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Ever taken a bass for granted?

MirageBass

MirageBass

Apr 12, 2007
438
2
Rochester, NY/Los Angeles, CA
#1
I was playing a Fender Geddy J ever since I fell in love with Rush, and I had put down my previous bass for it, a Yamaha BBG5S. A year later, I recently get my Yamaha back into my possession, and I wonder why I ever put it down. I may switch back to it.

Ever realize that you had an awesome bass all along, but switched for something else? Even if the original was cheaper or more banged up?
 
#2
My first bass I think might fall under that. It was a lawsuit Memphis 78 Pbass copy that had the worst NON set up in the world on it. I knew nothing about setting up a bass and action and stuff and though I learned on it, I hated it and left it in pieces when I moved. Because of it I developed an aversion to Fender in a big way.

So fast forward a few decades and I gave up playing and then got back into it and stumbled across this site. ^_^ I leaned about set ups and action (though am no expert by far, still a beginner with regards to 'setting up' a bass, but man if I knew then what little I know now it would have been so different for that memphis pbass)...and I realized my first bass wasn't junk, I was just stupid. :( Now I wish I had it back to set it up and see what it was really like. And along the way I realized Fender makes a great bass and I own one now. ^_^ (well 2 if you count the Squier).

I also can relate I think to what you are saying with regards to my T40 as well. The one I had back in the 80s I took for granted and was always pawning it, getting it out, not taking good care of it...it was a love/hate thing.. I finally left it at the pawn shop once cause I didn't feel like dealing with its weight anymore and that was that. I got one back luckily a few months ago and lesson learned. ^_^ And I got a better T40 this time then the one I had the first time But be glad you got your Yamaha back! Id really like to have my original Memphis back.
 
#3
My First bass, a Tanglewood Jazz, it basically looks like a Warwick Thumb, loved that bass, untill i knew that anything other than a fender jazz is crap!:smug::eyebrow:

well i loveed the fender 4 a while, but eventually the fender Jazz started sounding bad, and then i went back 2 the tanglewood, even tho it wasa starter bass!

it had an amazing sound, the neck pickup sounded like a P bass as well!

its crazy. but now im in love with my Fender again, i dropped some Dimarzio Model J's in m there and oh yes im happy! :bassist::hyper:
 
#5
I've had my blue Reverend Rumblefish for almost ten years, and there have been times when it sat unplayed for months while I rotated other basses in and out. I finally had to acknowledge that Reverends -- and that blue one in particular -- are the basses for me. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying a Lakland and an Ibanez this year.. :rollno:
 
#6
I have an Aria Sinsinardo (or something like that), I keep going to sell it, picking it up to play it to check if it works (after not having been touched for months), and finding the tone and lightness really fun.
 
#7
My old Traben Tribal sun. I had so much trouble with the set up and getting it just the way i wanted it took me almost two years of tinkering. it was the only four string I had for the last set of auditions, and I gave it a good thrashing, playing finger style, slap, pick, thumb, everything for a week with different gigs and I realized that I had fallen in love with it over those two years and it was juuust the way i like it!

of course, after the last 6 hour jam session, my car was broken into and it was stolen.

f word.
 
#11
I have my Schecter Studio 5 that I had been complaining about the "tight string spacing".. I was starting to get into the mindframe of potentially selling it and getting something with wider string spacing..

Well I started taking a closer look at the other 5'ers in the stores around the LA area and was surprised by some of the things I found..

I was told that I should come check out some of the Dean basses that they have at a certain store in West LA.. I went, and almost every Dean I picked up had something wrong with it.. One had individual bridge pieces for each string, and two out of the five pieces were mounted onto the body crooked.. Another one the volume knobs were all misaligned from each other and looked sloppy.. Another one was making this high pitched shrieking sound no matter what tone setting we tried with it, and we changed the battery and it was still making an awful noise.. Another Dean looked great and felt pretty good in my hands, but tonewise it didn't seem to have much variation..

Then I went to another store, and don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Lakland's.. I haven't played on them enough to really have an experienced opinion of them.. However, I played on a 5'er Lakland that had wider string spacing than my Schecter, and for some reason it was just not as comfortable as I thought it would be..

The experience with the Dean's and the Lakland were only a few days apart from each other.. What I got out of it is that my Schecter is a really solid instrument. The tone options on my Schecter are great and very versatile. The (my)Schecter is a well put together instrument with everything attached to it being straight, solid, and aesthetic.. The string spacing feels a little tight sometimes, but I've reminded myself that I'm an amateur and that with more practice I will get better with my accuracy, which is happening! I also got a very good deal on the Schecter for essentially $450 ($500 w/shipping)..

So.. I've come to a point where I totally re-appreciate the instrument that I've already got and that compared to some of the other basses I've tried in the same price range, and even higher price range, that I still like my Schecter better!

I effing love my bass! It's a tone monster and is solid as a rock! I also still love how it looks bodywise/colorwise, etc.. :bassist:

I'm still interested in having something with wider string spacing, and again, with practice I know my accuracy for hitting those strings will improve.. But now I feel like if I had sold my Schecter simply because of the string spacing that I would have totally regretted it! As far as I'm concerned now I will never get rid of the Schecter!
 
#12
that would be my Samick Artist 5 stringer, I thought from bad reviews it was going to be total garbage, well after a good setup, I use it all the time..good tone, good neck all good...it truly surprised me 100% --

I paid under 100 bucks for it. I thought I was gonna be a "you get what you pay for guitar", but nope....
 
#14
my first bass was a squier affinity J-bass

then I bought a fender reggie hamilton J, and I must say I still like the squier better, it just feels better

the reggie hamilton sounds better tho, it has better pickups, but somehow I like my beat-up squier more

guess I can't let go of things
 
#16
my old Squier P...learned on it, beat it up at shows, and played it every single day for about 3 years 1 or 2 hours a day...back then i didnt know how to really take care of a bass, setup or anything, so i felt the bass was holding me back, and i moved onto a Jazz...now i want another P SO badly...
 
#17
MirageBass said:
I was playing a Fender Geddy J ever since I fell in love with Rush, and I had put down my previous bass for it, a Yamaha BBG5S. A year later, I recently get my Yamaha back into my possession, and I wonder why I ever put it down. I may switch back to it.

Ever realize that you had an awesome bass all along, but switched for something else? Even if the original was cheaper or more banged up?
Click to expand...

Well I didn't switch, but I kind've put it down a bit, but I've recently realized it's quite a cool bass, at least for my own purposes. It's only a GSR200, and I still think it's great!
 
#20
My lefty Ibanez roadstar fits here. I purchased it NOS(still had the guard laminate:cool:) in 2001 and it hasn't been setup since.:o:o:o It has served me through several gauge changes and playing styles.

I will be sending it to the "guitar spa" for a setup vacation soon.
 

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