G&L are criminally underrated as an entire company. I'd like to bring up dingwall with their banjo frets and very unique pickup positions, lakland with their music man style bridge on famous fendery basses and their tendency to have 35" scale basses and Sandberg with the typical German over engineering and some really cool options like a P bass with music man bridge pickup and variety of options because the site is ran like the fender mod shop

Cort - make basses for everyone and yet in their own range, they produce some very tasty playing and sounding instruments. I've just picked up a Cort Modern 4; it's light, has a thinner neck profile than a jazz, a Markbass preamp and Nordstrand pickups - even Hipshot Ultralite tuners. I paid less than £1000 for this beauty. This is my 4 string work horse.

So glad to have learnt about G&L around 10 years ago. Absolutely amazing instruments!

I had a Yamaha BB414 and I loved it. I've also have a Stingray and Jazz and I found the BB to sit somewhere in between those two in tone, weight, and playability. Passive bass made it simple to dial in the tone and it was both warm and punchy at the same time. The body was full but the next was thin, which was a perfect bland of the Stingray and Jazz. If I could only take one bass with me, it was always the Yamaha. I ended up trading it for a drum set and sometimes I regret it now that the drums sit in the garage unplayed most of the time.

So happy Yamaha made the list. In my current arsenal I have a TRBX505 and an SLG200S silent guitar, and over the years I've used a range of other Yamaha guitars, keyboards and electronic drum equipment - they are a brand that I would always trust to deliver a reliable product, and have always been consistently impressed with their quality control.

So glad to see Schecter on here, I got a Schecter Diamond Series Stiletto Elite series 4 with a through neck and it sounds and plays amazinly.

Great vid, I’ve got Fender P’s and J’s and my go to is a Vintage J bass in sunburst. Keeps its tuning really well and with the Wilkinson hardware just plays like a dream. I did a play test blindfolded with another bassist and gave him my Fender MIM compared to the Vintage Vj74 and he preferred the vintage till he removed the blindfold and couldn’t believe the quality.

When I was looking into buying a bass, I first looked into Yamaha- as a drummer first, I trust Yamaha's craftsmanship, so I looked at the BB line. It stayed in my radar as I was trying some P and J basses for some time, then one day I saw a black BB234 at a store. I tried it out and it felt perfect, and ended up ordering one for myself in the satin natural finish. It plays exceptionally well and feels great, and some guitarist/bassist friends have tried it out and loved it. The Yamaha BB series is a gem, awesome to see it getting more recognition.

Congratulations on new haircut. All the basses I own are from the underrated list. I am filled with the sense of sophistication. Cheers to that!

I love that you included Yamaha. Great call. As for omissions, Cort should've been in there IMO. A few years ago, SIre would've also qualified, but it seems like everyone is well aware of how good their basses are now. Ridiculous bang for buck.

Thanks for mentioning Yamaha. I own one of the late 80s, early 90s bass. It us an active Yamaha Rbx 800A. It was my second bass and I still own it since nearly 30 years. Fantastic Quality, great hardware (tuners, bridge, pick ups) and the body is very light.

I love my Schecter Riot, although I'm not into metal. I was able to get a more upright/p bass sound out of mine by using D'Addario nylon tapewound strings. I really love the sound it produces with those particular stings, as they feel more like cloth an d are advertised as being more mellow than their Chromes flatwound strings.

Great segment ! There are so many reasonably priced options out there these days. : )

Great video. I have a Yamaha BBN5A from 1998 and I could not be happier. It has a user adjustable eq preset for the active eq!very cool 😎

You nailed it, bass mate! Well done.

Vintage basses are so well built it's actually insane. After trying Sadowsky Metro, MiM Fenders, High end Corts and even some handmad luthier basses.. the Vintage V4 precision that I have feels much more expensive. I'd compare them to Sire V7's in terms of build quality, but Vintage has much better neck shape.

Great video Jonny!! I have a Vintage V96, a Stingray copy, and I can't believe the quality for the price. I still have yet to see a comparison between that and a SUB or Sterling Stingray.

