You have £300 and you HAVE to buy a new bass today…..

[Rayman]

…… there’s a gig tonight, and you can’t access your gear. There’s an amp at the venue, but you need a bass.

 

It has to be new, from a store, today and there’s no time to modify it.

 

What are you going to buy?

[PaulThePlug]

{Great Post}

 

Availability would then also come in to it... and be nice to have 2 or 3 of the same model to choose from. Whats the music?

Squier P or an Ibby SR300

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by PaulThePlug

[Waddo Soqable]

No contest, Squier P of some sort

[ezbass]

£300 doesn’t get much from a physical store, otherwise Thomann and an HB of some sort would be in play. It would need to playable and reliable straight out of the box and that shouts Yamaha to me, so a TRBX of some description, probably this one…

 

 

At £259 I reckon that’d do very nicely.

Edited May 5, 2023 by ezbass

[Paolo85]

I would look for one that is comfortable to play, which would mean just trying out those that are available. On paper I would prefer a Squier P or J, but especially in that price range there is no knowing in advance if the fretwork is bumpy (in the case of Squier Affinity, it was, both times I bough one) and no time to file frets.

If I had to buy blind then probably something with good reputation in terms of QC. Maybe a Yamaha TRBX174 or an Ibanez

[Rayman]

Not what I’d normally go for, but it would cover many eventualities…..

 

LTD B-15

[acidbass]

There are really not too many giggable options under £300 new but if I could snag a Sire passive or a Squier CV bass I would be relatively happy.

Edited May 5, 2023 by acidbass

[ped]

Cort Action Plus from Gear4Music (£229) and a set of Elixir 40-100s (or 45-105 as I know they won't have the others in stock). Might leave me with a few £ for a drink.

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Cort-Action-Plus-Bass-Black/348M

 

[LewisK1975]

Probably a Squier PJ - As I only need it for one gig I'd be thinking about what's easier to sell on....

[3below]

Peavey milestone £211 natural, £198 sunburst. Under rated bass, balance well, slim J type neck.

 

 

[velvetkevorkian]

3 minutes ago, ped said:

Cort Action Plus from Gear4Music (£229) and a set of Elixir 40-100s (or 45-105 as I know they won't have the others in stock). Might leave me with a few £ for a drink.

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Cort-Action-Plus-Bass-Black/348M

 

Was about to post this but it's £159 from GuitarGuitar so you can get an extra round in

edit: oh the GG one isn't the Plus version

Edited May 5, 2023 by velvetkevorkian

[jimmyb625]

Probably a Stingray...

 

I have £300, a credit card and a complete lack of responsibility! 🤣

[Waddo Soqable]

If its got to be bought over the counter it's also going to depend where you physically are. 

If you are near somewhere like GAK  or G4M  you'll have a fairly wide choice

[TheGreek]

A Sire for £300? That would be the one, or maybe a Spector,  but then the Squier PJ is good value for money. 

 

To paraphrase ole Winston "never before,  in the field of human bass playing, has so much been available to so many,  for so little.."

[ped]

2 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Was about to post this but it's £159 from GuitarGuitar so you can get an extra round in

edit: oh the GG one isn't the Plus version

 

It's not the plus version but it's plus an extra round.. decisions decisions!

[neepheid]

G&L Tribute LB-100

G&L Tribute JB-2

G&L Tribute Kiloton (B-stock)

 

All £299 at Andertons right now.  The LB-100 does P, the JB-2 does J, the Kiloton (sorta) does passive SR.  All done with aplomb.  Very happy with my Tribute LB-100.

[Crusoe]

I'm going to play by very strict rules here and go for something my local shop shows as being in stock, so it will probably have to be the Ibanez TMB100M in mustard yellow https://matchettsmusic.com/collections/bass-guitars/products/ibanez-tmb100-mustard-yellow-1 Although I might be tempted by the Hofner Shorty, just for the fun of it.

[neepheid]

55 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

No contest, Squier P of some sort

 

No contest?  A G&L Tribute will kick any sub £300 Squier up the road and back down again.  Twice.

[neepheid]

If we're talking local availability, I'd rather cancel the gig

[KingBollock]

My first thought was Cort.

 

This is rather nice for £269:

 

 

https://www.johndouglasmusic.com/store/product/3_guitars/7_bass-guitars/2736_cort-action-deluxe-plus-bass/

[snorkie635]

I'd do a Jake Blues and head to Ray's Music, pick up a G&L 2500 and ask him to take an IOU. 😉

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, snorkie635 said:

I'd do a Jake Blues and head to Ray's Music, pick up a G&L 2500 and ask him to take an IOU. 😉

 

[asingardenof]

As others have said I think I'd aim to pick up a Squier P/PJ unless I could find something better within budget and the timescale. 

[Jonesy]

18 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

No contest?  A G&L Tribute will kick any sub £300 Squier up the road and back down again.  Twice.

It'd do the same to the Player series too!

All day long, I'm looking at either a LB100 or Kiloton......

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/g-l-tribute-lb-100-bass-olympic-maple-fretboardic-white-maple-fretboard

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/b-stock-:-npr-g-l-tribute-kiloton-bass-candy-apple-red-maple-fretboard-surface-scracthes-on-front-back-of-body

[Trueno]

As I’m a short scale guy (short scale bass… I’m 6’2”) I’d go for an Ibanez Talman (TMB30, I think). Still enough change for some new strings.