Found a cheap bass guitar on amazon, can you tell me wither if it's good or not?

#27
spintop90 said:
oh.. well I'll try my best to help support my local music store.
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To be honest, you'll probably find a better deal on the GC used gear pages, but at least visit the stores near you, good to know what's out there, and try a few basses while you're at it. ;)
 
#28
Found a Crescent, used, in a pawn shop. The neck was badly bowed, but the bass was so light I almost dropped it taking it off the wall. Put on flats, set it up . . . and was so impressed I went online and bought six more under various brands. The worst thing is that one of the seven had a little fret sprout. The only other negatives are that some of these have more ground hum than others and the output levels of the pickups vary. All are infinitely modable and -- a big deal for pickers my age but not yours -- all weigh under seven pounds.

But I am a scarred bass veteran who knows how to trouble-shoot problems. You are looking for your first bass, so you may be better off following the conventional wisdom since you may have fewer problems with tweaking and set-up. But after discovering these "P-Bass Lites," I won't even look at the other brands mentioned in this thread if I want a Fender-ish bass.
 
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#29
spintop90 said:
what do you mean?
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You will get personal service and proper setup and advice....if you ever need to get it fixed or adjusted where are you going to go? No Ebay or Amazon seller pays taxes to your town or supports the local Fire Department or Little League ball team.....Just my opinion but a person should always at least TRY to shop local and small shops....you may pay a little more but service after the sale is worth a TON in my opinion.....

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#30
ylekot said:
You will get personal service and proper setup and advice....if you ever need to get it fixed or adjusted where are you going to go? No Ebay or Amazon seller pays taxes to your town or supports the local Fire Department or Little League ball team.....Just my opinion but a person should always at least TRY to shop local and small shops....you may pay a little more but service after the sale is worth a TON in my opinion.....

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...and if nobody ever shops there, they won't be there when you need them...
 
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#31
Hard to say, but if I have to make the call it’s “no”. A brand new $73 bass is probably going to suck.

There are brand new basses around $150 to $200 that are good though. Go to the local music store like your sister and everyone else said on the other thread.
 
#32
ylekot said:
You will get personal service and proper setup and advice....if you ever need to get it fixed or adjusted where are you going to go? No Ebay or Amazon seller pays taxes to your town or supports the local Fire Department or Little League ball team.....Just my opinion but a person should always at least TRY to shop local and small shops....you may pay a little more but service after the sale is worth a TON in my opinion.....

$0.02 deposited
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I think you're romanticizing the idea of local music shops way too much. I lived in a big city and all we had was sleazy pawn shops and a handful of guitar dealers that operated like sleazy pawn shops. Not only did they not do any special setup work on instruments before you bought them, if you took something back there and asked them to adjust anything, they'd charge you through the nose for it. Plus anyone unfortunate enough to walk in there ignorant of brands and prices would inevitably leave with whatever weird instrument the store was trying to get rid of. Just MY two cents.
 
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#33
dxb said:
I think you're romanticizing the idea of local music shops way too much. I lived in a big city and all we had was sleazy pawn shops and a handful of guitar dealers that operated like sleazy pawn shops. Not only did they not do any special setup work on instruments before you bought them, if you took something back there and asked them to adjust anything, they'd charge you through the nose for it. Plus anyone unfortunate enough to walk in there ignorant of brands and prices would inevitably leave with whatever weird instrument the store was trying to get rid of. Just MY two cents.
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Yep.....local shops are not universally good......that's why I said try......give them a chance.....that's all....
 
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#35
0BCBD5FB-D742-49C3-B64B-BFC8ED164A0F.jpeg
spintop90 said:
Its a Safstar Electric Bass Guitar
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N148UUO/?coliid=I30F8T2K6B3H8Q&colid=3F6TIVB0JMTLH&psc=0
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Get a Squier Affinity PJ from guitar center or Zzounds you can make payments at Zzounds without having credit or having to qualify. $199. I got this beautiful bass from GC. ZZOUNDS has them in black or white. They sound unbelievably great. I’ve been playing over 54 years.
 
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#36
I'm with all the others. I wouldn't gamble on that. I'd go with Squier or one of the Ibanez TMBs (research them). They're inexpensive and pack the most bang for the buck in my experience. If you sign up for Musiciansfriend's (www.musiciansfriend.com) mailing list and their Backstage Pass program you can get 15% off coupon codes, plus another 8% in store credit. I just bought an Ibanez TMB30 for about $140.

ibanez-tmb30-bk-black-short-scale-talman-bass-guitar.jpg


SX (www.rondomusic.com) basses are a gamble. I know some people here love them, but I bought one recently that was a total piece of craaap. Nothing like a Squier or Ibanez.

Regarding this:

spintop90 said:
Yea, I'd like to have two separate threads.
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Talkbass is a really laid back, friendly place where you'll find lots of great people and lots of help. It's also a place that's sticks to rules and posting multiple threads on the same topis is frowned upon. And not necessary. I didn't' see the other thread... but in the future I wouldn't do that.

Welcome :)!!!!
 
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#38
The experienced me says it's a bad idea. I'm not saying the bass is crap, chances are if anything's wrong it's nothing a fret level and a setup couldn't fix. That said if you're just starting out it can be hard to tell. Your money, though you would spend more upfront, is more securely spent on something else. Or you could just get the bass and it turns out to be good.
 
#39
check guitar center's used section, as others have stated... if you search "bass guitar" on amazon, you see the different variations of that same bass sold under different 'brand' names... usually coming out of the same factory in china or overseas... not that that's bad, but that's just what happens with cheaper gear.

when you search the used bass section of guitar center, use the 'sort' dropdown to choose 'price: low to high' then you'll be looking at basses in your price range. benefit is, you can always call the store, ask for the manager, tell him you're a kid starting out, and see if the bass has been there long enough for you to grab an extra discount on... sometimes it works, other times they can't do anything about it... you can also ask a sales rep to text you some quick photos of it, most of the time they're happy to.

some nice washburns in your price range, also squiers and ibanez, yamaha, etc...

here's a link:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Ba...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

good news is, if it sucks, you can first try switching the strings and/or get it setup for $20-25 bucks locally or take it back to any GC and return it and get your cash back.
 
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