Low budget Basses which are worth owning.

[casapete]

1 hour ago, project_c said:

I have one of these incoming, £190. By far the cheapest bass I've ever owned. 

I've been deliberating over it for ages, I have a mild short-scale phobia (worried I'll lose my ability to play normal basses), and I normally shy away from Chinese stuff, but I kept going back to the shop to play this one, played it on 3 separate occasions and I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with it. Setup is great, action is low, intonation is fine, it's light, it's basically absolutely fine. I initially preferred the Mex Mustang PJ (still prefer how it looks tbh), but the lack of upper register access is a major issue with those basses. Tone-wise, weirdly, even with the crap pickups I prefer the Jaguar to the Mustang. I'm short so the dimensions of this bass are perfect for me, probably more so than regular basses if I'm honest.

Having said that, it's getting a new pair of pickups (Quarter Pounder PJ) and a set of tapewounds. The new pickups and tapewound strings will cost more than the bass itself. Also in an ideal world I would like a much higher quality maple neck with a maple board, but despite endless searching, I haven't found anyone willing to make me one, so I'll stick with it as it is for now. 

Nice bass, just like mine. TBH do try the stock pickups before shelling out on replacements - I found them okay,

and along with the rest of the bass just fantastic for the money.

[martthebass]

Oh you 2 are just making it worse!

Hadn't thought about the upper register access.  Now you mention it I wondered why I found upper register stuff in the bands set easier with my Sterling than the Mustang, thought it was me being cack-handed, 

What's the neck dive like on the Jag SS - I briefly had a long scale Jaguar and it was definitely present on that one?

 

[casapete]

1 minute ago, martthebass said:

Oh you 2 are just making it worse!

Hadn't thought about the upper register access.  Now you mention it I wondered why I found upper register stuff in the bands set easier with my Sterling than the Mustang, thought it was me being cack-handed, 

What's the neck dive like on the Jag SS - I briefly had a long scale Jaguar and it was definitely present on that one?

 

Minimal really Mart. The body (agathis) on mine was quite light, but the neck didn't seem overly weighty so it 

balanced okay, with a good strap. You know you want it.....

[martthebass]

True, I do, just don't want to pay full price (when do we ever!) and you can't get the silver finish anymore.  I still feel aggrieved at paying (well) over £300 for my Mikey Way Sig Mustang because I needed 'silver sparkle' for the Glam band when they were less than £250 new!   

Edited February 22, 2018 by martthebass
stupid auto-correct

[Rumple]

1 hour ago, project_c said:

I have one of these incoming, £190. By far the cheapest bass I've ever owned. 

I've been deliberating over it for ages, I have a mild short-scale phobia (worried I'll lose my ability to play normal basses), and I normally shy away from Chinese stuff, but I kept going back to the shop to play this one, played it on 3 separate occasions and I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with it. Setup is great, action is low, intonation is fine, it's light, it's basically absolutely fine. I initially preferred the Mex Mustang PJ (still prefer how it looks tbh), but the lack of upper register access is a major issue with those basses. Tone-wise, weirdly, even with the crap pickups I prefer the Jaguar to the Mustang. I'm short so the dimensions of this bass are perfect for me, probably more so than regular basses if I'm honest.

Having said that, it's getting a new pair of pickups (Quarter Pounder PJ) and a set of tapewounds. The new pickups and tapewound strings will cost more than the bass itself. Also in an ideal world I would like a much higher quality maple neck with a maple board, but despite endless searching, I haven't found anyone willing to make me one, so I'll stick with it as it is for now. 

I have GAS for one of these, I mostly play 32" scale basses these days but I fancy trying out short scale and the Squier Jag seems like a cheap way to give it a go.

[uk_lefty]

I mention it quite often but my five string fretless Kramer from the musicyo days was a steal at £300 shipped and import tax paid in 2002. Second hand the right handers from the same range seem to go for £150 now which is a great deal. I gig mine every now and then and it's a great lightweight bass. The pickups are best fully on, i.e. not coil tapped to single coil, but it's a full and rich bass sound with a great feel to the neck, very lightweight and comfortable. Ok, it's a bit pointy and metal looking but that's ok

Edited February 22, 2018 by uk_lefty

[project_c]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

Nice bass, just like mine. TBH do try the stock pickups before shelling out on replacements - I found them okay,

and along with the rest of the bass just fantastic for the money.

Already ordered the replacements, but I agree there's not much wrong with the existing pickups. I'm only replacing them because I have a thing about tapewounds and Quarter Pounders, I really like the combination on P's and PJ's. Hopefully they'll sound ok on this bass, if not i have another bass they can go in..

[casapete]

19 minutes ago, project_c said:

Already ordered the replacements, but I agree there's not much wrong with the existing pickups. I'm only replacing them because I have a thing about tapewounds and Quarter Pounders, I really like the combination on P's and PJ's. Hopefully they'll sound ok on this bass, if not i have another bass they can go in..

Ah, okay. I must get round to trying some flats, don't know about tapewounds though! Love a PJ combo too.

[Creeper]

Overwater by tanglewood second hand for £120, not the lightest but build quality and sound is spot on.