• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Deal breakers/deal makers

#21
Nope list:
White, yellow, green, orange, pink basses.
Transparent finish with poor matching wood.
Under 8lbs, over 10.
Charging 80% of new retail price.
Poor balance when sitting OR standing.
$1000 Mexican Fenders.
Also, when a buyer lists out the MSRP of every "upgrade" (especially cloth wiring or a vintage tone cap) just to justify their crazy asking price.
 
#22
Deal breaker: narrow string spacing. More and more I'm only comfortable playing basses with 19mm spacing at the bridge and a nut width of 1.8" or more on 5-strings. I have a couple of basses with 18mm spacing, and I'll make it work when I'm on those but it just doesn't feel right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fuzzbass
#23
Single coil pickups.
I hate 60-cycle hum. And I'll change them if everything is awesome otherwise and it's worth doing...

But I also wouldn't change something where that would drastically screw up the value. I know who I am and basses are always at risk for sale near me.
So in other words, you could hand me a 62 Jazz bass and tell me it's the best thing ever... and I'll hand it back to you because I'd never want to own it, aside from it being an investment that (mysteriously to me) keeps climbing exponentially in value.

That also leads me to "a bass that is too clean." (possibly any new bass)
Once upon a time, I considered ordering a brand new custom Status. But I stopped because I knew that if a pristine, super new bass like that showed up at my door, it would be in a case forever. The anxiety of scratching it or denting it would drive me mad!
So I like a little bit of "character" when I buy instruments. Eases my mind a lot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: birminghambass
#24
Deal breakers:
1. Natural/Coffee Table basses--I just don't dig the look and won't even pick one up. If it's priced low enough that I can get a professional refinish and still have a reasonable all in price, I MIGHT consider it
2. Active basses without a battery compartment

Deal Makers (or things I'll modify to add if possible):
1. Satin finish necks
2. Active/passive switches
3. Pickup selector or blend knobs
4. A good looking bass with a price to match (I'll figure out how to make it playable even if it's a dog. I like a challenge/project).
 
#27
ToddB1963 said:
I buy mostly used.

No OHSC?

No sale.
Click to expand...
I'm not the only one who had to look that up. What does OHSC stand for ?

For me... there can be lots of reasons to pass on a bass, but I recently discovered in person (and unexpectedly) a Schecter Elite Omen 5 st, that has the right neck width (including finish on the back) the right Sound (which can only be fixed to a certain extent) but when it's right it's right (complex mids solid low end balanced with highs) has a smallish body that stays out of the way, and not too heavy. I was surprised because I'm a Schecter fan but never looked at that one, it isn't near their most expensive, below 700. At a rehearsal last weekend it sounded great, leapfrog right into #1 bass.
 
#28
Breakers for me:

If it is in any way uncomfortable to play.
Any faux "relic" treatment.
Oval pickups. Oval bridges.
Lame headstocks.
If it's adorned with the "Cort" logo. I might still consider the bass, but only with the caveat that I would be removing or covering that horrible “1970s calligraphy meets soft‑rock album cover” font. Pretty much ditto for anything sporting any Peavey logos - again, it's just the aesthetics of the logos. Yeah, I'm shallow that way, so sue me.
Although I'm a a pretty "Garanimals" kinda guy and a woodworker and bass builder, I don't like wooden pickup covers, matching or not. Along those same lines - too many different exotic wood species on the same bass - come on, it's not a cutting board! :laugh:
For that matter, any bass on which the aesthetics are overemphasized at all - that tries to be a piece of fine art above all else.
Single cutaways.
Headless.
Fanned frets.
ANY builders copy of a Fender bass for which they're asking more than $3,500.
It's a Gibson.
 
#29
zontar said:
Thought it might be interesting to see what things about a bass are deal breakers, and deal makers when you are on the hunt for another bass.
Or maybe you have none.
Obviously price can be a factor, even for the ridiculously wealthy.

The biggest deal breaker for me is not liking the neck.
It doesn’t matter how great everything else is, if I don’t like the neck, I won’t like the guitar.
Fortunately I like most necks, and V necks are more a guitar thing than a bass thing, but one that is an automatic dealbreaker is a V neck of any sort.
I get why some love them, and that’s cool, so this isn’t about their existence, but they don’t work for how I play.

Deal makers?
Something I don’t have with a good neck that’s in decent condition and within my budget, I guess.
No definitive ones for me,
Click to expand...
For me the bass has to feel great, including right and left hand playability, weight and how it sits against my body. Some of this has to do with the set-up/action, but assuming that's perfect, a bass can still feel poopy. If it feels great, then I move on to sound.. it then has to to sound great. I once bought a Fender Jazz Ultra V and it sounded great, but it felt awful to me. The neck felt like a baseball bat. I sold it. Also once bought an MTD Super V and it FELT great, but it sounded terrible (I later came to find out that the particular bass in question had been passed around quite a bit for the same reason... ). I opted to not fuss with changing out pickups and preamp, etc, because I wasnt sure if it was the particular wood, neck, combination, etc. sold that one too, but because it felt so great I am going to try another MTD at some point in the future.
 
#30
I gotta have 24 frets (even though I rarely, if ever, use them all), a headstock (cannot STAND the look of headless bass guitars, and I'm of the opinion that the more equal the mass at the ends of the strings, within practical limits, the better the sustain), neck-through if possible (the sustain thing again), minimal usage of glue (I know laminated necks are more stable, but glues tend to be elastomeric, and will absorb vibrations, reducing sustain), and ONE volume knob (with a balance knob; whoever thought that fiddling with 2 separate volume knobs while playing live was a good idea?).

Not a fan of string trees, C-shaped necks, and anything that has the word "Fender" on it.
 
#35
Two non-negotiable things I can't tolerate:

1) A huge tummy cut. This has kept me away from basses like MTD's and Peavey Milleniums.
Maybe Mike's crew would make me a custom MTD w/ little or no cut.

2) A painted neck shaft. I have to be able to see the quality of the wood used in the neck. It's the most important piece of wood on the bass.
 
#37
Cigarette smell. Doesn't happen today as much as it did back in the 80's, but it's a total deal breaker.

From a personal taste perspective -

*No pickguards
*No painted necks
*Battery must have quick-access
*"But it has 1 ding, weirdly right where the serial number is" - a guy actually said that to me recently, so the list grew.
*Seller trying way to hard. The bass speaks to me or it doesn't. Your incorrect understanding of physics as related to guitar building or stories about how Famous Guy swears this kind of bass is the only worth having aren't helping your sale.
 
#38
Misaligned strings (E or G string too far over to one side).

This can usually be fixed by loosening the neck screws and tugging it in position, but I've had a guitar that needed a credit card sized shim in the side of the neck pocket to correct the alignment, and also a guitar with a very tight pocket that was impossible to shift without surgery (luckily the bridge was adjustable).

In 90% of cases, it's easily fixable (for bolt-ons), so why hasn't the shop fixed it? Tells me all I need to know about their 'setup' procedure and attention to detail.
 
#40
My dealbreakers, in no particular order:
  • Too heavy
  • Too light
  • String count not equal to 5
  • Narrow string spacing (less than 19mm at the bridge)
  • Overly-slim neck profile
  • Neck dive (upper horn reaching the 12th fret usually prevents this)
  • Natural finish. I need some kind of bold color. Except for transparent orange/brown/amber
 
  • Like
Reactions: zontar

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back