Plexi fakes

[msb]

Looking at plexi Dan Armstrong fakes for fun today, it seems I can get one delivered to my door for under four hundred. The originals fetch serious prices , and certainly had their issues. I’m tempted , but have yet to order one. Some reviews say they’re wretched , others were pleasantly surprised to find a bass they said “wasn’t bad at all”. So there’s some luck involved.

This would not be a primary bass , simply something fun and funky. 

[lemmywinks]

It's an AliExpress fake so buy it with the idea that you'll definitely get a nice wallhanger, might get something half decent and if you're lucky you could get a good guitar after a pickup swap.

 

A pal of mine has just received a Chibson Slash AFD, looks the absolute nuts if you're into LPs but the fingerboard wasn't radiused properly before fretting so there's a slight hump between frets 7-9. Despite the overall finish being very good (and better than some recent USA Gibsons) they've also managed to mount the neck and hardware slightly off the centre line which is a pretty common thing. Not worth sorting (was £230 after a partial refund), it's a fun novelty guitar that plays ok with a bit of buzz and looks cool on his wall.

 

If that Dan Armstrong copy was closer to £200 it might be worth a punt for a bit of fun.

[msb]

Just discovered it is not a shortscale , unfortunately a game changer for me.

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, msb said:

Just discovered it is not a shortscale , unfortunately a game changer for me.

 

If you contact the builder they'll most likely make you one. Still not saying it's a good idea like!

[Grimalkin]

I tried a P type plexi years back, I remember that it was very heavy.

[Aalin]

Exact, heavy, yes

[borntohang]

On 02/12/2022 at 01:44, lemmywinks said:

 

If you contact the builder they'll most likely make you one. Still not saying it's a good idea like!

 

Well, they might say they'll make you one. What turns up is a shoot... Definitely worth doing your research on decent AliE sellers - there are good ones but there's just as many who will take your custom order and then send out whatever they have while relying on the return policy being too much effort.

[jd56hawk]

I wouldn't buy anything from AliExpress even if Paul McCartney recommended it.

The Ampeg Dan Armstrong bassses are okay, but they were never really something special when it comes to playability and tone.

Greco made a decent copy for people who simply must have a Lucite bass...almost bought one until I realized even $700 could buy me a much better bass.

Edited December 5, 2022 by jd56hawk

[lemmywinks]

57 minutes ago, borntohang said:

 

Well, they might say they'll make you one. What turns up is a shoot... Definitely worth doing your research on decent AliE sellers - there are good ones but there's just as many who will take your custom order and then send out whatever they have while relying on the return policy being too much effort.

 

Yeah it's generally a bad idea to order anything from AliExpress builders, even the better ones will change their seller names due to spells of poor QC so you have to work out who they are from the storefront. I was toying with the idea of buying one of the headless 5 strings as a backup bass but after figuring out who the seller was and reading some reviews I gave them a wide berth, since then (earlier this year) that seller has changed the name of their shop again.

[Aalin]

19 hours ago, jd56hawk said:

IThe Ampeg Dan Armstrong bassses are okay, but they were never really something special when it comes to playability and tone.

that's not my opinion. I have one, I think they sound good, easy to carry, just heavy

[msb]

Those vintage Ampegs fetch silly prices these days. And the later small runs of reissues are too. The Grecos are hard to find, so a MIC copy delivered for $400 with no fuss is tempting.

I’ve played the originals. 
I’ve hit the pause button for now , but the temptation remains. A friend just ordered one , I’m looking forward to hearing his experience and review.