what is the better budget bass??

the dairy giant

New member
My son (13yrs) now has a hankering to play bass (I play guitar and keys).

can't spend a fortune, usual story... but I'm looking at Squire and Ibanez models.. I have a feeling that for the money, the Ibanez maybe better than the Squire.. we are looking pretty much bottom off the range, which will be about NZ$600, for an ibanez RD300. This seems pretty nice, looks nice.. sounds OK to my ears...

any thoughts?? thanks!
 
i have an ibanez bass right now, and although it's not really a budget model, i'd pick an Ibanez over Squier for your son. i've never liked any squier guitar i've picked up, so i don't know how good the basses might be. but Ibanez to me has always been good for the price in guitar and bass.
 
My first and only bass is a budget 5 string Ibanez GSR205 that cost me £185 brand new(about $320). Only wanted something cheap to lay a few basslines down. No complaints here. Plays pretty nicely, seem to be able to get a nice variation of different tones out of it. Its not let me down yet.
 
Bass like guitar is largely a matter of personal preferance. Squire basses are easily upgraded, Fender parts fit right on them. Ibanez basses are easier to play, smaller neck and lighter body. For a beginner I would recomend Ibanez over Squire but dont just take my word for it, play a few of each and you will see (feel) what I mean. Also the Ibanez seems to have slightly better hardware and electronics straight from the factory.
 
You really have to try them out, as the quality control tolerances on cheap basses are such that individual instruments of the same model can vary widely. I was looking for a budget bass (under $300 US) a few months ago, for recording purposes only. I went to about 6 music stores and finally settled on a Squire Standard Series P-Bass Special (the one with both a P and J pickup). I would stay away from the Affinity series, as the hardware is much cheaper and less reliable. Even among the Standard series, I had to play a bunch to find the one that looked (good neck, nice frets, etc.), felt, and sounded like what I was looking for (a smooth sound for acoustic based pop music).

I found the Ibanez (GSR200 & GSR300, mostly) basses to be lighter and they had thinner necks, but they had bad setups from the factory (lots of fret buzz all over the neck) and just weren't the sound for me. They would probably work well for hard rock and metal, but didn't seem as versatile as the Squire.
 
I recently bought an Ibanez SRX300, and it's really a nice piece of gear for the price (a tic under $300.00). Sounds great recording direct, and it was set up perfectly out of the box.
 
I bought a 5 string Ibanez EX???...oh, maybe 12 years ago. Its not a beginner bass, but its nothing fancy like you see around a lot these days.

And it kicks butt. Its been incredibly reliable, sounds good even with passive pickups, and plays really well.

A friend of mine bought a Squire bass for his oldest daughter. Uh... its OK, but there's no comparison in my book. Sounds fine but its much more difficult to play and feels kinda cheap. I just recorded with it last night, actually, because I forgot my bass and hers was availible- it works, but it badly needs a setup job.

I'm not familiar with the RD300- it may need a setup job just as badly as the Squire. Bass is *really* hard to play when the strings are 2 inches off the fretboard... you may want to save a few bucks on the side to have whatever you get setup by a luthier. Usually costs are $50(US)- I have no idea what it might be in NZ.

Take care- and congrats on being able to share music with your son!
Chris
 
in my experience with cheaper bass guitars, Yamaha kills the rest. I actually own a cheap Ibanez and my friend has a cheap yamaha. Wow, im sure its hit or miss from guitar to guitar, but that yamaha doesnt feel like it should be 200.
 
I've been a guitar player for 30 years and recently picked up a bass for my home recording (I was tired of bringing in bassists or using a synth). I spent an afternoon at my local GC and focused on two well reviewed low-budget basses, the Yamaha 170 and Ibanez 200. At first, I prefered the Ibanez for its thinner neck and easier action, which might be preferable for some players, but I noticed a some slight fret buzzing on the several guitars I tested. For my interest in clean recordings, I felt that the Yamaha was the better choice--the action was a bit higher, the neck a bit beefier, but the sound was so clean and pure (for a bass at this price point). In fact, my recordings since have born this out; the bass sounds solid and clear. I also found the Yamaha's body design to be particulary well suited to playing while seated.

So, in general... I found both basses to be low-cost winners, really quite surprising for their ridiculously low prices. For a beginner, especially a youngin', I would probably choose the Ibanez for its easy playability. For a recording musician with some guitar experience, I think the Yamaha's a better choice--although I'm sure the Ibanez could be fine with some adjustment. Either way, I'd suggest asking a store to bring out a few of either model so that you can check the necks for straightness and smooth/even frets. I find a lot of obvious inconsistency in craftmanship at this price point, so after I'd decided on the Yamaha, I had the GC folks bring out 3 of them (new in box), and I took one that was clearly superior in overall build and finish.

Good luck,
J.
 
Last edited:
Definitely Ibanez. I don't personally like them at all, but Squier's are made so cheaply and are a lot harder to play (not a good quality for a beginner's instrument).
 
If you can get hold of a Jay Turser, they're a pretty dang good bass for just starting out. They sound nice and 'present', and are particularly lightweight. They make a Fender-P-type model in 30" and 34" scale lengths. For "under" $300, they do a nice (short-scale, obviously) Beatle-bass knock-off: I had a student (older guy) who said it was, for the money, a better deal than his off-the-production-line Hofner.
 
Back
Top