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Bass Features: Top Ten Personal Turn-Offs

#381
Let's see, 10 things that suck about certain basses, I'll try to think of 10.

1. Narrow string spacing. I've got big hands so I need to get in there sometimes. Narrow string spacing prevents that.

2. Floppy B strings. There's no use having one if it's not playable.

3. Garbage preamps. I've had a couple and it just gets in the way of your tone. Might as well just play passive.

4. Weak pickups. I've got to have some output.

5. Necks that tend to need adjusted all the time. I feel like I have to be a luthier to own a bass like that.

6. Worn down frets. Duh!!!

7. Ugly pickguards that clash with beautiful basses.

8. Pickguards over beautiful tops. Why are you going to pay all that extra money for a 5A quilted maple top and cover it with a piece of plastic. At least get a clear one.

9. Top loading input jacks. I have a hard time letting loose with an instrument cable in the way of my hand.

10. Sticky fretboards. Sticky fretboards are from sticky strings which come from sticky hands so wash your hands before touching my basses!:D
 
#382
1) Costs more than about $200. Yes, really.

I don't mind spending money after the fact hotrodding, a bit, but not much.

On bass, as long as the intonation can be brought in line, and the neck relief can be set so I can get the action low, I'm happy.

I love GFS pickups, though I haven't tried any of their bass stuff yet. The guitar pickups are top notch, and cheap as hell.

My perfect guitar starts with an ebay search for "project", "damaged", "needs", "for parts".

Any instrument can be made playable, as long as you don't have some sort of "OMG THIS COSTS TOO MUCH TO ALTER" thing going on.

I've got two Epiphone Les Pauls I got off ebay. Each had the headstock broken off. One was $65, one was $35. It's amazing what Titebond and some clamps can do.

I've got a strat with a Warmoth neck that had a really uncomfortable boat/v profile. Some time with some microplanes and some 300grit, and it plays like butter (and I have hardly any money in it.)

My #1 bass is a Yamaha BB300, my first bass circa 1990, that currently has Alembic P pickup and electronics, and a Badass bridge. Frets yanked/filled, fingerboard coated in tru-oil and sanded to 800grit. To this day, it's still my favorite bass I've played, and I used to own an Alembic Spoiler (Which, honestly, was a very close #2.)

As for #2-10? meh.
 
#383
dblbass said:
people today approve of the initial fender design because they have settled and said its good enough instead of trying to improve on the many things wrong with it. and not stoping until its right.
Click to expand...

Uh, I've played a great many of the "improvements" and I still have two Jazz basses. Maybe you need to accept that a great many people are perfectly aware of basses with allegedly better tone/features/ergonomics and who stick to Fenders and other similar designs.
 
#385
most (if not all) have already been said but these are my pet-peeves on Basses:

1 Maple fretboards
2 Narrow String spacing
3 PJ style basses
4 Gold Hardware, it just looks ugly in my opinion.
5 anything more than 5 strings
6 Thin necks
7 Violin/viola basses
8 Heavy Basses
9 basses with a lot of knobs and switches. I like my basses pretty simple.
10 the number thing that turns me off right away is weird body shapes and single cut body shapes, mostly body shapes found on custom basses and/or boutique basses.
 
#386
1.- Basses with more than 5 strings (hey dood...buy a guitar!)

2.- Onboard pre-amps with 10 knobs, 5 toggle switches, and a piezo something

3.- Poor quality tuners (AGhhhh!!!)

4.- Poor truss rod access (+ 999)

5.- Pointy Headstocks (like those on jackson basses, being the most disgusting the fivers, this takes me to the next feature...)

6.- 5 in line headstocks (YUCKKK, the ONLY exception would be those Tylers of Neil Stubenhaus....mmm, NO NO NO, sorry Neil, i worship you but those oversized headstocks are FUGLY, love the sound though)

7.- Boomy, only boost - no cut electronics (like the one on my Spector Euro, while i wait for the Aggy, you guys in America have such things so close, i´m gonna cry now...)

