Most Disappointing purchase

[Mike Marshall]

For the longest time I watched all of my bass heroes rocking Modulus basses. I knew I’d have to eventually own one but the price point kept me away.

I quit a cushy job and got a months pay, plus vacation/sick time, and my last bonus and I saw my moment.

No where even remotely close had one so I had to just pull the trigger... Dropped $4K and while the bass looked amazing I was like ehhh...

for the record they’re great bases and built to survive a nuclear explosion, they just weren’t for me. I even sold that one and went through several models trying to convince myself it was the kind of bass I needed. It wasn’t haha.

I can’t be the only who’s gone through something like this, all that hype just to be unimpressed, what was your most disappointing purchase?

I rarely go in GC but I did during a sale about 22 years ago, they had a ampeg V4BH marked at 350 brand new I bought it. It was nothing like the original I had in the seventies no where near the power. I sold it and got my $350 back. I cant believe that thing listed at over 1000 not really a bad amp but very limited. I was at a friends last year for a rehearsal and he had a Seventies V4B and it sounded Great way beyond the reissues.

 

[Hano Rokpony]

My most disappointing bass purchase was the Epiphone EB-0. Crappy pickup, lousy bridge. I even replaced both parts and it still just wasn't a good instrument. Maybe I just got a bad one

 

[Nakoatron]

Strandberg boden prog 5

 

[Planespotter]

This blurple ‘91 Precision Plus. Heavy, weak electronics and all around wimpy tone plugged in and unplugged. It was just a bad piece of wood. The sad part is I traded an awesome Stingray for it. What was I thinking?

 

[libanass]

i have to agree with this. As much as i love my 2 Specials, my ebony board special is the most unstable neck out of my 8 basses. My $179 ibanez is more stable. I dont adjust it twice a week but probably once a month. The slightest change in humidity and the neck moves. its roasted maple with an ebony board and the ebony get SUPER dry. ridiculous

now my other special with roasted maple neck and board is very stable and has not yet been adjusted since i bought it.

Interesting, both Specials I had here, had ebony fingerboard, I specifically wanted ebony for the tone but also for stability.. But no. Ebony does get dry fast, and needs to be oiled regularly and seriously

Anyway, Ernie Ball should finish their necks in satin like Fender, someone should start a petition to make them do that, until then, I am not buying one again + their price raises don't make sense anymore, there is simply so much better on the market today.
And the bridge is quite a joke, they were higher quality before! Also not a big fan of the Neo pickups, I could not succeed into calming down the E.

Overall, loved the ergonomics, weight, body contours, unarguably better than older StingRays.

Anyhow, personal opinion, I hope not to offend anyone by being honest, after all, that is just gear. They are still fine basses, but not up to my standards..

 

[DwaynieAD]

Poorly disguised hate thread

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

My very first bass - a Gibson EB0. It was 1967. I felt I’d made a mistake. It was easy to play but I could not get it match the sound that I was hearing in my head - I was hearing a PBass (the solid thump, Motown etc.). Not looking to argue about the pros and cons of the EB0, but as soon as I got a PBass, I felt relieved.

 

[ueezb]

No disappointing purchases regarding bass (yet).

Probably the most disappointing instrument was my first American made Fender Strat. It was a used special from the early 90s for a very good price. It felt horrible and didn't sound like a Strat should sound (at least to my ears). It drew me away from Strats for some time. I bought it because the other guitar player in my band at that time had a brand new Am Standard which was a fantastic instrument. Cheap me learned his lesson.

 

[Stubbrnmule]

I also meant to add to my previous post, but would have made it even longer, that the other lesson I learned over the years is that sometimes the purchase may only be disappointing at first, but time and patience may reward with a different feeling. Since I sold that Rick that I always wanted but in the end didn't bond with, I have been playing another 15 years and developed my skills far beyond where they were. I have since considered trying another one one of these days. A lot of gear and equipment, especially tone shaping things like pre amps and pedals, are often sought for the quick panacea of "that tone" and if not delivered immediately are not found to be what they were hoped for. Even with that though, there is a lot of equipment I've gone through over the years that I WAS patient with, wanted to really like, and eventually decided it wasn't going to cut it. I have a lot of pedals right now that have fallen into that category. Doesn't help that my Bergantino heads have made nearly all of my dirt pedals obsolete. Thanks Jim..

