All bass players at some point eventually buy “the good bass”; this is a bass that’s either a premium model (such as the Fender Select Active Jazz Bass) or something custom-built just for you by a luthier where you wait weeks to months to get it. Either way, that’s your “baby”; that’s the bass you keep polished and perfect; that’s the “pride and joy” instrument you own.
And, of course, most players won’t dare take their “baby” anywhere it could get damaged or stolen.
This presents a problem in the respect your baby ultimately turns into what’s known as a white elephant, which is an idiom for “a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.”
In plain English: If the super-expensive bass you own is so valuable that you’re afraid to actually use the thing, it then becomes a burden to actually own it.
In even-plainer English: Sometimes a super-expensive bass guitar turns into a museum-style thing that can be looked at but not touched. At that point it’s furniture and not an instrument.
Well, even though you may have a super-expensive bass that turned into furniture, it’s not like you’re going to sell it. Even in a “furniture state”, you’re going to hang on to it because it’s yours. After all, there is such a thing as “pride of ownership”, even if you don’t use what you own.
It’s at this point you need another bass guitar, as in something you can actually use. Something where using a gig bag instead of a hardshell case is totally acceptable. Something that should it get scratched, nicked and/or dented, you don’t care. Something where if you wanted to hack it up and try crazy things with it, you can and do it without worry..
..and that’s the beater bass.
Fact: Most luthiers can make cheap bass guitars play wonderfully, if given time.
Let’s say for the moment you picked up a cheap Squier bass from Craigslist. The neck is bowed like a banana, the tuners are stiff as a board, the bridge is grimed up beyond belief, the frets are in desperate need of a fret leveling and you’re 99% sure the pick guard has never been taken off as evidenced by the tarnished and/or rusted screws (and the bass isn’t even 10 years old).
Give that bass to a luthier, and give him a two-word instruction: “Fix everything.”
Follow that up with: “…and take as much time as you need. No rush.”
The key to establishing a happy relationship with your luthier is simply this: Don’t rush him – especially if you hand the guy a crappy bass to work on. That luthier has several projects to take care of before yours, so it’s in your best interest to give the guy as much time as he needs to fix everything.
Don’t even bother giving instructions on what to fix to the luthier, because he’ll know exactly what it needs in 5 minutes or less just from looking at it. Trust your luthier’s judgment here.
In about 3 to 4 weeks, you’ll get your bass back. And it’ll be awesome. True, you’ll have probably spent a few hundred bucks by this point (that’s cost of bass + luthier’s charge), but it’s totally worth it because now you’ve got a beater bass that’s ready-to-go with all the problems fixed 100%.
If you’re a luthier or hobbyist doing your own bass repair-work, chances are you’d spend the same amount of time working on that crap bass to make it, well, not crap. The 3-to-4 week period of fixing isn’t like you’re working on it every day. You do a little work on it one day, put it aside, a few days later you work on it a little more, put it aside, work on it again a few days later, etc., repeat until finished.
“Wouldn’t it be better just to buy a better bass to start with?”
No, because that defeats the point of owning a beater bass in the first place. Chances are you already have “the good bass”, so buying a second of equal-or-better “goodness” won’t count as a beater.
The beater bass’s sole purpose in life is to be played and played hard. Bang it around, scratch it up, hack it up and do whatever you want with it. There is a great satisfaction from owning a bass that you can just play and not care what happens to it.
There’s only one downside to owning a beater bass: You might like it so much that it gets played more than your “good bass”. 🙂
Do you own a beater bass (even if not completed yet)? Post a comment or two below with your story.
I have a 1984 Ibanez Roadstar II (RB650BY) 4 string as my beater. I have never plugged it into an amp, the action sucks, it’s not intonated, and there are all kinds of surface damage. I am in the process of “fixing everything,” because I want to see what it is like in top form.
I’ve got the inlaid fretless version. Beaten the crap out of it, recorded a demo at the time with it. Love the sound and way it plays.
I don’t think there’s a better beater bass for your buck than Squires. I got a squire P-Bass for 40 bucks, and its built solid and actually has amazing tone. The strings on it are so dead and the pickups sound very muddled so it makes a great bass for walking bass lines. I don’t refer to it as my beater bass, just my “other” bass.
My beater is a Squier CV Jazz Bass. It hums like crazy when you turn the tone halfway up, but the action is great, the body is well balances, and the pickups are as good as the ones in my 60’s reissue Jazz Bass.
