...hey gang bangers,

looking for a real cheap bass just to practise with and found this.....Was wondering if its any good..BEING THAT IT IS CHEAP!!

(Don't get me wrong, I know that anything under £100 will be shite, but I brought a real expensive guitar two years back, and found it so frustrating, so don't wanna waste my money this time around)

Specification...
- 1 split coil humbucker and 1 single coil pickup
- Extended neck pocket for greater sustain
- Neat compact design
- Twin volume controls for pickup blending
- Balanced, contoured body shape
- Controls 2 volume, 1 master tone
- Contoured body, extended bolt-on neck construction
- Alder Body
- Maple Neck
- Rosewood Fingerboard
- Scale length 865mm
- 1 split coil, 1 single coil (twinned polepieces) Pickups
- Chome plate bridge Hardware
- Compact closed geared Tuning machineheads
- 24 large Frets
- 41mm Nut Width
- Dimensions 315 x 1160 x 60mm
- Weight 3.34kg

CHEERS!!

All I can say is, it looks good but ask the shop if you can plug it in and play around with it a little. The most important thing is that you like how it feels and sounds. You have to 'feel' it, so to speak.

I've played for a long time on a cheap Hohner Arbor and I still pick it up sometimes. Cheap doesn't mean it's bad, but obviously you shouldn't expect the best. Similarly, more expensive doesn't mean it's better. Bass-guitars are a bit like wine

Remember most of the sound come from your fingers! A good bass player can make a bad bass sound great and vice versa.

A few things to check:

* Try to play all notes on it. There shouldn't be 'dead' parts on the neck, i.e. notes that sound significantly softer, or specific notes where the strings rattle so much that you can hardly hear anything. I've seen bassguitars where you just could not get a decent sound out of a few notes.

* Is the neck straight? The neck should be slightly 'hollow' but the strings should not be too far from the neck in the middle (that means the neck is too hollow and you shouldn't buy it)

* Do the strings rattle a lot? If they do, you might have to adjust the strings to be a bit higher from the neck. If it rattles too much, it could mean you'll have to adjust the strings to be too high, which could mean the neck is just bad and I'd recommend to look elsewhere.

* When you try to do some slapping (although I don't know if you're into that), the pickups shouldn't give you that nasty 'popping' sound.

There are some things you can fix with adjustments on the bridge, adjustments of the neck (turning the pin inside the neck) and flattening of the frets, but you can't make lion out of a dog.

If you're after that classic funky sound and don't want to spend too much, you could also try a Squier Jazz-bass. Many of them are quite good (and often better than some Fenders). I've also seen other jazz-bass copies that can sometimes be surprisingly good and even cheaper than Squiers!

erikd said:

All I can say is, it looks good but ask the shop if you can plug it in and play around with it a little. The most important thing is that you like how it feels and sounds. You have to 'feel' it, so to speak.

I've played for a long time on a cheap Hohner Arbor and I still pick it up sometimes. Cheap doesn't mean it's bad, but obviously you shouldn't expect the best. Similarly, more expensive doesn't mean it's better. Bass-guitars are a bit like wine

Remember most of the sound come from your fingers! A good bass player can make a bad bass sound great and vice versa.

A few things to check:

* Try to play all notes on it. There shouldn't be 'dead' parts on the neck, i.e. notes that sound significantly softer, or specific notes where the strings rattle so much that you can hardly hear anything. I've seen bassguitars where you just could not get a decent sound out of a few notes.

* Is the neck straight? The neck should be slightly 'hollow' but the strings should not be too far from the neck in the middle (that means the neck is too hollow and you shouldn't buy it)

* Do the strings rattle a lot? If they do, you might have to adjust the strings to be a bit higher from the neck. If it rattles too much, it could mean you'll have to adjust the strings to be too high, which could mean the neck is just bad and I'd recommend to look elsewhere.

* When you try to do some slapping (although I don't know if you're into that), the pickups shouldn't give you that nasty 'popping' sound.

There are some things you can fix with adjustments on the bridge, adjustments of the neck (turning the pin inside the neck) and flattening of the frets, but you can't make lion out of a dog.

If you're after that classic funky sound and don't want to spend too much, you could also try a Squier Jazz-bass. Many of them are quite good (and often better than some Fenders). I've also seen other jazz-bass copies that can sometimes be surprisingly good and even cheaper than Squiers!

Your the man!

Thanks for the tips, kind sir...If i have any problems...I know who to call!

andykeen said:

Your the man!

Thanks for the tips, kind sir...If i have any problems...I know who to call!

Anytime! Just remember to play it first before you buy. You'll know when you've found 'the one'.