What are your favorite basses that you got for $700 or less?

Menorahman

Menorahman

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Aug 13, 2015
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#1
For me, those would be my Schecter Stiletto Studio-5, Ovation Ultra Bass, and Certain Elita Jazz.

stiletto-studio-5-fl-hsn-tilt.png UltraPJ.JPG CertainElitaJazz.JPG

Found the Stiletto on craigslist for $400, goes for $820 new. It has a ridiculous build quality to price ratio even if bought new, but it comes equipped with EMG HZ pickups which are probably the worst pickups I've ever heard. Once I replace the pickups with Seymour Duncan NYC's and the preamp with the STC-3P, the total cost will be close to buying it new, but it will be so much better than stock.

Got the Ovation Ultra Bass off Guitar Center through the online used section. At only $300 it was a super steal, and the previous owner even had it routed into a PJ. Gonna replace the pickups with an EMG PJAX set.

And last is the Elita Jazz, made by the infamous David Certain. This bass usually goes for around $1100, but I found a used one in Ohio while on a travel gig for $600. I don't know what it is, but this bass just feels right and sounds great.

So what about you guys? Be sure to post pics!
 
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#2
Both my basses were less than $700.

First was a parts bass, a GF j body, MM j neck, misc hardware, Fender WBW PG, and Bartolini 18v preamp and pickups (those together were about $200, plus $75 for a luthier to install them- did a great job used the backside of the body as a cover for the double battery box, even I have trouble seeing it and I know its there). Total or that one was about $500.

Pre-Barts.
Jay_bass1.jpg


My 1967 Epiphone Rivoli bought from a friend for $150, and after about a year the neck block needed to be replaced. Its a bolt on Japanese, which unconfirmed internet sources say didn't happen until a few years later. So either Epiphone's serial number database is wrong or the unconfirmed internet sources are. Anyway, Dan Erliwine replaced the neck block which a previous owner (before the guy I bought it from) had cut out and replaced with a piece of what he thought was oak. Did a poor job of it, and Dan had to use "$20 worth of epoxy" to glue in a proper piece of pine (or whatever). Labor on that totalled $150, so that bass cost me $300 total.

rivoli.jpg


Both my current basses were about a hundred more than the OP's question.
 
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#3
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Too many have passed through my hands that were great basses for under 700, but I own two currently that I like a lot and see me holding on to. First up is a Squier Classic Vibe 60's Precision bass in sonic blue. Only changes made were an EMG Geezer Butler pickup and a mint green pickguard and a pickup cover which is currently not residing on the bass. The other that's a tie would be my Epiphone Jack Casady in Silverburst. That one is stock and will stay that way unless the electronics give me problems or the 3 point bridge starts acting up. Otherwise its perfect the way it is.
 
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#4
1stnamebassist said:
View attachment 697208 Too many have passed through my hands that were great basses for under 700, but I own two currently that I like a lot and see me holding on to. First up is a Squier Classic Vibe 60's Precision bass in sonic blue. Only changes made were an EMG Geezer Butler pickup and a mint green pickguard and a pickup cover which is currently not residing on the bass. The other that's a tie would be my Epiphone Jack Casady in Silverburst. That one is stock and will stay that way unless the electronics give me problems or the 3 point bridge starts acting up. Otherwise its perfect the way it is.
Click to expand...

Pic of Squier?
 
#10
I've only been playin' & buyin' for the past four years, so none of my purchases need much, if any, adjusting for inflation. That being said…

I'm pleased to say, ALL MY BASS ARE BELONG TO ME for less than $700! Of course, many of them would never deign to reach such a fiscal ceiling, but there are a few which would have, if I'd bought them brand-new. Such highlights include…

1. Fender Export Edition Aerodyne (also my first-ever bass): $376.01 shipped!
FAJB.jpg


2. Fender Classic '70s Jazz: Selling for $500+sales tax ($535). The total cost was offset by trading in a pair of Squier Jazzes.
70sJazz01_zps10e97b2c.jpg


3. Fender Blacktop Jazz: Normally, they go for $500 brand-new. Traded in a Squier P-Bass Special during one of GC's "Used Gear Expo" thingies. Got $75 for the trade, plus an additional $75 off the sticker price, but add $11 for needing to do a special order to get it. (The tinting on the pickguard didn't cost me anything, save for a little time and patience. Ask me how!)
Post-ModBlacktop04_zps275346db.jpg


Here it is, in it's current state. Sold it's neck, as well as the '70s RI's body and put the two together. Now it's my "Classic '70s Blacktop Jazz" So…Much…AWESOMENESS!! :cool:
DSCF0443_zps2nobu3oq.jpg


4. Fender Japan Non-Export Aerodyne: Currently for sale at the price I paid for it. (shameless plug!)
AJB%2003_zpsjdmuxl93.jpg


EDIT: Fixed the first Blacktop Jazz pic.
 
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#14
Two Fender Roscoe Beck Vs - one for $640 and one for $700 - both at GC. The first one was before anyone knew what they were. The second had the E string wound from bottom to top, so it was loose in the nut and buzzed like a mofo. So I told the sales guy that I was going to have to get that fixed and got him to take $300 off their $1,000 asking price. I took it back to the hotel room, rewound the E string onto the peg correctly and it was perfect. It still had remnants of the protective plastic on the pickguard. I sold the first one (green) to a friend of mine and I still have the second one ('burst with tort).
 
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#19
My Ibanez GSR200L. Bought it when I was just starting approx. a year ago. I bought it mainly because it was the only decent lefty bass to be had locally for less than much more (it cost me approx. $250). I never really liked how it looks (although people always say it's pretty for some reason), the lower registers don't sound very good, the pickup selector is mostly useless (they both sound crappy), and the "bass boom" knob sounds like it was designed for kids, BUT it's the most dependable bass I have and being so cheap I have no qualms putting is in the car even on the hottest/coldest/rainiest days, so it turns out to be the most useful bass I have.
 
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