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Best bass under £400


jackreacher193

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I was absolutely dead set on a Sire P7 after doing weeks of Internet research. Went to Andertons to try them out in the flesh but even after a couple of hours couldn't bond with any of them. Then a Player Jazz in Buttercream leapt onto my lap and I had to take it home. The tone, balance, playability just blew me away after all the Sires. YMMV. They offered me £50 for my Jackson JX40 but I took that back home with me too!

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On 10/02/2022 at 11:43, lownote said:

 I have had an Affinity and it was OK, it's just that the bass world's offering has changed a lot in say the last five years, both with new players in the field and a ramp up in quality across the board.

This is true, Affinity used to be pretty good value for money but now looking at the Affinity series you can nowadays get a better bass than an Affinity for less

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On 10/02/2022 at 11:46, jackreacher193 said:

No wouldn't be going that low. Want something substantially better than what I've got now. So looking around £400.

 

I would look at used, someone on here said the other day that a £500 bass is essentially a £200 bass with slightly better quality control and a little more labour time and I really agree with that assessment, I have played (and returned) a number of £400-500 basses and I am always struck by how marginal the improvements are vs basses that I own that are in the £200-250 price range

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On 21/02/2022 at 20:03, jackreacher193 said:

Its just having the Fender name?!

 

Which is something that put me off ever getting a Fender for many years.  Not that there's anything wrong with a nice Fender bass, they were just way too common for my liking.

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On 22/02/2022 at 09:50, jackreacher193 said:

Why are you selling it after only having for short time? What did you think of it?

They are an exc example of a P bass and cheaper than a CV Squier. I have a Musicman Sterling to pay for and a few other P basses in hareem so this one is the best looking and hopefully should sell soon.

 

For a second opinion check out Lobster`s review.

 

 

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15 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

They are an exc example of a P bass and cheaper than a CV Squier. I have a Musicman Sterling to pay for and a few other P basses in hareem so this one is the best looking and hopefully should sell soon.

For a second opinion check out Lobster`s review.

 

I've seen this and commented on video, Lobster replied saying he'd take the P5 over a Squier CV or Mex Fender!

 

Edited by jackreacher193
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  • 3 weeks later...

Bit late to the party but I own a Sire D5 which i would say has probably the best neck on a sub-£1000 bass I've ever owned.  Quality of finish is very good and it sounds great. Only downside is quality of tuners but I'd say it is easily better than any Squier or Mex Fender I've had.

Another good value candidate is the Vintage brand. Again I have one and it is better than the Squier or Mex Fenders I've had.

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I'm currently heading home from a visit to andertons, accompanied by a new sire v5. I hadn't played a sire before today, and took time to try all the models they had in the shop. I'm not a fan of active stuff particularly, but I did think all the ones I tried were good. However in my opinion the passive basses, the d5, p5 and v5 are all exceptional. I nearly bought the p5 they had as well! The active models seemed a fair bit heavier to me, but all the passive ones, particularly the v5 I chose is very lightweight. Even the hardware seems to be of good quality now, which I recall reading wasn't the case with the first generation ones. For anyone looking for a passive jazz or precision for that budget, I highly recommend them. 

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The list is pretty good really, that 3-4 hundred I'd be looking at Classic Vibe Squier, Yam Broad Bass, Marcus Miller if you like a slimmer width at the nut. G&L were suggested and theyre right in that price range, I'd probs lean towards one of those.

 

Classic Vibes are great and you'll easily find one that suits your style. I will say, I just recieved an affinity today and I'm surprised how cheap it feels. I'd never played one before and the neck feels like raw wood, theres flex in it, Its a PJ and the Jazz pickup might as well not be there, its so weak. I bought it as a modding platform, but I wouldnt recommend it, the CV is light years ahead. I'm contemplating sending it back but as its a project bass, I'll be changing the neck, tuners, bridge, nut right away, and might swap out pots and pickup down the line a bit.

 

Used, i have a perfectly good Yamaha RBX270 that was under a hundred quid on ebay, and 400 should find you a decent mexican Fender in the classifieds. I had a little look at one that went unsold at 400 on ebay last few days. Theres one for sale near me at 450 that looks good. I paid 400 for my MIM P-bass and that came with a hard case and a practice amp. Did need a full setup though.

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I got a Classic Vibe Jazz and after I changed the bridge to a Fender Hi-Mass, replaced the wiring loom with a series/parallel harness, replaced the pickups with something better and completely stripped the neck and refinished it I’m very happy with it.

 

Read into that what you will.

Edited by NicoMcJ
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On 17/03/2022 at 13:27, NicoMcJ said:

I got a Classic Vibe Jazz and after I changed the bridge to a Fender Hi-Mass, replaced the wiring loom with a series/parallel harness, replaced the pickups with something better and completely stripped the neck and refinished it I’m very happy with it.

 

Read into that what you will.

Triggers broom!!

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