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Post subject: Bass for under $300
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:35 pm
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Hi guys , I know this is a highly subjective question but I thought I would ask for some advice. I have really enjoyed playing bass in the past. My last instrument was a Guild. I don't have a lot of money, maybe $300 ,but I would like to pick up something that I can have some fun with. Is it possible to get something new for that kind of money that will be worth it ?( I saw a few new Squiers for about $300) or should I look around for something used? I'm looking for something simple with a good feel, normal scale, w/t frets.

I guess what I'm asking is, based on your experience if you had to order a bass online and only had $300 what would you buy?
In the alternative any suggestions on what to look for in a used instrument would also be helpful.

I'm a guitar guy and to give you an idea of what I'm looking for this may help.
If someone came to me and said , "I want to learn to play acoustic guitar and only have $300, what should I get"? I would suggest something like a Yamaha, there fairly consistent, and at the low price point hard to beat.

Any comments or suggestions would be very helpful,
P.S. I know this question is like asking what should I eat? An apple, a banana or a cheeseburger, lol


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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:42 pm
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$300 seems to be the tipping point for new Squiers and $600 for new made in Mexico Fender standards.

$300-$400 for used MIM Fenders in excellent condition.

First zero it down to what model: Precision? Jazz? Dimension? Jaguar?

Go from there.

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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 9:42 pm
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I really don't know anything about them, other then stylistic differences. I once owned a Guild 302 fretless that I had a lot of fun with. I guess I will go and play some and see what appeals to me. Perhaps after I nail down some specifics I will repost some options and than I can ask some more informed questions.
Thanks linnin


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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 11:54 am
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Linnin summed up my thoughts, +1. If I had a $300 spending limit I would look towards a gently used MIM J or P, as recent a model year as you can find. Whether or not you want a J or a P depends on your music. If you just want to noodle around in many different genres, I would start with a P.

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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:46 pm
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affprod wrote:
Linnin summed up my thoughts, +1. If I had a $300 spending limit I would look towards a gently used MIM J or P, as recent a model year as you can find. Whether or not you want a J or a P depends on your music. If you just want to noodle around in many different genres, I would start with a P.


+2

All that such an instrument might conceivably need would be a better pickup (or pickups) and those are easily added later at your convenience. Whether "P" or "J" would depend upon your druthers but I've seen both types posted for sale on my local C/L and at or below your preferred price point.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 8:37 pm
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Thanks guys you have helped steer me in the right direction. For the last few years,(since I closed my business) I have been living with a very tight budget. I know $300 is about the least that can be spent to get any instrument. I just want something to refresh my interest. I expect a real boost in my financial situation in a year or so, than I can pick up some of the gear I really want.


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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:47 pm
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You know, it might sound sacrilegious being on a Fender forum, but you might look into Yamaha basses in that price range, since you mentioned their acoustic guitars. Those basses aren't half bad from what I remember and are often in that price range.You might have better luck with those than the Fenders or Squiers in that price range, which can be pretty crappy, also from my experience. It all depends on what you find, I suppose.

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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 1:57 am
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A few points if it is not too late.

1. A used Fender is the easiest to resell. Chances are if you pay $300 or $350 for a used one that you can resell it yourself for about, if not exactly, what you paid for it. You might have to hunt on craigslist.org for a while before you find one locally that you like but bargains can be had. It is important to know that you can also run into fakes. If you post photo links here we all can help you verify it is genuine.

2. Guitar Center, ebay etc sells used instruments directly from their website. They and other sites sell new ones. Buying a new or used instrument without trying it out first is a gamble where the odds are with the house. Best to shop in person. Try the instrument through an amp comparable to yours or take yours. On new low end basses quality control is not a strong point, so there can be huge variations in playability, build quality and sound. But if you have to order direct check about their return/exchange policy FIRST.

3. If you are going to be patching direct to a mixer for recording consider an active model such as the Squier Vintage Modified Longscale Jaguar SPECIAL. I bought two. Excellent recording instrument in stock configuration under your price limit. You will also want to look at some sort of direct box/amp emulation device with a low impedance direct out like a Tech 21 Bass Driver or the elcheapo Behringer BDI_21. I have both boxes and while I like the Tech 21 better it costs 5 times as much and is not 5 times better. Maybe 3 times better. If your amp has a low impedance direct out you can skip the direct box/emulation box, but the Tech 21 sounds better than most combo direct outs do that I've tried. If you are not looking to record and only looking to gig, disregard step 3.

4. There is a lot of brand snobbery among all guitarists and bassists. There is nothing essentially wrong with some other brands like the Yamaha brand already mentioned by you and another poster. I do not play Fender and Squier exclusively. I have several Ibanez basses and a couple of parts basses. There is nothing wrong with Squier for a player bass at all. This is so long as you know in advance that Asian passive electronics do not compare to Fender USA and at best approach but not quite equal Fender Mexico. Also basswood is an excellent tonewood so long as you keep a watch on all screws and keep them snugged up, but not too tight. Fortunately doing a pickup swap to a USA pickup mitigates a large part of the stock tonal deficiency on any Asian bass. I would not waste a Curtis Novak or Lindy Fralin or Rio Grande custom built pickup on one but a sub $100 mass production Fender or Seymour Duncan would be worth throwing at one.

