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Basses that just sound BAD...

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#3
In the place my last band used for rehearsals, there was some kind of Squier that had the crappiest tone I have ever heard in my life - even when used together with a great older amp (which b.t.w. sounded gorgeous with a MIM Precision Deluxe)! Totally useless tinny sound with absolutely NO lows or (good) highs at all. I think this one was from the "Affinity-series" (spelling?). On the other hand I have played an old MIJ Squier from the early 80's that sounded absolutely perfect, so I am not completely sure about the Squiers. Maybe it was all in the amp; maybe the new Squier had some kind of problem to it (bad strings, bad PUP?). Besides from the bad Squier, almost every Ibanez I have tried sounded quite miserably (IMO). Not my cup of tea maybe, as I mostly prefer P-basses.
 
#6
There isn't much I don't like, but here are a couple generalizations:

The sound of bridge piezos used alone (they can be OK when blended)

The sound of a soloed bridge pup when it's too close to the bridge (by this I mean closer than the J bass bridge pup): it's just too boingy and g****r-like for me.
 
#7
An old J-copy that I had to play during my early music lessons in grammar school. Can't remember the brand though. Barely sounded at all, when it did it sounded very dead, extremely hard to play on because of uneven string height (I don't think that I would have been allowed to mess with it, my teacher didn't know much about basses. "No, a bass can't have more than four strings, then it isn't a bass." I didn't have them time to argue. I knew that she wouldn't belevie me anyway)
 
#9
A friend of mine has a Saehan P style bass. It sounds empty. It has no mids, few bass and too much Highs. I've also been playing some "cheap" Warwicks (+-800$) that I didn't like at all. They don't sound bad but they are not as good as they should (exept for slapping).
I agree that some squiers are a piece of s*** but there are also some ones that sound like MIM's fenders. I've heard that some times american fender luthiers make some squiers to teach how to do it. I don't know if it's true.
 
#10
I remember back in 77 I played a friends Fender tele-bass I thought it was a piece of Doo Doo, both sound and feel. I was playing a Fender Jazz at that time. I had a Moserite Bass that I traded in for the Fender 72 Jazz bass..... The Moserite was weak and had really bad action that couldnt be fixed... Now I wish I still owned it. :( Go to your local pawn shop they are full of really bad sounding basses...
 
#11
In 1980 I owned a short scale Gibson EBO in candy apple red. The single, large humbucker at the neck was the proverbial "puddle of mud."

No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the sound I wanted. It didn't help that I discovered Jaco around that time, and I *loved* his sound. By that time I had gotten rid of an old Jazz bass copy though. Sigh.

I loved the look of the EBO, but I traded it for a Fender Musicmaster. Now that bass had a decent tone!
 
#17
Speaking of those mighty Rogues, I was told by our good friends at the local Musician's Fiend that they are actually made by Ibanez.

Any truth to this?

As far as crappy sounding basses, HONDO, baby!!!! ;) ;) ;)
 
#18
Originally posted by lneal
THE PEAVEY T-40 IS THE WORST SOUNDING BASS EVER! END OF DISCUSSION!
Click to expand...

your caps lock is on, if you aren't aware already...

I actually love T-40's, great american made basses that can still be had for around $200, I think they sound great too. Of course, I have a real lust fir peavey:)

I hate the sound out of the cheaper active Ibanez's. I have never heard anyone make them sound good, or a decent player that uses one.
 
#20
Gibson EB2 and Hofner Beatle Bass, to cite two expensive dogs that offer no clarity of tone but plenty of downright bad sound. The EB2 is esecially horrendous, it's hard to tell what notes you're even hitting on the E string due to the total sludge of the mudbucker p/u and the Hofner has a thin but muted sound that doesn't even resemble a musical instrument--more like an amplified washtub through a cheesy horn! Both have bad short-scale necks. Who cares if famous guys play/played 'em? They still suck. And don't even think of playing either of these basses above about the 10th fret. You guessed it, bad intonation is part of the package, too.

Yeah, I've been stuck with both at various unfortunate times of my career. Thankfully, I no longer own either.
 
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