What's a good cheap bass guitar?

seachto7

Hi guys,

Primarily a guitarist floating around in different bands, but play bass in a trad/rock style. I am currently playing an Aria 5 string, and want to try and pick up something 4 string related.
I don't know a huge amount about bass guitars, but I played the squire classic vibe in a shop, and the neck felt nice and thin (jazz bass).
But what other brands could you recommend at the lower end (not complete rubbish), but I don't gig that much to justify a fancy one.
Are the Vintage basses any good?
I am not worried about it being a fender copy, as long as it's not a metal bass.
Is there something you would recommend even picking up second hand online?

Ravelleman

I'm not a bassist myself but the Squier CV series has achieved fairly universal acclaim across the guitar and bass world. I don't think you could really go wrong with a Jazz or a P from that line.

Patricide

seachto7 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Primarily a guitarist floating around in different bands, but play bass in a trad/rock style. I am currently playing an Aria 5 string, and want to try and pick up something 4 string related.
I don't know a huge amount about bass guitars, but I played the squire classic vibe in a shop, and the neck felt nice and thin (jazz bass).
But what other brands could you recommend at the lower end (not complete rubbish), but I don't gig that much to justify a fancy one.
Are the Vintage basses any good?
I am not worried about it being a fender copy, as long as it's not a metal bass.
Is there something you would recommend even picking up second hand online?

Whats your budget?

Rigsby

Patricide wrote: »

Whats your budget?

+1.

In the absense of knowing this, I recommend that you could check out some SX basses (Waltons stock them). They are good value IMO. The "Tribute" series G&L basses are great. If the price is out of your range, you could try going second hand. Some pop up from time to time on www.adverts.ie

Ostrom

Vintage basses are excellent, I owned and regularly gigged a vintage musicman copy around 9 years ago and preferred it to my fender jazz, both in terms of sound and feel. I have no idea how much they cost now, I think I paid 250 pounds for it (in the days before forearming internet knowledge). Well worth it

seachto7

well, I bought the Aria 2nd hand for around 250 if memory serves, so I am assuming it was worth 300 or more new.
So something along those lines would be my budget. That's why I was thinking used might be the way to go..

I don't care what it looks like, just that it plays relatively ok really, that's it.

Aria I am using seems to have a lot more low end than mids and highs...

rgjmce

I personally think sx are pretty awful (own guitar). I'd go for a squire or cort

seachto7

agree. I have played a few SXs and I would go higher.... a cort would be a good all rounder I think...

Matt Bianco

I picked up the SX Jazz bass second hand with a Bass Cube for less then €250 on Adverts and very happy with both. A good set up on the SX makes it a fine instrument for messing around with. The clear finish also gives you a good indication of the wood used as opposed to it being made from bits and pieces.

Patricide

Id steer clear of SX stuff. Cort basses are well made and cheap. If you have a bit more cash to flash try finding a second hand G and L tribute series.

Theres a great bass buy and sell at www.basschat.co.uk. Dont get me wrong, I love adverts but if you want a really good selection check here.

pablo-jericho

I got a Warwick Rockbass off Thomann for 180 odd quid with no expectations and its actually suprisingly good, mabye it was a one off tho!

flyswatter

These days Fender are well known for their fantastic quality control across the board. Much better than Gibson in this regard.

From Squiers to Mexican Fenders, American's and Custom Shop one's they don't really disappoint. If you don't like a guitar you can send it back and if a part breaks you can order any part cheaply from the shop and get it within days. If a Gibson breaks you are screwed for repair expenses, they are a lot less solid and if you drop it from even a small enough height you can break it.

You can go to war with a Fender guitar and end up losing as long as you don't deliberately set out to smash the thing to pieces! 100's of drops on the floor over the years and it will be fine still.

population

Had one of these for years. The PUPS are fantastic and it is a beauty to play.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/yamaha_rbx170ovs.htm

Rozzie!

If your on a budget Cort basses are great value for money. the low end stuff is good quality and the wood never skimped on.

go to guitar centre on exchequer street, they have a good selection. i bought a cort bass there before, it was mid range now not low end but they have a great selection of lower stuff!

flameboy87

Cheap basses by Ibanez are the gsr series, reliable and easy to play, sound good for the price too