most important criteria

[wrench45us]

1) neck feel/playability
2) tone
3) overall balance and feel
4) it's a Fender American Standard P bass

[two fingers]

I voted "neck/feel playability". If it feels good and plays good I can swap out most of what makes it sound good/bad.

But I'm not sure how you can have #1 without #3.

[JACink]

Originally Posted by two fingers

I voted "neck/feel playability". If it feels good and plays good I can swap out most of what makes it sound good/bad.

But I'm not sure how you can have #1 without #3.

+1 on the #1 = #3

and you are missing an important factor for some (me included)...
The Price!

[MCS4]

I guess I'd have to say tone, although I don't believe I actually emphasize that more than the other factors when buying.

My logic is this: If all the basses in the world were laid out before me, I would probably single out the subset of basses that had great playability and balance for my purposes, and then choose whichever of those basses has the best tone as "the one." That makes more sense to me than picking a bunch of basses with great tone and then making my final decision based on playability.

[TolerancEJ]

Should have included an all of the above selection in the poll.

I wouldn't buy a bass with neck feel/playability, if the tone or balance wasn't to my liking. Similarly, if the tone was right, but the playability/balance was off, I may look elsewhere.

[Steveaux]

Most important criteria is the freshness of the carrots.

[bigchiefbc]

Definitely tone. I'll suck it up if it's not the neck profile I prefer, or if the ergonomics are a little different, or if it's a pound heavier than I'd like. As long as it sounds like I want to sound.

[JTE]

Sound first, or nothing else matters. It's a musical instrument so its function is to create a good sound. And my experience (both with my personal instruments and the ones I modified for customers over 11 years managing a guitar store) is that there are a LOT of things that can't be fixed with electronics, strings, or hardware. A heavy ash bodied bass that's all attack and sustain without blossom or warmth acoustically will have all those characteristics no matter how you EQ it. So the first factor is sound.

If it sounds like I want it to, then how it feels is the next criteria. But, "feels good" is a very very wide range for me. I'm always alternating between any of my basses, as well as widely different feeling guitars, both acoustic and electric. That means I'm switching from two different guitar scales, strings ranging from 10-46 to 45-135, and scales from just over 24" (I think) to 35". The shape of the neck being comfortable is important, but I can adapt.

Here's the thing about all this though- there's enough good stuff out there that you don't have to make any of this an either/or case. I've had some I didn't like- I had a Geddy Lee Jazz, and the bass's neck was just too skinny for me to be comfortable with it. Had it sounded better I'd have been able to adapt, but the bass was too twangy and edgy for me so I didn't bother adapting to that neck.

An important aspect of what's important to me is that I've had a lot of experience playing a lot of different instruments since I started being serious about music playing around 1974. I also know a lot about setting up instruments, and so I can play something that's not set up great and still get an idea of whether the things I don't like about the feel are things that can be adjusted (e.g. action, nut height, relief, fret condition, etc.) or things that are inherent in the instrument (neck shape for example).

Bottom line is that when I buy an instrument I want one that's comfortable for me both physically and sonically. There's enough good stuff out there that yous really don't have to settle (with budget being a consideration). I've been seeking "MY" Jazz Bass since about 1999, and haven't found the exact right combination (the search has been severely curtailed by economics and not gigging) of feel and sound. But I don't have any reason to settle for an instrument that wont' sound great to me or won't be able to made to play great. So I wait.

The last choice is totally pointless. I'd play a '70s Antigua Jazz bass with blocks 'n' binding (my personal choice of the absolute worst crap Fender ever made) if it sounded and felt good. What it says on the headstock, who made it, when or where it was made are all pretty meaningless for deciding if the bass fits my needs. They only factor into the price the market sets for them.

John

[bill reed]

I would say Tone first. when i look for a bass i have some sort of idea of the sound i want from it. i have 5 basses and all sound diffrent. when i find a bass with the sound i want then its a choice of how the bass feels and plays.
i would say that 1 and 3 come into it also.
if the bass does not have the tone i want then no matter how good it plays its not what i want!

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by Steveaux

Most important criteria is the freshness of the carrots.

+1

[HertzWhenIPlay]

Originally Posted by JACink

+1 on the #1 = #3

and you are missing an important factor for some (me included)...
The Price!

+1

[gjbassist]

What about factors like appearance, overall build quality and value?

[Solarmist]

1) Slim neck
2) Buckers w/3band active EQ
3) Aesthetics
4) Lightweight

[Darren Low]

Originally Posted by Steveaux

Most important criteria is the freshness of the carrots.

Indeed. That option needs to be added.

[AuntieBeeb]

I can be incredibly shallow: I won't buy a bass unless I'm sold on its appearance. So I always put tone first, and then probably how the neck feels. But then some Yamahas or Ibanez - or even a lot of the more common Schecters - would lose out straight away for looking too 'modern.'

[IngerAlb]

1. Neck feel / playability - for me that's critical.
2. Looks / aesthetics - critical as well.
3. Tone - 3rd position because I only play 1 brand / 1 model basses, so the tone is overall the same

[backup]

you neglected to include

"price"
"resale value"
"aesthetics"
"craftmanship"
i guess "Fender American Standard P bass" is synonymous for "brand"

and probably even more

to me its tone first then feel then craftmanship (build quality) then aesthethics then brand (yes)

[Kmonk]

For me it's about everything. The first thing I notice is the neck and feel. If I don't like that immediately upon playing I won't even consider buying the bass. If I like the way it feels and plays, I listen for tone and how versatile it is. I won't buy a bass that doesn't feel right or doesn't have the tone I am looking for.

[sevdog]

When I'm looking at basses in a store, the first thing I do is grab it around the neck near the nut. I can pretty quickly eliminate many from any further consideration that way. If it passes that "feel" test then I might keep scouring it...but then there's the question of why did I decide to grab that one first over the others...

So, that isn't necessarily the most important factor but it's a deal breaker in so many instances that it's a quick way to make a "might be a keeper" pile and a "no thanks" pile.

[IPA]

To be honest, looks is #1 for me



Can't play it if I hate the way it looks. Necks I can be forgiving as long as they aren't too sticky or too insanely thin. Pickups can be swapped, strings can be swapped, hardware can be swapped.