Should I order a bass amp from Alibaba China

[guitarville]

I've been looking at bass amps they're on Alibaba in China.

And much to my surprises the amplifiers for what you get seem to be very reasonable and I mean very reasonable.

I'm not looking for a name brand amp either.

I know recently on guitar amps they've been using some pretty good speakers so I hope that is true with the bass amplifiers.

What are your thoughts about buying from China on Alibaba.

[daddymack]

Because you are not in the USA, the only advice I will give you is caveat emptor.

I worked with sellers on Ali Baba for a number of years and found most to be, 'shady', to be polite.

Their 'spec' sheets were laughable, usually a 'copy and paste' from an American or European manufacturers' website.

Ali Baba is not the Chinese equivalent of e-Bay, Reverb and Amazon all rolled into one [and there is ONLY one], as they would have you believe, but their own 'anything goes' version of those [regulated] sites. It is more like a gigantic Craigslist, with legitimate and unscrupulous vendors listed side by side.

This is not to say that there are not great deals on good products to be had on Ali Baba, but the rules they work to are not under any real scrutiny, and you typically have no recourse if they screw you. Be very specific in your research, and if the seller won't answer detailed product questions, move on.

 

[isaac42]

Caveat Emptor, indeed.

[guitarville]

Hi guys.

Sorry I haven't followed up on this due to my miss behavior on this site.  I'll watch what I'll say from now on in the Political forum.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll update you on what I got.  Stay tune.

 

And thanks for all the advice too . 

[guitarville]

Well, after having a few conversations with the sales rep in China on Alibaba, the lady talked about the corona virus and shipping cost. Bottom line was this:  With the current situation for single purchases for now, it would not be very feasible to buy this way.  

So I decided on Amazon Japan for bass amps.  Much to my surprise, other music stores here in Japan were sold out on this Model.  Fender Rumble Studio 40 .  I got for 32000 yen with free shipping.   It's a nice amp for the price.  Comes with a lot of features. It also comes with Fender Free guitar lessons, which I haven't checked out yet.

Not that I need a loud amp, but for 40 watts the volume is great for the home. But many have said it is a great live amp also.  I do like the tone it delivers without all the bells that come with it.  ( I haven't tapped into the presets yet, want to give my ears hearing the bass in a pure form )  ( The amp is made in China )

Here it is on Amazon Japan:  Amazon.co.jp: Fender Base Amplifier Rumble Studio 40: Musical Instruments

 

Now for the fun part, yep, I needed to buy a bass guitar.  Why did I chose to buy the amp first, well I knew I'd go with an entry level bass guitar with enough quality to match a good bass amp.  I chose the  Squire by Fender Bronco Bass.  I bought it at Soundhouse.com here in Japan. It's the short neck bass.  Would you believe most of the Squire basses are sold out at the moment that have the long necks of Affinity line.  I guess everyone is choosing to play a bass now with the lock downs or stay at home work.

I got my Squier Bronco for just under 20000 yen. It's made in Indonesia and has that fancy wood stripe in the back. Does look like an upgrade and has metal tone knobs.

SQUIER >Bronco Bass Red ショートスケールベース 送料無料 | Sound House

 

The saddle is your 2 piece.  It speaks for itself I guess.  The intonation on it is not perfect, but I'm not going to mess with it.  The strings are OK, but later on I'll go with an upgrade of flat rounds.  ( you guys have a recommendation )

Overall, the bass is of high quality and great even for the non beginner.   I understand lots of bass players actually use this bass in their live performances.

I'm very happy with both purchases.  And highly recommend both that want a rig for about 500 bucks.

By the way Sweetwater prices in the States are a bit higher then the price here in Japan.

 

Oh, and these guitar stands are great also. I think they cost ?  K&M >17591-000-55 | Sound House   I highly recommend these.

 

 

 

 

[isaac42]

Looks as though you're set.

[guitarville]

14 minutes ago, isaac42 said:

Looks as though you're set.

Hey Isaac !

Thanks.  I said to myself, what the heck.  Although I don't think the Fender Rumble Studio 40 is very loud, but for my ears that is coming out of the Bronco bass, I really like the tone.  New to bass playing and I'm starting out as a beginner.  Posting a log on another forum.  Mainly to discipline myself. Never really did any discipline on the guitar other than just toy around with it for some time.

Goal is to learn some songs now on it. Mostly Beatles, Ventures, Animals and some country tunes since where I live any band that wants a following need to know these. Hopefully I follow through on this and make good of it. 

Thank you