Half joke request for a $100 Bass @ store results in more than expected

[Sheepdog1969]

Like many guitarists, I have always wanted a Bass guitar in my collection, but I did not want to spend alot on something that might not get much use. They are nice for impomptu jams with friends, great for hand strength, and are fun to play, but low cost options usually provide low quality results, (used and new).  I also grew up playing bass trombone in school and could read bass clef easily, (but never learned treble clef for guitar), so I could read sheet music for bass. Just one more reason to buy one, but I couldn't justify paying more than a "C note" for one.   

Eventually, my decades long "wish" for a $100 Bass became a running joke with my friends. It wasn't that there were no $100 options available, it was that I wanted a playable P/J with 4 saddles with independent height and intonation adjustments, a straight neck, clean electronics, effective tuning mechanics, and decent tone.  Style, color, finish, brand, used or new, were irrelevant to me in this specific quest. I never stopped looking, yet never found one that met these criteria until late November of 2022.

I had been looking for a hard case for a guitar I had aquired, and saw that Guitar Center was selling what I needed for $69.00, half off list. Unfortunatly, when I got to the store, (which was an hour away), the manager said the sale didn't start for 2 more days. He offered to sell the case to me for full price, and then apply the discount 2 days later, but he could only give me store credit, not cash back. I asked if he had a $100 bass for sale that met my criteria, so I could use the store credit towards my "wish" bass. We both began laughing, at the same time, because of my impossible request. That's when an employee on his first day interrupted us and said he had just put a new bass on the wall that met my criteria. The manager said that couldn't be correct, and that the newbie must have miss-priced it. But the newbie was right, and that was the only bass in the store that met my needs. So the manager said, "Let's see how it plays.", and promptly cut himself on the razor sharp fret edges as he pulled it of the wall. Literally, every fret, on both sides of the neck, presented dangerous protrusions of hand shredding metal, with at least two now red with blood and flesh. To my surprise, he plugged it in and played it anyway, and it sounded great. I carefully played it too, and was ready to buy it. Frets can be filed, and I had needle files and tape for the time consuming fix. (paying to fix this issue would obviously defeat the $100 price requirement.) But before I could say anything, the manager said that any instrument that cannot be safely and effectivly played, is not an instrument. He said that if I wanted it, he would fix the frets and personally do a professional "set up" for me, at no charge. One week later I had a brand new, with warrenty, P/J Rouge Series III DX-200b 4 string Bass in metalic blue, with a rosewood fret board, a volume and tone pot for each pick-up, and a pro set up including perfectly shaved fret edges, that met and exceeded all of my requirements. I found my $100 Bass.

I am running it through a new, 2022 Fender Rumble 40 v3 1x10, which I got for just over $100. The Bass plays and sounds great, and is capable of producing mellow jazz tones as easily as it makes OD crunch or mid compressed slap output. It holds tune and has suprisingly quiet (little to no "buzz"), electronics that produce very capable and versitile output. My friends, who are true bass players with decades of experience with high end bass guitars from Fender, Gibson, Richenbacher, etc., are a bit shocked at how good this $100 entry level bass is.

Are all Rogue bass guitars like mine? I can't say. Are there better entry level bass options available from other companies? I'm sure there are. But after looking for so long, I am quite happy with my $100 "wish" bass.    

Edited December 17, 2022 by Sheepdog1969
typo's

[DanvillRob]

3 hours ago, Sheepdog1969 said:

Like many guitarists, I have always wanted a Bass guitar in my collection, but I did not want to spend alot on something that might not get much use. They are nice for impomptu jams with friends, great for hand strength, and are fun to play, but low cost options usually provide low quality results, (used and new).  I also grew up playing bass trombone in school and could read bass clef easily, (but never learned treble clef for guitar), so I could read sheet music for bass. Just one more reason to buy one, but I couldn't justify paying more than a "C note" for one.   

Eventually, my decades long "wish" for a $100 Bass became a running joke with my friends. It wasn't that there were no $100 options available, it was that I wanted a playable P/J with 4 saddles with independent height and intonation adjustments, a straight neck, clean electronics, effective tuning mechanics, and decent tone.  Style, color, finish, brand, used or new, were irrelevant to me in this specific quest. I never stopped looking, yet never found one that met these criteria until late November of 2022.

