From a guitarists perspective, best budget bass

timmysoft

I'm primarily a guitarist but i have played bass in the past, but haven't owned a bass guitar for about a decade. Knowing how much better budget guitars are now, have basses improved in the lower sector of the market?

 My criteria:
 - £250 or under (don't mind used or new)
 - Preferably Passive
 - Not a crazy shape
 - 4 strings only

Its mainly for recording at home and in the studio, so it doesn't have to be able to tour for years without fail, i just want something good sounding, decent to play and not too expensive! My current project is very much a modern rock band, similar in style to Silverstein, Capsize, Beartooth and Conditions.

Suggestions welcome!

thermionic

Squier CV or VM Precision Bass.

amarok1971

I'm selling a yam rbx on here, it's a cracker for hardly any money 

Funkfingers

The usual, pre-owned, suspects are:

Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass.
Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass.
Yamaha RBX or Attitude Plus.
Ibanez/Soundgear.

Some of these instruments will be improved by upgrading the bridge and pickup(s).

If you can tolerate active tone control circuitry, add the Warwick Rockbass, Sterling By Musicman S.U.B. RAY and Squier Jaguar Bass to the list.

Schnozz

Best budget bass I've had is the G&L L2000 Tribute, but I think it cost me £350 - Classic tones that cut straight through.

Schnozz

thermionic said:

Squier CV or VM Precision Bass.

Do you need to replace the pickups on the CVs? I think VM may be Duncan Designed (Alnico still, but from the East and good).

ToneControl

nanyo bass collection

crunchman

Squier Precision of some flavour.  If you like a narrow Jazz style neck then hunt for the now discontinued Squier P Bass Special.

dindude

Ibanez Talman Bass - I went for the shortscale one which is frankly silly value at £165; its really good quality for the cash and plays and sounds great. The full scale version is £185.

Legionreturns

I've no experience to speak of, but I bought an ibanez gsr180 earlier in the year for well under £200 and found it very easy to play and great sounding. 

Bridgehouse

Legionreturns said:

I've no experience to speak of, but I bought an ibanez gsr180 earlier in the year for well under £200 and Chingford it betty easy to play and great sounding. 

You paid Chingford Betty £200 to do WHAT??

Bridgehouse

Last time I went into a "large" musical emporium, I had a fairly lengthy tinkle on a Squier Affinity PJ. 

It was cheap as chips, and the neck was a bit thin for me - but it played really nicely, and tho the J pickup didn't do much for me, the P really did - sounded like good solid P bass tones. 

I would have happily gigged it and not thought I was missing out on too much at all.

Legionreturns

Bridgehouse said:

Legionreturns said:

I've no experience to speak of, but I bought an ibanez gsr180 earlier in the year for well under £200 and Chingford it betty easy to play and great sounding. 

You paid Chingford Betty £200 to do WHAT??

Fucking phone! 

Bridgehouse

Legionreturns said:

Bridgehouse said:

Legionreturns said:

I've no experience to speak of, but I bought an ibanez gsr180 earlier in the year for well under £200 and Chingford it betty easy to play and great sounding. 

You paid Chingford Betty £200 to do WHAT??

Fucking phone! 

So you paid chingford betty £200 to do something rude with your phone? No wonder your typing is all over the place tonight!

NPP

as this thread is already derailed, can I add another slightly related question? If I wanted to take up bass as a lefty guitarist and wanted a P-bass, could I just use a righty-strung-lefty? I wouldn't mind the controls being in the wrong place, but does the asymmetrical pickup present a problem?  

Andyjr1515

Similar to @Legionreturns comment, an Ibanez GSR200 or similar would be my pick - especially if you are mainly a guitar player.  They have a very comfortable feel about them

Bridgehouse

NPP said:

as this thread is already derailed, can I add another slightly related question? If I wanted to take up bass as a lefty guitarist and wanted a P-bass, could I just use a righty-strung-lefty? I wouldn't mind the controls being in the wrong place, but does the asymmetrical pickup present a problem?  

Yes - and sort of no. You would lose some of the characteristic P bass tone if it was the wrong way round - it would still work, but it wouldn't sound the same as right way round.

Bridgehouse

Also, be careful about assuming a slimmer neck and shorter scale length will be better as a guitarist.

You want your bass lines to sound like a bass - which, IMHO requires it to be played like a bass - and there is a difference in approach, technique and style. 

NPP

Bridgehouse said:

Also, be careful about assuming a slimmer neck and shorter scale length will be better as a guitarist.

You want your bass lines to sound like a bass - which, IMHO requires it to be played like a bass - and there is a difference in approach, technique and style. 

oh definitely, that would be the whole point of getting a P-type. I'm listening to a lot of Motown right now and really love the bass players. And I never was into slim, fast necks anyway ...

How wrong would it be with the pickup the wrong way around, given that I'd be a total noob on bass anyway?

Bridgehouse

NPP said:

Bridgehouse said:

Also, be careful about assuming a slimmer neck and shorter scale length will be better as a guitarist.

You want your bass lines to sound like a bass - which, IMHO requires it to be played like a bass - and there is a difference in approach, technique and style. 

oh definitely, that would be the whole point of getting a P-type. I'm listening to a lot of Motown right now and really love the bass players. And I never was into slim, fast necks anyway ...

How wrong would it be with the pickup the wrong way around, given that I'd be a total noob on bass anyway?

Well, you could find someone with a P bass and swap the strings over just to try.. 

Dont forget you'll need a new nut as well..

Freebird

Have a look at the Basschat forum, there are some really great people on there who know their stuff. I'd be looking at a newer MIC Squier or an older MIJ Squier, but you might get lucky with a nice Tokai or something.