WTB - Good, cheap bass (sub £200)

pottolom

Anyone got a good, cheap bass they're looking to part with? My budget is £100 max (incl. courier). I've been tempted by the Harley Benton bases on the Thomann website, but thought I'd see if anyone has anything for sale here first.

EDIT: budget now increased to £200.

And I’m located in Newcastle Upon Tyne if that’s helpful.

Funkfingers

pottolom said:

My budget is £100 max (incl. courier).

Given that the courier will cost between twenty and thirty quid, you put yourself firmly in pre-owned, repair/project and charity shop bargain territory. 

Usual suspects are the afore-mentioned H-B, Höhner, JHS/Vintage/Encore, Vietnamese/Chinese-made Peavey, abused Squier Affinity, Tanglewood, Westley, Shine and the like. Some of these brands have better chances of becoming playable than others.

If you can wait until your budget will stretch a bit further, the possibilities widen enormously.

funkyfraz

You genuinely get very playable basses at the hundred pound mark, but you also get some awful ones, do I'd try before you buy... Maybe hit your local cash converters, I find they tend to have an abundance of basses around that price. Ones bound to be perfectly playable.

The hb one I had was great, but really heavy. It was the jazz copy. Might just be a touch more that the 100 but definitely recommended! 

pottolom

Thanks both for the comments. Definitely some good tips. Looks like I need to go away and have a think

stimpsonslostson

I’d be on my local Gumtree-for your budget you could land something reasonable. 
For that kind of money I’d be looking at Squier Affinity, Harley Benton or Yamaha. My current recording bass is an RBX270 that I got for £50. It’s great and due to P/J pickups very versatile. 

Good luck. 

Funkfingers

stimpsonslostson said:

Yamaha RBX270 that I got for £50. It’s great and due to P/J pickups very versatile. 

RBX series is a (deservedly) perennial favourite on the pre-owned market. The 200 series should have the posh closed gear tuners. Some models also have active treble 'n' bass EQ.

With a pickup upgrade and a high mass bridge, you should have a bass for life.

John_P

Might be worth an ad on a local Facebook group or mentioning your location- saving postage would give a bit more to spend.  

I havent tried one one but something like this Cort at guitarguitar might be worth a try - just within budget 

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px180702329295004--cort-t34-bass-pearl-white-pre-owned

Funkfingers

John_P said:

something like this Cort at guitarguitar

Hell, yeah.

At that price, you can get started immediately. In the longer term, those 3.5 x 1.5" soapbar pickups would be easy to upgrade - as would the control electronics.

robwright

Get the Cort - bargain and it will be solid! Better than a Squier at the same price point! 

pottolom

Cort now sold, but not really my cup of tea tbh.

I’ve now doubled my budget. Just missed out on a Sterling Sub 4 for £150 that the seller unfortunately had to back out of selling. Would be quite keen on one of those.

Bridgehouse

£200 is more respectable for a decent bass.... should be far more options available now. 

Funkfingers

pottolom said:

I’ve now doubled my budget.

Wise decision.

pottolom said:

Just missed out on a Sterling Sub 4 for £150 that the seller unfortunately had to back out of selling. Would be quite keen on one of those.

The Sterling SUB 4 is an immediately giggable instrument. Sure, it has its weak points but those can be remedied in the long term.

Have you tried an Overwater (by Tanglewood) Aspiration Bass?

pottolom

Funkfingers said:

pottolom said:

I’ve now doubled my budget.

Wise decision.

pottolom said:

Just missed out on a Sterling Sub 4 for £150 that the seller unfortunately had to back out of selling. Would be quite keen on one of those.

The Sterling SUB 4 is an immediately giggable instrument. Sure, it has its weak points but those can be remedied in the long term.

Have you tried an Overwater (by Tanglewood) Aspiration Bass?

Thanks! Will have a look at those. One bass I’ve been looking at is the Ibanez TMB100, which I could afford to buy new, but I’m just a bit unsure as to how ‘good’ it can be for the price compared with what I could afford on the used market (Sub Ray 4, Squier Jaguar, etc).

Funkfingers

The Ibanez TMB100 is manufactured on exactly the same production line as the Squier and Sterling SUB, by the same people, using the same materials and, especially, hardware. The quality is pretty much equal between all three ... and several other brands I could mention.

