Bass you can't bond with

[mattbass6945]

OP judging by your avatar pic you may hate me a little, however the Thunderbird is my choice of most uncomfortable bass out of all I have owned and tried. Nothing on it as I love the look and tone, just does not feel good to me in my hands.

No hate here! More for the rest of us! Lol. I think they fall under the not for everyone category.

 

[DukeCC]

Try some of that. That should get you bonded just fine.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Mine first good bass was a 1965 Jazz Bass I bought in 1966. It was stolen in 1976 and although I tried out hundreds of various Jazz basses after that, if wasn't until I was working part-time at a very large music store in 1985 that I found my current Jazz.

I didn't even bother pulling it off the wall for 2 to 3 days after it was traded in because I had become so disappointed in Fender necks (Jazz and P-bass). They all felt like telephone poles to me after my '65. When I pulled this one off the wall and did the run above the 12th fret from the Beatles Revolution on it, I knew I had to buy it. It felt exactly the same as my '65. Had to wait a month while they tried to sell it at a retail price until the owner of the shop said "yeah, you can buy it." and gave me a really good deal on it. Early 76 to summer of 85...not quite 10-years of searching, but I found it.

So...just keep looking man. Don't be in a hurry, but don't hesitate to pick one up and give it a try. It'll speak to you when you find the right one.

 

[Conkal]

I can't stand the appearance of Fender basses. Sound is good and probably the best for some music genres. BUT They seem like the bass my grandpa would play if he played the bass , and not in a good way.

I think they milk a cow that is long dead

 

[Spidey2112]

I believe the Precision Bass Specials have a slimmer Jazz type neck on them, or at least the older ones I have owned seem to of.

This is good info... as long as they will still accept me in any official TB Precision club... .

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Ok...
I know that I'm about to get yelled at, laughed at...
But...
As a self professed "Spector Junkie", I own 4. NS2A, SSD-NSCR4-FM, Spectorcore-4, and... THIS!!! A Euro4-LX-IAN. Technically, the nicest of the 4...

It's been is storage, for quite some time. I literally... brought it home, just last night, believe it or not... to see how the knobs would look on my NS-2A, as they have been missing for years, before ordering some.

I plugged Her in for a bit. Plays great. Sounds better. Like new condition. Heck... I even sprung the extra 200 bucks, for a Spector case, when I bought Her.
Now... here's the deal... I think that I KNOW what it is... I'm just NOT A FAN of "signature" instruments. When one has too many guitars/basses, the little things can bother You, ALOT. Heck... I once sold an AMAZING P-Bass, because it was the most RED, of all REDs, that I had ever seen. UGH!!!

OK Guys, let the "bashing" begin.

Aaaaaaaaaannnnd, believe it or not... THIS!!! It's too much of a "HOT ROD", for Me, anymore...

 

[Siggy]

I've had 4 EBMM. 2 Stingrays and 2 Sterlings. Beautiful, super well built, very comfy to play but I just can't dig their sound. To me they sound very sterile. I want to love 'em but can't.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

Czech Spector, Epiphone Thunderbird and Beatle Basses. They all sounded great and were fine gear... they just didn't 'fit' me. Or maybe I just didn't invest the time necessary to get comfortable.
I'm all about comfort.

 

[gwangi]

Interesting thread, here's my situation I have a Zon Legacy Elite VI and a LTD B-206SM and a Spector Forte 6, the Zon I absolutely LOVE and also the LTD I LOVE but I'm not loving the Spector Forte 6, the bass is just not doing it for me and I'm not understanding why other than I'm not bonding with it so I have it up for sale.

 

[4SG]

Pretty much any bass where the strap button is on the heel of the neck. So many basses I love the look and sound of (Epiphone Casady, Guild Starfire, Gibson SG, Dano Longhorn) that just feel uncomfortable to me.

 

[singlemalt]

Tried to bond with a Zon Vinnie 4 string, but never did.