Love my G&L’s. I’ve had gibsons, Ricky’s, and musicmans(I worked in set up at musicman for two years). Never played a fender that I really liked. The L2K that I bought direct at the factory in 1986 is still my main bass, it eats stingrays for lunch.

My first fretless bass was an SX Jazz copy. I had it more than 20 years ago. The paint job was fantastic. I did upgrade the bridge and pickups. But it was chunky - probably the heaviest bass I’ve owned. I wish I had it back but sold it when I got my Cort Curbow 5 fretless.

Great list but missing is Cort? I own a few cort basses and the artisan series especially are high end materials and hardware will a beautiful feel at a affordable price. Super underrated

Good call on the G&L. I picked up a new-old-stock M2000 tribute and was blown away by the quality and tone, to the point that I no longer play my other basses much anymore. And by sheer luck I found another M2000 in a pawn shop for a bargain price, so I have a matching pair.

Those SX P basses are REALLY good! I've played the same model you did and it solidified my decision to buy a P bass!

Another great video. Agree with your list 100%.

Hohner B-Bass Pro IV......I've had two of them and absolutely hands down my fave. Awesome thinner neck, neck-thru-body, super playability, active/passive pickup switch - works both ways, not just one. The strings can be set just a hair over the frets without buzz. Gobs of low end vibe and sustain. Just a truly awesome bass and a serious workhorse. Note these are NOT the headless ones. I paid $300 American for my black one and $100 for my red one (both second hand).

A guitar player friend of mine who loves Schecter guitars bought a Schecter Omen 5 string bass for a very low price, and asked me to check it out. I did a basic setup and truss adjustment, and it plays so well, I leave my basses at home when I visit him, because I LOVE that Schecter. Plays sweetly, and there isn't a dull position anywhere on the neck. Great tone, good looks, big yet comfortable for me, I want to buy it from him but he's keeping it ... for now.

I've owned 3 Schecters. Great sounding basses all. The Stiletto studio 5 and Stiletto Custom 5 had the most incredible growl. It were both very heavy and I have a bad back and neck, so every gig with it resulted in a subsequent chiropractic adjustment. The Baron is a cool bass, but a real nose diver. I've been looking at one of the Jackson short scale basses, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I already have a good P/J so it's been hard to justify. I owned a Yamaha BB400 back in the 80's. Great bass, sadly lost it in a burglary.

I'd propose to add Bacchus - precious Japanese bases, which look like oldschool JBs but sound extremely modern. And also I'm in love with moon bases - Japan premium bases which are absolutely gorgeous but not even known outside Japan. Great video anyway Jonny, very informative - never heard about SX and 'vintage' basses before.

when l started bass i got a schecter diamond series bass for 200 bucks pre owned. great bass and im still using it

Great video, Jonny. Love the Yamaha.

I can recommend retrovibe they are affordable, gorgeous and punch well above their weight! As well as this revelation basses are great and have the spectacular entwistle pickups in!

G&L ASAT 5 is the Musicman Killer! The output on that thing is so hot, it'll make you jump out of your skin. Schecter Stiletto Custom has the most buttery, articulate neck and fingerboard. I would take either one of those basses over something like a Ken Smith or a Spector any day.

I think you could probably throw ESP onto this list. I used to have a LTD B-205 many years ago that was fantastic. Only sold it because I didn't like the neck profile and string spacing, but it was solid and sounded great.

My first bass and first stringed instrument was a Yamaha Rbx 170. I’ve moved onto a pbass but man, I do think about that old blue Yamaha a lot. Couldn’t have asked for a better intro instrument.

Great video btw... I'd add Retrovibe & Farida. Unfortunately Farida have stopped making basses ( l think they were practically selling them at cost) but they'll make a great 2nd hand uy if you can find one.

I bought a second hand (obviously, they haven't been in production for some time now) 2010 Schecter Diamond P Custom 4 about 4 months ago. I'm loving it. The build quality and features, the sound and feel - it's amazing, really. I have since A/B'd it with some very nice and expensive American made Fenders and a couple of Sadowski's, and the Schecter is still a win for me, it is really that good. $500 is all I paid. I'm very happy with it.

Appreciate the Yamaha call out, they are legitimate excellent. BB, TR, RBX all excellent models for their prices.