I bought a Fender Modern Player Jazz to use as a “beater” but sold it after 3 gigs as I felt guilty about leaving my prized instruments locked away at home. There exists a psychological threshold where the joy and pleasure obtained through playing a great instrument outweighs any risk of it being damaged/stolen etc. That’s my theory.
Absolutely. Though I don’t think a beater is necessary for all. For a beginner to someone in the intermediate stage it is nice to have. Can learn to appreciate working on the instrument and not make a mistake and turn a 1,000 rig into a paperweight. Learning to do a set-up,shim a neck, do a re-fret is valuable to start on a beater. Having the ultimate 10,000 boutique build is something that should be earned and fully appreciated from someone who has honed their craft. Just my .02
Bought a bass at a flea market for $15. Turns out it’s an early 70’s Aria. The previous owner spray painted the whole thing (headstock and all) matte white. Looks horrible, but I’m slowly taking the paint off revealing a beautiful sunburst.
I have a “semi-beater.” I started playing fretless about two years ago. Prior to that, I played my prize ’80 MM ‘Ray almost exclusively. I thought about making it into a fretless but didn’t want to risk damaging the fretboard. So I found an OLP MM clone and defretted it. Came out great. Neck now is all black, like a standup bass, no fret lines. It looks good and plays GREAT and is worth a 10th of what the “real” MM is worth. It’s also a lot lighter, but the action is the same and the tone is characteristic MM.
I too have a beater bass and did exactly as the article defined …, took it to my favorite bass tech – Eric Chaz in California – and made modifications. The bass is a
Japanese made P Bass with a mahogany body now with a now new Warmoth maple neck and fingerboard. The pickups are Dimarzio P/J with a Glockenklang 2 band EQ. The setup is superb so playability is excellent – so easy to play. The sound is killer with an awesome back pickup sound and warm slap with the pickups blended. Its one of my favorite basses .., and I own 8!
Just recently bought a 92 MIM Fender Jazz. The guy I bought it from tore it apart and “aged” the body. Drug it across the garage filed it and put a couple of well placed dings in strategic locations put it back together. I took it to a audition and the guitar player was playing an 87 Flying V that had seen better days and he loved it. Great to have to learn how to do set ups and setting intonation and pick up work. Plus great to have extra for different tunings.
Yes. Own beaters. Play beaters. You can pick your own route. The cheaper, the better.
My route is the SQ-series P-bass. MIJ in 1983-1984, these Squiers are said to be identical to Fenders of those years. Adjusted for inflation, they are actually declining in value, currently $400.
They are 30 years old, so they have already hit their prime. What you hear is what you get, and all you’ll ever get, which ranges from “The One” to meh.
The main thing for these is that they were the 1982-1984 MIJs were the ONLY Fenders made in those years, so there is no deliberate differentiation between pro and student lines.
Buy one. Buy another and mix and match necks and bodies. If you like all the pieces, keep ’em. If some pieces disappoint, sell ’em. Remember that basses are priced according to what they are, not how they sound.
I aim to end up with 2 magnificent P-basses (that will likely become PJs; I’m no purist and SQs have no collector’s value to speak of so long as they’re still going down in absolute value).
However long it takes is fine. You have to have this attitude to make it work. Suppose one gets ripped off? What, you’re worried someone will target a Squier? Suppose one gets run over by a truck? Find another, right?
I own a very sweet Toscoe bass which I gig 85% of the time. There are some places I will not take my Roscoe and for those gigs I carry my Squire Vintage Vibe. Thanks to BBG it sports a J-Retro preamp with Lindy Fralin pickups. I like my action really low so it seems I am constantly adjusting the neck but besides that the bass sounds pretty amazing and I don’t cringe every time I hit against something.
I own a very sweet Roscoe bass which I gig 85% of the time. There are some places I will not take my Roscoe and for those gigs I carry my Squire Vintage Vibe. Thanks to BBG it sports a J-Retro preamp with Lindy Fralin pickups. I like my action really low so it seems I am constantly adjusting the neck but besides that the bass sounds pretty amazing and I don’t cringe every time I hit against something.
