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Best, cheapest bass for a primary guitarist


niceguy

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I need a regular ol' 4-string electric bass for recording purposes. No gigging. I'm a guitarist, and I trust the boys here at Electric Guitars :thu:

 

I want really powerful tone. I know from experience I prefer humbuckers in basses. I once had a Squier P-Bass copy which had the most anemic tone ever.

 

And price? Let's keep it cheapo!

 

Let's hear em!

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I am primarily a guitarist as well but wanted a cheap bass. I picked up a SX Ursa 3. It sounds awesome to me and was cheap. I like it because it has both P and Jazz bass type pickups which seemed more versatile. I don't have much to compare it to but I really couldn't recommend it enough.

 

ursa3rnvwh1.jpg

 

http://www.rondomusic.com/spj62vwh.html

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Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass = Killer everything for $349 (or even less used)

Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass = all the above for $299

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass = the greatest bass treat for $299. You Must try One

Squier Classic Vibe P Bass, fiesta red = why pay $1299 for the Fender version?

 

These basses Smoke!! And you would be a fool not to try one before you settle for something else.

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If you live in a major city, it's almost impossible to NOT find great deals on used basses. My daughter announced she wanted to start playing bass so I looked around and literally within a week, I bought a USA Peavey Fury (P bass like, but a slightly smaller body) an MIJ Fernandes and a MIK Tradition 5 string for $100, $60 and $100 respectively. Gave her the Peavey since she wanted black and liked the smaller body. The Fernandes needed a tiny bit of fretwork, but they were all rock solid and gigable the day I got them. And being used, there's basically no chance the necks will ever warp. I personally wouldn't get an SX/Rondo bass unless a brand new appearance is of the utmost importance or you don't have any access to quality used basses. I'm sure they'd be fine, and I've almost bought them on a couple occasions, but with a bass, I'd feel a lot better about buying something that has had 5+ years to stabilize to know that there is minimal chance of warping, twisting or bowing beyond what the truss rod can offset.

 

P1060341a1.jpg

 

DSC_6266a1.jpg

 

DSC_7798a1.jpg

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If you live in a major city, it's almost impossible to NOT find great deals on used basses. My daughter announced she wanted to start playing bass so I looked around and literally within a week, I bought a USA Peavey Fury (P bass like, but a slightly smaller body) an MIJ Fernandes and a MIJ Tradition 5 string for $100, $60 and $100 respectively. Gave her the Peavey since she wanted black and liked the smaller body. The Fernandes needed a tiny bit of fretwork, but they were all rock solid and gigable the day I got them. And being used, there's basically no chance the necks will ever warp. I personally wouldn't get an SX/Rondo bass unless a brand new appearance is of the utmost importance.


P1060341a1.jpg

DSC_6266a1.jpg

DSC_7798a1.jpg

 

Wow...my local CL is lacking.

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I'm using a Peavey Foundation USA, which I believe I bought for around $250. My roommate has a newer Peavey import, and it's also quite good. Peavey instruments tend not to hold any resale value, so there are definitely bargains to be had. Yamaha basses are also quite good, and pretty reasonably priced.

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Brice (available at Rondo). Very playable and features some higher end features at an extremely affordable price.

 

I bought a Brice violin bass years ago and am very happy with it. The short scale makes it easy to play and it looks cool.

Playinginafield-1.jpg

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Mid-80s MIJ Ibanez Roadstar. Try the RB850: two humbuckers w/ coil taps and a blend knob give you total versatility. Commonly available for ~ $200.

 

4598057477_e1939fb096_z.jpg

 

(not mine, I have the white one; this is just some guy's on Flickr.)

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another vote for the cheap-o yamaha basses here. i bought one 8 years ago as a "first bass" with intentions to buy something better eventually. it plays and sounds so well that i still haven't gotten a new bass. (though i did rip the jazz bass pickup out and swiped the selector pot for use on a guitar)

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classic vibe the best!

 

 

I know a setup goes a LONG way but yeah... a smaller local shop has one of the 51 Precision CVs (I think that's what it's called... with the one single coil pickup) and MAN is that thing nice. It's been fully set up, level, crown, dress... they have one just like it at Guitar Center and it's decent, but it feels new and kinda rigid. The other one is just super sweet. If I had any need for a third bass, it's absolutely the first one I'd buy.

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Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass
= Killer everything for $349 (or even less used)

Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass
= all the above for $299

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass
= the greatest bass treat for $299. You Must try One

Squier Classic Vibe P Bass, fiesta red
= why pay $1299 for the Fender version?


These basses Smoke!! And you would be a fool not to try one before you settle for something else.

 

Truth.

 

11-01-2009_Olympus095.jpg

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