looking for a bass, around 3500 - 4000, thoughts?

domhatch

so i'm looking at getting a bass. seen a few second-hand i might go for, just wanted to know if you guys had any recommendations in this price bracket that i should consider. i'll be holding on to it for a good long while. probably couple it with that thar warwick bc20 (haven't tried it out yet, but consensus dictates it to be the best buy for my buck and needs).

ideally, a 4-string i think. the one i've seen is a 5-string. look fwd to your thoughts. thanks
dh|

peterleroux

Corts, particularly the Curbow and Artisan series, are good instruments and can be had in that range second hand. I'm very happy with my Squier Classic Vibe Jazz, but there is a big differecne in specs between the various Squier series. Roughly, Classic Vibe and Vintage Modified are better than Standards, which are better than Affinities.

As for the amp, I'm not a fan of 8 inch bass speakers. Too honky, no thump. A 10 or 12 would be better IMO. Hartkes are affordable and sound good, if a clean hi-fi tone is your thing. I prefer the ones with cardboard cones but the aluminium cone might suit your ear.

domhatch

thanks man. found a cort artisan for 4500 (incl case), around 2005, but looks to be in excellent shape. sound like a good deal?

AlanRatcliffe

+1. The Artisans are great Dom. A4 and A5 in particular.

I'm also not an 8" fan, or even 10's for that matter. In fact, an old school 15" makes me happiest as I like the bass to live down in the low end of the mix.

free2rhyme

I'm gonna be brutally honest here Dom, SX Vintage Series P bass.
They are about R1300 brand new, alder bodies and your choice of necks. Spend another grand to change the pickups and you have a very useable bass for nearly half of what you are looking for and it sounds great. I'm a Fender and Musicman guy but the SX VS is a steal.

With regards to bass amp, what are you gonna use it for? bedroom practice/studio/gig?
If its studio rather just get a good DI, for practice I just hook up to my studio monitors through my sansamp. gives me better tone than most bass amps.

domhatch

free2rhyme wrote: I'm gonna be brutally honest here Dom, SX Vintage Series P bass.
They are about R1300 brand new, alder bodies and your choice of necks. Spend another grand to change the pickups and you have a very useable bass for nearly half of what you are looking for and it sounds great. I'm a Fender and Musicman guy but the SX VS is a steal.

With regards to bass amp, what are you gonna use it for? bedroom practice/studio/gig?
If its studio rather just get a good DI, for practice I just hook up to my studio monitors through my sansamp. gives me better tone than most bass amps.

thanks for the heads up f2r. i'll be using it primarily bedroom practice/studio. i have a line 6 kb37, lots of lovely bass models and wotnot, so i'm sure i could probably start off there and spend time searching for the right amp. i don't want a big, pounding amp, but i do want good tone. i started off with a little 4w vox after i practically gave you my blues junior ?, and only picked up a bigger (lovely!) 35w 2-channel a good while later, so i'm prepared to wait and find the right thing.

in terms of the bass itself, i've been reading about these sx basses, and guitars, sounds like they're where cort was a long while ago - starting to gain some buy-in from folks. this cort i've found, however, is ticking some major boxes for moi. i've played a cort before, and loved it, this one is very pretty, and i won't be able to get out to see and/or play it until saturday. so if it's still there, so much the better for the omens, as it were. i'll give it some thought, and maybe pop into toms to play some others in the mean time...

tks again
dh|

free2rhyme

hahaha, that blues jr was a great amp... but then I also practically "gave" it to BluJu ?

Great man, try out the Cort and it may be amazing ?

for bass tone, I dont think you can go wrong with Sansamp. I use a Bass Driver DI for preamp and DI, I also hear the Sansamp VT Bass is awesome. Music Conn have a few, go try them out, you wont be dissapointed ?

Seriously, a Sansamp into a normal poweramp is mind blowing.

Norman86

what happened to the other 5 string option dom?

domhatch

Norman86 wrote: what happened to the other 5 string option dom?

still on the table so far, just keeping the options open. would prefer a 4-string, though...