I have to add MTD Kingston. Especially the super 5 it's my go to bass with incredible sound options. The A symmetrical neck is really comfortable.

My first bass was a Yamaha TRBX174EW Mango Wood, I still have it. But the BB series is something else. I have a real soft spot for the Yamaha line, and yes underrated in my book too. I do recommend you fill that BB spot Jonny, cheers!

G&l is what fender should be.. the quality, fit, finish, and sound is just amazing 👏

You have no idea the torment I go through seeing my old bass in the background in all your videos, waiting for the day it gets into one. 😂

I was looking for yamaha trbx 505 or 605 (same pickups and preamps). I I found 605 in my nearest music shop by chance. Altough I didn't have much time it felt nice and great. I liked the tone etc. I think I'm going to buy it.

FGN are good judging by my new Mighty Jazz Boundary, which is the cheap end. Japanese company that used to make basses for a bunch of brands, now selling their own direct. Unique feature: the frets are ever-so-slightly curved to account for the string spread from nut to bridge, so they always intersect at right-angles.

Hi Jonny, thanks for the video. I have a Vintage P-bass and it is at least as good as a CV series Squier. I also have a super cheap Washburn P-bass (yes I love P-basses!) and it feels just great to play. Soundwise it's nothing special but it just feels so good. Cheers!

That silverburst jazz! Come on man! I've never wanted a jazz bass in my life but now I kind of need one.

Awesome list, Jonny 😎🤘🏻🎸 I totally agree with your list that brands like Yamaha, schecter, and Jackson are highly underrated brand. I own schecter stiletto basses I own 3 Yamaha basses(trbx and bb basses). Definitely one of the best basses I’ve ever own and I still rock out them today. I actually go for the underrated brands because they have something special and unique to offer. And the basses I bought definitely has that. As for the other brands, I have heard of vintage, sx, and g&l. But I didn’t know that g&l was underrated. I’ve never played one before, I’ve heard how good they are. And a highly underrated brand I know was Fernandes. I use to own 2 of their basses and they sounded pretty cool. I wish I kept one of them. Still great sounding basses. Other than that, I have been thinking about purchasing a Jackson spectra bass sometime soon. That or another Yamaha bb bass.

My first bass was a Yamaha rbx250. Still have it, now modified to fretless. Owned and sold many basses I now have the BB734 and love it.

I have one and looks and sounds amazing. I'm planning to buy another one on the new green army color.

Great video!! How about Sterling???

I just got myself a used Yamaha TRBX174EW a couple weeks ago, and I found a set of the EMG GZR PJ pickups and a few Hipshot Ultralite tuners for dirt cheap. Not counting a Hipshot Xtender I had lying around, I spent about $400 and she sounds and plays better than almost every bass I've tried at Guitar Center for under $1k.

My favorite bass is the Orange O-Bass :3 got one a few years back and I can't help but love it

Retrovibe are another nice affordable brand. I really like medium scales and they do a lot of them. I Have their Les Paul junior copy - lovely with flatwounds on . Thanks Johnny my man !

I feel like for budget basses people talk about Harley Benton a lot but not J&D, they make some incredible cheap basses. I have a SFG Jazz Bass I got from them for under 200 quid, it plays and in some ways sounds comparable to my friends 80s custom shop Jazz Bass

I'm upgrading from a 4-string so a 5-string, I'm considering between the Yamaha TRBX305 and Jackson JC3V? Which one should I get? I just play bass as a hobby so I don't really need something high-end.

Speaking from personal experience, I've owned an SX Jazz Bass VTG Series for like a year and a half, and I've played the hell out of it on this time, and I can second the idea they are very good and affordable basses. Personally, the only issue I've got was from the electronics, as the bridge pickup was unsoldered when I bought it, but, I just had to remove the pickguard and solder it myself and the bass was ready to go. Obviously, you're not gonna get the intonation or shenaningans that an expensive bass is gonna give you, but it works amazingly ok for its price. Also, as a side commentary, it feels a lot more rigid and solid than other basses in its price range, what for me is an advantage. They are good options, specially if you are looking for something with a good price-value relation. PD: English is not my mother language, so sorry if I have made any misspellings or gramathical errors.