I had been looking for a hard case for a guitar I had aquired, and saw that Guitar Center was selling what I needed for $69.00, half off list. Unfortunatly, when I got to the store, (which was an hour away), the manager said the sale didn't start for 2 more days. He offered to sell the case to me for full price, and then apply the discount 2 days later, but he could only give me store credit, not cash back. I asked if he had a $100 base for sale that met my criteria, so I could use the store credit towards my "wish" base. We both began laughing, at the same time, because of my impossible request. That's when an employee on his first day interrupted us and said he had just put a new base on the wall that met my criteria. The manager said that couldn't be correct, and that the newbie must have miss-priced it. But the newbie was right, and that was the only bass in the store that met my needs. So the manager said, "Let's see how it plays.", and promptly cut himself on the razor sharp fret edges as he pulled it of the wall. Literally, every fret, on both sides of the neck, presented dangerous protrusions of hand shredding metal, with at least two now red with blood and flesh. To my surprise, he plugged it in and played it anyway, and it sounded great. I carefully played it too, and was ready to buy it. Frets can be filed, and I had needle files and tape for the time consuming fix. (paying to fix this issue would obviously defeat the $100 price requirement.) But before I could say anything, the manager said that any instrument that cannot be safely and effectivly played, is not an instrument. He said that if I wanted it, he would fix the frets and personally do a professional "set up" for me, at no charge. One week later I had a brand new, with warrenty, P/J Rouge Series III DX-200b 4 string Bass in metalic blue, with a rosewood fret board, a volume and tone pot for each pick-up, and a pro set up including perfectly shaved fret edges, that met and exceeded all of my requirements. I found my $100 Bass.

I am running it through a new, 2022 Fender Rumble 40 v3 1x10, which I got for just over $100. The Bass plays and sounds great, and is capable of producing mellow jazz tones as easily as it makes OD crunch or mid compressed slap output. It holds tune and has suprisingly quiet (little to no "buzz"), electronics that produce very capable and versitile output. My friends, who are true bass players with decades of experience with high end bass guitars from Fender, Gibson, Richenbacher, etc., are a bit shocked at how good this $100 entry level bass is.

Are all Rogue bass guitars like mine? I can't say. Are there better entry level bass options available from other companies? I'm sure there are. But after looking for so long, I am quite happy with my $100 "wish" bass.    

I gotta tell you....I LOVE this story!     Back in 1965, you could NOT find a bass guitar for love nor money.   Too many garage band groups starting up had consumed them all.   Every music store in the SF Bay Area had 'decent' basses on backorder.   I was playing rhythm guitar in a group, but was forced to move over to bass.  We were a working group, so the price wasn't too important....just that no basses were available.   I played a couple of gigs using my Fender Jaguar with all the bass settings turned up to 10.   Was still pitiful!   Just so happened that I worked for a music store.   One day my boss told me the warehouse had just gotten in a Fender Jazz bass, but he didn't know which of the three stores would receive it.    I asked him if I could run down there and grab it before it was sent to one of the stores....he said okay.    I used that bass for the rest of the time in the group.   When I got out of music, I (stupidly) sold it, along with ALL my other equipment!.    Fast-forward to the early 1980's.   The guy who owned the house next to my parent's home was renting it to a couple of guys.   For whatever reason, he evicted them.   He found a 'old bass guitar' under one of the beds.  Knowing my dad was a guitar player, he asked him if he wanted to buy the bass....my dad didn't but told the guy his son (me) might.   The bass was a Fender P-Bass, black with a maple neck.   Was in pretty rough shape, but well worth the $100 the guy wanted.   I took it apart, and refinished the neck myself, and took the body into work and had it professionally painted a Cadillac Firemist Blue Lacquer color.    A few years later, I found a nearly new Fender Black Tolex bass hardshell case.   I still have it, and I LOVE it!

Congratz on your new bass!

