Are there any starter basses under $200 that you could also gig with in a pinch?

[SketchMan3]

Yeah, title says it all. New or used. If the answer is no, then do you consider the Silvertone Revolver or LB11 to be a good starter bass?

[stix_clgi]

Well I like the Squier Active Deluxe Jazz bass, and you can probably find a used one for close to $200, maybe a little more. I've owned two, and would recommend them for gigging in a heartbeat. I've never heard of the Silvertone Revolver.

Second question:

Most basses I've played have passive pickups with active electronics. Some of the leading pickup manufacturers sell passive pickups as well. Bartolini and EMG are two that I've owned that are passive paired with an active preamp. Fender is probably the biggest that uses passive pickups in their models. Did you mean passive electronics?

[malthumb]

$200 gig-worthy basses
You can get a new SX bass for under $200.  It could prove worthy for small gigs, like a coffee-house or small cafe, maybe even an open mic type situation where volume is not important.  It can be upgraded to a truly gig-worthy bass by adding an Audere preamp for not a whole lot of money.  I bought used SX 5-string to donate to a church that I play at on occasion.  When I'm lazy and don't wanna carry gear to the church, I've played that bass direct through the PA.  Nobody's turned their nose up at it yet.

Otherwise I'd say peruse your local Craigslist and pawnshops for a used Mexican Fender or a decent Ibanez, Peavey, or Yamaha.  Check back here or at Talkbass with the actual model names / numbers to make sure you're getting something decent.  A new  Fender Squire can be had for $299 or less.  I especially like the '75 reissue.  We got my son the sunburst fretless Squire Jazz for Christmas for $225.  It's a passive bass and is, in my opinion, gig-worthy.

Passive Basses
Fender Standard Jazz and Fender Standard Precision basses are passive basses that are used a lot in performance and recording settings.  You just have to rely on your rig or PA to adjust your tone beyond what is available to you through the tone knob.  For a lot of people, that's enough.  Of course, this is coming from a guy who has 6 basses, all active, and whose main bass has 8 knobs and stereo capability 

[malthumb]

Wow, nice... and, what is the stereo used for?

I can't remember all the numbers, but I think these are the most important: it's a Silvertone SSLB11 Revolver. Man, the problem with experts is that they don't have enough experience with the newer cheap stuff, lol. The only people who review the starter kits are beginners themselves, =\

Stereo
I can send the output of each pickup to a different sound system.  With a secular band I play with I send the bridge pickup clean to either my MarkBass F1 (rehearsal) or to the PA board (some live locations).  I send the neck pickup through an effects board, then an Ampeg combo (rehearsal) or the MarkBass F1 (some live locations).  I can also send the blended tone of both pickups to two locations.  Most basses can do this already with a decent ABY splitter.

In this picture, the bridge pickup is going into the rack behind my right leg and out of the speaker behind the guitarist.  The neck pickup is going through the effects board that I'm staring at and then the Ampeg combo to my left.



Silvertone Revolver
You are so right about experienced bassists not being up to speed on new beginner level product.  The only reasons I am up to speed on SX and Squire is that I had decided to donate equipment to my kids' school and to a church I play at semi-regularly and because my 12 yr old has proven that he's SERIOUS about learning.  Even though he has access to 4 of my 6 basses, he was clear in wanting to pick out his own instrument, so we went to GC on a number of occasions so he could test drive the beginner's products.  Never encountered any Silvertone products along the way, though.