At the price point, the deciding factors will be neck profiles, pickups, electronics and appearances. For example, some will mock the Talman for looking *different*. Others will adore it for precisely the same reason.

pottolom

Funkfingers said:

The Ibanez TMB100 is manufactured on exactly the same production line as the Squier and Sterling SUB, by the same people, using the same materials and, especially, hardware. The quality is pretty much equal between all three ... and several other brands I could mention.

At the price point, the deciding factors will be neck profiles, pickups, electronics and appearances. For example, some will mock the Talman for looking *different*. Others will adore it for precisely the same reason.

Does that make the Ibanez the bargain of the bunch, then? It’s quite a bit cheaper....

Pretty sure the Ibanez is Indonesian, though, whilst the newer SUBs are made in China....

Funkfingers

pottolom said:
Pretty sure the Ibanez is Indonesian, whilst the newer SUBs are made in China.

All of the Sterling SUB bass guitars that I have ever seen and/or tried were Crafted In Indonesia. (It is highly probable that most of the metal hardware would have been sourced from China or Korea.)

The latest ones do appear to be entirely made in China. Presumably, this is a crude attempt to keep the MSRP below the psychologically important figure of £300.

Until I get to try a Chinese SUB 4, my recommendation is confined to the C.I.I. examples.

pottolom

Funkfingers said:

pottolom said:
Pretty sure the Ibanez is Indonesian, whilst the newer SUBs are made in China.

All of the Sterling SUB bass guitars that I have ever seen and/or tried were Crafted In Indonesia. (It is highly probable that most of the metal hardware would have been sourced from China or Korea.)

The latest ones do appear to be entirely made in China. Presumably, this is a crude attempt to keep the MSRP below the psychologically important figure of £300.

Until I get to try a Chinese SUB 4, my recommendation is confined to the C.I.I. examples.

Thanks! Based on what you’ve said, it looks like the TMB100 is the best ‘bang for buck’?

pintspiller

Anything under £200 will be fine. When I started out you'd be forking out similar for something made of plywood! My first fitting bass was and was a bugger to get in tune (the trussrod adjuster was bolloxed so I shimmer the neck). It was years later I realised it was a long scale neck on a short scale body!

pottolom

So, I bought a bass.

A Sire Marcus Miller V3 in Tobacco Sunburst. £234 new and delivered from Andertons.

I'm not a bass player, so I don't know what I'm looking for really, but as a guitarist - the fit and finish seem superb for the price, and the grain of the mahogany body looks superb. Looks like 2 pieces, too (could be more, but it's not obvious if so).

Controls don't feel cheap at all, and it sounds pretty good to me in both passive and active mode.

The whole thing only weighs 7.7lb, which seems obscenely light for such a big bass!

The tuners, though, do feel a bit cheap. Don't think I'll replace them unless I absolutely have to, though.

Bridgehouse

pottolom said:

So, I bought a bass.

A Sire Marcus Miller V3 in Tobacco Sunburst. £234 new and delivered from Andertons.

I'm not a bass player, so I don't know what I'm looking for really, but as a guitarist - the fit and finish seem superb for the price, and the grain of the mahogany body looks superb. Looks like 2 pieces, too (could be more, but it's not obvious if so).

Controls don't feel cheap at all, and it sounds pretty good to me in both passive and active mode.

The whole thing only weighs 7.7lb, which seems obscenely light for such a big bass!

The tuners, though, do feel a bit cheap. Don't think I'll replace them unless I absolutely have to, though.

Get some pics up in a new thread in the bass subforum! 

Oh, and congrats on the new bass

pottolom

Bridgehouse said:

pottolom said:

So, I bought a bass.

A Sire Marcus Miller V3 in Tobacco Sunburst. £234 new and delivered from Andertons.

I'm not a bass player, so I don't know what I'm looking for really, but as a guitarist - the fit and finish seem superb for the price, and the grain of the mahogany body looks superb. Looks like 2 pieces, too (could be more, but it's not obvious if so).

Controls don't feel cheap at all, and it sounds pretty good to me in both passive and active mode.

The whole thing only weighs 7.7lb, which seems obscenely light for such a big bass!

The tuners, though, do feel a bit cheap. Don't think I'll replace them unless I absolutely have to, though.

Get some pics up in a new thread in the bass subforum! 

Oh, and congrats on the new bass

Done!