 

 

[Whitefang]

5 hours ago, Sheepdog1969 said:

so I could use the store credit towards my "wish" base. We both began laughing, at the same time, because of my impossible request. That's when an employee on his first day interrupted us and said he had just put a new base on the wall that met my criteria.

Certainly, not THIS kind of "base", eh?  

• Don Wilson – rhythm and lead guitar
• Nokie Edwards – lead guitar (as "base guitar")
• Bob Bogle – bass, lead guitar
• Mel Taylor – drums

From "The Ventures Play Telstar And The Lonely Bull(1963)"

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

1 hour ago, Whitefang said:

Certainly, not THIS kind of "base", eh?  

• Don Wilson – rhythm and lead guitar
• Nokie Edwards – lead guitar (as "base guitar")
• Bob Bogle – bass, lead guitar
• Mel Taylor – drums

From "The Ventures Play Telstar And The Lonely Bull(1963)"

Whitefang

I think The Ventures were still playing Fender Guitars on this album,   They switched to Mosrite Guitars later that year, (but I could be wrong).

[sparquelito]

Great story.

I have sold off a lot of guitars and basses over the past year, but I did manage to hang onto my Thunderbird IV.

I love this punchy beast.

😉

[OrdinaryNimda]

Great story and thumbs up for Guitar Center! 👍

[Murph]

I bought my wife's (late) mother a Dean acoustic bass years ago, several years before she died, and had it shipped to me and gave it to her when she made a trip up here.

I was shocked how accurate and well it played for, back at the time, I swear was $ 169.00 with free shipping at Sweetwater.

I mean, it wasn't something to tour with, but she used it to play at nursing homes and it was just fine for her use.

Congrats.

[Sheepdog1969]

6 hours ago, Whitefang said:

Certainly, not THIS kind of "base", eh?  

• Don Wilson – rhythm and lead guitar
• Nokie Edwards – lead guitar (as "base guitar")
• Bob Bogle – bass, lead guitar
• Mel Taylor – drums

From "The Ventures Play Telstar And The Lonely Bull(1963)"

Whitefang

Spell Check? We don't need no friggin' spell check. Um, how do you activate spell check for these posts? Asking for a dyslexic friend.

PS - Why is the word "Dyslexic" so hard to spell?

PSS - Why is the word, "Abbreviation" so long?

[Pinch]

11 minutes ago, Sheepdog1969 said:

PS - Why is the word "Dyslexic" so hard to spell?

Serves them right, the bastards. 

[jdgm]

Thomann Europe (big box store/ net retailer) have jazz and p bass copies for £95 (GBP).  About $115.  Plus shipping.

[sparquelito]

If I were a teenager wanting to learn bass, or a recording musician on a budget, I can see where this would be a really great acquisition!

Two thumbs up to Sheepdog1969.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/rogue-lx200b-series-iii-electric-bass-guitar/h11151

🙂

[Sheepdog1969]

1 hour ago, sparquelito said:

If I were a teenager wanting to learn bass, or a recording musician on a budget, I can see where this would be a really great acquisition!

Two thumbs up to Sheepdog1969.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/rogue-lx200b-series-iii-electric-bass-guitar/h11151

🙂

FYI,  Although I was born in the '60's, most people say I have the maturity of a twelve year old. Thus, I am nearly a teenager learning Bass AND on a budget! (I resemble that remark., LOL)  Thanks brother.

[sparquelito]

10 hours ago, Sheepdog1969 said:

FYI,  Although I was born in the '60's, most people say I have the maturity of a twelve year old. Thus, I am nearly a teenager learning Bass AND on a budget! (I resemble that remark., LOL)  Thanks brother.

Yes, I get that a lot too.

I'm 63, and I STILL don't know what I wanna be when I grow up.

My first electric bass was an Ovation Celebrity solid body that I picked up in 1989 in a music store in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
Similar colour and styling to your Rogue.
It was sadly stolen from me in a house burglary in 2001, over on Oahu.
😐
 

[DanvillRob]

2 hours ago, sparquelito said:

I'm 63, and I STILL don't know what I wanna be when I grow up.


