Guitar Fetish now selling Xaviere basses!

[progrmr]

Another entry into the low price bass market - I have used a lot of their guitar pickups and they're good for the money.

One of you needs to buy one and tell us how it is!

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xaviere-...ars_c_362.html

[NWBasser]

I'll pass thanks.

I'm really set for basses right now.

I checked them out and that's some serious marketing hyperbole!

"Ever played a $400 Jazz at your local guitar Barn? LOUD isn't it?? That's cause it's loaded with inexpensive ceramic pickups overwound to compete with the din of the retail environment. Xaviere does not have to worry about that nonsense- so we load our XVJBs with a matched, calibrated set of genuine GFS JB Pro Alnico pickups- $60 worth of pickups on a $189 bass! And they are the business my friend....Fiber Bobbins, Sand cast magnets, cloth wire- THE GOOD STUFF."

[Ch0jin]

So tempting! I was planning on ordering a set of their P-Bass pickups to replace the ones in my old Vantage bass (the ones in it are noisy), now the temptation is to just buy a whole bass instead

And yeah, GFS always seems to go OTT with the marketing copy, but as someone who writes marketing copy for a job, I kinda enjoy it actually. I mean I get that it's a sub $200 bass, and as we say around here "it is what it is", but I don't mind that they've taken the effort to talk them up. I mean technically "cloth covered" and "good stuff" should never be in the same sentence from an engineers POV, but hey, they have acknowledged that "Mojo" sells more gear than fact, so more power to them.

Anyway...

Programmer, have you by any chance tried out their P-Bass pickups? I'm looking for something about as loud as say a P90 is in a guitar (my current Vantage pickups are half that) but humbucking because I also want no hummmmmmm.

[Eric***]

I checked them out and that's some serious marketing hyperbole!

Yeah, after I realized just how completely overboard they go on their descriptions, I realized that it actually affected my view of their products more than I thought it did.

In the end, I think that Guitar Fetish has average to cheap products for fairly low prices. That's not even a bad thing necessarily, but I have to bear that in mind if I ever visit their site, before I get sucked into their vortex of blather.

but hey, they have acknowledged that "Mojo" sells more gear than fact, so more power to them.

Sad but true, huh?

[NWBasser]

[QUOTE=Ch0jin;217330
Programmer, have you by any chance tried out their P-Bass pickups? I'm looking for something about as loud as say a P90 is in a guitar (my current Vantage pickups are half that) but humbucking because I also want no hummmmmmm.[/QUOTE]

Not really directed my way, but....

I'd suggest a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder if you want something high-output and ballsy.

[Ch0jin]

Thanks NW! They were actually my first choice, but they cost more than my entire bass did! (I paid $50 for the Vantage second hand like 15 years ago).

Currently if I boost the output of the bass to the same level as a guitar (usually I'm just playing bass lines into a looper to jam over, so I run bass and guitar through the same amp in my room) the noise from the "Vantage" brand pickups is unbearable.

I basically just want to make it usable so I can stop myself looking at Rickenbacker's and T-Birds in the store....

I also have a '70's era Peavey "The Bass" head I need to refurb (needs caps and pots but has a really cool germanium diode/transistor based fuzz and distortion built in) and it'd be nice to have a noiseless and fat sounding bass to plug into it when I'm done...

[progrmr]

I haven't tried any of their bass pickups - I think they're new this year.

I'm happy enough w/ the Yamaha as it is - but I am very close to getting one of their p-basses with a maple neck

[FrankenFretter***]

From what I've heard about the GFS/Xaviere guitars, they're very hit and miss. I know DVM has one or more that are/were pretty decent, but I've heard more bad than good about them. As Eric said, their pickups are decent, but not to the extent that they want you to think. They do have some good marketing going, which seems to inevitably lead to a bit of disappointment once the actual product is in the hands of the end-user.

For budget basses, you're probably better off with an SX or Douglas from Rondo. Or a used Peavey from CL. Of course, YMMV and it's just one dude's opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

[progrmr]

Curse SX's ugly-as-sin headstocks...I swear I want this so bad:

http://www.rondomusic.com/URSA2MNCTASHNA.HTML

But I can't do that headstock. I just ruins it.

[Eric***]

But I can't do that headstock. I just ruins it.

srsly? I think that's about as innocuous a headstock as I've ever seen. It might not be super-special or anything, but IMO it's far from ugly. Interesting, that whole subjectivity thing.

[NWBasser]

IME, when you have a nice bass like a Yamaha and a budget bass like the GF one, the budget one collects dust as the nicer bass is so much more enjoyable to play.

I used to have an SX fretless jazz, but 10 times out of 10, I'd grab my Clement instead since it offered a much better playing experience.

[cebreez]

I have an Xavier cherryburst LP and I've been very pleased with it. I don't use it on stage...(not to say that I wouldn't) but it stays at my fiancee's house to practice on when I'm there. If their basses are as good as their guitars then for the money you can't go wrong. I would not trade my modified squier for it but I would love to have one of the MM style double buckers just to play around with.

[NWBasser]

From what I've heard about the GFS/Xaviere guitars, they're very hit and miss. I know DVM has one or more that are/were pretty decent, but I've heard more bad than good about them. As Eric said, their pickups are decent, but not to the extent that they want you to think. They do have some good marketing going, which seems to inevitably lead to a bit of disappointment once the actual product is in the hands of the end-user.

For budget basses, you're probably better off with an SX or Douglas from Rondo. Or a used Peavey from CL. Of course, YMMV and it's just one dude's opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

Used Peavey's are where it's at! For the same price of an import low-level budget bass, you can get a used Peavey Foundation or Fury that's Fender MIA quality (or better). Pro-level instrument at beginner bargain prices!

[cebreez]

I'm all about the Peaveys!! But if I wanted "ANOTHER" bass to tinker with I would have to give the Xaviers a try. The Xavier LP I play was on sale as a factory second and I was still amazed at the fit and finish for the price. Your still going to have to do a good setup and string change but I've had to do that on fenders and gibsons.

[Brian Krashpad]

Used Peavey's are where it's at! For the same price of an import low-level budget bass, you can get a used Peavey Foundation or Fury that's Fender MIA quality (or better). Pro-level instrument at beginner bargain prices!

Preachin' to the choir! I have a T-40 and a Fury I (before they used the name for the P-bass copy):





My daughter has a Foundation:

[NWBasser]

Hey Brian, I used to have a white Foundation just like your daughter's!

It was a great bass.

They pop up around here on the local CL sometimes for cheap, but since I'm set for basses I have to pass.

[Brian Krashpad]

Hey Brian, I used to have a white Foundation just like your daughter's!

It was a great bass.

They pop up around here on the local CL sometimes for cheap, but since I'm set for basses I have to pass.

I know what you mean! I have 5 basses and I'm not even playing bass in any of my bands currently! One of Hannah's friends from church was looking for a bass not long after she got hers, and by a very weird coincidence, a red Foundation showed up in the very same shop that I bought Hannah's in. So I sussed her friend's dad to that'un.