Cheaper Basses I've missed out on...

[Bridgehouse]

14 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Another cheapy worth grabbing is the old Korean Cort C4p, they have a Fishman piezo bridge and really tight build quality despite looking rather plain. I picked one up for £90 and still use it as my backup bass, albeit with a regular bridge due to the original preamp failing. Last one I saw on eBay went for under £200.

That Cort looks like a bargain!

[lemmywinks]

2 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

That Cort looks like a bargain!

 

When I had to move to 5 strings I had a new baby and had just moved house so money was tight, I bought an Ibanez EDB555 but didn't get on with it so bought that Cort and a £60 Shine 5er (actually a fancy amber quilt thing, looked pretty sweet) as backup. Was playing weddings with two basses totalling £150 and nobody was any the wiser!

[kodiakblair]

5 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

 

Tune have always fascinated me..

Cracking basses 🙂

 

4 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Vintage V1004SP and V1004DX

 

Why oh why did I sell them 😢 The 5'er was stunning.

 

[Marty Forrer]

My Manne Design Malibu 5 is very uncommon. Manne is a boutique Italian luthier, but the Design series were made in China using the Italian components. My one is the only one I've ever come across. I've had a Wal, Pedulla, Tobias and a few USA Fenders, but this is as good as any of them. I bought it off Reverb, and it shipped from Finland (!) to New Zealand.

 

[grenadillabama]

There was a Squire Telecaster bass that used a Tele gtr body and a 32"scale neck. One had a single coil pickup and one had two pickups. It was cheap and I missed out.

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

Cracking basses 🙂

 

 

Why oh why did I sell them 😢 The 5'er was stunning.

 

 

Crikey that's amazing! Just out of interest how much did you sell that 5er for?

[kodiakblair]

@lemmywinks

 

Think I got £220 though might have been £250. 

Got really lucky with the 5'er, the 4 string looked a bit plain next to it 🙂

 

[King Tut]

Ibanez Talman TMB30 if you fancy a foray into SS territory. I often gig mine and it usually comes as a spare to Stray gigs. Mines got a few mods but they're good to go out the box. Nice necks, retro looks and punchy and resonant! And I picked up a Bb400 for £80 - that's a good un!

[NancyJohnson]

On the subject of cheap basses, there's a well documented thread within these hallowed pages about the Gumtree job-lot I picked up a few years back; two guitars, a bass and a little practice amp for £50.00.

 

The bass is an Aria Pro-II Primary Bass, essentially a '78 Japanese Precision on bass copy and I still own it.  It's undeniably undergone a ton of work since I got it, but the strong thing here is that the body, neck (well, after some fettling) and the machines (replacement Schallers) were all sound, which just gave me a platform for upgrading bridge and electrics.

 

There are bargains out there to be had.  I think I just got lucky.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by NancyJohnson

[kodiakblair]

Not mine but a cracking bit of kit for no money.

 

Good friend was coming up to visit and made a detour on the way. Well known eBay seller " green alsatian " had this lovely Peavey Cirrus BXP going for £199 😱

 

Gillian zipped across from Norfolk to Liverpool area to snatch the prize then on to Central Scotland. Back then I had 4 or 5 Cirrus basses and Gillian had 3 , could say we were familiar with them 🙂

Drawback with many Cirrus BXP models is the gloss finish ,it can feel sticky ; not the case with the satin "darkwood" version. Pair of us put it through the paces and were well impressed.

 

Looked like a Cirrus. Felt like a Cirrus. Played like a Cirrus and sounded like a Cirrus.

 

Bloody Hell , a £199 Cirrus 😀

 

It's the one on the far right 👍

 

[ead]

I had a Peavey Zephyr C4 (I think it was called).  Cracking neck-through 4-string bass for sub £200.

 

For something a little different, on ebay atm is this Lag bass.  I actually used to own this very instrument and it is a really nice 24 fret Jazz bass.  I've actually been thinking hard about buying it back.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125013610468?hash=item1d1b644fe4:g:L1gAAOSwY1VhmmsY

[lemmywinks]

Tanglewood Warriors have been going down in price over the years, seen a few go for sub £100. The Warrior I is a Warwick Corvette clone with JJ pickups and the Warrior II is a Thumb clone with a single MM pickup. The Warrior 3 is the most interesting as it has an original shape and f-holes:

 

One went for £80 last month, normal price is £120 - £200:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tanglewood-Warrior-3-FH-Bass-Guitar-Transluscent-Green-Relist-due-to-timewaster-/185125600048?hash=item2b1a587b30%3Ag%3ANhgAAOSwkEdhXFcO&nma=true&si=xcdkfYLg3Jf2in%2FQSCIic1WvPj4%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Grassie]

40 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Tanglewood Warriors have been going down in price over the years, seen a few go for sub £100. The Warrior I is a Warwick Corvette clone with JJ pickups and the Warrior II is a Thumb clone with a single MM pickup. The Warrior 3 is the most interesting as it has an original shape and f-holes:

 

One went for £80 last month, normal price is £120 - £200:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tanglewood-Warrior-3-FH-Bass-Guitar-Transluscent-Green-Relist-due-to-timewaster-/185125600048?hash=item2b1a587b30%3Ag%3ANhgAAOSwkEdhXFcO&nma=true&si=xcdkfYLg3Jf2in%2FQSCIic1WvPj4%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Infinity vibes...

