$29.99 Bass at Music 123

[marnold***]

I'm thankful that at least some of you got a usable bass. Mine wasn't. With the exception of the fret sprout, the neck did seem to quite nice actually. It's just that the body was a POS. Mine was set up very oddly too. The action was VERY high, but still the saddles were pretty low. The pups were also set high. I had a hard time imagining that someone could have checked the box marked "setup" with a straight face. The intonation was pretty good on all but one string. Even that one wasn't far off.

I can definitely see how it would be neck-heavy. The body on that thing is teeny, especially compared to a massive Fender Jazz. The top horn might be long enough that if you use a strap with it the neck-heaviness wouldn't be killer.

Even with the plywood body, I would have considered keeping it if I hadn't had the problem with the control cavity cover. That was basically the straw the broke the camel's back. Herein lies the problem with getting ultra-cheap gear--no quality control whatsoever. Sometimes you hit the jackpot, sometimes you don't.

In a somewhat related story, I saw a sweet Spector bass on eBay that I immediately starting GASsing for. Unfortunately, I don't have the money right now--or for the foreseeable future. The low-end Spectors are relatively affordable. I figure when the time comes for me to actually get a bass, I might as well save up for that and get something I've been lusting after since college.

[sunvalleylaw]

I'm thankful that at least some of you got a usable bass. Mine wasn't. With the exception of the fret sprout, the neck did seem to quite nice actually. It's just that the body was a POS. Mine was set up very oddly too. The action was VERY high, but still the saddles were pretty low. The pups were also set high. I had a hard time imagining that someone could have checked the box marked "setup" with a straight face. The intonation was pretty good on all but one string. Even that one wasn't far off.

I can definitely see how it would be neck-heavy. The body on that thing is teeny, especially compared to a massive Fender Jazz. The top horn might be long enough that if you use a strap with it the neck-heaviness wouldn't be killer.

Even with the plywood body, I would have considered keeping it if I hadn't had the problem with the control cavity cover. That was basically the straw the broke the camel's back. Herein lies the problem with getting ultra-cheap gear--no quality control whatsoever. Sometimes you hit the jackpot, sometimes you don't.

In a somewhat related story, I saw a sweet Spector bass on eBay that I immediately starting GASsing for. Unfortunately, I don't have the money right now--or for the foreseeable future. The low-end Spectors are relatively affordable. I figure when the time comes for me to actually get a bass, I might as well save up for that and get something I've been lusting after since college.

Sorry that one didn't work out. Hope you have a great Father's day anyhow, even if the gift didn't work out this time.

[marnold***]

Sorry that one didn't work out. Hope you have a great Father's day anyhow, even if the gift didn't work out this time.

Hehe. It'll take a lot more than that to ruin a day for me After all, I still had beer! That does bring up another point . . . now I have to come up with another guitar-related Father's Day present! But that's another story for another thread.

[sunvalleylaw]

Hehe. It'll take a lot more than that to ruin a day for me After all, I still had beer! That does bring up another point . . . now I have to come up with another guitar-related Father's Day present! But that's another story for another thread.

Well, maybe a different hobby needs some luvvin. Maybe you need a carbonation/refrigeration outfit for the homebrew to take care of that nasty bottling job!

[WackyT]

Yup. 5 gallon microkegs really speed up the "bottling" process. I haven't done microbrewing in ages. Used to love to make a good Porter.

[marnold***]

Other gift idea thread can be found here. That way, this one can stay on the subject of these basses.

[marnold***]

I wanted to give this thread a bump to see what those who got a Fully bass thought about it.

[duhvoodooman***]

Well, I don't know if I have much more to say than I did before. The neck is pretty nice. The body is light and appears to be plywood (looks like layers under the paint in the control cavity). The guitar is a slight bit neck heavy, but not bad. The black finish isn't bad, and the controls feel pretty solid and work smoothly and quietly. I fixed the intonation (which was pretty close to begin with), and raised the E string to get rid of some rattling. Beyond that, it seems to make fairly nice thumpy noises. So it definitely seems worth the $30 I paid! But not having any experience with playing basses--good, bad or otherwise--I'm afraid I can't provide anything approaching definitive feedback!

[DaveO]

I got one for my son (11). He is certainly happy, so I am too. I thumped on it some and did a little adjusting and must admit it is probably worth more that the $40 paid. They were sold out out of the silver/black ones so I picked up one that is a P copy. Not to bad and the price was very right.
Dave

[Spudman***]

So now do we all get out our basses and do a track of just bass and bass soloing?

[pie_man_25]

/\ which basses, the $30 ones, or our other ones?

but yes, it is now our responsibilty.