Submitted for your approval: Definitely vintage 70’-‘95 Fernandes and Burny Japanese lawsuit Fender and Gibson models are very well made with the right materials and attributes.

I’m not a metal player and I have very expensive basses in my collection, and if I was buying a new “beginner level” bass tomorrow I think Jackson is the best on the market. I pick one up every time I go to Guitar Center I play one and love it.

Bought G&L L1000 when they 1st cane out and boy do I wish I still had it

I have the Jackson js 4 string spectra and i love it.

My main bass is a Schecter, but I don't play metal hahaha amazing quality and nice sound i bought my Stilleto studio 5 for 400 dlls used and Its amazing, EMG pickups and pre neck-thru construction and amazing build quality, Yamaha and G&L are amazing basses, I miss a lot my L2000 and I have an TRBX305, nice quality and playability in this basses Cort are another underrated brand and Charvel makes the San Dimas lineup nice basses

As the Italian city - check Tuscany basses Is you will you check DavidSinRock, with his banc DeepKick or for cover songs. Hmm hmm. Also A random custom bass I purchased in the yellow pages, I believe, Zletleko

If you are in the UK , check out the Chowny Basses . The NT4 and NT5, medium scale , has Aguilar pick ups and pre amp and Hipshot tuners and bridge . The SWB Pro , 24 fret short scale , has EMG pick ups and pre amp and Wilkinson tuners . They are reasonably priced . I believe both are made in India . I would appreciate a review . Thanks .

Spot on. I discovered Yamaha and own a BB435. Versatile or what, and the quality rivals my Stingray 5. 😊

I've tried the Jacksonbacker 5 and I liked it a lot, but I got a TRBX305 blue instead and it knocked my socks off.

I agree with Yamaha, I have the TRBX 174 & TRBX 304 both are quality basses.

There are a couple of Yamaha's I really would like. I'm a drummer working on learning bass and love, love, love Yamaha's drums. Problem is, no lefties. It breaks my friggin heart.

Nice! Vintage G&L´s are great! I'd love to have a Fallout or SB-100, Tribute is fine for me. I have an L-2000 and although it is great it is "too versatile" and it always stays in the same setting. Yamaha has such a good reputation but it seems like it is a realm by itself. I'd take a Gallup Schecter anytime... Cool vid!

I've been playing the same Yamaha for 15 years, it's like part of me I love it. It's super light like 7.5lbs, very danceable, I think being lightweight is an underrated feature. Anyway I love that instrument. Yamaha.

Peter Hook is fanatical about his Yamaha BB1200S basses and eventually Yamaha made a signature model for him. Eventually I want to get an active Yamaha again.

I have found gretch and ibanez especially good for shorter scale basses 👍

I play Spector bass you’re right they are excellent !

I would love if you could make a video on Aria basses. Theyre affordable, and im thinking of buying one, so it would be great if you could review the Aria STB-JB/TT

Cort is a huge but underrated brand, having good quality for the money and great designs. Yamaha is my favourite, though!

I like my Epiphone RumbleKat. It looks and plays great with 2 mini hum buckers and gold hardware, semi hollow (with no f holes) construction on a short (30.5”) scale length, bound body (front and back) neck and headstock, for only 550$

Reverend basses and guitars are super underrated. I'm absolutely in love with mine.

Speaking on behalf of all knobs worldwide, I would like to chime in. This was a good video. In the late 80s I played a Jackson type of jazz bass and it was to my memory one of the finest feeling instruments I have ever played in my life. It was expensive then, around $1500 and I haven’t seen one since. I also owned a g&l L- 2000 as well as the Yamaha bass yo pointed out. I thought all of those were good choices. However, I believe you missed out on one really awesome brand, and that would be the earl slick basses, these are extremely affordable and very good quality basses. You should check them out. Peace out signed Mr. Jommins.

Yamaha used to win a lot of bass shootouts from Bass Player Magazine. They did something like "Best Under $500 basses" and the Yamaha RBX 750 was the winner (back in like 1990/1991). They would say that the Yamaha was an entire class better (build, components, playability, tone) then the other basses they were comparing. So the RBX 750 was my first "real bass" after starting on a $99 used pawn shop bass. So I would agree that Yamaha basses are totally worth checking out and will probably beat other basses in the same price range.

