Bass guitar manufacturer reccomendations:

[Trillian]

anyone play bass?

i've had a tanglewood rebel 4K for the past couple of years, today the strap on the case broke and it bounced down the concrete stairs of my block of flats breaking the neck off (it's held by four screws) and bashing the body about so i'm expecting it to be regarded as firewood by the guitar shop

any recommendations for bass guitars or companies to look at / avoid

probably only able to raise about £200 tho

 

[alecstilleyedye]

a squire jazz or precision should fall into that price range. i have the jazz (in a cupboard), and it was good enough for gigging etc when i were a student. i noticed that it is the same price now as when i bought mine in 1989.

 

[Trillian]

forgot to mention, i used to have a westfield copy of a precision bass and found it too heavy, as i've got a bad left shoulder, which was the reason for getting the tanglewood

thanks for replying tho

 

[alecstilleyedye]

the body may have taken a kicking, but if the electronics are ok, as are the neck mounting points, it might be better to get a new neck, if weight is an issue. without sounding patronising, is it possible that you could claim on your contents insurance (i suppose communal staircases may be an excuse not to pay out a grey area though).

 

[Trillian]

the body may have taken a kicking, but if the electronics are ok, as are the neck mounting points, it might be better to get a new neck, if weight is an issue. without sounding patronising, is it possible that you could claim on your contents insurance (i suppose communal staircases may be an excuse not to pay out a grey area though).

unfortunately my contents insurance is not inclusive of accidental damage, tis fire or theft only.

 

[Horace Goes Skiing]

I got me one of these a couple of years ago and love it:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/epiphone-thunderbird/475

It's a solid, thunderous bugger.

Edit: the fact you have a bad shoulder just sunk in - this Thunderbird feels like it weighs a ton and the neck dives due to the position of the strap peg. However, you can easily set a new peg into the back of the body to balance things out.

 

[palinurus]

See what the shop says first I'd reckon. I wouldn't be much help on the new bass front: I've had the same Fender Precision for years, never needed another. It is bloody heavy too.

 

[k-dog]

I wanted something light (after playing a Precision copy) so got a Yamaha RBX 170. Seem to remember it was about £140. They have a few higher up the range which may still be under £200.

Has a nice light feel to it too which may work depending what sort of tone you want from it.

 

[kyuss]

I've got an Epiphone Thunderbird same as Horace. Brilliant bass, far better sounding and more solidly built than any Fender Squire I tried. I paid over £400 for mine a few years ago and even at that price I consider it a bargain. They are a bit heavy but with a £200 budget you'll struggle to get a light guitar that sounds any good.

Like Horace says the strap pegs are fairly badly placed but sticking a new one on the body at the back of the neck balances it out nicely.

 

[Fnaar]

Rickenbacker is the way to go!

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Why not just get a replacement neck?

 

[Trillian]

because the body is damaged too,

the guy in the guitar shop says he can put the neck back on for £30 (£40 when re strung) but nothing worth doing about the cosmetic damage and we don't know about damage to the electicals (if any)

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I'd be very surprised if simply dropping a bass would damaged the electrics at all....plug it in and see ...erm...well you might want to just remove the plate and check that the earth is still in place first!

What is wrong with the neck? Is it snapped?

the guy in the guitar shop says he can put the neck back on for £30 (£40 when re strung)

...yes but can he fix the neck first? Mind you a tenner for a set of new bass strings is a result!

What is wrong with the body? It has to be simply superfiscial aesthetic damage...I am sure it will still play ok.

You'd be surprised what a beating most guitars can take, especially in gigging bands...

...can you post a pic up of the damage.?.. I may be able to help.

...to be honest though £200 isnt a lot to spend on a guitar...but you can get some good deals...perhaps look at the fender mex classic series bass used.

 

[Trillian]

the neck is held by four screws, the threads in the holes have stripped, thats all that appears to be wrong with the neck,

the body has a crack between neck and pickup and a few chunks out.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Ok...go to the cupboard, get yourself that old box of matches you left there after the last power cut. Fill the holes with white wood glue from B&Q, Ram some matches into the holes nice and tight, let it dry then level off the tops, then re screw the neck down...that just saved you £30.

Is the body crack just in the paintwork or is it a deep crack in the wood?

If it is just in the paintwork or lacquer I say live with it...it's not going to affect the playability or sound and it's not a high value guitar anyway. If it is in the wood then it might be more serious if it is really deep or the body was built in sections and they have split apart.

Here is a great site for guitar work...I just linked you to the touch up page but take a look around the entire site:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Repair_and_touchup.html
or you good just go get another one:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N