Guitar playing wanting to learn bass.

[Deep Blue]

They're not. The current ones are entry-level, made to a price point in Indonesia etc. soldierjunkie was referring to the Squire JV basses that were made in Japan in the 80's. Some of these were very nice instruments that hold up still to this day. Another vintage type of bass that can be picked up for not a lot of money are the Ibanez Roadster series (RB-XXX) from the 80's and the TR series stuff from the 90's. They made a bitchin Precision-style and sold a zillion of them. You can pick them up for $200 - $300 US dollars. For awhile I had an Ibanez TR-200 P/J passive with an all-ash body that made a very convincing imitation of a Fender Precision. It would have been a terrific recording bass. A newer entry level model that deserves your attention are the Yamaha RBX series 260 & 270. These are very decent for the price $150 - $200 and are well-built. Yamaha doesn't know how to build a bad bass.

 

 

I think it depends on the model. I was checking out the Squier Affinity Jazz Bass 5 String model on Musician's Friend and GC. In the reviews, almost everyone was surprised at how good it was for the money.

[RIC N BACKER]

That looks nice. How do the pickups differ on the Rickenbacker copies to the Fender copies?

 

 

That is a real Rickenbacker. But I couldnt answer anyway since I have never heard a Ric copy.

 

the P/U's on Fender copies sound about the same as real Fender pickups to me ....