8.- Heavy Basses (oooh, my poor, poor back and left shoulder)

9.- Thick Solid finishes (like the one on my first bass, a Peavey Foundation)

10.- OK here goes...sorry about this, but it´s just opinion OK? I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT WASHBURN BANTAM BASSES (I had one and test drove like eight of them in case i had a lemon, sooo i know what i´m talking about, i was so glad when i sold that SUCKER)
 
#388
1. backwards-facing dildo instead of a tummy-cut on the body
2. razor-fencing instead of fret wire, with broken glass fingerboard binding
3. time-released cyanide fret markers
4. 5-piece cinder block & concrete laminate neck construction
5. live banana slug thumbrest
6. unsealed (oil & wax) finish on neck or body made from human feces
7. active electronics with 240v AC power supply, grounded to strings
8. supplied gig bag lined with spermicidal foam instead of urethane foam
9. built-in car bomb
10. fewer than 1 strings
 
#389
Hoover said:
1. backwards-facing dildo instead of a tummy-cut on the body
2. razor-fencing instead of fret wire, with broken glass fingerboard binding
3. time-released cyanide fret markers
4. 5-piece cinder block & concrete laminate neck construction
5. live banana slug thumbrest
6. unsealed (oil & wax) finish on neck or body made from human feces
7. active electronics with 240v AC power supply, grounded to strings
8. supplied gig bag lined with spermicidal foam instead of urethane foam
9. built-in car bomb
10. fewer than 1 strings
Click to expand...

+1
 
#390
Hoover said:
1. backwards-facing dildo instead of a tummy-cut on the body
2. razor-fencing instead of fret wire, with broken glass fingerboard binding
3. time-released cyanide fret markers
4. 5-piece cinder block & concrete laminate neck construction
5. live banana slug thumbrest
6. unsealed (oil & wax) finish on neck or body made from human feces
7. active electronics with 240v AC power supply, grounded to strings
8. supplied gig bag lined with spermicidal foam instead of urethane foam
9. built-in car bomb
10. fewer than 1 strings
Click to expand...

Dude, sell that bass. Sounds like garbage.
 
#391
I don't think I saw these too often, so here's a few.


1 - Traditional string sets. The D is always way too tight, the E is never tight enough. I've been buying strings individually so I can get them "progressively tensioned", meaning each string has more tension as they go lower. The feel is more consistent, the tone is nice and clear, I like my sound and playing more now :)

2 - Unradiused pole pieces. The inside and outside strings should be equal volume, I shouldn't need compression to get acceptable balance - it ruins dynamics!

3 - Hyped pickup sounds. Large bumps in the frequency response means it's harder to change my sound with my hands.

4 - I really wish I had a zero fret.


I don't think neck size, number of strings, etc matter as much as long as it's well set up. I used to think my Geddy neck was way too thin until I found string tensions that worked for me, then it became magic. I'm pretty happy with four strings and don't need lower than tuning down for a D very very occasionally. Everyone here plays different music and has different roles within it, so of course we don't like things other people do in instruments - I'm sure the musical tastes vary as well!
 
#392
None of these statements would make me putt the bass back on the shelf permanently if the bass is good in general, but it would be a major drawback, hope I don't offend anyone.:D

1. Anything inlays besides centred dots, preferably only side inlays, fancy inlays just don't look good
2. Neck dive and baseball neck, my left-hand endurance and agility is reduced to almost nothing at extreme neck dive!
3. No bridge pickup, my sound rely heavily at the bridge pickup
4. Gloss necks and other sticky necks, who like those necks?
5. Un tasty colours and black basses, black basses are dull and “everyone” plays them
6. Less than 4 knobs or more than 5 knobs, 4 knobs = volume + blend /volume + volume + tone + tone / high low, have to have that amount of tweak ability on the bass, but don't really need more than 3band EQ onboard
7. Metal, single cut and Gibson design or anything looks like it wants to be a guitar (Fender P- design does not count), don't like the look
8. Not adjustable bridge, little or no intonation adustments…
9. None chrome hardware (except from natural finishes on Warwick basses), looks like it wants to look classy
10.No active bypass switch, what if the battery runs out, and you have no battery available?
11.Basses you can’t afford to bring with you at every gig, what’s the point when you can’t use it?
12.Face mounted jacks, unpractical and ugly
13.Short scale bass, bad tone and guitar feel, give me a 34”+ scale:bassist::bassist:

Though I have a bass that has got neck dive, no bridge pickup (in fact it has no real pickups at all, just an inside mounted microphone), sticky gloss finish thick baseball neck, Gibson design (the silhouette is very Gibson like), not adjustable bridge (and impossible to intonate properly), no active bypass switch and dead spots. However I rarely use it because it acoustic (no it’s not an upright bass, and it is fretted).:confused::confused:
 
#393
1- Anything that look or are made by Fender. (too much people plays Fender or Fender copy or other brand made by Fender like Lakland and Musicman)
2- Giant basses ( Lakland USA are HUGE )
3- Gold Hardware ... it looks good but it wearoff too quickly
4- Tung Oil Neck or whole bass is tung oil. It feels good but it is too much care and it takes ding too easily.
5- No bridge pickup
6- Black basses ( solid finish or transparent )
7- Passive bass ( I love to be able to adjust something even if I'm not close to my amp ).
8- Loosy truss rod emplacement
9- Neck heel ... give me a neck trough
10- Front dot or any kind of inlays just don't look clean.
 
#395
1. Jazz bass necks. I love the sound, but the spacing is better suited to a guitar, IMO.
2. Less than 5 strings. People who hate anything more than 4 seem to be angry, angry people. ;) That, or they haven't yet realized that a 5 or 6 is just like a 4, only with more strings. (Unless you play slap, which is what my P is for.)
3. Boutique basses. Hand-carved out of 10 different woods with wood-covered pickups and titanium hardware, with hand-wound...! I can understand that people have money they're just dying to get rid of, but FWIW, I'm always happy to take that money off of people's hands. If I was looking for something very specific, I could see it having one made, but spending that much on something... I didn't buy Nike Airs back in the day, either.
4. Headless basses. Like a headless woman, no matter how great the body is, there's just something wrong with a headless bass.
5. "Relic'd" instruments. Fine, if they really are relics, but I also don't buy "pre-worn" or whatever it's called jeans.
6. Low output passive / ridiculously high output active electronics. Eaither one ends up being a pain to EQ till I'm happy. I like a certain range that doesn't clip my input right away.
7. Fake finishes... My Cort has a faux wood finish on it, and it's the only thing I don't love about her.
8. The insane amount of P and J bass copies. How about some creativity? I mean, the "metal" basses aren't for me, but at least it's somewhat original. The tones may change, but every 9 out of 10 basses I see are either P or J copies.
9. Fretless basses with light wood fingerboards. Ebony just looks so much better.
10. Humming electronics, especially that passive hum when you're not touching any metal on the bass. Half the passive Fenders at the local place hum.
 
#396
Wow, some of you guys are really picky. I'm not. I have 23 basses of all different configurations. 30", 34" and 35" scale, 4,5,6 string (including both modern style 6 string and Bass VI type 6 string), 21 to 24 frets, maple, ebony, rosewood, pau ferro fingerboards, fretted, lined fretless, unlined fretless, transparent finishes and solid colors, pickguards and no pickguards, bolt on, set neck and neck through, easily accessible truss rods and truss rods you have to take the neck off to adjust, standard double cutaway bodies, single cutaway bodies, standard bent bridges and heavy duty bridges, string through and quick release, active and passive, every pickup configuration imaginable.

The one thing that will prevent me from buying a bass is weight. My back can't take a bass over 9 lbs. Other than that I'm not picky at all. If it sounds good and plays good I'll buy it. I'm not picky about neck shape (I prefer Jazz width for 4 string, but I'll play anything), body shape, etc.
 
#397
1. Passive electronics
2. String trees
3. 5 strings. 4 or 6 strings for me
4. Dots on a fingerboard. Either have frets, lines, or nothing.
5. Paint finishes. I like to see the wood grain.
6. Alder basses
7. Bolt ons
8. Fender style bodies. Both P and J; I just don't like them
9. Any hardware that isn't black
10. Less then 24 frets

CK
 
#400
1. No pickguard. It's for decoration, and it makes it look good.
2. Big silly horns. This isn't a marching band folks.
3. Excessive switches and dials.
4. Radical body shapes.
5. Small bodies.
6. Futuristic styling.
7. Excessive boutique stylings.
8. Some famous dirtbags name or signature on it.
9. Yellow finishes.
10. Cheap active pickups (MM is a pass).
 

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