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Does your bass play awful??

#41
wmhill said:
I've recently played some other folks basses that are darn near unplayable to me.
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Same here.

I went to a bass get together and also found that many of the basses would have put me off bass playing for good!

This is why all the so called "terrible" 70's Fenders are still out there being gigged and enjoyed by players. They haven't somehow "disappeared" as some were saying on another thread. Everyone's likes and requirements and what they are happy to put up with are so totally different that there's room for the "worst" basses as well as the "best" basses.
 
#42
To each his/her own, but I think super low action is overrated. Yes, it feels great but I think tone is better with the action at, say, a bit lower or at manufacturer specs. I suspect that sting height, pickup height and string tension all interact. It also depends on the bass. My Sadowsky likes manufacturers specs. My Warwick can be as low as I want it to be and still sound great.

Note I'm talking about open string tone. I am not talking about fret buzz.
 
#43
Bought a cheapo Jazz Clone yesterday as a starting point for a fretless build. Action is in the "kinda really high" territory, but I didn't really care 'cause I'd planned on ditching the neck anyway. Anyhoo, played it for an hour or so last night and it actually sounds pretty good that way-no fret buzz, etc. Also, the higher action and different tonal response required a different (not bad...) approach in what and how I played it. My main gigging rig, though, is a Warwick RB5, which is set about as low as it'll go. In this case a little fret rattle works well with the electronics package to get that signature growl. Not to mention less hand fatigue at the end of a long evening.
 
#45
I've wondered how technique effects one's preference in an instrument's setup. I like low action and light guage strings on a thin, narrow neck. Because I don't use a pick or have a particularly aggressive attack, fret buzz isn't an issue. If you wield a pick like a boxer, maybe the story would be different. Too many hours fighting against rigid strings doesn't relate to a pleasant gig. After years of that I imagine arthritis, tendonitis, etc. getting a foothold where and when it may not have been. No medical degree to prove this, just being careful. Tonally, with the technology that we enjoy today you can reproduce any given sounds in virtually any given venue with a little dial turning by the FOH, regardless of your choice of gear and setup. To each his own, but I plan on playing until they plant me, so I'm trying to preserve the flesh and blood (and it's usefulness) for as long as possible.
 
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#46
I have 2 that play horribly. My 1992 Modulus Q5 and my Washburn Acoustic AB-35. Why.. No money to have them setup. I won't play them until they are. I just received strings for the AB-35. So off to the Luthier it goes. Within a couple of days it will play like butta.. The in a couple of weeks when I have more cash, the Mod will head over to him as well. The neck has a couple of chips in it that will need to be repaired and a set up. Then she will probably become my main bass
 
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#47
IANA tech, just a player, but here's my sense of it:

There are a number of factors determining how a bass feels to a player, assuming the frets are levelled correctly and there's enough _fall-away_ in the upper register that buzzing out above the 15th fret doesn't determine how the action has to be. (I.e., the bass doesn't have the "ski jump" problem there.) IOW, I'm talking about a bass that is capable of taking a low-action setup if that's what desired.

Neck shape matters. I figure that's the relation of the player's fretting hand anatomy (length of fingers, flexibility of joints) and technique (thumb on middle of the neck, thumb toward the low string side, thumb wrapped around).

The player's touch on the instrument matters, both in fretting and plucking. Players that squeeze harder and pull harder are OK with higher action and more relief; those with a light touch want it lower with less relief. The stiffness and gauge of the strings play here, too. Another factor is how much the player arches his/her fretting fingers on the board. More arch --> more comfortable with higher action. Flatter (in good technique, for left hand muting) --> preference for lower action.

The style matters. Fingerstyle-only players may be OK with higher action, but slappers will want it lower so popping doesn't require too much muscle.

Tone goals matter. Some like a bit of fret rattle. Some want none. Some want none except on accented notes.
 
#48
I always set my action pretty low....recently though I've been raising it a bit. I find that if the action is to low the notes can get choked out some and I don't get the fullness i want and raising the action some seems to help. If I can get close to the Fender specifications, i'm good.
 
