Soo, I’ve gone through times when money was really tight. My solution used to be to avoid buying or changing things. This is fine (insert meme), only you often get stuck. Getting stuck is not fine.
Currently, I caught myself thinking “I can fix up my old $0 bass and it’s deeeep neck dive by buying tire weights and perhaps just getting good.” While I do appreciate that GAS is a more volatile problem, I feel stuck. My lizard brain keeps finding excuses to postpone buying a new, affordable bass. I think this is MEH (My Equipment is still fine Habit)
Here’s my ca. 1999 Yamaha RBX260 - it still has the RBX260 Sticker on the headstock, mint condition. There are a few screws in a bag in the electronics compartment, to alleviate neck dive (it is not enough weight).
Perhaps you can weigh in with your opinions! I went to the local guitar center and tried these two basses, among other ones:
I love the Ray 34, and my local dealer offers one at ca. $1000. However, the quality control issues with this batch made me re-think. I have heard that the tuners crap out and the truss rod might be stuck, the finish might be spotty … really, not good enough for the price. Maybe you have made better experiences?
I wish they had this in funner colors. I kind of lean towards white, as I want a neat color, not black again. But the brown or brick are … not for me! So, I am currently marinating this thought of “Do I want white? Maybe if I put stickers on it, á la Flea? What if I get black? Colored strings?”
Help - I don’t want to die rich, but my “I used to live on $5 a day” brain cannot decide!
Yours indecisively,
Antonio
PS: Forgot to explain that my old bass is one, dear to me, I’ll keep it, and two, it was a gift to me when I bought my first amp. The guy literally shoved it into my hand and said, take it, I quit. His girlfriend said “I wish you would keep playing.” That was when I knew that bass is sexy.