Looking to step up a notch for bass

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RideTheCrash

RideTheCrash

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My younger brother has been playing a Squier bass for about 2 years now. He's ready to move on to something better, but not crazy expensive of course, just something that'll last him a good while and will hold up. At a local store we found some Yamaha's which were pretty nice to play. One was a RBX170 which is the same price as the Squier, but it's probably just as cheap.

So do you guys have any suggestions for decent basses? The both of us really dig the Yamaha bodies, but what do you guys think about 'em? Decent basses, or waste of money? Thanks...
 
Ernie Ball Musucman SUB bass. After owning a precision and a jazz bass for 10 years I got one and finally have a great bass sound. Also worth checking out in the lower price range are the OLP basses, which are the Ernie Ball licensed imports. Maybe replace the pickup with a genuine Ernie Ball and get the same ball crunching tone.

Just one suggestion.

H2H
 
Consider the Carvin B4 kit. The best $350 bass in the world!
 
The MusicMan SUB's are, indeed, very nice. Actually, this is a great time to look for entry level basses. There are LOTS of really nice basses out there these days for not a lot of moolah. I would recommend checking into the RockBass line, which is Warwick's entry-level offering (made in Korea, I think). Keep in mind that one of the things they've cut corners on is the strings that ship on the bass. The ones that come stock are pretty much terrible and will need to be replaced before the bass will really come into it's own. Don't overlook the Peavey basses, either. These are probably the single best value for the dollar basses out there today. Everything from their budget "Grind" series (an EXCELLENT bass, downright amazing for the price) to their top of the line Millenium series (neck through construction, active electronics, fancy tops, etc... everything you would look for on a boutique bass for very reasonable prices) -- the entire Peavey line offers lots of bang for the buck. (No, I don't sell Peavey gear or work for the company.)

Personally, I don't care for the Yamaha basses, although I've owned other Yamaha products that I liked. (I gigged for many years with a B100 bass head.)

Brad
 
I had a Yamaha at one point. Very nice, I enjoyed it a lot. But now I have a Dean that i really like.
 
Yamaha's are definitely a good value for the money and in my experience WAY BETTER than Squier's. I played a BB Series 5-string in a band for some time and it was a joy to play, and best yet, VERY REASONABLE!

Ibanez makes some good stuff too in the Soundgear series that's reasonably priced and sounds great!
 
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Ibanez Soundgear

I'll have to second the guy who suggusted the soundgear... I'd been wanting to buy a bass for years...Played around with them a good bit... Even expensive ones didn't feel right to me... About a month ago, I went on a quest to find one... I knew as soon as I picked this one up and started playing it... It lists about 3 or 4 hundred dollars but it plays better than most of the thousand dollar basses I've played... The sounds are very versatile and capable... Best of all you can find them for about 2-250 dollars which for the playability is a steal!... I'm still excited about my purchase....
 
Fender MIM(Made in Mexico)
G&L Tributes
Spector(Korea)
Conklin GT4
Used Alembics can be found for less than a $1000 on Ebay.
 
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