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Dissapointing High-End Basses

#81
Any Warwick sig model ever. And that's about 23565653452 of them now. Oh wait I think they just released 6 more since I started typing this response, including a Fieldy Streamer and Wentz Vampyre.
 
#82
unclejane said:
Have to agree. Though you can kind of decode what's going on by looking at the reasons they made the choice to begin with. I.e.
- this bad boy sounds awsome
- this neck is ridiculous, fast and awsome
- plays like butta

vs.

- balances on the strap in the way I need it to
- has X pickup type which I need for application Y
- available with features P and Q
- fits in my budget W.

... you get the idea. It's not terribly difficult to figure out which is an informed set of requirements for the job and which is not.

It's also true that a truly informed set of requirements _can_ lead to a high-end bass. I.e. the neutral-sounding tone that Jimmy referred to; that may be obtainable only by a particular instrument that happens to cost 5 or 6 large.
If I needed a good acoustic-ish sounding electric, for example, I could probably justify a Rob Allen (having played one a couple months ago in NYC). I'd likely try the Carvin first, but it's definitely not inconcievable that a RA would scratch the itch for that particular job.

So it's almost a nonsense question to ask: "whats the worst bass you've ever played" or "name the high end bass you hated the most". I can make broad generalizations about some cases where you're really dealing with something substandard, but with most of the stuff on the market today you're pretty safe with mundane requirements like does it fit me ergonomically? Is the tone suitable for what I need? Are the pickups in the right place? And so on.

LS
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Obviously a bit oversimplified, but the desired sound and feel are the core of the quest. How to find it is part of the journey, but communicating this with the builder and doing one's homework should be an important part of the equation. Once you know the sound and feel, as well as how to get them, I consider finding basses I like to be a bit of a cake walk. Although, it would be nice if what I wanted was $11 like an SX. :hmm:

If we were to look at the RA bass, one can ask on TB about the general specs and hear a good assortment of sound clips. You may also find less expensive alternatives that have a similar sound, like Carvin and Godin, although the RA has much better ergonomics and low B.

However, expect the RA to sound like a Fender, Pedulla, Zon, Roscoe, etc. and one would be nothing but a let down. When you go in expecting it to sound like a RA, you'll be happy with the bass.

On a semi-related note, I heard a Cliff Bordwell with Nordy DCs and an Audere. TSlice was cool enough to send a bunch of sound clips and I liked how it sounded. Built a 6er to my usual specs with the same pickups and Audere pre and I basically got a bass that sounded as I had expected with the expected feel.
 
#83
I bought a MM Bongo HH at Guitar Center on sale for 60% off or something crazy like that,I put 3 different sets of strings on it and forever fiddled with the tone controls to only get a acceptable tone IMOP it also had some really bad dead spots up and down the neck so back it went.
I kept trying to convince myself that this is a great bass but I kept picking up my cheap a$$ Ibanez with a Aguilar OBP-3 and it was perfect in every way (for me).
I was at a open mic and played a really nice looking Carvin bass that had such bad dead spots on the neck that it sounded like the amp was cutting out.
 
#84
FuzzBoxVoodoo said:
I bought a MM Bongo HH at Guitar Center on sale for 60% off or something crazy like that,I put 3 different sets of strings on it and forever fiddled with the tone controls to only get a acceptable tone IMOP it also had some really bad dead spots up and down the neck so back it went.
I kept trying to convince myself that this is a great bass but I kept picking up my cheap a$$ Ibanez with a Aguilar OBP-3 and it was perfect in every way (for me).
I was at a open mic and played a really nice looking Carvin bass that had such bad dead spots on the neck that it sounded like the amp was cutting out.
Click to expand...
Is that the Bongo in your avatar, or did you eventually find a better one?
 
#85
unclejane said:
So it's almost a nonsense question to ask: "whats the worst bass you've ever played" or "name the high end bass you hated the most". I can make broad generalizations about some cases where you're really dealing with something substandard, but with most of the stuff on the market today you're pretty safe with mundane requirements like does it fit me ergonomically? Is the tone suitable for what I need? Are the pickups in the right place? And so on.

LS
Click to expand...

I don't agree because there were more than a few $2000+ (new) basses that I owned that didn't meet the "mundane" requirements and so I thought a thread like this can potentially help save others money and time or at least, make a more informed decision. I also realize that even the great bass makers put out a dog once in a while, but threads like these can give some idea of which makers are putting out more 2000+ dogs than others.

I had a top-of-the-line cherry burst F-Bass BN5 with a spalted AND flamed maple top, which was expensive to say the least, but the woods in the 3 piece neck were slightly popping out and uneven on the backside, which I could feel with my thumb everytime I played it. I've heard other F-Bass owners with this same issue. Then I thought to myself, "Should I send it back to Canada and wait potentially a few months or sand it myself and refinish it?" Also, the finish on the body was super soft and sticky and would leave a mark if you just pressed your fingernails into it with moderate pressure. I then emailed George asking what kind of finish it was and he said that it was a special resin finish and it totally made sense because it felt like semi-hardened tree sap.

