Buyers remourse. Tone situation

I've gone through heavy buyers remorse with one bass, and I think it is happening again.

I really regret buying my Washburn T24 (as you probably know Peaveyuser, I never shutup about it ) I loved the tone and playability at first, but after less than a year I started to hate it. I now hate the bass so much that it sits in my closet and doesn't get played. It doesn't even have strings on it.

Now I think I am going through buyers remorse (AGAIN) with my Stingray. When I played it in the store there wasn't so much high end zing and it wasn't so heavy in the mids. I guess I was hearing the Roland Cube which I demo'd it through and not the bass itself. I love the playability though, but I'm not sure the tone is for me, and it's really hard to EQ that "Stingray sound" out of a Stingray. I just can't get it to sound like Stingrays do on albums I listen too. Pretty frustrated at the moment.

I feel your pain.

 

I get buyers remorse on everything that I buy. I'll just leave it alone for a bit and come back to it later, then I remember why I got it in the first place. I had this happen with two basses today. I was going to sell them so I had money, but now I don't want to. Also, the remorse is the first step toward GAS, be careful and read my sig.

lowsound

 

switch to flatwounds fellas, will bring the warmth back in and take the zing out of the picture.

 

+1

I think that I've mentioned this before ROON, but I have been down that exact same road with my 3 band 'Ray . It sounds good "solo", but in the band it just used to get lost and I couldn't even hear which notes I was playing (just all of the rattle and clanky overtones, that help make up the signature SR sound).

In the end, I found the definitive answer to the problem in the form of a 1977 pre-EB (2 band EQ, long pickup magnets) model. That bass has so much more warmth, both acoustically and through the pre-amp. Also, the bassists whose sound(s) I was really looking for when I sought out the EBMM StingRay were all using pre-EB 'Rays (Louis Johnson of "Brothers Johnson", Paul S. Denman of "Sade", Jamie Stewart of "The Cult") and all had very different, but very appealing tones. I could only ever get my EBMMR to sound like the more "thin and clicky" sound of, say, Simon Gallup of "The Cure" .

So, in answer to peaveyuser's OP, yes I have experienced major tone-based buyers remorse with a bass that was supposed to be "the perfect bass" for me .

"Warmth" is a really essential factor for me in any bass purchase now. Sometimes, it's something that can be dialled in to a certain extent, with the right EQ, but usually (IME) it's something which needs to be present in the wood itself, otherwise you're onto a loser from the start . Faltwounds will "dumb things down" to a certain extent, sure, but IMO they just suck all of the life out of an instrument . (Yes, I'm one of those people who would have preferred to have heard James Jamerson playing his "Funk Machine" with roundwounds on )

My advice!? Sell the BTB and never look back !

 

what's a "BTB 450"? Maybe I can help if I know and you also let me know what your rig is.

 

PS- one of the warmest strings on the market, aside from flats, are DR Sunbeam Nickels. They're much warmer than Elixir or Low Riders.

 

Remorsers, play some more gigs, see if anything changes for you at all

 

Yamaha BB614 Re-issue, got one a few months back loved it for like a week and then realised that I should have just got a P-Bass... lesson learnt

 

I'm relieved to hear I'm not the only one who found that Stingray's aren't ideal for every player.

I bought mine pretty much on impulse almost three years ago, and although it's a great playing instrument and the quality of build is fantastic, I'm not so enthusiastic about the tone. It isn't BAD. Hey, I must have liked it in the shop, right? But in my actual playing situation it didn't work out for me. Just too much clickety clack unless you roll all the top end off completely, and on stage I find that whatever I do the G string gets "lost in the mix" really noticeably. I doubt if all Stingrays are the same otherwise they wouldn't have so many fans, but I'm not the only one to have noticed it.

The bass has hardly been gigged. To those that have one they love I'd say good for you, glad you like it - but this one really isn't for me, as much as I like it in other ways. I'll probably end up selling it.

 

Related: buyer's remorse on an acoustic guitar. Sounded great in the showroom, but weak when I got it home and compared with my others. Silver lining -- it drove me to learn more about how my instruments are built, and experiment with tweaking and modding them.

 

here ya go hasbeen,
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-BTB450QM-Electric-4String-Bass?sku=515088

 

+1. And if you play some slap and want an active bass with rounds for that, get another axe used.

 

And so begins (or continues) GAS - maybe it's your speakers that you have to change to make this bass sound nice. Maybe it's the head. Maybe you need a Sansamp. It's like buying a piece of furniture, the next thing you know you are adding an addition onto your house.

 

I have a rule that I follow. Never try a bass in a store. I pick it up, don't really bother plugging it in, just get the feel for it, then try when I get home to my rig. Even better if I can play it with my band. If the store doesn't have a return policy that lets you do this, don't buy the bass. I also buy a lot of things used on here etc for prices I know if I don't like them I can sell em for at least what I paid.

 

It's the combination of all these things that make up your tone, plus of course your fingers and technique. Wood, strings, pickups, electronics (pots and caps), cables, head, speaker cables, speakers, and effects. Change any one of those and all can go to h311 in a handbasket, or suddenly become a glimpse of heaven.

 

I actually like the slap tone of TI flats on a P with tone pot rolled approx. 75% to max.

it's a throaty and precussive slap tone and the pops have lots of meat unlike a Jazz bass or active basses that sound more musical than precussive. I personally prefer it to the hi-fi "smiley face" sound that sits so-so in the mix (stands out too much and leaves a hole in the low end).

but then again I'm in a phase where the P-Bass is my holy grail, I really dont play any of my other basses as much as my Ps and only GAS for me is to get more of the same thing.

 

That was my experience with the Stingray too. I wanted one for years, and finally got one. I have yet to play a bass that felt nicer in my hands, at any price. I just couldn't get a good tone out of the thing. very disappointing