)

I'm still looking to upgrade, maybe the Squier VM Jazz 4-banger, which to my mind offers more room for modification, there being more scope for using 'standard' Jazz parts etc. But not yet.....

Ian

[paulears]

When I was 17, I had a Japanese Strat copy. I [s]wanted[/s] needed a real Strat. Two years later I bought one, on HP - with my old one as a part-exchange. It took me another year to realise the copy was a nicer guitar, and was easier to play, and suited my playing style. I could never get the Strat to be totally happy with the lighter strings I liked, and the tremolo mechanism never worked quite as well, or had the right adjustment, no matter how hard I tried. I eventually started to collect guitars, and the Strat, while pretty, and unworn, get played rarely! I'm a recent convert to a Jazz Bass, but the first on-stage ding to the headstock really hurt! My old bass was tired and a bit tatty. The audience don't even notice. Many can't even spot the difference between a guitar and a bass!

[CHW]

My most "expensive" bass is a modern player Jazz bass, which was still well below £500 and it definitely sounds better than any of the £80-£150 basses I've had kicking around for years of various ilk, That said, I've gigged with a battered old encore precision copy, an Epiphone short scale bass, a Wesley 5 string and a crafter precision copy. The only one that really didn't have a good sound was the Encore- even so it has a special place in my heart as it was the bass my parents bought for me aged 15 after months of cajoling.

[blue]

Pictured, Lake Placid Blue, Squire P Bass. If I were to go second tier this bass would be for me. I've always loved the Tele style head stock.

Blue

Edited September 24, 2014 by blue

[blue]

I don't think any of us would call my Sting Bass cheap or inexpensive. It's cool, I love the look. I keep the white pick guard on.

I'm not sure how close it is to the original production. It's a MIJ Fender which I think have a good reputation. I don't gig with it much, the single coil PU seems to get weird with my pedals.

Blue

Edited September 24, 2014 by blue

[lurksalot]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1411583377' post='2560948']
All depends on your definition of "cheap"...

[/quote]

Are we talking of a basses or shots

[dave_bass5]

I sold off my Fenders and Lakland's a few years ago.
These days my only basses are Squiers and ive yet to miss the more costly basses i had. Admittedly this was a cost cutting move at the start, but ive probably done over 200 gigs with a Squier CVP or Jazz, and a Squier VM PJ, and other than a 5 string i cant see any bass that i would need to purchase in the future to make me sound, play or feel better (although lottery funding would change this i expect

Not too sure about the "punters wont know or care" comments. I would assume these are more aimed at non instrument playing punters, as ive had loads of guitarists and bass players come up to me after gigs and get chatting about gear.

[chris_b]

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1411653100' post='2561583']
Not too sure about the "punters wont know or care" comments.
[/quote]

+1

I have joined several bands and been given many deps on the strength of my what people in the audience have seen and heard.

Never underestimate who is in the audience, and what they know.

[miles'tone]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1411654969' post='2561607']


+1

I have joined several bands and been given many deps on the strength of my what people in the audience have seen and heard.

Never underestimate who is in the audience, and what they know.
[/quote]

Very true, same here.

[paul_5]

I gig a bass that I put together for less than £150. For me it's the best playing bass I've ever had. Admitedly I built it to be just that, but I know that I can turn up to a rough venue and not worry about having to use it as a weapon at the end of the night.

[paul_5]

Oops, double post.

Edited September 25, 2014 by paul_5

[Protium]

My main bass is a 1996 Fender MIM P-bass which I picked up for £90 a few years ago

[alyctes]

My main bass is the no-name CAR J-style I got from Mr Foxen for £80 plus postage. It's done me very well.

[sbrag]

What is a cheap bass?

Most of the basses listed here seem to be bargains rather than cheaply made. My yamaha bb1100s wouldn't sell for much more than £250 now but will happily keep up with basses over a grand.

No one is mentioning the old jap crap eg kay antoria etc which has a certain charm. I had an antoria sg bass for a bit and it had a cool tone I just couldn't get on with the short scale neck.

[TimR]

I've got a 1985 Sidewinder. It was £120 in 1985. Absolutely impossible to play, the neck needs adjusting if you put it down and pick it up. A good tone can be had if the moon is in alignment with Jupiter and there are no taxi cabs within 150mile radius.

[Dave_the_bass]

The most expensive bass I own cost me £250. I've gigged that quite a lot, but it's not got the right sound from my new band.

My tanglewood was circa £180, brand new, and has been gigged soo many times that it's probably only cost a few pence per gig.

Tonight I gigged with my yamaha. This is a total budget model yamaha that I picked up at a bargain price of less than £90. It's a beautiful bass to play and has a lovely full sound. It was my first gig with this bass; but it definitely won't be the last.

I'm unlikely to ever gig an expensive bass as I don't think I could justify the price of buying one!

[MacDaddy]

I've got custom made and custom shop made, but when I did a gig with a no-name oriental bass borrowed off a mate, nobody noticed I was using a different bass, let alone heard any difference in sound.

[JTUK]

I'll make the distinction between cheap and quality.
I'll pay for quality.

[mcnach]

[quote name='barkin' timestamp='1411404528' post='2559195']
I've gigged a Sue Ryder P too. And I've done 100's of gigs with a Westone Thunder, and more recently a Vintage V4 that I picked up from here for under a ton.

If it plays OK, and makes a sound that you're happy with, what's the problem?

As for those that say "it has to have the F word on the headstock" ... F 'em. As long as [i][b]I'm[/b][/i] happy playing it, I don't give a monkey's what anybody else might think.
[/quote]


Exactly.

I used to gig with an OLP and I sometimes encountered snobs... the best one was one that didn't realise it was an OLP (it goes to show how much he knew) and after the gig he was talking to me about how great we sounded, how great the bass sounded, and how Stingrays are the best over any Fender etc (cue me smiling politely) and then he said something about people mistakenly going for cheap instruments but a Stingray is where it's at. You can guess my joy pointing out that I was playing an OLP that night Sure, it had a new pickup and I installed a preamp, and the bass had been setup to perfection by my luthier friend... but it was an OLP.

Now I don't have that OLP, sadly, sold in a moment of madness... I do have a Stingray that I preferred to the OLP, but the OLP was a really good instrument in its own right.

Lately I've been playing more Jazz basses. I own... 5. One is a Vintage brand, my first bass that I bought back after selling it. I have gigged with it but I do not use it that much. Then I have two Fender 75RI (60s and 70s spacing), a Squier and a J&D. All those have been gigged. In order of preference: Squier, Fender 75RI (70s), J&D, Fender 75RI (60s). So lately I have been using a red Squier Jazz that cost me £75, which has a plywood body and the most amazing neck. It's a little battered, but it adds "mojo" and it looks inexpensive enough that people don't look at it with bad intentions. The neck pickup routing is pretty neat, so I use it without a pickguard at the moment. Ok, it does have DiMarzio Area J pickups now, and a J-Retro preamp (with stacked Kazz-style plastic knobs to preserve the traditional looks). It's a monster. It feels great and sounds fantastic. And I prefer it to my two Fenders - not that they're bad basses at all, otherwise I would not have bought them! But I just prefer the Squier.