An abelian p-group G has a nice basis if it is the ascending union of a sequence of nice subgroups, each of which is a direct sum of cyclic groups. It is shown that if G is any group, then G ⊕ D has a nice basis, where D is the divisible hull of pωG. This leads to a consideration of the nice basis rank of G, i.e., the smallest rank of a divisible group D such that G ⊕ D has a nice basis. This concept is used to show that there exist a reduced group G and a non-reduced group H, both without a nice basis, such that G ⊕ H has a nice basis