 

[pbass2]

I've had a few - highly regarded basses - that I thought were going to be keepers that didn't last long - Dingwall AB1 (sounded incredible, but I could not hang with the scale length--actually messed up my shoulder), 3-band Ray (I discovered I simply don't need that sound, like ever), and Epi Jack Casady (sounded super cool but too neck-divey and I felt it would have been much better as a shortscale). All excellent basses, and awesome in other's hands, but for me just didn't pan out.

 

[Bill Murray]

Poorly disguised hate thread

Sorry you feel that way man, it was really just meant to be a casual discussion reiterating the importance of spending some quality time with an instrument prior to purchase. We all get caught up in hype and tend to let that guide the purchase rather than discovering and utilizing our preferences to make better decisions.

I don’t really believe one bass to be superior than others, better build quality and reliability, sure, but aside from they’re all basses and they all could work for just about anything.

I love all basses and I’ll try out anything I can get my hands on but that doesn’t mean we’re going to or even should agree on what basses feel/sound better than others.

 

[eban3]

For the longest time I watched all of my bass heroes rocking Modulus basses. I knew I’d have to eventually own one but the price point kept me away.

I quit a cushy job and got a months pay, plus vacation/sick time, and my last bonus and I saw my moment.

No where even remotely close had one so I had to just pull the trigger... Dropped $4K and while the bass looked amazing I was like ehhh...

for the record they’re great bases and built to survive a nuclear explosion, they just weren’t for me. I even sold that one and went through several models trying to convince myself it was the kind of bass I needed. It wasn’t haha.

I can’t be the only who’s gone through something like this, all that hype just to be unimpressed, what was your most disappointing purchase?

 

[libanass]

Poorly disguised hate thread

You think?

I don't think it matters when gear is being discussed, people should be able to share their honest opinion and experiences (especially knowledgable people), surely there are differences in players and their preferences, and some negatives are less important to others. That's why we don't all love the same instruments.

If someone opened up about the new StingRays and told me that the roasted neck doesn't add any stability to the neck after all, I wouldn't have gone and bought one, to lose money at resale afterwards! But unfortunately, that kind of honest opinion is hard to find!

And to some people, unstable necks won't even be noticed! Especially if you play with a high action, or got really lucky with an exceptional neck.

 

[evenintheshower]

This blurple ‘91 Precision Plus. Heavy, weak electronics and all around wimpy tone plugged in and unplugged. It was just a bad piece of wood. The sad part is I traded an awesome Stingray for it. What was I thinking?View attachment 4214990

The photo of your P Bass made me laugh here. Is this anything like Dog Shaming? Everyone could hang a sign on or next to the offending instrument and the sign would include a short statement from the instrument about its offenses...

 

[eban3]

had one as well , was a bucket list bass ,but found it really only worked well for specific types of music .like the dead or anything requiring a woody acoustic with not a lot of attack , Mods have a unique sound that sounds like no other bass ,but it didnt work for me in a variety of applications

 

[pigpen ridding]

i brought a new gibson thunderbird so i could retire my 1964 gibson thunderbird and the new one is currently living under the bed and '64 is still pounding out the blues due to the new one just being a horrible bass had a couple of friends give it a try and they were not impressed either so its gathering dust till i trade it for something i like

 

[RGerhart]

Five-string Fenders, and five-string Stingrays. Both have rather undefined B strings in my experience, and I could not get used to the closer string spacing with the Stingray.

 

[libanass]

I don’t really believe one bass to be superior than others, better build quality and reliability, sure, but aside from they’re all basses and they all could work for just about anything.

That's right, no bass is "superior" to another.
But better quality, reliability, ergonomics, those are definitely debatable points. Especially depending on the price you pay..

If we are debating bass tones Classic VS Modern, then that preference is strictly personal IMO

I am not shocked that if you're into classic basses likes StingRays, there is a strong chance that you will not like a Modulus.. Even though, it is an excellent bass!

 

[Lowbrow]

Epiphone Allen Woody...looks cooler than it sounds and it is heavier than it looks.

Yeah, I couldn't get with the one I had for awhile .. and that BRIDGE. My god. I love how the Jack Casady's sound but that hunk of metal is just junk.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Pretty cool that Ibanez is rarely mentioned as a disappointing purchase. I've had good luck with Ibanez basses... got 3 of them: ATK, Talman and SR.