From a guitarists perspective, best budget bass

UnclePsychosis

Nothing wrong with a reverse P pickup.

Some people even prefer it. 

There are loads of great budget basses these days. My own personal recommendation is a Yamaha BB414. 

telestratjazz

I have Squier Precision standard bass,it's P+J and is very good bass guitar.I have USA Fender same PJ Cali series and can't see any difference,except price.Have Westone Spectrum GT active bass,differnt to Squire but has own charm,quility Japan guitar.They are both on your budget,good choices today for not much money.

thermionic

Schnozz said:

thermionic said:

Squier CV or VM Precision Bass.

Do you need to replace the pickups on the CVs? I think VM may be Duncan Designed (Alnico still, but from the East and good).

Probably not, they are apparently rebadged Toneriders. The ones in my CV Jazz Bass are certainly better sounding and better made than a pair I once had which came off a MIM Standard (one of which is now in use as a fridge magnet as it's not worth repairing).

TTBZ

Bridgehouse said:

Also, be careful about assuming a slimmer neck and shorter scale length will be better as a guitarist.

You want your bass lines to sound like a bass - which, IMHO requires it to be played like a bass - and there is a difference in approach, technique and style. 

Yeah I made the mistake of getting a Jaguar SS bass as I found my P-Bass neck to unwieldy coming from guitar and having small hands. It felt really nice to play but just didn't sound right. My mixes had way less punch and clarity despite it having the same pickups etc. Similar to the effect scale length has on a normal guitar especially for lower tunings but seemed to have much bigger an impact on the overall mix. 

Funkfingers

Schnozz said:

Do you need to replace the pickups on the CVs? I think VM may be Duncan Designed (Alnico still, but from the East and good).

thermionic said:

Probably not, they are apparently rebadged Toneriders. The ones in my CV Jazz Bass are certainly better sounding and better made than a pair I once had which came off a MIM Standard (one of which is now in use as a fridge magnet as it's not worth repairing).

Squier VM basses used to come with Duncan Designed pickups. More recently, to keep costs down, they changed to unbadged in-house pickups - still with Alnico rod magnet polepieces. I find the own brand P pickup solid and the J slightly weak.

The Tonerider-made pickups in Squier Classic Vibe instruments are perfectly serviceable but I always suspect that there is room for improvement.

Fender MIM Standard series pickups tend to be of the slug polepiece and underslung ceramic bar magnet persuasion. These work well enough but do not respond to dynamics as nicely as pickups with rod magnets.

The red bass guitar in my avatar thumbnail is a Squier VM Precision with EMG-GZR pickups and a Gotoh 201B bridge. For my purposes, the P pickup is the sound. The J pickup is along for the ride, partly to introduce occasional notch filtering, mainly to fill in the rout. The recorded sound is indistinguishable from an all-American instrument.

 Bridgehouse said:

Squier Affinity PJ ... cheap as chips ... neck was a bit thin ... played really nicely ... solid P bass tones. I would have happily gigged it and not thought I was missing out on too much at all.

There's your answer. Pre-owned Squier Affinity P or PJ Bass. Pickup(s) and controls upgrade. All for under £250.

artinski

I second the Ibanez Talman shortscale! I find it very unbalanced, though... I mean, headstock tends to give in to gravity... Still, great bass. 

Warwick‘s „Rockbass“-line models are being sold cheap, at least here in Germany. Excellent quality. 

pintspiller

I was getting no gigs as a Guitarist, so I switchd to bass. I ended up with a VM Jazz and its the best bass I tried a within that price range

BigLicks67

Another vote for a Squier CV Precision.
Yamaha are also worth checking out particularly the BB series.
Used are your best options for both in terms of being cheap.

John_A

Keep your eyes on local collections on eBay. Bassists don't suffer from gas the same as guitarists so bargains galore. I got a vintage brand musicman copy for £20 and a squier P for £35

guitarfishbay

Unless you have flexibility or strength issues I don’t think it’s necessary to get a short scale Bass. Most people can adapt to a 34” scale. What can sometimes be more difficult is the width, which can be wider on certain P basses, but even then most can adapt to most 4 strings.

Phil_aka_Pip

Yamaha RBX ... mine's a 375

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb376/musophilr/PhilBass2.jpg

Bridgehouse

John_A said:

Bassists don't suffer from gas the same as guitarists

Hahahah.. surely you jest? Pop over to Basschat to witness some serious hardcore bass gas..

dindude

artinski said:

I second the Ibanez Talman shortscale! I find it very unbalanced, though... I mean, headstock tends to give in to gravity... Still, great bass

Yes it has horrendous neck dive but I can live with that sitting down recording. Otherwise I was surprised that despite the short scale it sounds like a very solid bass.

Funkfingers

If that is the Talman variant with PJ pickups and a traditional, stamped steel bridge, the balance might be improved by upgrading to a high mass bridge.

Bridgehouse

Funkfingers said:

If that is the Talman variant with PJ pickups and a traditional, stamped steel bridge, the balance might be improved by upgrading to a high mass bridge.

Or a nice grippy strap like a Mono or something..

Basher

Like @Phil_aka_Pip ;I've been very happy with my Yamaha. Mine is the P-J pickup equipped BB614 - the passive version is the BB414. Used ones appear every now and again at decent prices.
I took a bass playing mate along when I bought mine and it seemed to have the edge over the Squiers at the time. I think that was just before the CVs though, which I believe are fine instruments.

Bridgehouse

Basher said:

Like @Phil_aka_Pip ;I've been very happy with my Yamaha. Mine is the P-J pickup equipped BB614 - the passive version is the BB414. Used ones appear every now and again at decent prices.
I took a bass playing mate along when I bought mine and it seemed to have the edge over the Squiers at the time. I think that was just before the CVs though, which I believe are fine instruments.

Yep - the CVs and the Yamahas are very fine.

In answer to the OPs original question - yes, the quality of basses at the cheap end of the scale has improved dramatically, just as it has for guitars - there's loads of really great basses out there now for not much dosh at all.

Play a few in the shop - find one you like and one that seems comfortable. Don't forget - the same bass on its own can sound very different to how it sounds in the mix..

usedtobe

Bit of a wildcard, but this at 12.12
https://youtu.be/0a_F2vIZn1I

SteveRobinson

When I bought my bass I tried every Fender/Squier in PMT.

The best was the Fender Deluxe at (then) £1200 or so. Second best was a Squier Classic Vibe at £240 so that's what I bought. The neck is just so comfortable, with a nicely rounded shoulder.

The Deluxe did have the edge on tone, but new pickups would fix that.

Funkfingers

SteveRobinson said:

The Deluxe did have the edge on tone but new pickups would fix that.

Somebody should market L'eau de Nitro-Cellulose to make those urethane-finished instruments smell the part.