Best gear I purchased in 2022

[JDLowEnd]

Dingwall combustion 5
Fender super bassman head and cabs
Hx stomp

stomp and bassman replaced my pedalboard and all my pedals. Spent years trying to make my gear sound like a tube amp, so it was null after I got the tube amp.

 

[landrybass]

Bought a crappe tonne of pedals, delay bender. And a drum machine.
And sorry to blaspheme but this is the coolest. Fender Spark-O-Matic semi hollow Jazzmaster with 3 mini humbuckers. Baller.
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That's an awesome jm

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

There was this

Then there was this

And like I needed another high dollar bass

 

[RGerhart]

I got quite a bit of stuff in 2022, I like all this stuff:

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OMG, that is probably the nicest scores of 2022! LOL

That Pedulla, and especially the Sadowsky power amp--DAMN!

 

[jnewmark]

Fender Custom Shop 1960 Jazz. It came with the individual string mutes, but I did not install them. Excellent bass.

 

[mellowgerman]

JTEX Distiller resonant filter preamps. I'm a repeat customer here, so no surprise, but they have become essential to all of my favorite sounds that I get out of my '70 Guild Starfire and '62 Gibson EB. Each bass has two of these sets on board but the Starfire got it's set this year (after trying a few other flavors of filter preamps over the years).

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[perfektspace6]

I had a 25 year old Spector Pleked. It was worth every penny.

 

[mjmeche]

Went to all short scales

 

[lark_z]

 

[SLO Surfer]

Vox head phone amp. All I really need to practice at home. It has a built-in drum machine with a few patterns, an aux input so you can play along with input from whatever and, enough power to drive most headphones. And, CHEAP like $50. I'm sure this has been posted before but, I just had to bring it up again.

I didn't buy much of anything all year (that I actually received). In March I ordered a Moollon Classic J-V bass, which has a 2-3 year wait time. I didn't actually spend any money on that order yet, so it doesn't count as a 2022 purchase (to me or the tax man). Near the end of 2022 I realized I made much more gig money than the past few years and needed to make some write off purchases. So in December I bought a bunch of stuff, which included strings, uniforms, cables, a Squier Contemporary Jazz bass for half price that I plan to order new electronics for. I also ordered and paid for a new Noble preamp/DI. I won't actually receive it until September of 2023, but I'm counting that as my best purchase of 2022.

 

[Tim Grant]

A big bass and a small cab....

 

[Eric Huber]

I was limited to a Fender Boxer reissue and my Ampeq little stud. Always wanted another one after high school. I found one in absolute mint condition, so happy with it. Of course, high school was 43 years ago !!!

 

[musicman556]

I bought 1 bass and completed two project basses last year. I got the MTD Kingston Super 5 from a great seller on Reverb. He accepted my slightly lower offer, included a nice new gig bag (these don't come with a gig bag) and shipped super quick. Bass came to me in essentially brand new condition, and it is excellent!

The P on the left is a MIM Player series. I did the PG swap, added a Hipshot Xtended range tuner and Kickass bridge, installed the Relentless Middle pickup and put in Dimarzio pots. I also bought the Relentless Middle pickup at the same time, but no way am I hacking up a bass body to add a new pickup! I took that to my man Jeff Marple at Corner Music in Nashville, and he did a BEAUTIFUL job. The body routing and pickguard cutting to add the pickup look like it was that way from the factory. Simply fantastic! I got the bass back in April, I think, and it is just a beast. I love running both pickups on full. Very well matched, and they sound GREAT together. I'm not running two outputs/rigs like Billy does, however. You can definitely hear the Sheehan DNA in these pickups anyways, though.

The J on the right was a build I had in my head for over a year. That's a Fender roasted maple P neck that you can buy anywhere, and I got the body from Perle Guitars on Reverb. Pat Sims at Sims Custom Shop did the crazy Miami Vice paint job for me. I had Brian Barrett at The Low End build assemble and set up the bass using a Dimarzio Split-Rail P pickup, Hipshot Kickass bridge and USA UltraLite Tuners as well as another Xtended range tuner. This is the beefiest, meanest sounding bass I've ever played. The E string on this thing is like nothing I've ever played before. Flip to drop D and it is simply otherworldly!

2023 is off to a great start already.

This is out for delivery to me as we speak:

while at the same time, an Amazon truck is on its way to my house with this:

Which will be eventually attached to this, which Warmoth should make and ship to me hopefully some time in late April:

and it will contain these:

Best wishes for a Happy New Gear to all of you in 2023!

 

[timmus]

I've bought quite a bit of "Bass Stuff" this year after retirement. Playing these new Sires are by far the most fun I've had playing bass in a long time...

Top pic Sire V7 Gen2 w/Swamp Ash body and Maple fretboard, 4 string fretted
Center pic Sire V7 Gen2 w/Alder body and Rosewood fingerboard, 4 string fretless
Bottom pic Sire V3 Gen 2 w/ Alder body and Rosewood fretboard, 5 string fretted

 

[J-Mags]

I didn't get much new bass gear this year. I didn't even change any strings! I did get a MarkBass Black line LM 250 head, however.

I've been very satisfied with it at rehearsals and gigs. The volume may be a little marginal for some shows, but it's pretty darn loud and it has a lot of gravity. I like having such a plug & play amp. I've got a Revsound 2x10 cabinet on the way, but that's a 2023 purchase.

 

[Pilgrim]

This little 20W Roland Bass Cube has been extremely handy. It actually sounds like a larger bass amp, and for $200 it was a great addition to my tool set.

Built in tuner, compression, reverb, and five different amp emulations. Very versatile for practice or "coffee shop" size gigs.

BTW, Roland sells an identical guitar amp which is a CUBE-20X. (Newer versions of that amp may even have the suffix XL.) The CUBE-20XL BASS is the bass amp, and many sellers don't know the difference. Make sure what you're getting if you buy one. The bass version has a label on the bottom right of the front grille which says Bass. (See photo below for example.)

 

[squeally dan]

Tough call for me, I went kinda hard this year....

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How do you like that Player Series P?

 

[Stubb]

Arkham Oracle Preamp
Honorable mention: Mesa TT800

We had similar purchases last year, except mine was a WD800.

My best purchases are all here, key components for my ampless band:

MJT/Fender P-Bass
TI Flats
Fifth Gear overdrive
Arkham Oracle

Not a purchase, but probably my favorite piece of gear of 2022, was the Meatball clone my wife built, the MERBL.

 

[basscooker]

How do you like that Player Series P?

I switched from an Ibby Soundgear, so it isn't an issue; my left hand technique has always accommodated this, but the G string is a bit close to the neck edge. No other gripes, very responsive tone control, plays great, sounds great. Came properly set up as far as I'm concerned. I've played it almost every day since, like June I think.

 

[ElCrowg]

The JMJ was a great purchase for me in 2022. It's a daily driver, sounds good in just about any mix with minimal fuss, is easy to transport to rehearsals/gigs, and got some love from a producer I recorded with last year, and - perhaps best of all- the small size made it less intimidating to my kids so they picked it up a lot and jammed out!