Dissapointing High-End Basses

[Pete skjold]

This , to me , is more a personal preference issue than a build quality or tone issue so here goes... Really, the only thing keeping me from really digging on these basses were my preference for a more traditional, more grindy Fender-ish tone. Keep in mind with this rant that my ideal bass is my G&L L-2500. I will qualify that, even though it is a departure I absolutely loved my Cirrus and adore my USA Spector NT.

Status S2. Kind of a neat bass but heavy and kind of sterile sounding and generally non-descript tonally. It isn't necessarily a bad thing as people may opt for a more generic tone but... yeah. The neck had an uncomfortable ( to me) flat radius and a high spot that seemed to buzz out of control. It wasn't necessarily a bad bass just wholly unremarkable for the price.

Zon Legacy Elite: This was my dream bass for years, ever since I laid my hands on my first Sonus. It was pretty mellow sounding and heavier than most Zon basses I had played. Again, not a bad bass but turned out not to be my cup of tea. If you're looking for the super jazz Zon sound, the Legacy isn't it. It was very low-mid centric with somewhat subdued high mids. Very clean but boring sounding.

LowEnd Jazz Bass: In almost every respect a great bass. Pretty heavy but it was a 5 string with full size ash body. I went in expecting a super jazz in the vain ( vein?) of Alleva Coppolo or Celinder but got something that was pretty far removed from the traditional souped up jazz sound. Again, I'm sure many people would differ but that's just my take. Brian at the LowEnd was a pleasure to deal with.

Skjold bass: It was an offset 5, I believe. Very light with a nice feeling neck but, as with the Status and LowEnd bass I felt that it lacked it's own character. The pickups, I imagine, would be described as fairly neutral with a very versatile EQ. I prefer pickups with character being influenced somewhat by the bass as opposed the opposite. Pete knows what he's doing but it's not a bass for someone looking for a more vintage vibe.

To each his/her own/

Thank you for the comments regarding Skjold Basses Ben. Just an update as I think it would be worth mentioning. I now have several other pickup options designed and used for the vary reason you mentioned. I am now able to change the Character of the overall tone by selecting different pickups and getting a vintage tone is not a problem now that I am using pickups with vintage correct materials and designs.

Thanks.

 

[JetBlackJazz]

Not a problem here.

...wow...

 

[spade2you]

...wow...

Are you disappointed that I am not disappointed?

 

[capnsandwich]

Are you disappointed that I am not disappointed?

I am. That way you would probably have some of those in the TB classifieds.

 

[pbasswil]

I heard a story first hand recently about a guy who received a very expensive bass he had custom ordered from a manufacturer I won't mention which arrived configured much differently than was ordered. When confronted about it, the manufacturer simply said...not word for word, but precisely the meaning...that God told him he should build it that way and that he wasn't going to argue with God. So should you (the customer) be arguing with God? Oh boy. As I understand it, the bass stayed the way it was delivered.

Oh man -- best post of thread!! lol.

Clearly, "he was only following orders" (just like most of the WWII Germans during the Nuremberg Trials).

God was negligent -- getting his specs bungled (or was it just a typo on the stone tablet he jotted them on?). Anyway, God shoulda issued the refund.

 

[spade2you]

I am. That way you would probably have some of those in the TB classifieds.

LOL, understood, but everyone must keep in mind that they were tailored to my needs, so perfect for me could be many levels of wrong for another bassist.

 

[Tommygunn]

I played some Alembic one time. Didn't even plug it in. I have no idea why I didn't like it. The neck was super nice and the "action was below the frets" (as JAE liked his basses) with no buzzing, but after a minute or so of playing I just kinda set it down and was like "ehhhh..."

 

[capnsandwich]

LOL, understood, but everyone must keep in mind that they were tailored to my needs, so perfect for me could be many levels of wrong for another bassist.

True, but I doubt it.



I still love me some nice Rob Allens!

 

[steubig]

Yes, we had a big problem with certain batches of Lane Poors (it was before by time, but Joey has told me about it). We stopped using those pickups well over ten years ago (maybe more) and any original owner that had issues with them got a free replacement if the sent the bass in to us to deal with it...

i can verify joey's comment about this, as he made them to me as well a number for years ago.

 

[spade2you]

For everyone's information, single coil hum and noise is a function of the pickup....period.

I can agree with this. My Pope pre only buzzes on the singlecoil J pickup, but not the P pickup. Even then, the buzz isn't horrible.

 

[xjeremiahx]

I was able to get my hands on an MTD 535 and I just wasn't impressed at all. I wouldn't say that it sucked, but for the price, I was expecting at least a little bit of the "wow" factor...sadly, it just wasn't there.

 

[Gard]

I heard a story first hand recently about a guy who received a very expensive bass he had custom ordered from a manufacturer I won't mention which arrived configured much differently than was ordered. When confronted about it, the manufacturer simply said...not word for word, but precisely the meaning...that God told him he should build it that way and that he wasn't going to argue with God. So should you (the customer) be arguing with God? Oh boy. As I understand it, the bass stayed the way it was delivered.

I've been in the room with this instrument.

...my suggestion was that the customer should have called his CC company and reversed the charges, then called the culprit (no other word suffices, to me) and told him to call "God" for payment, since he was the one that ordered THIS bass. I also added he should hold onto the bass, until "God" showed up to get it.