[Reggaebass]

I don’t know anything about these, but here’s a  review in a new video from Don chandler on a low budget bass

 

[lemmywinks]

10 hours ago, Grassie said:

Infinity vibes...

 

I thought that but when you compare it to one the only similarity is the F holes really, did remind me of one though. The horn shapes and. err.  rear end protrusion are more like a Ken Smith BSR to my eyes.

 

Shame Tanglewood never did that one in fretless and kept the entire Warrior line to 4 strings only IIRC.

[la bam]

Just for something different....

 

For dirt cheap second hand a Vintage V4 can be had for around £100 - absolute steal. Put some grounding tape in it, and your good to go! Put a gzr set of pickups in and you've a top level bass for £200.

 

G&L l100's (especially natural) are fantastic value for money. You can get them new for under £400.

 

Spector legends are superb and can be had second hand for £300.

 

I've recently picked up a mint hohner b2a within your budget and it's a superb instrument - passive and active, dual volume, tone and a drop d tuner built in.

 

 

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, la bam said:

Spector legends are superb and can be had second hand for £300.

 

 

 

 

A 5 string Korean Legend sold on eBay near me for £103 the other week, had to stop myself from buying it just because it was cheap. 

[la bam]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

 

A 5 string Korean Legend sold on eBay near me for £103 the other week, had to stop myself from buying it just because it was cheap. 

 

I've had 2 - a cherry 4 and a holoflash 4 - they really are stunning.

[Supernaut]

Secondhand Sandberg Electra. 

 

Will beat anything at that price. 

[Mudpup]

Having had a few posh basses over the last few years (Spector Euros, USA Musicpersons in many flavours, USA G+L's, Sandberg California and suchlike) I'm now pretty settled on 2 that I paid less than £500 each for. 

 

A Zon Sonus Standard (the Korean import version) that i picked up used and I love it to bits. Can't ever see me selling this one as they're super rare. Real modern zingy sound but with proper depth to it. 

 

A Cort A4 Plus that I picked up used recently for way less than half the £800 RRP. Its a stunning bass and feels worth twice the full money. Easily on par with my old Spector and much more comfy to play. The neck is probably the most comfy neck I've ever had on a bass. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Mudpup

[Bridgehouse]

6 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

Having had a few posh basses over the last few years (Spector Euros, USA Musicpersons in many flavours, USA G+L's, Sandberg California and suchlike) I'm now pretty settled on 3 that I paid less than £500 each for. 

 

A Zon Sonus Standard (the Korean import version) that i picked up used and I love it to bits. Can't ever see me selling this one as they're super rare. Real modern zingy sound but with proper depth to it. 

 

A Cort A4 Plus that I picked up used recently for way less than half the £800 RRP. Its a stunning bass and feels worth twice the full money. Easily on par with my old Spector and much more comfy to play. The neck is probably the most comfy neck I've ever had on a bass. 

 

And I still have the 50s Classic Lacquer P Bass that a certain Mr B House sold me a few years back at a bargain price. 

 

 

Lol indeed - I’ve not bought anything for under £500 but I’ve certainly sold for under £500! 😃

[tauzero]

Another vote for the SGC Nanyo here. Also Peaveys in general - I've had a Grind BXP in 6-string and 5-string form and if I was still playing 4-strings, I'd be quite happy with one of those.

 

Hohner - the B2 (B2A for preference) or a Jack if you could get it at a reasonable price. Headlessness, once you are used to it, has many advantages.

 

Cort - GB74, as used by Pete Trewavas of Marillion when he's not using a Warwick Thumb.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 20/12/2021 at 23:56, lemmywinks said:

 

Yeah I regret not buying the one near me, I had a quick play of it and it felt great. From what I can gather there's a lot of variation in the tops.

 

The HK Custom basses from Germany had a similar vibe to those Vintage ones, wish I'd have grabbed one when they were floating around on eBay for £350, basically a straight ripoff of a Marleaux Consat!:

 

My brother had one of those built for hi with custom tweaks for over £800. Sold it and regrets doing so very deeply.

[Bunion]

All the Wal’s I could have picked up for trades or cheap cash in the 80’s and 90’s 😩

[Stub Mandrel]

Four cheap basses I have that I'd recommend highly:

 

Hohner B2 (My brother gave it to me about 1987). Huge sound, supremely playable and tiny.

 

Hohner Jack Custom V (£130 🤣). My only fiver, really easy to play but neck like an aircraft carrier when you first pick it up).

 

Westone Thunder (about £100). Sounds like a Precision, but more so...

 

Squier Jaguar Short Scale (bought new for £180, but now they go for about twice that s/h). Ridiculously lovely, fun and comfortable to play with one of the nicest neks ever (I A/B'd it with a Warwick in the shop, despite being several times the price the Jag blew the Warwick out of the water for playability). The J-pickup is a bit weak