Ever find your cheapest bass has the best tone?

[markdavid]

Ever find your cheapest bass has the best tone?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this.  Was playing at a live event the other night and decided to take my nice but relatively inexpensive Vintage brand Violin bass as it is lighter than any of my other basses (even my other semi hollow basses), in terms of the bass itself it is a nice bass but its price point shows, the nut I have replaced as it looked like it was cut by a chimp, the fret work is a little patchy and there is some over-spray on parts of the neck.  I always thought the tone of this was good when playing at home but I always thought this was just because the deep tone countered the middy tone of my Amplug.

Anyway, brought this bass out and plugged it in, the tone blew me away, it was deep, punchy and with some definite growl and a big pair of balls, I even found myself playing a little harder to emphasise this, funny that a cheaper instrument could sound so good 

Edited May 17, 2018 by markdavid

[chris_b]

38 minutes ago, markdavid said:

Ever find your cheapest bass has the best tone?

Not yet.

[White Cloud]

Oh yes ...  know this phenomenon all too well. Despite having owned some highly expensive boutique basses in my time I can't help but feel they are a bit 'Emperors new clothes'

[spongebob]

No, not ever! 

[Woodinblack]

My new wrongo sounds way better than it should. Not the best but it is pretty good

[Cato]

I'm not sure I'm psychologically capable of allowing myself to believe that.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Cato

[TheGreek]

Both of my (inexpensive) Korean Spectors sound fantastic - the best? Not sure about that but they definitely punch above their weight..

[Mape]

Not necessarily cheapest the best but in general I don't think the price directly contributes to the sound anymore after, let's say 500-600£ price range. And sometimes the cheap ones sound just great

[Pinball]

Hmm, most impressed with the two Bass Collection 335's that I had....the electronics have a great sound. I also have a really nice G&L L2500 with a really refined sound...especially passive.

[Norris]

I love my Indonesian Squier

[Maude]

I love the sound of my Yamaha Bex4 with D'Addario half rounds on it and I have an Aria STB PBass with flats and foam mute I paid £40 for, roll off the tone and it's pure Motown/Stax heaven. 

[Guest MoJo]

I have been fighting with this very conundrum for some time. I have a Yamaha BB1100s which other musos have complimented and I must admit, gets taken to gigs quite often purely because of the badge snob in me. I by far prefer the tone and feel of my Vintage V4 P-bass, which I paid £82 for s/h and the V4 sounds better (to my ears) in a live situation with the band. If I know other musos (especially bass players) are going to be in the audience, I will take and play the Yamaha, otherwise it sits on it's stand as the back-up to the V4. 

[Lozz196]

The answer from me is no, however my backup Vintage Tony Butler Sig Precision at (new) about a fifth of the price of my my US Standard Precision isn`t as far away as the price gap would suggest. 

[The59Sound]

My cheapest bass is a Sadowsky... so yes!

[Conan]

Not "best" maybe, but my J&D jazz sounds at least as good as many Fenders I have played and/or owned. Still a very giggable bass (admittedly with replacement Tonerider pickups). But as the best tone I've had was from my Status series II, no.

[Twigman]

no

[Hobbayne]

When I crank up my MIM Precision and hit it hard with a pick through my Markbass combo, it gives a dirtier sound than my more expensive basses do.

I quite like it. No effects nothing.

 

[synthaside]

I have an eBay special  Unbranded  70 quid Jazz I bought when drunk many years ago because I liked the white and maple,  I upgraded the pickups with some  Duncan's and a nice Ki0g0n loom, I would put money on it up against any fender passive Jazz bass in a blindfolded playing test.

This bass for me kicks the living "profanity" out of my 70's Fender Jazz, I feel more comfortable with it at gigs and rehearsals than with my status  and it produce's more volume, has more easily sculptable tones  with lots of usable in between settings (I presume because of the better pots Ki0g0n uses ) I've had basses that the tone knob might as well have been a switch.   It's naturally more " middy/brighter " because of the full maple neck and fingerboard, I find it it cuts through a mix better ...   and because I've played it quite a bit the neck has worn to a nice satin from the high gloss.

It could do with a hardware upgrade the unbranded tuners are bog standard  but they stay in tune with no issues  and the only issue with the bent bit of tin fender style bridge was a bit of saddle buzz which was i solved with a little bit of bluetack between the E and A saddles.  At my last audition I was asked what it was .....by some rather guitar obsessed guys ... because it sounds huge, I just called it a self build , I got the gig ;-)

Downside .... this bass has its own Gravity well .....  No idea what its made of  probably butcher block  or  lead but it must be close to 12lbs 

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by synthaside

[Vinny]

'Best', no (because there's no such thing) - 'Preferred', yes. 

Edited May 18, 2018 by Vinny

[TheGreek]

21 hours ago, Pinball said:

Hmm, most impressed with the Bass Collections that I had....

Most people who have owned/ do own a Bass Collection Nanyo will probably agree...

[Marvin]

I've never really bought an expensive bass so my experience is somewhat limited. The most expensive bass I've ever bought was a £400 Yamaha, it had the most uninspiring tone of all the basses I've ever owned. I like all 3 of my current basses, for different reasons. The cheapest was £150 s/h the most expensive was £280 brand new 

Edited May 18, 2018 by Marvin

[kodiakblair]

I much prefer the sound/feel of my £70 Harley Benton PB-50s to my T-20 or Fury. Single coil P-bass with flats or tapes has been my thing for a good while now.

Put flats on a Cirrus,to be expected it didn't sound remotely close to a SC P-bass with flats 

[BrunoBass]

11 hours ago, Conan said:

Not "best" maybe, but my J&D jazz sounds at least as good as many Fenders I have played and/or owned. Still a very giggable bass (admittedly with replacement Tonerider pickups). 

Plus one for the J&D Jazz! I love mine and gig it regularly. My Fender Jazz Deluxe which cost ten times as much does sound better, but not ten times better.

[uk_lefty]

My cheapest bass is my only fretless... But it sounds far more luxurious than its price tag would have ever suggested.

[binky_bass]

I find this to be the case with acoustic guitars quote often... I recently bought a Vintage (brand) V300MH acoustic for £20 second hand and it genuinely sounds as good as a USA Martin I owned a year or so ago. A £20 acoustic vs a £1400 acoustic and being honest the £20 was at least as good! Solid mahogany with a fantasticly low action after a little fettling.