Rumple Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 On 03/02/2018 at 23:29, steantval said: Anyone had experience of the Tokai basses ? I had a Tokai Jazz Sound back in the day, very nice bass indeed, defretted it then years later had it fretted again by Bernie Goodfellow when he had a shop in Thorton Heath, I sold it when I gave up playing for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I have a Peavey Zodaic, the short lived mid spec one between the basic BXP model and the highest spec Dave Ellefson signature model. Bought it new around 10 to 12 years ago for less than £200. The neck is super slim (it makes Ibanez necks feel like tree trunks ) and the build quality are hardware and faultless. It's still stock other than a Dimarzio model P pickup (and disabling the bridge pup). The only issue that I've had with it is that it needed a fret level on the upper most frets after a few years. Other than that is has been great. I regularly gig it alongside my other (£1K+) basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 On 03/02/2018 at 00:28, casapete said: Another budget SS is the Squier Jaguar. Great basses for the money, s/h around £125 ish. Been looking for one of these Pete but they seem to be 'intermittent' in terms of when they turn up. Seems like a nice back up to my Mustang, which is also an Indonesian build and has been fairly decent. All of these 'off-set' shortscale jobbies seem to have jumped up in price and desirability at the moment, god knows why... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 What is low budget as opposed to regular budget? We talking about Stagg , Chord etc. i.e under £200? All my basses (and electric guitars) cost me less than £500 new; Aria Pro II IGB Integra, Sub Ray 4, Cort GB 74 and B4FL, Peavey Cirrus BXP 4 and a Vintage V940 fretless. All for keeps and I've nowt negative to say about any of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 5 hours ago, Bluewine said: Didn't Fender buy Tokai and it evolved into the Squire brand? No, Tokai weren't bought by anyone, they are still going. Squier were bought by fender in 1965 when they were an american guitar company, although obviously the manufacture elsewhere. They were mostly dormant between 65 and 82, when they started squier doing guitars again, mostly because of the threats of people like Tokai in the late 70s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 My Taiwanese-made Yamaha BB604 cost me £200 s/h on here. Bought it as a cheapy spare, but it punches well above its weight. Really good build quality, high output and versatile range of sounds. In terms of value for money it's the best bass I've got and it's not going anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 There are Tokais and Tokais.... Japanese made Tokai stuff from the 80s (ish) was very well respected. More recent Chinese-made Tokai stuff is altogether more low-budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Speaking of value for money short scale, I had a Squier VM Mustang that was fantastic. Played and sounded better than a '79 Musicmaster I had at the time. Cost me £180 iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) No mention for J&D? https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Jack-Danny-JB-Vintage-1975-BK-Black/art-BAS0004370-000 I paid £119 for mine (brand new) about three years ago. OK, I've made a few mods, but the only one that wasn't purely out of personal choice was the pickups. One of the originals developed a fault so I put some Toneriders in. I still gig the bass, and until I got my Maruszczyk (in December) it was my first choice, go-to bass. Seriously good value for money and one of the nicest necks I've played. Edited February 5, 2018 by Conan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 38 minutes ago, Conan said: No mention for J&D? https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Jack-Danny-JB-Vintage-1975-BK-Black/art-BAS0004370-000 I paid £119 for mine (brand new) about three years ago. OK, I've made a few mods, but the only one that wasn't purely out of personal choice was the pickups. One of the originals developed a fault so I put some Toneriders in. I still gig the bass, and until I got my Maruszczyk (in December) it was my first choice, go-to bass. Seriously good value for money and one of the nicest necks I've played. Good shout on the J&D, I played one that @Thunderbird had and it was superb, as you say the neck is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powertripper Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 There's an awful lot of great stuff out there for cheap nowadays, you don't need thousands to get great guitars. I'll namedrop two cheap Ibanez's which I personally think were unbelievable value; a GSR (I think 180), which having not played for four years, I was delighted to find played wonderfully, except for a slightly dodgy input connection problem, and a recently acquired acoustic bass; PCBE12MH-OPN, which I just cannot believe was £180, pretty damn good for an acoustic bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, Conan said: No mention for J&D? https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Jack-Danny-JB-Vintage-1975-BK-Black/art-BAS0004370-000 I paid £119 for mine (brand new) about three years ago. OK, I've made a few mods, but the only one that wasn't purely out of personal choice was the pickups. One of the originals developed a fault so I put some Toneriders in. I still gig the bass, and until I got my Maruszczyk (in December) it was my first choice, go-to bass. Seriously good value for money and one of the nicest necks I've played. Love the sea foam or surf green, purple pick guard and block inlays. Blue Edited February 5, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 9 hours ago, Woodinblack said: No, Tokai weren't bought by anyone, they are still going. Squier were bought by fender in 1965 when they were an american guitar company, although obviously the manufacture elsewhere. They were mostly dormant between 65 and 82, when they started squier doing guitars again, mostly because of the threats of people like Tokai in the late 70s. Well I remember reading something about how Fender felt threatened buy the high quality of the Tokai copies. I'm probably the biggest fan of MIJ . If I ever see a Tokai bass I'm buying it on the spot. Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 24 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Well I remember reading something about how Fender felt threatened buy the high quality of the Tokai copies. Not as threatened as Gibson were! 24 minutes ago, Bluewine said: I'm probably the biggest fan of MIJ . If I ever see a Tokai bass I'm buying it on the spot. I was tempted: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 50 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: Not as threatened as Gibson were! I was tempted: Is that a Tokai Thunderbird? Lovely! Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Is that a Tokai Thunderbird? Lovely! Yep - I was standing around waiting for someone else to buy a rickenbaker, wandered off and found that in the corner. Had I not bought a Geddy Lee jazz the day before, I would have bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Just now, Woodinblack said: Yep - I was standing around waiting for someone else to buy a rickenbaker, wandered off and found that in the corner. Had I not bought a Geddy Lee jazz the day before, I would have bought it. Very hard to find. Cool. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 12 hours ago, martthebass said: Been looking for one of these Pete but they seem to be 'intermittent' in terms of when they turn up. Seems like a nice back up to my Mustang, which is also an Indonesian build and has been fairly decent. All of these 'off-set' shortscale jobbies seem to have jumped up in price and desirability at the moment, god knows why... Wish I'd known Mart, you could have had mine. Impulse buy and then stupidly impulse sold it! If I see a s/h one anywhere I'll give you a shout. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Another vote for the Overwater by Tanglewood Classic Jazz. £150ish for a very nice bass indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, ead said: Another vote for the Overwater by Tanglewood Classic Jazz. £150ish for a very nice bass indeed. Yes those Tanglewater basses are rather scrummy. Good call. Edited February 6, 2018 by RandomBass Typo correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxyFuze Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 05/02/2018 at 22:00, Bluewine said: Well I remember reading something about how Fender felt threatened buy the high quality of the Tokai copies. I'm probably the biggest fan of MIJ . If I ever see a Tokai bass I'm buying it on the spot. Blue Don't suppose you know the a significance of the model numbers e.g going from JB 45 to 60 to 85 etc? One would assume they have better hardware as numbers increase but assumptions can be dangerous.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin chambers Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 got a gear 4 music 6 string with a hard case for 220 pounds ,heavy but sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I'll throw Westfield into the mix, think I paid £65 used for mine before I b@st@rdised it to look "roadworn" (it was a phase I went through), my brother still plays it & it's perfectly useable with great sounding pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) On 2/5/2018 at 11:48, Barking Spiders said: What is low budget as opposed to regular budget? We talking about Stagg , Chord etc. i.e under £200? All my basses (and electric guitars) cost me less than £500 new; Aria Pro II IGB Integra, Sub Ray 4, Cort GB 74 and B4FL, Peavey Cirrus BXP 4 and a Vintage V940 fretless. All for keeps and I've nowt negative to say about any of them yeah i'd say anything under £200 is budget, new or used, some crazy bargains to be had out there, i'd always look second hand for anything under 200 Edited February 22, 2018 by skidder652003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) I have one of these incoming, £190. By far the cheapest bass I've ever owned. I've been deliberating over it for ages, I have a mild short-scale phobia (worried I'll lose my ability to play normal basses), and I normally shy away from Chinese stuff, but I kept going back to the shop to play this one, played it on 3 separate occasions and I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with it. Setup is great, action is low, intonation is fine, it's light, it's basically absolutely fine. I initially preferred the Mex Mustang PJ (still prefer how it looks tbh), but the lack of upper register access is a major issue with those basses. Tone-wise, weirdly, even with the crap pickups I prefer the Jaguar to the Mustang. I'm short so the dimensions of this bass are perfect for me, probably more so than regular basses if I'm honest. Having said that, it's getting a new pair of pickups (Quarter Pounder PJ) and a set of tapewounds. The new pickups and tapewound strings will cost more than the bass itself. Also in an ideal world I would like a much higher quality maple neck with a maple board, but despite endless searching, I haven't found anyone willing to make me one, so I'll stick with it as it is for now. Edited February 22, 2018 by project_c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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