Biggest surprise, Bass-wise

[4001]

Squire Classic Vibe Jazz Bass.

So good, I just bought one.

I'm swapping out the p/u's for either the same ones as in my Geddy Lee Jazz Bass or some SJB-1's, removing the tone pot and having the bass wired for true stereo (Rickenbacker style) just like my Geddy Lee Jazz Bass. And I'm going to replace the pickguard with a mint green one.
The bass for the price, is a steal.
The simple mods will make it a monster.

 

[Black Bart]

I recently acquired a 2011 American Fender Deluxe Jazz and was surprised that it didn't come with any shielding. It was noisy as hell even with the so-called N3 "Noiseless" pickups until I dug in and shielded/grounded everything. I know it's a production model, but still, shouldn't the deluxe at least have some conductive paint sprayed in it?

 

[tabdog]

My biggest surprise was a Japanese made
Westone Electra PJ bass I bought new in
1985.

I had been looking at American Fenders.

The Electra just put them all to shame.

I still can not find a J or a PJ that sounds
good to me, unless it cost a mim of $1,500.

The next was the fact that a good Affinity
can be made to sound awesome if it has a
good neck.

The last real stunner was the Squier maple
body VM P bass with ROTO flat wound 77's
on it. WOW!

Tabdog

 

[Lowbrow]

Road Worn P.

Finish = total turnoff; build quality, playability, sound = total keeper

 

[nocontrols]

I bought this on closeout. I was shocked at what a great instrument it is. In fact, even now - months later, I'm still amazed at how nice it is.

Damn! This makes me want one! I can't imagine not liking this bass but I never got around to actually snagging one. I'm more into MIA Peaveys than BXP but this does indeed look like a winner.

Peavey Foundation made in USA. Paid 80 bucks for it at a local music store, went home, took off the obligatory sitkcers and it sings AND it's the model without the super ferrites.

It was G.A.S., or fever if you will. Those Super Ferrites were such a mystery, I'd never played them. And, there it was...

A 1989 Dyna-Bass in the TB Classifieds, and I pulled the trigger. There was a temptation from multiple features-USA craftsmanship, active/passive switch, and those super ferrites! Any disappointment after adopting this TB bass that had popped up on the forums from multiple sellers?
No, it was working it's way toward the right owner/ Stacatto!

i played a well-used peavey dyna bass today and it completely surprised me...that thing was awesome! i think i was playing it in passive mode, because the preamp didn't seem to be working (dead batts probably) but it really sounded great. like a jazz bass but thicker and smoother. neck pickup had a sweet p bass tone, and the bridge pickup was LOUD and clear...effortless jaco-esque noodling. for $299 i really should have bought it. but i have nice basses already and i was imagining some kid coming in and stumbling upon an amazing first bass haha. so i left it there.

People are always shocked by how AMAZING USA Peaveys are, relative to their going price on the used market and I'm not exception...

Meet my Fender-killer, purchased from a pawn shop for all of $110:

Another surprise I'd love to mention: The Epiphone EB-0

Why was this a surprise? Because, given all the negative garbage people have said about it online, I just naturally assumed that it would come right off the shelf smelling like a toxic waste dump, with a neck made out of single-ply cardboard, a pickup that sounded like someone farting into a kazoo and a photo of Gary Busey painted into the finish.

I was AMAZED to find out that it is actually a competently built, good-sounding, good-playing instrument that, while not up to Gibson quality necessarily, was a good value for the money.

Crazy, right?!?

 

[zachreh]

Mine was how big my traben array obsession 5 sounded compared to any fender and stingray

 

[pudgychef]

I purchased one Classic Vibe Squier just as an everyday player, and now have all of the models, including two of the 60s P-Basses!!

The EBMM Bongo..........Every time I play one of mine, it just amazes me!! I keep wondering where all that wonderful sound is coming from??

I am also all of this ^^^^

Love the CVs and the new MF sig....

Always liked Stingrays in particular the neck - thought Bongos were unique looking in a 'not offensive but not for me' kinda way - played one - now it looks like a super comfy, versatile bass that I own....

 

[Muddslide]

Biggest nice surprise was a Jay Turser JTB-401, which is their (not-so-close) clone of the pre-'57 P bass.

I ordered one because I found it very cheap back a few years ago and I planned on just doing a few mods to it and keeping it around as a bass to hang out in the living room and bedroomn to pick up and play whenever and not have to worry about.

Wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be really beautiful looking (natural with nice grain) and had a neck I really liked. Came set up well, good fret finish, didn't really need anything. Some of the hardware was on the cheap side, but fully functional. Biggest shocker was the stock pickup. Sounded amazing!

Sadly I sold it but I wish I had another.

 

[Spectrum]

Ah yes, Westone makes hearing aids and IEM's correct?

Oh yes, it certainly "aids my hearing", and makes my ears very happy indeed. All hail the 1980s:

 

[Boombass76]

Having tried out many basses over the last years, I have found that the surprise/disappointment always kicks in on the stage. (I used to play just one bass (Celinder J-Update 5) for 10 years, so I never thought about it before I started testing the vast bass waters).

So, biggest (positive) surprise (by far) was bringing a 70's P bass on a gig. WOW! Until then, I had not cared for the sound of P-basses one bit, but standing in the middle of the mix with such a fat - yet solid - sound was truly an eye-opener!

The same happened to a lesser degree the first time I used a Stingray 5 live.

The biggest disappointments. Well, TBH, there are many. I have had so many (expensive) basses that sounded great when I played them at home, but once they sat in a live mix, they turned out to sound bland and/or undefined. Dare I say their names...? I don't want to start a flame war, but here goes, and in any case, it's just IMHO: Sadowsky Tokyo 5, Sadowsky NYC 5 (but I also had a Metro PJ4 that sounded great!), Alleva Coppolo LM5 Deluxe, MTD 635-24, Ken Smith BSR5M, Atelier Z JS-560...

