This coming year I have a hankering to take a first proper foray in to the low end of things.
This is lovely because it means I can satiate my GASyness on something inexpensive and learn about a whole new area of gear :-D
My usual M.O. is to buy used (simply for the general assumption of getting more for your money and I've never been bothered about pristine/new gear.
So - what kinds of things are well made/play well/sound good?
I'll set an initial budget of about 200 but will listen to advice re what's worth considering beyond that...
Thanks in advance
Tim
Red ones are better.
Comments
Amazing build, and Marmite looks means they can often be had cheap. 4 string passive ones go for between 2 and 300, I was considering selling my active one for 400 but i heeded the advice of forumites that it's better than it's monetary worth, and I agree.
It's a bit Marmite looking, but the tones are great even though it's just a single pickup.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
Edit: £150 new and good tones and versatile.
The ones I'm on about are black, white, red or blue with a textured finish on a poplar body. To confuse things even more, mine is the sterling model - which has 22 frets and a 3 band eq, as well as a slightly slimmer body.
Yup, it's like they want to confuse us!
The squiers are also good, another one I really rate is the budget Peavey range, any model. They're all good, solid basses, and a friend of mine regularly gigs one he picked up for 70 quid!
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I picked up an Ibanez ATK200 last year for under £200 new and was astonished with the quality of the instrument for the price. The metal bridge section is very thick and adds a lot of sustain and the CAP double humbucker pickup with the active electronics gives a superb range of sounds.
Whoever designed the ATK200 really understands the inside of a bass-player's head..
I'm also with @IanSavage on recommending the Vintage active basses. They can be purchased very cheaply off ebay and they are superb instruments for the money. Whichever instrument you buy though, I would recommend looking for one with active electronics as this will offer you a much broader sound palette.