Gigging with a cheap bass

[Beer of the Bass]

On the cheap guitar/expensive amp vs expensive guitar/cheap amp advice in the opening post, I'd agree as long as we're talking about guitar. I'd much rather gig with a well set up Squier strat through a good valve amp than a Custom Shop Fender strat through a budget solid state amp. The guitar would need to meet a certain minimum standard though, which most Squiers easily do.
I played in a band with McNach for a while, so heard many of the basses mentioned in his post above. I can confirm that the J&D and Squier J basses and the Sue Ryder P absolutely hold their own from a listeners perspective and while I never heard the OLP, the SUBs and Stingray didn't sound discernibly different in a live context.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Beer of the Bass

[dnarocks]

I have two spectors,and a bass collection. Love the playability of bc. But despite upgrading all pups and electronic gear the bc will only sound so good. Spector euro and rebop sound better but aren't as nice to play. But Spector has better wood and build quality.

Personally I will never get rid of BC bass but the other two are up for sale. I would like a GMR OR Sadowsky. They play like the bass collection. But sound much better and are more reliable.

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='dnarocks' timestamp='1412012602' post='2564861']
I have two spectors,and a bass collection. Love the playability of bc. But despite upgrading all pups and electronic gear the bc will only sound so good. Spector euro and rebop sound better but aren't as nice to play. But Spector has better wood and build quality.

Personally I will never get rid of BC bass but the other two are up for sale. I would like a GMR OR Sadowsky. They play like the bass collection. But sound much better and are more reliable.
[/quote]

Have to agree about the BC. Wouldnt sell mine, but aint gigged it for 20 years. Dont sound great and it dont look right nowadays either.

Funny how Ps and Js still look right even though they were designed 60 or more years ago.

[DrBike]

The last 2 basses I've gigged are a Squier P Bass that my wife found at a car boot sale for £65 and a Vintage V4 that I got new off ebay (via DJM Music) that was £85 which I'm assuming someone priced wrong but I wasn't going to complain. A reasonable amp does help too but in my case the Portaflex setup cost me around £500 and it suits me fine.

Both basses play and sound great to me, I might be a little self centered but if it sounds right when I'm playing then I don't really mind how it sounds to everyone else. I've had no complaints, in fact the comments that I have had are "Your bass always sounds great" so I'm going to stick with what I've got.

I've got a couple of "kosher" Fender Jazz basses and I've owned a Gibson EB3 and an Aria Pro II in the past but I'm more than happy to play my "cheap" basses for the forseeable future.

[miles'tone]

[quote name='DrBike' timestamp='1412092520' post='2565584']
The last 2 basses I've gigged are a Squier P Bass that my wife found at a car boot sale for £65 and a Vintage V4 that I got new off ebay (via DJM Music) that was £85 which I'm assuming someone priced wrong but I wasn't going to complain. A reasonable amp does help too but in my case the Portaflex setup cost me around £500 and it suits me fine.

Both basses play and sound great to me, I might be a little self centered but if it sounds right when I'm playing then I don't really mind how it sounds to everyone else. I've had no complaints, in fact the comments that I have had are "Your bass always sounds great" so I'm going to stick with what I've got.

I've got a couple of "kosher" Fender Jazz basses and I've owned a Gibson EB3 and an Aria Pro II in the past but I'm more than happy to play my "cheap" basses for the forseeable future.
[/quote]

Nice one!
I also had a Vintage V4 that I bought for £80 off the BC classifieds. The only cheap thing about it was the price. Great P bass and I really regret selling it on (for the same price) as that £80 just went poof! so quickly that I didn't really notice having it. Should've kept the bass even though it wasn't being used at the time.
Fantastic pickup and hardware on a well made bass for next to scratch.
Just wish they'd jump on the P5 wagon with a V5 now.

[lojo]

A while back , I did a classic rock pub gig and we all used 3/4 kids guitars and basses for a laugh and to show the kids that the axes where good enough, the place was rocking and the the band played well, no complaints about not using our real fender Ps, strats or Sgs

[stingrayPete1977]

I would definitely take a budget bass with a high end amp over an expensive bass and a cheap amp, I am not that fussed these days really and never been a slave to the J nut P nut, fat neck thin neck blah blah blah anyway so a well set up cheaper bass with a fresh set of EB strings is fine.

[All thumbs]

I had an epiphany regarding this subject a couple of years ago after starting this thread - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/128886-bass-poll-your-opinion-greatly-appreciated/

I regularly use cheap Richwood basses with The Animals. Last year when we toured with Steve Cropper he showed an interest in my bass as he loved the tone - it was one of my Richwoods!!

More recently I designed a bass and had it hand built at the cost of £2000. I'm now coming to realise I STILL prefer the sound of the Richwoods!!!!

The only issue you might face is the cheap guitar prejudice some people (usually guitarists?!) have. One guitarist I work with says he'd ask for his money back if he went to see a big name artist and they weren't playing Gibsons or Fenders. This REALLY winds me up, but it's out there unfortunately!

[Mornats]

Following what seems like a trend here I gig a Squire VM jazz (my most recent aquisition), a Bass Collection SB320 or an Overwater Classic J (made by Tanglewood). All are great basses and I get compliments on the sound. I do play through a Markbass combo though.

Incidentally, when I bought my Squire I compared it directly with a US Fender standard jazz and the Squire was the better bass. The US one had a slightly nicer tone but as mentioned before no one, not even the bass player, will notice this on stage with a band. The Squire played much better anyway.

[kevvo66]

I gig a harley benton vintage series jazz and I'm not ashamed of my love for this bass she sounds great and looks great .i think she was £100 notes ,best hundred quid I've spent on a bass in fact all my basses are worth about £350 notes for the lot lol. but I'm happy enough.but I also run it into mb head and purple chilli cabs I'm tempted to buy a squire myself ,I was once told years ago by a very good bass player,you can buy the best bass and rig in the world but if you don't put the time in you will still sound pants his words were a bit more colourful than that .mmm serious gas for a squire now.i used fender American standard a few months ago at a gig I didn't like it at all my hb sounded a lot better just cause it's a fender it does not mean it the best IMHO

Edited October 8, 2014 by kevvo66