#49
I'm glad to see other folks have experienced it as well. I ran a music shop for some time in the 90s, and I would never let a bass out of the store with that sort of action, but a lot got traded in with bad action. In fact on of the better players in town traded his Ibanez in towards Kramer P clone, and was very happy. I did a much needed set up and new strings on his old ibanez a put it out on the floor. a couple weeks later, he came by and picked up his old bass out of curiosity and was blown away with the sound & play-ability- to the point he bought it back. I never had a set-up come back that played too well.
Some of the ones I have seen lately were easily 3/8" at the 12th fret, and one those guys even plays with a skinny little .38 gauge pick. I don't like my action super low, and like some tension- but not to this extent. I'm not sure how they could be in tune (intonation wise) up & down the neck. Last night I played a sweet pedulla that fell into that category. Neck size is more personal, but coupled with crazy high action just seems counter productive to playing as good as you could.
Great thread folks- thanks!!
 
#50
It's all the opinion of the player. I've picked up so many basses that guys love because of their low action that I can't stand. They buzz and clank all over the place. I hate that! I play medium to high action for this reason. Again it's just personal preference and style.
 
#53
wmhill said:
Like the title states - does yours? If so, why? I've recently played some other folks basses that are darn near unplayable to me. And these belong to experienced & competent players, not noobs. Tall action coupled with wide ball bat sized necks, made it hard to play even just a few songs on them, and even then i had to "dumb" down my playing just to get through the songs. I play all night on my basses and never get that kind of fatigue, and I don't setup my basses as low as they will go. These are 34" scale basses with regular gauged strings (45-100 rounds). There are no wrong answers, I'm just curious.
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tyr playng an upright for a while ...
 
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#54
wmhill said:
Like the title states - does yours? If so, why? I've recently played some other folks basses that are darn near unplayable to me. And these belong to experienced & competent players, not noobs. Tall action coupled with wide ball bat sized necks, made it hard to play even just a few songs on them, and even then i had to "dumb" down my playing just to get through the songs. I play all night on my basses and never get that kind of fatigue, and I don't setup my basses as low as they will go. These are 34" scale basses with regular gauged strings (45-100 rounds). There are no wrong answers, I'm just curious.
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There seems to be a balance between musician and tech. Afterall the more you play the less you tinker. Im right down the middle, my basses play well, and im a good player, but not nearly the best.
 
#55
When I was growing up, i was one of those that could play but knew nothing about gear or setups. I also played the same bass for over 20 years and didnt know how to adjust it (this was mostly pre-internet/TB days mind you) so it played horribly, but it sounded great. These days all of my basses are set up perfectly, dont think I could fight my bass like I used to.
 
#56
The Ox's basses were virtually unplayable to many people. He kept his action so low, the strings were almost on the other side of the neck! By most accounts, playing his basses would amount to nothing more than choaked out fret buzz to the mere mortal, but his touch was so light he could get away with it. You wouldn't really think with the massive sound he was getting that his finger tips were barely gracing the strings, even at lighting speed. That's where the amp comes in. The setup is one part of the final formula that works for the player. Everything after the bass in the signal path will respond accordingly. When I first started playing, I bought an acoustic/electric bass guitar. It played nicely, but all I could really get was a bunch of buzz and rattle. I brought it back to the shop and another customer asked to look at it. When he played it, it sounded like unicorns and rainbows. So that's when I learned of the fine line between setup and technique... as much as my young hands wanted to blame the bass, it was my technique that needed the work. Still, if you want to find out how bad your technique is, try an AE.
 
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#57
I've had others tell me that my basses' actions are set way too high for them to play, but that's just what I've become used to and I like to "fight a little bit" with my basses. I guess that would count as "playing awful" to some people (the same way I really hate low action setups).
 
#59
A few years ago, I paid $50 for a MIM Jazz neck that came from a bass damaged in shipping. I tried it out on one of my other basses, seemed ok, so I did a Warmoth build using it, and sadly, I just couldn't tweak it enough to make it play well, dead spots galore. It's a shame, too. It's all good stuff to the right of the neck, Ash body, SD 1/4 pounders, CTS pots including a push-pull series/parallel pot, my favorite color, too.

I plan on finding something to replace the neck, eventually, but I have others that play like butter, so that's on the back-burner. It is nice to look at, though.
 
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