I had a $3000+ Fodera NYC PJ (singlecoil J) with a Pope pre and that singlecoil was the noisiest single I've ever come across by at least double. I thought it was just noisy at home, but it was so bad at church that the sound guys had to stop rehearsal to find the source of the problem and sure enough, it was my bass. As opposed to my Sadowsky single coil Js that make virtually no noise, even when soloed; I don't know how they do it.

I also had a Warrior neckthrough 5 that was about 13+ lbs, which I also consider not meeting the "mundane" requirements. 12lbs and under, maybe, but there's no reason for 13+ lbs for a 5er. That's just careless wood selection, IMO.
 
#89
No that was it,thought I would get a picture of the only bass I have owned worth over $500.:p
I was in the same GC 6 months later and I found out that they had sold it 3 times and it had been returned all 3 times so they sent it back to MM no wonder I got it for so cheap,I still didn't care for the tone but thats just me.
jim777 said:
Is that the Bongo in your avatar, or did you eventually find a better one?
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#91
WoodyG3 said:
Just my opinion, here, but I'd rather hear from people who actually owned the basses and spent a good amount of time with them. :)
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This. It's hard to judge tone and setup - they are preferential and easily changed.

My contribution is the Marleaux Consat Sopran
Invalid Link Removed

The scale is shorter than an average guitar, and it's tuned an octave higher than the bass. I didn't feel that the wide string spacing and short scale worked well together and it felt very unnatural to play.
 
#94
spade2you said:
Care to enlighten us with some Cliff Notes?
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A maximizer is like a perfectionist, someone who needs to be assured that their every purchase or decision was the best that could be made. The way a maximizer knows for certain is to consider all the alternatives they can imagine. This creates a psychologically daunting task, which can become even more daunting as the number of options increases. The alternative to maximizing is to be a satisficer. A satisficer has criteria and standards, but a satisficer is not worried about the possibility that there might be something better.
Click to expand...

Basically - “satisficing” is choosing an alternative that is “good enough,” rather than “maximizing,” selecting the option with the
highest expected utility.
 
#95
I had a DP Custom that was just a dog. In the initail discussion I asked about the neck shape. I wanted it on the thin side (like my Peavey Cirrus), I even offered to ship him the Cirrus to take mesurements if he needed. He assured me I would find his necks comfortable. When I got the bass the neck was a baseball bat. On top of that, the poly finish on the back of the bass came off on my first gig (I had a huge brown stain on my shirt after the gig). I had the bass refinished by a local luthier, but I could not get arround the neck shape. Ended up selling it after 8 months of owning it (and only 2 gigs out with it).

For me, nothing beats my Cirrus.
 
#97
john nam said:
Has anyone had a bad experience with an expensive, high-end ($2000+ new) bass? If so, describe the make and model and be very specific about what you didn't like. Please no vague answers like "I couldn't dial in a sound good". Instead, something more specific like "I couldn't get a thick and defined tone at the same time. It was either thick and muddy or defined and thin".
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MTD 535. It was spectacularly beautiful IMO, the asymmetric neck profile was the best I've ever handled in 30+ years, and in general the tone was to die for. However it had some of the worst dead spots I've ever encountered. I tried different string sets and EQ settings, but neither helped. Two of the dead spots were the same note, 5 frets apart on different strings, so they were hard to avoid. There was a third one, but it was less noticeable.


The bass was so great otherwise that I kept it for a few years. I just avoided the dead spots as best I could. The biggest reason I sold it was because I wanted Fender-style tone and appearance.


It's important to note that I would not hesitate to own another MTD 535 should I ever decide to return to boutiquey-looking instruments. Sure, I'd listen extra closely for dead spots, but I realize that the one I owned was an unfortunate exception.
 
#98
Biga173rd said:
The most expensive bass i try was a Fodera emperor ...Here is the bad there electronics and pickups is garbage!.
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thepontif said:
I'd like to know when that was and what pickups were in it. My preamps have never been "garbage" (classy choice of words, by the way) though there have been little changes along the way and some things worked better than others. Then again, maybe it was before my time too.
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Busted! Gotta love TB justice :D
 
#99
john nam said:
I had a $3000+ Fodera NYC PJ (singlecoil J) with a Pope pre and that singlecoil was the noisiest single I've ever come across by at least double. I thought it was just noisy at home, but it was so bad at church that the sound guys had to stop rehearsal to find the source of the problem and sure enough, it was my bass. As opposed to my Sadowsky single coil Js that make virtually no noise, even when soloed; I don't know how they do it.
Click to expand...

The amount of noise coming from a single coil pickup is not a reflection on the quality of a bass. There have been people trying to make "noiseless" single coil pickups for years and years and nobody really has nailed it. They've gotten very, very close at this point, but do some real apples to apples a/b'ing and the fact remains, quiet "single coil" type pickups don't sound the same as traditional singles.
 

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