far0n Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I'm torn between my 'cheapo' Cort Funkmachine bought for £286 off ebay and my mate's Columbus Jazz bass, utterly crap yet somehow sounds so good !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 (edited) It gets a bad rep', but I miss my Hondo II (Ric copy). My first bass, a short-scale Kay EB-0 copy, had a lovely earthy, muddy tone. 'Crap' basses tend to have a lot of character. I've yet to play a Stagg or Encore that didn't make me excruciatingly angry. I think it's immoral to sell such bad beginner basses. Luckily today's Yammahas and Peaveys are making up for it. Edited March 27, 2008 by paul, the Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I don't really know if it's a 'crap' bass or not - a friend of mine had a Shergold. I HATED the look of the thing, so ugly that I could never own it - but it was amazingly easy to play, like nothing else I've ever tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I think you will find lots of fans of SX basses on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='bass_ferret' post='164285' date='Mar 27 2008, 08:52 AM']I think you will find lots of fans of SX basses on this forum.[/quote] But they wouldn't thank you for calling their guitars 'crap' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Never got on with Encore's. Stagg and Vintage instruments that I've played are suprisingly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MoJo Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 (edited) By 'crap', I'm assuming you mean the sort of basses that we started out on way back when. I remember my first bass back in '79. I sooooo wanted to be Steve Harris but couldn't afford the £350 required to purchase a 'proper' Fender so I ended up buying a no-name sunburst Precision Copy for £79 which made all the right noises. My second bass was a short scale Framus which I found in a local shop called 'The Trade-In Post'. It was just like the one in the photo below except it was black with a white pickguard The bridge screws had started to lose their grip on the body and as a result the bridge used to lift under the tension of the strings. Finding strings for a short scale bass was very hard indeed and I soon moved it on to get a 'proper sized guitar...a Japanese Squier Jazz followed by a Japanese Squier Precision. Funny to think that the Framus would be worth a few quid now and the Japanese Squiers that I dismissed some years ago as 'Not proper Fenders' are now very much sought after....The naivety of youth. Edited March 27, 2008 by bassman2790 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='bassman2790' post='164326' date='Mar 27 2008, 10:00 AM']By 'crap', I'm assuming you mean the sort of basses that we started out on way back when. I remember my first bass back in '79. I sooooo wanted to be Steve Harris but couldn't afford the £350 required to purchase a 'proper' Fender so I ended up buying a no-name sunburst Precision Copy for £79 which made all the right noises.[/quote] Ditto I remember the maple fingerboard stuck on a maple neck. No one-piece shenanigans there! It was utterly crap. And in no way best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cooke Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I've always felt that I was fighting my Encore P-Bass clone rather than playing it... having a truss-rod nut made of what is basically monkey-metal doesn't help matters... The action and relief are too high and I can't adjust it as the truss-rod nut socket is so soft and I can't get any Allen key to sit securely in the socket... the only way I can get a sensible action is to use very light gauge strings... So basically don't buy an Encore... anyone want mine? any offers? NO, I won't pay you to take it away... I'm going to stick a Fender logo on it and relic it, then hang it up as a decoration... maybe even replace the pickups with a clock mechanism... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='Paul Cooke' post='164358' date='Mar 27 2008, 10:47 AM']I'm going to stick a Fender logo on it and relic it, then hang it up as a decoration...[/quote] Nah, chuck it the 'bay for £5k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nimrod Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='Dillsfretless' post='164284' date='Mar 27 2008, 08:50 AM']I don't really know if it's a 'crap' bass or not - a friend of mine had a Shergold. I HATED the look of the thing, so ugly that I could never own it - but it was amazingly easy to play, like nothing else I've ever tried.[/quote] Not 'Crap' at all, infact Shergold's are marvelous basses... The Marathon was a good ol' British bass of the late 70's. They were played by that bloke in Genesis I seem to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 70's Fender, anyone? *dons flame suit* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='ped' post='164398' date='Mar 27 2008, 12:08 PM']70's Fender, anyone? *dons flame suit*[/quote] definitely man basses (no good for my girly fingers), but a '70s P I saw on the OGWhistle Test was the most powerful bass tone I've heard as yet. So, yea, I probably agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='David Nimrod' post='164386' date='Mar 27 2008, 11:41 AM']Not 'Crap' at all, infact Shergold's are marvelous basses... The Marathon was a good ol' British bass of the late 70's. They were played by that bloke in Genesis I seem to remember.