I believe in playing what I buy, no matter how much I paid for it. I have a $5K Spector Coda 5XL Jazz Bass and it does not sit at home. I’m very proud of it and its such a joy to play that I’d never consider consider leaving it at home as a piece of furniture. It was made to be played and showed. I’ve even taken it out side in the snow to take pictures of it. I set it in a A-Frame bass guitar stand four the picture taking so it wasn’t sitting on or in the snow. But it’s Bahama Blue with AAAA Maple flame top. Wow! The pure white snow really highlighted the Bahama blue! Guys in my bass club gasped that I’d do such a thing! Lol It is a very expensive bass but, it’s only a bass guitar. I don’t own any beater basses. I play out with 2 different bands on a weekly bases. I pay due diligence when picking up, sitting down or move the bass. I realize sooner or later it will get a scratch or nick but I don’t worry myself about it.
I had a Conklin GT-4 Fretted that was my only instrument which I love. I wanted to purchase a GT-4 Fretless but was unable to find one. So I decided to convert it to a fretless; it turned out fabulous. I filled the fret slots with maple dust mixed with linseed oil and it hardened up perfectly. I wouldn’t call it a “Beater Bass” because I play the hell out of all my basses. If it’s a bass it’s meant to be played.
What really differentiates a “Beater” to “The GOOD Bass”? I have 6 different basses, and they’re ALL “The GOOD Bass”, from my ’77 & ’79 P-basses that I’ve had since I was 13 and 15, to my ’83 Ric, a couple of early ’90’s Carvins, and my newest, an ’84 Gibson Explorer bass….. They’ve all got Bass Extenders, active EMG’s, and either Badass 2 or Hipshot bridges. Some of ’em look like hell, especially my ’77, but I wouldn’t WANT a “Showpiece” bass anyway. But for a LOT of people, any of these would be “The GOOD Bass”. It all depends on what one can afford to pay for an axe…..
I love my project Ibanez gsr200. The neck was bowed and it was missing electronics so I did a neck replacement and wired a 20 dollar ming 2-band preamp. It sounds awesome!!! I wouldn’t use the term “beater” it’s more like a backup or a “second string” bass imho
Having lost my last “beater” bass a couple year’s ago (a Squire Vintage Modified P-Bass), I picked up a very used and abused ’92 MIM Fender P-Bass off Craigslist, and used it to teach myself refurbishment and repair.
I stripped it down to parts, gave it a good cleaning and polish, then proceeded to reset the neck, shield the cavity, repair (and flip) the pickups, replace the stock tone pot with a Stellartone Tonestyler, thread a new ground, rewire everything, and re-flow all the solder. Then came the upgrades: a new high mass bridge, new 3-ply pickguard, new Strap-loks, new knobs, and new flat-wound strings. (Dang! I just realized that I missed replacing the nut!) I set it up nice and low, and it plays and sounds great! It looks very much like the iconic “62 Precision bass that James Jamerson played.
It was a very rewarding experience. I learned self-sufficiency, and now play a bass that is exactly what I want, exactly the way I like it.
I play a lot of road dates, and this bass lives in a custom anvil case (worth more than the bass itself) for months at a time, getting bashed around in the back of a semi, while my “good” basses are at home, being lovingly hand carried to local dates.
Now, back to that nut….
You want to play a good bass, not a piece of junk. Take good care of it and there’s nothing to worry about. One of my gigging basses is a 1987 Ibanez SR-885LE. I bought it new, and it doesn’t look 26 years old. Sure, it has a few dings and scratches, but is in great condition, plays and sounds great, and it’s like an old friend.
Some people take better care of their cars then their basses. No need to drive a jalopy or play a beater. 🙂
My beater is a frankenstein that i built based off a p-bass where my main is a Warwick corvette 5 string..having the beater bass is nice just to pick up and play when sitting at my desk or bringing it to a friends house where im not worried if it gets damaged
I live in Myrtle Beach, and play a lot of shows outside, many being oceanfront which is hell on a bass. I have an 80’s Stingray 5 that is beautiful and I don’t take it to beach shows. For the standard outside shows, I have a Sterling Ray 35, which BTW I love, and when doing oceanfront I have a Squire jazz 5 I got from the Fender rep for $75.00. I picked up some Lindy Fralin pup’s on the Bay along with a used Bartolini pre for 175.00 total, and it sounds killer. It is getting pretty worn so I just picked up another Squire and will transfer the parts for the upcoming summer season.