 

When I was a kid, I told my mother I wanted to be a bass player when I grew up.   She said, "Make up your mind....you can't do both!"

[Whitefang]

22 hours ago, DanvillRob said:

I think The Ventures were still playing Fender Guitars on this album,   They switched to Mosrite Guitars later that year, (but I could be wrong).

I just threw that in for a gag.  When finding that LP at a thrift store some years back I was amused at the use of "base" to describe the instrument, in this case not really a "bass" guitar, as that's listed just below it.  Also notice  "as base guitar" is in parentheses,  just after listing Nokie Edwards as playing lead guitar.

1 hour ago, DanvillRob said:

When I was a kid, I told my mother I wanted to be a bass player when I grew up.   She said, "Make up your mind....you can't do both!"

I always said I wanted to be a garbage man when I grew up so I would only have to work on Thursdays.  

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

2 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

I just threw that in for a gag.  When finding that LP at a thrift store some years back I was amused at the use of "base" to describe the instrument, in this case not really a "bass" guitar, as that's listed just below it.  Also notice  "as base guitar" is in parentheses,  just after listing Nokie Edwards as playing lead guitar.

Whitefang

I loved The Ventures!    I may record a cover of "Walk Don't Run" sometime!

I was thinking maybe "Base Guitar" would be like the  "Foundation" of a song....so not necessarily "Bass"....but I don't know.

English Language is difficult at times.... Bass like the guitar pronounced like "Base" and Bass like the fish rhymes with Cass as in "Mama Cass Eliot".

[Whitefang]

Just how difficult can the English language be?  

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

7 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

Just how difficult can the English language be?  

Whitefang

What a funny show!  Two episodes I liked were 1.  When Ricky and Fred cooked rice for dinner....they though one pound per person sounded right!  They were knee-deep in rice!

and 2.  They were traveling to California with Fred and Ethyl..... they stopped at a motel.... in the morning, the steering wheel had been stolen from their car.   They were fretting about it when the motel manager said he just happened to have a steering wheel that would fit their car, and pulled their steering wheel out of a barrel!

[Valeriy]

Hello guys, 
yes, the story is interesting about the $100 bass guitar.

However, it can be not only with bass guitars. Good electric guitars (6 strings) with good sound can also sometimes be found for $100 or a little more. I had one funny incident with one cheap guitar (Chinese) that I bought for about $120. One guy persuaded me to buy it from him by offering in addition a guitar case, which I did not have enough, also saying that after the upgrade that I was doing at that time for guitars, I'll sell it easily. I really easily sold it by making its pickups as active ones, for about $ 180, it was impossible to ask more because the body of the guitar turned out to be made of cardboard (these Chinese quirks). But before the sale, another guy came to me, a good guitarist, he knew that I was selling a cheap guitar, but came with his new Ibanez guitar for 2000 dollars, Steve Vai model (with a hole in the body), probably to compare with mine.

The funny thing is that, as an experiment, I made two single-coil pickups of this Chinese guitar in out-of-phase connection (similar to Peter Green pickups) and in the active mode with power from battery 9v. And I liked this new tone. As you know, Peter Green's tone is quite positive and interesting, not similar to the tone of a humbucker or a single-coil pickup. And when that guy began to play this Chinese guitar, I was a little alarmed even, he played for quite a long time and even turned pale. In the end, I broke down and asked if there was something wrong with this guitar? He only barely said that it was a very good tone, playing on that Peter Green's tone. And then the expression on his face became clear to me. Although he didn't say it out loud, it was obvious that he was very upset that he spent so much money on his guitar with a hole when he could buy my guitar for only about $ 200  with a great sound from Peter Green's tone. I also felt sorry for him and his lost money $2000, the amount is not small.
Later I was a little upset that I was in a hurry to sell that guitar. I thought I could easily repeat that interesting tone on another guitar. And I did not write down the exact parameters of those pickups, which I now regret. On the other guitar, it was not possible to exactly repeat that tone. Although I made a similar one, in out-of-phase connection too, but I have a feeling it's a slightly different tone, as if something is missing. Maybe I should buy another cardboard guitar to get that unusual tone .