What does it mean to 'outgrow' cheap but good for the price basses?

[discreet]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1395352160' post='2401589']
I'd doubt a true 'idiot' could afford such an expensive car in the first place.
[/quote]

Hang out in Chelsea for an hour. You would not believe the cash OR the stupidity.

[Cat]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1395352160' post='2401589']
'Idiots' or just bad drivers? I'd doubt a true 'idiot' could afford such an expensive car in the first place.
[/quote]
[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1395401011' post='2402009']
Hang out in Chelsea for an hour. You would not believe the cash OR the stupidity.
[/quote]

Absolutely! The mind boggles at the sheer amount of idiots with cash and very little regard for the normal niceties of life - like staying alive on the roads...

[Telebass]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1395401011' post='2402009']


Hang out in Chelsea for an hour. You would not believe the cash OR the stupidity.
[/quote]
Agreed.

[KingBollock]

My first Bass cost £100 secondhand. It was bought for me by my parents for Christmas when I was 12. I have four brothers and £100 was the maximum we were allowed each for Christmas presents, if it hadn't have been possible to buy a Bass for that or less then it would never have happened. If I hadn't have had to sell that Bass it would probably still be the only Bass I'd own right now.

Even now, £500 is a hell of a lot of money for me, but then I am very lucky in that I actually own my dream Bass. It would have been a £500+ Bass when brand new, but it only cost me £265 (including postage) and that is the most I have ever spent on a Bass. I have another Bass that cost me £225 that would have been the best part of £400 new. I got really lucky because someone had bought it from the shop and after four months he decided Bass wasn't for him and sold it back to the shop, it still had the cellophane on the control cavity and the backs of the tuners and was in brand new condition. I have another Bass that cost me £200 brand new and it's a cracker, it plays beautifully. I had to upgrade the electronics in it and at some point I will change the pick-ups, too, once I have some spare from another project. If it hadn't happened that my dream Bass came up at a nice price, around my birthday, this Bass would probably still be my main four string.

[Annoying Twit]

@KingBollock. Any chance you could tell us the makes and models of these basses?

[steve-bbb]

this is slowly becoming my main gigging bass - just treated it to a set of wizard thumpers i was lucky enough to find on the sale forum on here

i dont tend to view my basses in terms of financial 'worth' i only judge them on how they sound and how they feel they each do a slightly different job and i certainly dont push my cheapie J aside just because some bean-counter says its only worth 20% of the value of my shiny TRB

[KingBollock]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1395563622' post='2403621']
@KingBollock. Any chance you could tell us the makes and models of these basses?
[/quote]
My first Bass was a Westone Raider I (£100)
Dream Bass: BC Rich Warlock NT (£265)
Main 5 string: Cort T-35 (£225)
Westfield something or other (not a P or Jazz copy) (£200)

The Cort is probably the only one that people wouldn't automatically turn their noses up at, and those that would might change their mind if they played it.

[steve-bbb]

here's idea for next bass bash

wear a blindfold and then be handed several basses one at a time and then judge them blind on how they feel/sound

[Telebass]

Good idea!

[FinnDave]

There's more to take into consideration than how a bass feels & sounds; for me, how well it stands up to repeated use counts for a lot, but consistency is hard to evaluate in the short term, or in a blindfold test.

[CHW]

As a 1st bass, I'd never encourage anyone to go out and spend more than £250 at the max. However. That 1st bass will have limitations that anything 400and up will not have. When anyone starts out. They are trying to get to grips with the mechanics of playing. Coordination, techniques, picks, fingers, thumbs. There's no point in spending a lot of cash on a higher end model at this point. However, at some later point, the fledgling bass player starts to seek tones, sounds, better playability, better weight distribution. This is when the original bass is outgrown. We may keep old faithful, mod it a bit, experiment on it, but in essence. It's been dumped!

[Greggo]

I've been playing bass for 14 years and the most I've paid is £220 - I often get a complex thinking I should invest in something better (more so when I was gigging and rehearsing weekly) but since I've joined this forum I've started playing more and getting better on the basses I've got and I've learned absolutely loads from setting basses up including truss rods, saddle heights, pickup adjustments to wiring electronics. I've come to conclusion that for me personally I don't need to spend a lot of money to get what I need out of an instrument.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1395693804' post='2405255']
As a 1st bass, I'd never encourage anyone to go out and spend more than £250 at the max. However. That 1st bass will have limitations that anything 400and up will not have. When anyone starts out. They are trying to get to grips with the mechanics of playing. Coordination, techniques, picks, fingers, thumbs. There's no point in spending a lot of cash on a higher end model at this point. However, at some later point, the fledgling bass player starts to seek tones, sounds, better playability, better weight distribution. This is when the original bass is outgrown. We may keep old faithful, mod it a bit, experiment on it, but in essence. It's been dumped!
[/quote]

Hmm. I don't really get that philosophy. Why not just buy the best instrument you can afford?

