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WTB - Good, cheap bass (sub £200)
Anyone got a good, cheap bass they're looking to part with? My budget is £100 max (incl. courier). I've been tempted by the Harley Benton bases on the Thomann website, but thought I'd see if anyone has anything for sale here first.
EDIT: budget now increased to £200.
And I’m located in Newcastle Upon Tyne if that’s helpful.
Comments
Usual suspects are the afore-mentioned H-B, Höhner, JHS/Vintage/Encore, Vietnamese/Chinese-made Peavey, abused Squier Affinity, Tanglewood, Westley, Shine and the like. Some of these brands have better chances of becoming playable than others.
If you can wait until your budget will stretch a bit further, the possibilities widen enormously.
The hb one I had was great, but really heavy. It was the jazz copy. Might just be a touch more that the 100 but definitely recommended!
For that kind of money I’d be looking at Squier Affinity, Harley Benton or Yamaha. My current recording bass is an RBX270 that I got for £50. It’s great and due to P/J pickups very versatile.
Good luck.
With a pickup upgrade and a high mass bridge, you should have a bass for life.
I havent tried one one but something like this Cort at guitarguitar might be worth a try - just within budget
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px180702329295004--cort-t34-bass-pearl-white-pre-owned
At that price, you can get started immediately. In the longer term, those 3.5 x 1.5" soapbar pickups would be easy to upgrade - as would the control electronics.
I’ve now doubled my budget. Just missed out on a Sterling Sub 4 for £150 that the seller unfortunately had to back out of selling. Would be quite keen on one of those.
The Sterling SUB 4 is an immediately giggable instrument. Sure, it has its weak points but those can be remedied in the long term.
Have you tried an Overwater (by Tanglewood) Aspiration Bass?
At the price point, the deciding factors will be neck profiles, pickups, electronics and appearances. For example, some will mock the Talman for looking *different*. Others will adore it for precisely the same reason.
Pretty sure the Ibanez is Indonesian, though, whilst the newer SUBs are made in China....
The latest ones do appear to be entirely made in China. Presumably, this is a crude attempt to keep the MSRP below the psychologically important figure of £300.
Until I get to try a Chinese SUB 4, my recommendation is confined to the C.I.I. examples.
I'm not a bass player, so I don't know what I'm looking for really, but as a guitarist - the fit and finish seem superb for the price, and the grain of the mahogany body looks superb. Looks like 2 pieces, too (could be more, but it's not obvious if so).
Controls don't feel cheap at all, and it sounds pretty good to me in both passive and active mode.
The whole thing only weighs 7.7lb, which seems obscenely light for such a big bass!
The tuners, though, do feel a bit cheap. Don't think I'll replace them unless I absolutely have to, though.
Oh, and congrats on the new bass