D-tox

I Do have a hartke A100 bass amp (15') I'm not using at all.. let me know, I'm based in Pta :L

D

domhatch

D-tox wrote: I Do have a hartke A100 bass amp (15') I'm not using at all.. let me know, I'm based in Pta :L

D

i may just do that, thanks 8)

Jacques_nasi

+1 on the SX P-bass, I bought one new for R1500.00 a couple of months ago as a first bass guitar, and thus far I'm quite happy. I will probably change pups on it at a later stage and it needs a bit of a setup, but I'm willing to spend a bit of cash on it and keep it, as I don't think the amount of times and the intensity of use for me personally justifies a more expensive bass.

I still need to get a small practise bass amp though.......

babbalute

domhatch wrote: so i'm looking at getting a bass. seen a few second-hand i might go for, just wanted to know if you guys had any recommendations in this price bracket that i should consider. i'll be holding on to it for a good long while. probably couple it with that thar warwick bc20 (haven't tried it out yet, but consensus dictates it to be the best buy for my buck and needs).

ideally, a 4-string i think. the one i've seen is a 5-string. look fwd to your thoughts. thanks
dh|

Have a look at this : http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/boksburg/fender-precision-bass-guitar/1001096695120910007856009

V8

babbalute wrote: Have a look at this : http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/boksburg/fender-precision-bass-guitar/1001096695120910007856009

Shhheesshhh, that's a fine deal.

That fellow also has a Ibanez Ergodyne at a good price http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-musical-instruments/boksburg/ibanez-ergodyne-bass-guitar-edb550+-all-wood-active-pickups/1001093506860910007856009

I'm generally against Ibby's as interesting guitars, but I had my opinion changed when I tried some of the lighter basses with the slim neck - I'd trade my Hohner Jack in for that Ergodyne if I was looking for a gigging bass.

LooneyAtTheGate

free2rhyme wrote: I'm gonna be brutally honest here Dom, SX Vintage Series P bass.
They are about R1300 brand new, alder bodies and your choice of necks. Spend another grand to change the pickups and you have a very useable bass for nearly half of what you are looking for and it sounds great. I'm a Fender and Musicman guy but the SX VS is a steal.

With regards to bass amp, what are you gonna use it for? bedroom practice/studio/gig?
If its studio rather just get a good DI, for practice I just hook up to my studio monitors through my sansamp. gives me better tone than most bass amps.

I have this bass and it sounds terrible... All the strings are different volumes even when strings are new, and with hectic compression. What pickups do you recommend?

peterleroux

Julian Emdon wrote:
free2rhyme wrote: I'm gonna be brutally honest here Dom, SX Vintage Series P bass.
They are about R1300 brand new, alder bodies and your choice of necks. Spend another grand to change the pickups and you have a very useable bass for nearly half of what you are looking for and it sounds great. I'm a Fender and Musicman guy but the SX VS is a steal.

With regards to bass amp, what are you gonna use it for? bedroom practice/studio/gig?
If its studio rather just get a good DI, for practice I just hook up to my studio monitors through my sansamp. gives me better tone than most bass amps.
I have this bass and it sounds terrible... All the strings are different volumes even when strings are new, and with hectic compression. What pickups do you recommend?

One of the clever things about the Precision pickup is that you can adjust the height to each string separately because the pickup is split. Check your heights and see if it can be fixed before you look at a replacement pickup. There are loads of good options from Toneriders that are reasonable on ebay to hand-wound pickups that cost 5 times what your bass did.

domhatch

dankie julle almal. i have purchased a 2nd-hand cort artisan (probably an older model a4). currently in with grant for a setup and a look-see. it's in pretty good nick, but:
- needs a good setup
- and new strings
- one of the pots is a little scratchy
- the nut has slipped down (peeking out below the g string)
- probably also could do with a new battery

all this is being sorted for the once-in-a-lifetime price of (very little). you just can't beat grant's prices - or quality.

looking forward to playing it - will give you a low-by-low when i get an amp. in the meantime, it's going straight through my line 6 kb37 and the pod farm models
dh|