Sold it a year later for what I paid. My cost to try this excellent bass for a year amounted to shipping it to its new home. Maybe $75.

I tried new strings, amps, everything, just never bonded with it. And it sounded great, played great, light weight, killer preamp....checked every box on my list. I just never bonded with it.

Might have been the headless, very modern design, or the strange way it seemed to hang. I’ve never been tempted by another headless design.

I just kept playing my Fender J. Which had a number of flaws, but felt great. I bought a Dingwall Super PJ 4 and boxed up the Fender for sale the same afternoon. Instant bonding with the Dingwall and no attachment whatsoever for the Fender J.

Bonding is strange, often having nothing to do with what I thought I wanted.

 

[mattbass6945]

Pretty much any bass where the strap button is on the heel of the neck. So many basses I love the look and sound of (Epiphone Casady, Guild Starfire, Gibson SG, Dano Longhorn) that just feel uncomfortable to me.

Yeah, I had to move the strap pin on my thunderbird.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I'd have to say a Fender P. They have such an iconic look, and so many players love them, so I really want one, but I can't bond with one due to the P neck. I've thought of getting one and slapping a Jazz neck on it, but it's an expensive experiment.

 

[foolforthecity]

Exactly the opposite for me. Love Jazz basses, can’t bond with Precision. Even when my band loved it when I had one, ended up trading it. Probably the neck, because they sound great.

I bought a 71 precision back in 1980. I knew the neck felt better for me than most Ps I've tried over the years, but for the first time I recently measured the nut and it's about 1.63" as I recall. My other Ps have 1.75". Does anyone know if this narrower neck was standard at that time, or was QC non-existent then, or what?

 

[mattbass6945]

I'd have to say a Fender P. They have such an iconic look, and so many players love them, so I really want one, but I can't bond with one due to the P neck. I've thought of getting one and slapping a Jazz neck on it, but it's an expensive experiment.

I've thought about doing the same thing with a j body/p neck. Came to the same conclusion though.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

I've thought about doing the same thing with a j body/p neck. Came to the same conclusion though.

That's funny. We all have our preferences I suppose.

 

[4SG]

I'd have to say a Fender P. They have such an iconic look, and so many players love them, so I really want one, but I can't bond with one due to the P neck. I've thought of getting one and slapping a Jazz neck on it, but it's an expensive experiment.

I was exclusively a Precision player for years. I love the sound of Fender Jazz basses but couldn't get used to the narrow nut width. Finally, after trying a number of different models, I found a MIM Jazz with a chunky enough neck that felt comfortable to me. Strung it up with nylon tapewounds and I absolutely love it. Moral of the story: if you're talking about Fender shop around. The general dimensions are the same but there is so much variation you're bound to find something you like. And, you can always go with your plan A -- lots of folks out there happily playing Precisions with Jazz necks.

 

[Mr.Ace]

I think Jazz basses are gorgeous, but I just can't find one that feels right in my hands. It's usually the neck or pickups that just don't work for me. Other times I can't quite put my finger on it.

Just curious if others suffer from the same affliction. Are there any basses put there you love the look and sound of, but can't find the one?

Absolutely, I’ve tried with fender jazz basses. The last one I got was a brand new American deluxe jazz bass. I loved the look, and even the tone was amazing. Could not bond with it. Actually gave me wrist issues. I guess I’m just not a fender jazz guy. I prefer a wide flat fingerboard, lakland, Fodera

 

[Saint]

1979 MusicMan Sabre - Greatest neck I've ever played. Weight didn't bother me and I liked the look. But at the end of the day, every time I played it, I felt like I had never picked a bass before. For the life of me, I just couldn't make that bass sound good no matter how hard I tried and how much I wanted to love it.

It still makes me sad.

 

[lfmn16]

Alembic basses. I've owned three over the years. Unquestionable quality, I just don't like them.

It's not them, it's me.