5. From the "off the reservation department" in a budget passive bass I have one solid recommendation as of now. A hidden gem of a budget instrument at present is the LUNA TATTOO long scale model bass for about $175 or sometimes less depending on where you look. (Musicians Friend $158.) The Luna Tattoo longscale is essentially a P-Bass copy with a one of a kind open pore finish on a basswood body and a rosewood fretboard. I am partial to passive basswood bodied and rosewood boarded Asian basses for gigging. Basswood bodies sound good with high resonance and are usually light. Downside is basswood is soft and will dent easily, plus since the wood is softer screws can work loose faster and more frequently than on alder or ash. On the plus side if one gets stolen, you are not out thousands. I am looking to setup a new passive basswood bass so I have played dozens including three of the Luna Tattoos in the past two months and two were fresh out of the Luna box, meaning I took them out of the box and removed factory wrappings myself. You can play any of these three Tattoo basses from Luna AS-IS. They sound about on par with a new Fender Standard P-Bass from Mexico and play about the same. Since it has a ceramic pickup the very first thing I would do is upgrade the pickup to a Fender Original Precision Bass pickup (ranging from 63 to 90 dollars depending on where you shop.) Next I would replace the stock poly tone capacitor with either a vintage ceramic disc or a Vitamin-Q type paper in oil ($1 to $12.) Then next I might move toward replacing both pots if the tone after the other mods sounded right. The pot replacement may require drilling the shaft holes slightly larger and you might add Fender Top Hat chrome knobs. Eventually you could also replace the Asian jack with a Switchcraft USA one and mount it in a Electrosocket model jack mount available from Stewmac to head off the eventual failure this jack design is known to manifest because it is the same Telecaster style jack mount that is prone to problems since Leo Fender first dreamed it up. Total price for the whole shebang including the instrument, USA pickup, CTS pots, Switchcraft jack, Electrosocket and tone cap would be under your self imposed limit. I am fairly certain that a Luna Tattoo will be my next passive project platform, but you can totally play it as it comes right out of the box at a gig. No matter what you do to a Luna Tattoo you will be mighty lucky to get $75 for it used. Only used Fenders bought used seem to hold near their purchase price in resale value and any upgrades on any instrument will never ever add any value whatsoever. Buy a Luna Tattoo and put in a Fender Original Precision Bass Pickup because it is the best and most interesting new sub $200 passive bass I can find right now.


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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:54 am
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I will look into all of those suggestions, I also found this site today that has all kinds of very inexpensive gear, its a good will site http://www.shopgoodwill.com/search/SearchKey.asp?itemTitle=bass+guitar&catid=0&sellerID=all&closed=no&minPrice=&maxPrice=&sortBy=itemEndTime&SortOrder=a&showthumbs=on


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Post subject: Re: Bass for under $300
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 10:16 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
A few points if it is not too late.

5. From the "off the reservation department" in a budget passive bass I have one solid recommendation as of now. A hidden gem of a budget instrument at present is the LUNA TATTOO long scale model bass for about $175 or sometimes less depending on where you look. (Musicians Friend $158.) The Luna Tattoo longscale is essentially a P-Bass copy with a one of a kind open pore finish on a basswood body and a rosewood fretboard. I am partial to passive basswood bodied and rosewood boarded Asian basses for gigging. Basswood bodies sound good with high resonance and are usually light. Downside is basswood is soft and will dent easily, plus since the wood is softer screws can work loose faster and more frequently than on alder or ash. On the plus side if one gets stolen, you are not out thousands. I am looking to setup a new passive basswood bass so I have played dozens including three of the Luna Tattoos in the past two months and two were fresh out of the Luna box, meaning I took them out of the box and removed factory wrappings myself. You can play any of these three Tattoo basses from Luna AS-IS. They sound about on par with a new Fender Standard P-Bass from Mexico and play about the same. Since it has a ceramic pickup the very first thing I would do is upgrade the pickup to a Fender Original Precision Bass pickup (ranging from 63 to 90 dollars depending on where you shop.) Next I would replace the stock poly tone capacitor with either a vintage ceramic disc or a Vitamin-Q type paper in oil ($1 to $12.) Then next I might move toward replacing both pots if the tone after the other mods sounded right. The pot replacement may require drilling the shaft holes slightly larger and you might add Fender Top Hat chrome knobs. Eventually you could also replace the Asian jack with a Switchcraft USA one and mount it in a Electrosocket model jack mount available from Stewmac to head off the eventual failure this jack design is known to manifest because it is the same Telecaster style jack mount that is prone to problems since Leo Fender first dreamed it up. Total price for the whole shebang including the instrument, USA pickup, CTS pots, Switchcraft jack, Electrosocket and tone cap would be under your self imposed limit. I am fairly certain that a Luna Tattoo will be my next passive project platform, but you can totally play it as it comes right out of the box at a gig. No matter what you do to a Luna Tattoo you will be mighty lucky to get $75 for it used. Only used Fenders bought used seem to hold near their purchase price in resale value and any upgrades on any instrument will never ever add any value whatsoever. Buy a Luna Tattoo and put in a Fender Original Precision Bass Pickup because it is the best and most interesting new sub $200 passive bass I can find right now.

I took your advice and while I'm looking for the right Fender I bought the Luna Tattoo, played right out of the box for $170 to the door. I've never ordered a guitar without playing it but the advice I have received form you all has always been spot on. I don't know much about setting up a bass but I'll treat it like any other guitar and fool around with it until it sounds right. The neck is straight the string height seems close feels pretty good, and much more then I expected for the price . Thanks for the info as always right on point.


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