[/quote] Ooops! at least that explains why it was sweet to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='Dillsfretless' post='164760' date='Mar 27 2008, 08:30 PM']Ooops! at least that explains why it was sweet to play![/quote] Listen to ShergoldSnickers' fretless, an awesome tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 [quote name='paul, the' post='164737' date='Mar 27 2008, 08:04 PM']definitely man basses (no good for my girly fingers), but a '70s P I saw on the OGWhistle Test was the most powerful bass tone I've heard as yet. So, yea, I probably agree with you.[/quote] Most 70s Fenders I have played have been crap, crap basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 +1 for Shergolds not being on this list.... They are certainly an acquired taste aesthetically, and in this day of techno widgets are quite a way behind..... Well built they certainly are. Loved and championed by said Genesis player they defianately were.... What they arent is massively expensive to get hold of, the opportunities are rare tho'. I guess it would help if you defined 'crap' bass? I'd define it as an intsrument with poor QC that wont set up to play, made of poor materials and cheap electrics. In which case there is no good ones let alone a best in catagory.... In the real world, you cant really say that, as I'm sure out there are some sub £100 basses that set up and play very well, and some expensive ones that don't...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 The worst bass I've owned was a 1970s Eko Manta. Dead as a corpse. Other than that, I've had several japcrap basses and koreancrap basses, including Kay and Vester, all of which turned out to be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJ1200 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Had an awful Encore Coaster P-bass in black when I was 19 or 20 I think. Cost me £79 and got hacked to pieces and re-wired dunno how many times! I even added a Double Eagle humbucker to it - just cos I could. It sat in the loft for years and I gave it away to a friend's son about 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Bought an Epiphone Thunderbird about a year ago as a 'backup' for my US Standard P-Bass. Cost me £200. Unfortunately, it pisses on the £800 Precision from a great height. Not so 'crap' then... You live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal-Mariachi Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I played with a fretted one of these yesterday. [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/New-4-string-left-handed-headless-fretless-bass_W0QQitemZ370023190875QQihZ024QQcategoryZ4713QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262"]http://cgi.ebay.com/New-4-string-left-hand...1713.m153.l1262[/url] In spite of having the fattest strings I’ve ever seen, and being a lefty bass (I’m right handed) It played very well and the sound quality was better than 2 MIM Jazz basses I tried out. MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 [quote name='ped' post='164398' date='Mar 27 2008, 01:08 PM']70's Fender, anyone? *dons flame suit*[/quote] By and large I'd agree with you, but it was possible to get a nice 70s Fender - I've actually encountered as many as two. Best was my mate Daydo's natural P, second was my tattyburst P (tattiest Fender in Musical Exchange but the best player). I bought a combo a while back and finished up with a P "copy" as part of the deal. It was a Chester, very thin body, very light, surprisingly good neck. Had I had any use for it I'd have kept it. I haven't found any other references to Chesters anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy and the Bears Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 [quote name='far0n' post='164218' date='Mar 27 2008, 02:09 AM']I'm torn between my 'cheapo' Cort Funkmachine bought for £286 off ebay and my mate's Columbus Jazz bass, utterly crap yet somehow sounds so good !![/quote] For my money, a Jack and Danny Jazz or P bass is unbeatable. The Chinese can certainly copy things better now than they could in the 70's & 80's. You can get in to a brand new one for less that £100 delivered. They sound ok and the necks are pretty good for a cheap thing. I got one and used it for about 2 months (I was curious as to how it would stand up) then sold it on the Bay and got my money back. Cheap and very cheerful (in my opinion). Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 The best cheap bass I ever bought was a Hohner B2A - the cheesy Steinberger clone thing. Attracted smug smirks and chuckles from onlookers until it was plugged in, and then they found out it are serious bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireXXII Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 My best 'crap bass', hmmmm so many in my past. Probably a Hamer Slammer short scale bass (You could play fast as arseholes on it). Worst crap bass.... Either a Squier P bass special, or the mother of all crap, a Satellite short scale P bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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