Some will say EBMM but i had two horrible stories with both bought brand new. Stingray: Worst grounding issue i have seen on a bass. Period. Couldnt get a low action without horrible fret buzz. Sterling: Came with a problem that i couldnt never figure out. Had the most irritating fret buzz sound in one spot. Like a can rattling. Nothing worked out. Maybe both were just lemons. Maybe my bad luck. Who knows.
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Most consistently well-crafted and problem-free basses?
- Thread starter el_Bajo_Verde
- Start date
You trollin' bro? Ricks have TONS for QC issues that are documented.
Spector, not as much but they do happen. I personally had a ReBop 5DLX where the factory had glued the truss rod into the cavity. When I contacted Spector about it, they said that it couldn't have come from the factory like that...but my local luthier said that there was absolutely no evidence that the neck had ever been tampered with or opened before. The finish lines were all still intact around the edge of the fingerboard. Spector also said that all Spector necks can have the truss rod pulled out through the truss channel at the headstock, if you remove the nut. I don't see how this would have been possible given that, when my luthier opened the neck, the end of the truss rod was too wide to fit through the channel. -_-
+1 for G&L, I've owned several L2000's and JB's, and even the Indonesian Tribute's are delivered with a decent set up.
I've only ever had 1 with a problem and that's my current (recently purchased) "88 L2000, had a forward bow to the neck
from previous owner leaving it in the case for 2-3 YEARS, with flatwounds under tension (I had to pull the neck off and
clamp it down to create a back bow) but that was no fault of G&L's craftsmanship. So I'd recommend the L2000 tribute
if you're on a budget, or a US model if you can swing the extra $. You can always buy used to save some $'s as well!!!
I've only ever had 1 with a problem and that's my current (recently purchased) "88 L2000, had a forward bow to the neck
from previous owner leaving it in the case for 2-3 YEARS, with flatwounds under tension (I had to pull the neck off and
clamp it down to create a back bow) but that was no fault of G&L's craftsmanship. So I'd recommend the L2000 tribute
if you're on a budget, or a US model if you can swing the extra $. You can always buy used to save some $'s as well!!!
There's no way your luthier could determine if the prior owner did that bro. Did anyone at Spector look at it and confirm his hypothesis.
If not, and the factory says it can't happen, company owner says it can't happen, and it's never happened to anyone else...he's probably wrong.
As a moonlighting guitarist who can barely thump out Peter Gunn, I don't usually weigh in here with authority, but those who dislike working on semi-hollows -- you really need to YouTube/Google this. Coat hanger method and others .... some people have done the hard thinking for us, and are sharing.
I've googled it, searched it, even asked my local tech about it. No matter how much I learn about it, I'm going to hate working on semi-hollows.
It ain't Fender, that's for sure. Have owned 7-8 of them (on my own tone quest) and they are the most inconsistent beasts around. No two P's I ever owned from them played alike or sounded alike. even from the exact same model.
Those who gush about the ultimate P or Jazz, got lucky- they got one that had the mojo- and when that happens it is beautiful, I never did because they are so varied.
Those who gush about the ultimate P or Jazz, got lucky- they got one that had the mojo- and when that happens it is beautiful, I never did because they are so varied.
As a newbie, find you a mom and pop music store with a good rep and let them help you get the bass you want, need, and can afford without going in to debt.
Asking on line is fine for general help, but your bass is far too personal an item to rely on the advice of strangers, no matter how knowledgeable or well meaning that advice may be.
You need an experienced guide to help you with your first serious bass purchase, something you will get from a good independent shop. Unless things have changed they should also do a complementary setup if you buy from them, and will be a reliable and trusted source of help in the event you do need expertise beyond your current knowledge/abilities.
You can pay a little more in a good local shop or you can roll the dice and hope your mail order, big box or second hand private purchase is a good one, and doesn't wind up costing a ton of cash and headache to set right.
Asking on line is fine for general help, but your bass is far too personal an item to rely on the advice of strangers, no matter how knowledgeable or well meaning that advice may be.
You need an experienced guide to help you with your first serious bass purchase, something you will get from a good independent shop. Unless things have changed they should also do a complementary setup if you buy from them, and will be a reliable and trusted source of help in the event you do need expertise beyond your current knowledge/abilities.
You can pay a little more in a good local shop or you can roll the dice and hope your mail order, big box or second hand private purchase is a good one, and doesn't wind up costing a ton of cash and headache to set right.
As a newbie, find you a mom and pop music store with a good rep and let them help you get the bass you want, need, and can afford without going in to debt.
Asking on line is fine for general help, but your bass is far too personal an item to rely on the advice of strangers, no matter how knowledgeable or well meaning that advice may be.
You need an experienced guide to help you with your first serious bass purchase, something you will get from a good independent shop. Unless things have changed they should also do a complementary setup if you buy from them, and will be a reliable and trusted source of help in the event you do need expertise beyond your current knowledge/abilities.
You can pay a little more in a good local shop or you can roll the dice and hope your mail order, big box or second hand private purchase is a good one, and doesn't wind up costing a ton of cash and headache to set right.
Asking on line is fine for general help, but your bass is far too personal an item to rely on the advice of strangers, no matter how knowledgeable or well meaning that advice may be.
You need an experienced guide to help you with your first serious bass purchase, something you will get from a good independent shop. Unless things have changed they should also do a complementary setup if you buy from them, and will be a reliable and trusted source of help in the event you do need expertise beyond your current knowledge/abilities.
You can pay a little more in a good local shop or you can roll the dice and hope your mail order, big box or second hand private purchase is a good one, and doesn't wind up costing a ton of cash and headache to set right.
Are you a luthier? did you see the bass? Unless whoever did it before REFINISHED the neck, then there is no way the neck was opened before. Look at a Rebop neck. The poly goes up the side of the rosewood and is a seamless coat over the whole neck.
Given that, at the time, the bass was 3 years old and the original owner was 16...the odds of it having been opened is miniscule in comparison to the odds of it being a dud from the plant.
I love Spectors...but PJ and his team are not infallible.
No no. You're totally right. A 16 year old doing something stupid to their possession, panicking, and then selling it without informing the buyer is a much more complicated and unlikely scenario than a single bass coming out of a 100+ year old factory with a major defect that wasn't caught by the QC team. When said factory is know for having top tier QC, and the instrument in question has a high price point.
I can see why this was such a hot topic of debate in the Spector Club a few years ago.
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Did you get a second opinion from anyone else? Did you ask in the Luthier section of the forum, with pictures for advice?