Oh, and just one more surprise. I recently bought my first Fodera (Emperor 5 w/ Duncan single-coils and Pope pre), and when I first picked it up, I was quite disappointed. Great sound, but given my previous experiences, I was pretty confident that the sound was too polite and 'nice' to be able to cut through a dense band mix and maintain definition and clarity. Anyway, I decided to give it a go before passing it on. I was sure that it would be necessary to push the mids quite a lot to cut through, but guess what... It sounded great in the mix - and I mean really great - with the preamp (and amp - TC RH570) all flat! I could even boost the bass on the preamp a bit and still the sound was focused and tight - yet very fat! I can not explain this, but I am beginning to think that this is exactly why they are so stupidly expensive (and why some of my favorite bass players use them - Bona, Jackson, Wooten, etc.)

 

[Beatle-man16]

My biggest suprise was buying and liking the Fleabass Street got it for £200 as I wanted a cheap funky bass even though I find Flea average then looked at the hate for it on this forum and wow. My very low and dissapointed anticipation was pounded It's a very nice bass possibly the best in the price range other than Vintage Modified jazz.

My recently new Bass Collection Jive bass I just got, very obscure bass with minimal coverage or usage other than one magazine review giving it a good review. So I took the risk and again a very good bass.

A negative shocker was playing a Hofner Icon at the store, maybe it was used alot or something but it felt really rough and the neck just felt... unfinished. Also it felt too light. I'm glad I didn't buy this as my first bass though which I contemplated on doing ages ago. Wouldn't mind a Contemporary though still later in life.

 

[scubaduba]

My biggest surprise was the sound I heard from a used Spector Euro 5 at Guitar Center. I had never played a Spector and instantly fell in love with the sound. I never even thought much about Spector before. Thought they were kind of ugly actually. Just such a unique sound.

Needless to say I bought it a week later.

 

[Snakepit72]

My biggest surprise was when I found out I like P basses more than Jazz basses.

+1, for a while when I was first starting to get into bass playing, I had the idea in my head that "oh, everyone has P basses, they're just not as good as Jazz and they don't look as cool". A few years later, I'm scoffing at how wrong I was ! As soon as I unload my Geddy (nope, still not gone, for those who have been following it) I will be a P-man 100%. As I haven't owned many basses, I don't have any surprises in the form of particular basses, but my switch from Jazz-land to being a huge P fan was quite surprising.

 

[Wannaflea]

Biggest suprise was probably how amazing my Fleabass Street Bass was, after reading all the hate on TB. Great bass, very cheap and I have gigged it, yo very good results.

Recently played an Ibanez SR270M and was blown away by it. Brilliant modern bass sound, plenty of punch and a ultra-fast neck. Not to mention the flawless brown burst finish. Hoping to pick it up and take it home back to the UK with me! For $399 i was happily surprised.

Negative surprises were fro the Squier VM V and the Geddy jazz. Maybe I had duds, but tried both and hated them, and I'm a jazz bass lover!

 

[GeezerDeacon69]

For me it was an SX ash jazz bass. Got it last year; I was broke and had sold all of my good gear, and just wanted something to play.

I had some Fender pickups all ready to install, and when I got the SX, I was blown away by the sound of the stock pickups; never did put the Fenders in.

Sold the SX a few days ago to afford my wife's medicine, and man, I'm surprised at how much I miss that thing.

 

[georgiagoodie]

Biggest Surprise (Bad) - '70s Ric 4001.
Biggest Surprise (Good) - Recent Squier CV 50s P

 

[chadhargis]

Biggest surprise was the pawn shop MIJ P bass I picked up. It was dirty, had old strings on it, and the saddles were slammed to the bridge causing it to buzz like crazy.

I took it apart. Cleaned it. Checked all the solder joints. Put it back together and put on fresh strings. Then gave it a proper setup up. Plays like a new bass. Great action and tone. A few scratches, but on a bass that's about 25 years old, it's in great shape. I practically stole it from the pawn show.

 

[bassguitarthund]

Same here. Squier used to equal crap.
They have really upped their quality in recent years with the VM & CV series.

I agree. My first bass was from the early or mid 90's Squier. I hated that bass. The new ones though are really nice! Was thinking of a fretless jazz. Cheaper (price) bass to try fretless but still good quality!!

Love my Geddy Lee Jazz, not sure if that was exactly a surprise though

 

[Hifiguy]

The Jazz in my sigline. A buddy picked it up for about $300 somewhere. When I played it for the first time it wasn't 30 seconds before I said "OK, how much?" I'd owned five other Jazzes over the years (a '72, 2 '73s, a '91 Vintage Series and a mid-80s FoJ that I converted to fretless) and that '91 FoJ "'60s Jazz" put them all on the truck in terms of feel, playability and quality. Since it will never be collectible, I recently pimped it out to be my version of the ultimate player's Jazz and I will probably keep it forever.

 

[SantiagoGT15]

Total surprise=

My first bass an Ibanez gsr206...sounded bad. defretted it and it turns magically into this super sweet sounding amazing bass ! who knew?

Weird Surprise=

Buy my 2nd(?) bass, a Ray34, I look at it , looks amazing...plug it in wow! I was blown away by the tone, even compared it a/b to the USA made models, it was just sounding the same to me!
took it home, took it to a gig and SURPRISE! It weights a ton! 14lbs! it is a Joy to play tone-wise...it sucks weight-wise


guess some you win some you loose some