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Bass Features: Top Ten Personal Turn-Offs

#441
Based on what I like and what I want to achieve with a bass guitar, this are my turn-offs

1. More than 4 strings - I can understand why some players need'em and I respect that, but I don't, so why pay for something I'm not going to use?

2. More than 21 frets - Same as above.

3. Short scale - Feels uncomfortable, I go as short as a Ric (because I like their sound).

4. Light weight - I really like to feel my bass as a weapon, and I do think a bass sounds better if it's heavy (maybe's only on my mind;) )

5. Active electronics - Don't like to hassle with batteries, and don't seem to sound good with effects and I use a lot of them.

6. Wood/natural finish - I like colors.

7. No head - Looks hideous to my eyes.

8. More than 4 knobs - I like simplicity, but...

9. Only one pick-up - I like to use the neck and bridge tonalities at the same time.

10. No dots on a fretted or no lines and dots on a fretless - Hey! I'm stupid, sometimes I get confused and I need a little help.

11. Cost over US$2000 - Can't afford it; and in a loud, crowded, venue, an expenssive bass doesn't seem to make much difference sound wise, and don't want to get to worrysome for someone stealing it and/or damaging it.

Remember, this from MY point of view; hope that at least someone got a good laugh with MY turn-offs or can understand why I have'em
 
#442
FINISHES:

1) I just cannot stand the look of a nice slab of wood(s) that look like they've been dipped 20 times in Karo Syrup.

2) Fake wood/veneer finishes

3) Garish colors/thick paint (I too like wood)

4) This whole pre-aged, reliced or at it's worst, for example, Fender trying to make an EXACT replica of Jaco's J-bass down to the scratches and thrashes. BS!!!

BODY/WOODS:

5) Weird pointy shapes ("metal" basses or some of the more extreme boutique basses)) for their own sake, many of these have horrible balance, and dang, I don't exactly fancy getting impaled by a bass, thank you very much.

6) Soft woods with little to no tonal character

7) Gratuitous use of exotic hardwoods in ridiculous quantities that results in HORRID tone.

MISC:

8) Insanely high action (ANOTHER reason I cannot stand Fenders), I like to PLAY a bass, NOT be a $#%& masochist and inflict pain on myself!

9) P-bass clones! Gimme a break!

10) SIGNATURE MODELS, PERIOD!
 
#443
1. Narrow string spacing-(If it's below 18, then its a guitar)

2. Relic'd Basses-(***?? Why would I PAY for my bass to look like a POS)

3. Fender, Fenderlike, Fenderish-(no! NO! and NO!)

4. 4 strings-(why? when theres so much more to explore sonicly, no less than 6)

5. Nice basses that dont belong to me-(Hey so I'm jealous, so what:mad::spit:)

6. Bad necks-(this really cant be tolerated. I like extremely low action and it needs to be buzz free, I also like just a wee bit of relief. the truss rod has to be top notch.

7. Vintage looking basses old or new-(Tiesco, Mosrite, Burns, Kay, Italia, etc.)

8. Passive Basses-(anyone who says they make a better sounding instrument should meet me somewhere and I Guarantee that I will prove them wrong!

9. Extremely overpriced basses-(basicly anything over $3500 qualifies if its made of wood, metal and plastic)

10. Front fretboard markers-(Inlays are ok and maybe at the 12th fret but the dots?, NO.
 
#444
Man this is a fun blog

These deter me from buying certain basses.

1. No midrange control - I sometimes never touch my mid control but sometimes I do so I don't get basses without it.

2. Separate neck and bridge volume controls - I do some volume swell on the bass and that's virtually impossible with 2 volume knobs and then if I have to turn down I have to match positions.

3. High neck action - I hate string that cannot sit fairly close to the neck. I had a MTD KZ 5 and and for a super long time kept taking it to my guitar tech to solve the problem.

4. Bulky necks - Fender stock basses are notorious for bulky necks. It demands more work and slows down a lot of "tricks" that I would normally attempt.

5. Zero Frets - I have read about the merits and of that fret and buzz feiten but I have not found it to help the overall action of the bass. The basses with zero frets gave me the most action problems.

6. Cheap hardware - I personally prefer hipshot stuff. I current own a bass with cheap tuning keys and I have to constantly re-tune my bass.

7. Poorly placed input jacks - Don't like it on the face and there should be consideration as to where to place it to save guitar cables.

8. Non-quick release bridges - I guess that is quasi hardware. I prefer to loosen then pull off.

9. Weird designs - I understand "bass art" but wow. In my opinion some designs are just not aesthetic.

10. Super high costing basses - Still trying to justify basses not less than $2500 for high end basses. This is a very high investment tool to take around and sometimes beat up. But if someone is willing to spend $10,000 for an Alembic then Alembic will continue to make a $10,000 bass.
 
#445
hm...

my top ten:

1: Fender. Nuff' said
2: Thick necks. HATE!!!!
3: Sterile sound. I like oomph. Otherwise you just blend in (or just plain can't be heard over the guitarist)

4: Electronics that make the low end really loud, but the high end really quiet. I played a Peavey the other day (a cheap one), and the volume DISAPPEARED as soon as I got to the D string.

5: excessively bright basses.

6: Gloss necks. blegh... so sticky...
7: Fret dots. Ew.. detracts so much from aesthetic unity of a bass. Kinda like a big pimple on a supermodel's chin.

8: high action.
9: Heavy basses.
10: really avant-gard body styles. I'm ok with a little to moderately wierd, but things like Bee basses make me wanna punch kittens.
 
#446
in no particular order:
1. bad fret work - i need to be able to get my action down
2. glossy necks. sticky, blech
3. narrow string spacing
4. super light or super heavy weight. 8-11 pounds is fine.
5. more than 4 strings
6. bent tin crappy bridge
7. strange body shapes, kind of a purist i guess
8. neck profiles that hurt my hand
9. poor truss rod access
10. painted necks
 
#447
gold hardware....
its almost always tacky

candy apple red....for some reason I reject it, despite having owned vintage fenders

Ibanez...whats the point
Sadowsky/Lull (over engineered with no mojo)
any figured wood Fender style basses

other than that if its playable and has the tone...
I dont care if it looks like a bag of garbage with a 2x4 glued to it...(as long as its not red with gold hardware)

but I'll stick to my Wals for now
 
#450
I play a MIA P-Bass and a 4003 Rickenbacker and love them both to death. I can't really find much fault in them. I do find that stuff included in them falls into a "fault" category of many replies of this thread though.... consider anything good of them as a plus. (and even the faults IMO) :)
 
#452
1. Gloss necks

2. Opaque finish (Preferably just an oil finish)

3. Less than 5 strings (with a few exceptions)

4. Action that doesnt get low enough

5. Pickguards

6. Really narrow strings

7. Less than 21 frets

8. non-quick release necks

9. Open poles on pups

10. Really trebly active tone
 
#453
1 - Mechanical mutes.
2 - Pickup and bridge covers.
3 - .0047 capacitors.
4 - the rickenbacker bridge tailpiece
5 - a bass with only 4 strings
6 - active basses with a 2 band preamp and not a 3 or 4 band preamp.
7 - reliced basses
 

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