[CHW]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1395699140' post='2405346']
Hmm. I don't really get that philosophy. Why not just buy the best instrument you can afford?
[/quote]

If you are an earner I have no issue with anyone who takes that decision. It's your's to make. However if a mate comes to me and says he fancies giving the bass a go -no matter what he could or couldn't stretch to I'd never suggest he goes out and buys an Alembic. I'd feel it was a waste of money if he didn't get on with it (possibly led by me?)

As a parent who had a daughter come up with exactly that 4 years ago we ended up buying her an Epiphone EB0 short scale. I could have stretched to more, but wanted to see her invest herself in it, before I invested my hard earned. Ultimately I think that the Epi will suit her longer term bass needs, she has little interest the options a higher quality instrument might open up, and the Epi is perfectly giggable (both of us have gigged it). If she wants to buy a better bass in the future, that's entirely up to her at the time.

[KingBollock]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1395699140' post='2405346']
Hmm. I don't really get that philosophy. Why not just buy the best instrument you can afford?
[/quote]
I'm not so sure it's what you can afford, necessarily, but what you can justify. And if it's something, like taking up an instrument, where you're not sure that it will really be your thing, then I believe that what you can justify becomes less. If later on you decide that it is definitely what you want to do and you are playing regularly with a band, then maybe you can justify spending more. And if you decide to become professional where a much more expensive bass will pay for itself, then you can spend as much as you like. The way to justify something is to work out its importance in your life, it becomes a "What are you prepared to go without now that you wouldn't have when you first started?" question, because not everyone has the kind of disposable income where they can spend whatever they like on whatever they like.

However, with the quality of basses, even at cheap new prices, now, I believe that it is possible to spend under £300 on a secondhand bass of a quality that might never need upgrading.

[ubit]

I, personally find that I don't need better basses but I sure as hell want them. I am in a position now where I can afford to spend a bit more on a bass, so why not? You want the best and the best costs money. I mean you pay for the wood, the pick ups, the hardware, the craftsmanship . All these factor in to make a better bass, therefore cheap basses will not perform as well as a more expensive bass. At the end of the day, why should you settle for something that is of a lower standard if its your main hobby? Full time bass players don't use cheap copies. Why is this?
I have always been a Fender man, but recently bought a Spector Euro 4LX and I have to say, that bass is amazing. It just feels better and the EMG pick ups are awesome. Thats not to say that the Fenders don't sound good too, just different.
Maybe Im a bass snob, but I like to have good stuff as I feel playing a decent bass brings your playing on far more than cheap gear

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1395907364' post='2407710']
Full time bass players don't use cheap copies. Why is this?

[/quote]

I agree with pretty much everything you say but in answer to your question, some of it is of course because of the quality and sound but I think some part of it is so that you get taken seriously as a musician.

You could get a nice US Fender, sand off the Fender decal and stick a Westfield or Squier decal on in it's place and anyone who couldn't tell what you had done, would probably not take you seriously as a professional musician.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Jonnyboy Rotten

[TimR]

Funnily enough I was introduced to a guy at a party as 'another bass player'. His first question was what bass do you play. I have an Ibanez. He said 'Ah. I play a fender', then he walked off.

He's a strange guy by all accounts anyway so no loss.

[neepheid]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1395916703' post='2407855']
Funnily enough I was introduced to a guy at a party as 'another bass player'. His first question was what bass do you play. I have an Ibanez. He said 'Ah. I play a fender', then he walked off.

He's a strange guy by all accounts anyway so no loss.
[/quote]

Sounds a bit dickish to me.

[ubit]

Ibanez make great basses, really fast necks, although I find the string spacing a bit tight on my 5 string

[grandad]

Played a new Gibson EB3/SG, at PMT today. It was ok but prefer my Tokai copy.

Edited March 27, 2014 by grandad

[Twincam]

I recently bought a squier vm mustang bass. And I could of easily afforded a fender pawn shop or the reissue. Infact I could of afforded all three if I wanted.
I even made a thread about which one I was going to get which I was sure I was going to get the pawn shop model. The day came I had money in the bank. But I just could not justify paying the extra. I've been playing around a year and to me it's a side hobby. The squier meets my requirements and has a great neck.
I'm very happy with the squier even though mine arrived with some qc problems little marks etc but it sounded good so got some free goodies out of it. And the marks came off too.

However I wish I had got the fender now probably the reissue. Sadly it's more for the name on the neck and it's resale value rather than me thinking it would be that much a better instrument. Although I'm seriously unimpressed with the squires machine heads!!! Well I'm skint now lol so the squier will have to do.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1395916984' post='2407864']
Sounds a bit dickish to me.
[/quote]

My thought as well. Strange question to ask someone on being introduced - probably more interested in gear than music. Still, it takes all sorts.

[discreet]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1395907364' post='2407710']
Full time bass players don't use cheap copies. Why is this?
[/quote]

I've seen pro players with Squiers... I suppose technically they're not cheap copies, though.

[Number6]

I have a 30 year old Ibanez Roadstar II bass with a blue popeye maple top and is very playable.....it does a decent enough job even though i've tried lots of basses over the years i am happy with it.....i like to tyre kick new basses now and again and i think there are a few i would buy if i felt a real need.....but not to date. Wouldn't mind a short scale Gibson but nothing else extravagent.