question for bass persons | Forums

[PRS_Rocker]

He's not totally dead wrong....cheap instruments are cheap instruments...I've yet to see 1 squier worthy of even plugging into my rig......I don't care what the costs is....a squier is still a squier, it's not good enough quality to be called a fender. Mexican fenders are better than squiers, and american fenders are better than them all and there are major differences, people who don't believe there are simply have never played a quality instrument or are paid to say otherwise. If Johnny Cheapo invented a guitar made of plywood with tin pickups and plastic tuning pegs and it had a vomit laquer finish on it that was scratch and sniff and sold for $29.99 at your local Wal-Mart you'd never touch it...but if he paid you $25,000 a year to endorse it, you'd love it.

Someone who has never owned a decent piece of gear has no perspective. "I was at Guitar Center and tried one... My brother saw my cousin's roommate play one in college... I saw a YouTube video and... I read a review on www.cruddybasses.com, and they said..." Those statements pop up all over the place.

The problem with some of the cheaper basses is that there are SOME, and these are rare, that actually play well. Why not all of them? Because the standards for each piece is not as high. They are put together, lathed, lacquered, and set up by machines and cheap labor. They have no pride in their instrument. You realize that the same person puts together Squier, Samick, Epiphone, Ibanez, and 10 other inexpensive lines in the same shop; often in the same day? They get handed a body, a neck, a glue gun, some paint, hardware, tools... you get the idea. There's no pride, because there's no ownership. They don't even get sold in their country. And you can't just blame the worker. The manger just watches them clock away and his only job (I can be sexist, it's likely a man in Korea) is to ship as many of these items a day. If he's slow in productivity, his numbers go down, and he gets less $$ or gets fired.

Rickenbacker, Paul Reed Smith, Gibson, some Fender, Music Man. Those come with a tag that says this person made this axe and this is the person who checked it. You can call the company and say, "I want to talk to JT, he put my guitar together, and I think the neck glue is sloppy." If you haven't owned a high end instrument, you really don't know where that comes from guys.



Now all that said, don't get me wrong, it's not about being a snob. I think there's a lot of fine lower priced instruments out there. My favorite was my Schecter Stiletto Custom 5. I got snobby and purchased a 5 string made in USA Precision. Was it a better bass? In some ways. Was it almost 3x's the price better? That might be debated when you're playing bass for a country western cover band and your typical audience members are drunk hicks. Like I said, play what's right for YOU and your needs and budget.

[PRS_Rocker]

Oh, and now I play a Rickenbacker Mapleglo 4 string. Guess I'm a snob? No, I just wanted a decent, short-scale bass that was NOT active. I like passive pickups. Yes, that's me in the pic:

[ravenreaver]

Now all that said, don't get me wrong, it's not about being a snob. I think there's a lot of fine lower priced instruments out there. My favorite was my Schecter Stiletto Custom 5. I got snobby and purchased a 5 string made in USA Precision. Was it a better bass? In some ways. Was it almost 3x's the price better? That might be debated when you're playing bass for a country western cover band and your typical audience members are drunk hicks. Like I said, play what's right for YOU and your needs and budget.

Ahh... A Schecter stilleto, those are worth more than both my right and left arms. Personally, I prefer the Damien series a little bit to the Stiletto, but by all means they are a beastly instrument.

[C.Linton]

Looks OK. I would check the neck for straightness, seeing as the truss-rod access cover is missing, someone may have been messing with the truss rod and lost the cover. As was said, play it thru an amp, and makes sure both pickups are working as well as the volume and tone knobs, and whatever switches are there (althought I don't see any in the pics)
To check the neck:
Fret it at the first and last fret (use both hands!!!LOL) check at about the 8th fret, there should be a gap between the bottom of the E string and the top of the fret enough to slide something the thickness of a credit card between. If the gap is much more than that (say 1/16." or more) I might consider passing. It looks, as I said because of the missing truss rod access cover. that someone has already been messing with the truss rod, and if the gap is that big, it may not be fixable. However, at a glance, it looks like a decent enough bass for $120, I would see if maybe because of the grafitti and sticker, you might see about talking him down 20 bucks. You may need to take it to a pro for a proper setup, which can cost anywhere from 30 - 50 dollars, but even with that expense, it would still be a relative bargain.
All in all, if it is in decent condition, and everything appears to work as it should, I would go for it. It looks like a fair enough bass for a beginner, at an OK price.
The closest Washburns I could find at Musician's Friend I could find were about 500 bucks new. I have no clue what this particular bass might have cost new, but at least you get an idea what a typical Washburn costs these days.

Just to correct myself a second time " I was right the first time, check your neck's relief by fretting the bass at first and 17th fret, not the last fret.
Sorry for any confusion I might have caused.

[Pancho X1]

Oh, and now I play a Rickenbacker Mapleglo 4 string. Guess I'm a snob? No, I just wanted a decent, short-scale bass that was NOT active. I like passive pickups. Yes, that's me in the pic:

Rickenbacker's are short scale?

[PRS_Rocker]

Rickenbacker's are short scale?

Rick scale is 33-1/4"
Fender = 34"
Schecter Stiletto = 34" (4 string) and 35" (5 string)
Music Man = 34"

[XXajniN]

Just to correct myself a second time " I was right the first time, check your neck's relief by fretting the bass at first and 17th fret, not the last fret.
Sorry for any confusion I might have caused.

I have found on other places that you should pres on the last fret. But everything is OK now, I fixed it. I put some lighter Rotosound strings on it and tightened the truss rod and the neck is excellent now. The strings cost exactly half of what I paid for the guitar. Da fuq.

[ravenreaver]

I have found on other places that you should pres on the last fret. But everything is OK now, I fixed it. I put some lighter Rotosound strings on it and tightened the truss rod and the neck is excellent now. The strings cost exactly half of what I paid for the guitar. Da fuq.

Welcome to the world of bass strings. Far too expensive for their own good... and I desperately need to get my bass some new strings @_@ I'm just waiting to replace the humbuckers with some seymoure duncan quarter pounders when I do it <.<

[C.Linton]

Welcome to the world of bass strings. Far too expensive for their own good... and I desperately need to get my bass some new strings @_@ I'm just waiting to replace the humbuckers with some seymoure duncan quarter pounders when I do it <.<

To an extent true, but most bassists don't change their strings anywhere near as often as guitarists do (some as long as ten years or more), In the long run the costs balance out for most players. I've had the same strings on my MIA Jazz bass that I put on when I got it 3years ago, the same for my two Squiers when I go them two years ago. In the time I've had my Jazz with the one set of strings, most guitar players who play regularly would have changed strings around maybe 30 or more times.

[Aneurysm350]

Wow, really? how much exactly is a set of bass strings? im looking to buy a bass lol.