I have the Schecter C-5 GT in the purple variant and it’s awesome!

I have a Vintage P bass and an SX PJ bass. Both are solid instruments. I would dare to say that the Vintage sounds way better than a typical MIM Fender. And the neck on the SX is super comfortable.

Yamaha RBX 270 was my first bass, is comfortable and easy to play!

Yamaha are brilliant, I've had several BB and TRB models and still have an old BB fretless. The BB1500A is one of the best active 4 strings ever made! I'm only playing 5s now, so have an ESP LTD AP-5 ( ridiculously good PJ), Fender Jazz Deluxe 5 and a lovely 90s Ibanez SR405, with the most wonderful neck ever

In the late 80’s I bought a cort steinberger copy. Loved it but it got stolen during one of the numerous house parties my roomies and I always had…☹️

my one experience with the Jackson Spectra series was trying one in a store. the blend pot was hooked up in reverse (turning towards the neck pickup selected the bridge pickup and vice versa) and the treble knob wasn't hooked up. neck felt nice but the electronics were a disaster :/

I love Danelectro basses. They’re wacky but they sound soo good

I have some basses like Squire, Fender, Sire, Musicman...but the best basses I ever had are the Yamaha TRBX series. Quality construction, electronics, balance, power, confort...It is possible that I will buy another yamaha bass shortly...

I had jackson cbxv 5 string phenomenal bass got for 300 pounds came with emg hz pickups defo punch above it weighs I am interested in high end schecter especially that C-5 with fishman pickups the specs look amazing.

I think Aria basses are slept on. I got lucky and was able to find an early 1980s Aria Pro II TSB-350 for around $300/£235. They were bigger in the 80s than they are now, and honestly, I've always been partial to Japanese made basses like Aria or Ibanez

Have you tried Luna tattoo long scale bass? Any good thinking of buying it

Grat list, in my humble opinion, you just missed one Cort bass (the factory which maybe made half of the basses you mentioned). Cort basses, again in my opinion, are the best basses for the price. From wood used to the craftsmanship, nobody can't be better than Cort, the artisan series I think is the best bass for them money period.

I love my Westone, especially since I put flat would strings on it.

Maruszczyk is a GREAT Polish brand. Really well made, you can order heavy customised basses and pretty good ergonomic. Also Sandberg, not so customisable but they make the best jazz bass I have ever played

Love the Jackenbacher.

I've had/have several G&L's. My first was an American made L2000 back in the late 80's.......great bass but just too "in your face" for my taste so I traded it for something I don't recall. Later around 2008 I bought an import version,(Tribute) of the same bass that seemed to work better.....don't ask why. I since added a G&L Jazz tribute sounds great but way too heavy. I also added their short scale Fallout Tribute.......good build but the Jury is still out. The longer I play the more "old school" Fender I get lol ! Oh I also have and love a Danelectro Long horn strung with flats that ticks all the boxes.....great sound,(sits in the mix beautifully) lite as a feather and gets more comments than any other bass I own........and reasonably priced !

Often forgotten is that Yamaha are first a musical instrument company making everything from cheap recorders to concert-hall grade pianos, and their logo - even on bikes - even my FJ1200 3CV that I loved - is actually 3 tuning forks.

I think Cort gear is really well made, and they use Bartolini pickups as well.

Great vid, what about aria pro ii basses😜😂😎🇬🇧

I have a G&L LB 100 Fullerton and it out precision the Fender Precision. I have a 75 Precision and I almost NEVER pick it up now...

Bacchus basses are incredible. For the price of a Fullerton Fender, you get a handmade bass as well made and as great sounding as a Sadowski. Check them out.

Hey Johnny, have you had much experience with Cruiser by Crafter Bass? Or have you heard anything about them?

"The 5 string is just an assault on the eyes" ... yes, yes it is. Well put

I play a Yamaha. It’s pretty good for 500 bucks. I will likely change the preamp someday but that is me nitpicking about toan lol