Have a well aged Peavey T-20, natural ash, maple neck, orginal PUP, she still booms along with the best of my other basses:)
I’m a teacher, and the band director gave me a bass he found in the back of his instrument room that wasn’t working. It was this mid-70s Aria violin bass. As I was the only person he knew who knew about soldering and pickups, he gave it to me as a long-term loaner/if you get it to work, I want it back deal. I took it apart, and I’m currently replacing all the wiring, most of which was shot from poor storage. It’s helping me sharpen my way our of practice soldering skills, and I’ve even learned a bit about shimming a neck, and using foam to help seat pups in an old hollowbody so you don’t strip the screws. After this, I will look for a “beater” myself, if only to use as an “experiment” bass.
I’ve been looking for a cheaper(I don’t like the term Beater) bass so when I feel like playing a precision, I don’t have to take out my 68. I don’t worry about it getting scratched, but would be really upset if it were stolen. The Squire Classic Vibe got me thinking after seeing Ed Friedland’s video, but the ones I’ve seen all weigh 2 or 3 lbs. more than my 68 and I have back problems. It seems for tone and playability they are literally the same.
John, I do agree the Vibes are heavy. I think the bodies are made of Northern Ash which is pretty heavy. My Roscoe Century Custom 5 string has a Swamp Ash Body with 5A Maple top and only weighs 7.8 pounds.
I still have my $17 MIM Fender Jazz Bass!
A beater is a great bass to have for stuff like outdoor gigs, rowdy bars, and playing in areas where you may not feel safe when you load out at the end of the night. And most certainly, you can make a cheap bass play like gold with the right work. But as opposed to spending that money on a luthier, save the bucks and learn to do it yourself. You get experience, pride, and a bass that becomes truly yours.
bought a cheap fender knock-off, gutted it, packed it full of bartolini stuffings.
Today’s beater = tomorrow’s “road worn”
The main benefit of a “beater” is that you have a platform on which to experiment. I can have a discussion on the effect of necks on an instrument’s tone, and based on experience, know that the neck has the primary influence on an instrument’s tone. I’ve swapped them, I’ve mixed and matched them. Same with pickups. Bridges. Funny wiring schemes.
Thanks for the tip gonna go wild on a Squire P/J
Beaters can be great as long as their setup and condition doesn’t hold you back. I’ve had fun rebuilding a couple of beaters with parts from BBG and done some very playable basses from parts I got from them. Mix and match is great and I still miss the MIM Jbass that I let get away. Great player and I’m sure its being enjoyed.
I have a 1988 Hohner PJ bass. I replaced the stock pick ups with some Dimarzio pick ups, and honestly, it does sound that bad. And I had the intention of having a “bar bass”, cuz I am sure as heck not taking my Carvin 6 string to anybody’s bar.
Years ago I had Eric’s Guitar Shop in Van Nuys Ca. build me a “BEATER” with a USACG alder P bass body, Warmoth J neck and a Nordstrand NP4. It’s outstanding in every way and I will never part with it.
Some might think this is sacrilige but my “beater”bass is a ’68 P-bass that I picked up for next to nothing because it only looked fit for firewood. A quick refinish, rewire, mild reshape and a home-wound p-up brought it back to life. It’s been set ablaze (not by me, and not by choice!) dropped out of a van and the fretboard is plastered with stickers but hey, it sounds amazing and long ago became my ‘go to’ instrument. Beautiful tone but ugly as sin. Wouldn’t be without it. Embrace your ‘beater’!
I found an old twisted 77 P-Bass neck on ebay for cheap. Bought it, heated it, clamped it straight, heated it more. After a few weeks of being clamped, I added the tension back to the truss and the neck remained straight. I added Fender Pure Vintage ’70s Bass Tuning Machines, found a squire pbass body on ebay, found a used Leo Quan Badass Bridge II, Added a seymour duncan pickup, new pickguard and pots. Put it all together and that is my Beater Bass. Granted it took a lot of work to get together and quite a bit of money. Roughly 500 bucks, but it sounds awesome! That’s the bass I take on gigs. My bass that I keep at home is my Fender 68 Precision Bass (all original).
Hey Danno, I’ve just purchased a Beater Karera that is 20 years old has ALOT of beauty marks and scratches and even a nice 6″ stress crack on the back. Needs a new bridge, pots, jack. Frets need to be polished as well as the fretboard. It could also use a new set od Seymour Duncan Steve Harris pickups. OH, and a new black Tusq nut. Uh. I think that beats you bud