Battle of the budget basses?

[Bolo]

Yamaha is never a gamble at this price bracket, absolutely solid.

 

The squier choir conveniently forget to mention how lucky you have to be to find a good one.

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Bolo
Edit to correct the autocorrect

[Terry M.]

27 minutes ago, Bolo said:

The squier choir conveniently forget to mention how lucky you have to be to find a good one.

That applies to Fender rather than Squier in my experience. I've had several of each. It's to the point where I don't understand the immense price difference between the two brands.

Edited 4 hours ago by Terry M.

[HeadlessBassist]

2 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

That applies to Fender rather than Squier in my experience. I've had several of each.

 

I think it applies to every mainstream mass produced instrument maker. Yes, sometimes there's the odd standout 'tryhard' like Sire who really make their mark, but if you can, you should try before you buy with anything mass produced.

 

I must admit, I've been very lucky with both Squiers and Fenders over the years. The Mexican stuff from the Ensenada factory in particular has been very impressive over the last few years.

[Terry M.]

21 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

I think it applies to every mainstream mass produced instrument maker. Yes, sometimes there's the odd standout 'tryhard' like Sire who really make their mark, but if you can, you should try before you buy with anything mass produced.

 

I must admit, I've been very lucky with both Squiers and Fenders over the years. The Mexican stuff from the Ensenada factory in particular has been very impressive over the last few years.

Yep this is all true. I actually have a Mexican Player Plus Jazz V bought used from The Gallery earlier this year modified with an onboard Sadowsky preamp. I'm not a Fender fanboy but I really like this particular one.

[zonular]

Seen a Yamaha TRBX174EW come up in local ads for 175 euros.

 

I figured that's an ok price right?

Vs buying a new Harley benton j bass

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, Bolo said:

Yamaha is never a gamble at this price bracket, absolutely solid.

 

The squier choir conveniently forget to mention how lucky you have to be to find a good one.

 

 

I’m not sure that is true. I’ve honestly never played a squier that wasn’t worth at least the asking price and probably more 

 

I’m with @Terry M. on this one, it’s much more a fender problem and more US than Mex these days. 

[Geek99]

17 minutes ago, zonular said:

Seen a Yamaha TRBX174EW come up in local ads for 175 euros.

 

I figured that's an ok price right?

Vs buying a new Harley benton j bass

It is, but be aware that EW probably means extra wide. Unless you have big hands, I would advise caution 

I’ve had an extra wide Yamaha and it was painful to play after just a few minutes - I have medium large hands, bigger than average but I still struggled with the wide spacing 

 

I looked at a picture of a TRBX174EW and they look pretty wide to me 

Edited 3 hours ago by Geek99

[itu]

17 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

...but if you can, you should try before you buy with anything.

Fixed. 

[miles'tone]

51 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

It is, but be aware that EW probably means extra wide. Unless you have big hands, I would advise caution 

I’ve had an extra wide Yamaha and it was painful to play after just a few minutes - I have medium large hands, bigger than average but I still struggled with the wide spacing 

 

I looked at a picture of a TRBX174EW and they look pretty wide to me 

EW = Exotic Wood, such as mango 🥭 😉

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

There's no wrong answer from the replies already given. Buy the one that is so appealing to you that once you have it at home you won't be able to walk past it without picking it up and having a play.

[Geek99]

43 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

There's no wrong answer from the replies already given. Buy the one that is so appealing to you that once you have it at home you won't be able to walk past it without picking it up and having a play.

As long as it fits your hands. There’s nothing worse than fighting with a instrument 

[ian61]

Well Ive had just about all of the Fender style P basses over the years and I'll end my days with my current CV 70 in walnut. Incredible build quality and playability and as with just about all of them, would benefit from a PU upgrade tho it doesn't bother me at all, but thats it. 

[jay bass]

I Have tried a few budget basses over the years including Harley Benton, J and D, Vintage , artist hybrid , Squier , Peavey, yamaha

not yet tried the Budget Mark basses . thats probably next on my list to look at.

all have been very good for the price point , i have actually gigged with these basses just to try them out and never had any issues with any of them

if you go down the Fender copy route you can always upgrade the electronics etc if you feel the need as there are parts widely available.

[chris_b]

Buy the bass that feels the best in your hands and has the look you want.

 

If it has neck dive, replace the tuners with licenced HipShots, if it doesn't sound great, and it probably won't, they always cut corners on pickups, replace them. It won't be the cheapest bass in town any more, but it will be a much improved one.

 

I have a £250 Cort Jazz and instead of replacing the pickups I use an outboard preamp. I haven't wasted any money on modding, I can resell the preamp and it gets me 90% of the way to a decent sound.