No one is 100% perfect every time, but this was just beyond tolerance for me. Bordered on fraud, IMO. It's one thing to miss an option, or not nail a spec, but to build something COMPLETELY different from the original order then pass it off in such a manner...



...for those that have played one of our (Roscoe) basses and been disappointed, thanks for the feedback, rest assured I read everything here and take it to heart. If there is ever anything we can do to help you out, Roscoe customer or otherwise, please let me know via PM or e-mail. Thanks.

 

[Angus]

...it was Warrior, wasn't it?

 

[LilRay]

I've been in the room with this instrument.

...my suggestion was that the customer should have called his CC company and reversed the charges, then called the culprit (no other word suffices, to me) and told him to call "God" for payment, since he was the one that ordered THIS bass. I also added he should hold onto the bass, until "God" showed up to get it.



No one is 100% perfect every time, but this was just beyond tolerance for me. Bordered on fraud, IMO. It's one thing to miss an option, or not nail a spec, but to build something COMPLETELY different from the original order then pass it off in such a manner...



...for those that have played one of our (Roscoe) basses and been disappointed, thanks for the feedback, rest assured I read everything here and take it to heart. If there is ever anything we can do to help you out, Roscoe customer or otherwise, please let me know via PM or e-mail. Thanks.

This thread is hilarious!

I've just read through 5 pages of silliness with the "I don't like XYZ" with validity of "I went to Subway and had two types of sandwhiches. Both had mayonaise on them, and I hate mayonaise. Therefore I hate Subway"

But the story above takes the cake! I gotta meet God's luthier. Is God an Endorsing Artist or just a designer?

A disappointment in a bass to me would be ordering one with specific tone goals, and the produced instrument not meeting them.

It's not disappointing to me to not like an instruments tone or feel or playability. If I don't like it, I move on. But certainly not disappointed.



God Bless, Ray

 

[willsellout]

I was able to get my hands on an MTD 535 and I just wasn't impressed at all. I wouldn't say that it sucked, but for the price, I was expecting at least a little bit of the "wow" factor...sadly, it just wasn't there.

I had that same experience.

 

[Just Thumpin']

Thanks for the kind words. You are dead right in that at our price point we should get it right (or make it right) 100% of the time. The one piece of advice that I would give to all of those that play in the Boutique space...MAKE YOURSELF HEARD. That is, if you buy a bass from a high end maker and it isn't working for you, do not suffer silently. Be direct with us about what the issues are and ask that we help you solve them. I know at least in our case here at Fodera we will absolutely bend over backwards to make sure that you are 100% satisfied.

That said, be fair...if you came to us and asked us to build a bass with an Alder body, Rosewood FB and one P-pickup, please don't ask us to make it "bright and punchy" for you...LOL!

Kindest regards,

J

This was WAY before your time...

Those were made in mid 1990's. I haven't encountered a similar problem with the Lane Poor soapbars, just the J's.

You more than us know that a single bass with a minor problem out of 3500 or so can do bad things for a brand. The NYC 5'er was my first contact with Fodera basses and not a great one, to be honest. Now I own a few Emperors and they are some of the best basses I've laid my hands on...

Just want to say this again: It's just amazing that Fodera has someone here on TB daily to patiently go over these threads...

 

[cabcreaser]

I had that same experience.

MTDs are strange birds. I have had a few over the years and never found the one that really spoke to me. I always wanted to love them because I think the world of Michael Tobias as a craftsman, luthier, and all around great guy.

However, his vision with MTD applies perfectly to plenty of playing situations, yet, they have never fit very well with mine. Though they feel , sound, and look amazing, they just have a different overall flavor (and the wood combos do make a difference), but I think overall the Barts, preamp, and Mike's vision does stamp each MTD USA with a certain family of tones which works perfectly for some but not as well with others (just like all great basses).

 

[Darkstrike]

A disappointment in a bass to me would be ordering one with specific tone goals, and the produced instrument not meeting them.

It's not disappointing to me to not like an instruments tone or feel or playability. If I don't like it, I move on. But certainly not disappointed.



God Bless, Ray

I think there's more ways than that, like in my situation with the Rickenbacker, where I expected, and wanted to love it(I love their tone, and style). When I didn't, major disappointment.

 

[Brendan]

A disappointment in a bass to me would be ordering one with specific tone goals, and the produced instrument not meeting them.

It's not disappointing to me to not like an instruments tone or feel or playability. If I don't like it, I move on. But certainly not disappointed.

I'm on board for this. I don't think I've played a Fodera or Alembic or Sadowsky I've cared for. But that doesn't make them disappointing. I'd have to want to like them, first.

Now, a disappointment for me would be a Zon or Lakland. I've only liked about half of the ones I've played. Some have "it" and some don't, right at about 50/50 for me. Which makes them infinitely more disappointing than, say, Ken Smith. I know I don't care for Smith basses, so I'm not gonna be put out when I don't like one when it falls into my hands. I actually WANT to like Zon and Lakland, but it's so frequently hit or miss for me, it's a lot more of a downer than just disliking them across the board.

 

[superdick2112]

...it was Warrior, wasn't it?

Exactly what I was thinking. A Denver Warrior dealer told me several horror stories regarding their terrible customer service and blaming deities for spec vs. build discrepancies. All of the warrior basses I played at his shop were good playing, good sounding instruments, but those stories (and some pretty steep prices) kept me from ever ordering one.