Most Disappointing purchase

[sotua]

Daddario ProSteels and NY XLs. Not as zingy as expected, less perceived bottom end than regular nickel XLs. So in the end in both cases I'm like "this was supposed to be super zingy and awesome tone but... I prefer the sound the regular nickel XLs that cost half as much deliver?"

 

[BBassBassington]

AmPlug. I bought two. Neither works. Garbage.

The Fender Mustang Micro costs quite a bit more but it's actually well built. There's no Rumble setting for reasons I'll never understand but the Studio Preamp and even some of the guitar amps work well for bass. Plus you can stream music to it via bluetooth.

I had an AmPlug copy and these two are about an AU apart in terms of quality and sound.

 

[thabassmon]

I forgot to mention the microphonic pickups though, lol. That Rick is the worst piece of junk I've never had the misfortune of owning-


Is it hate to be disappointed when you've paid over $2000 for a Rick and it starts to fall apart within weeks and is more or less unplayable after 10-15 years? Add to this a company that denies the existence of well known issues and offer a laughable warranty on their products.

I mean, things like broken mute adjustments, tail lift, microphonic pickups, twisted necks and loose binding aren't exactly rare occurances with Rickenbackers. It's more or less to be expected with these instruments. I just wish I had known this 20 years ago and spent my money on something else instead.

Fender QC is far from perfect and I've had more than a few disappointments with expensive MIA Fenders too but at least they don't fall apart completely like many Ricks do.

This isn't hate. This is criticism. Deal with it.

Doesn't seem like hate to me, seems like honest disappointment of equipment that failed expectations.

I'd be absolutely disappointed if I spent $2k on a Rickenbacker and it was crapping out soon after purchase. Luckily I'm not at risk with that happening to me (in this particular example) as I think Rickenbacker basses look hideous and sound horrible. And the players that are strongly associated with that brand of bass are not players I wish to sound like at all, with the one exception of Paul McCartney but it's not really his tone on the Rickenbacker rather it his his note choice that I like. Other basses have those notes, so I'm good.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

That's horrendous; got any pictures?

Sure, here's one of the twisted neck and one of the replacement bridge. The old bridge was useless due to tail lift (+ faulty mute) and ended up in the garbage years ago. The new Hipshot bridge is very good quality, much better than the stock bridge but still it sucks to have to pay that much money to replace inherently faulty parts on a $2000 instrument.

I don't have any pics of the loose binding unfortunately since I've re-glued it (I repair guitars for a living). Still, the twisted neck is by far the worst of these issues. The better adjustability of the hipshot bridge is the only thing that makes this bass just barely playable now. Any further movement on that neck and it's firewood. I guess heat treatment MIGHT work but in my experience it rarely has a happy ending in the long run for problems like this.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

Walkabout Scout 112.

I pined after one of these for a very long time. After picking a used one up and using it on a gig, I just returned it.

Man, that's what makes the world go 'round! This Jeff loves his Walkabout. It's literally the tone I searched for years to find. I eventually bought another combo and a head because I was worried I'd never find another one if my current one died!

 

[stringthrough]

Back in the mid-80's, one of the original MIA of these. . . I never could get comfortable with it and sold it within a year.

Also cost a small fortunes, about $2,000 in 1980's dollars. Probably equivalent to roughly $3,500 in current dollars.

 

[Rnr..........4]

For me it was a Ric. I bought one new, and it did look, sound and play great - I was happy. Then, over a period of several months, I had multiple component failures (pickup switch, volume pot, several poorly soldered connections, a finish that chipped easily, a bridge with tail lift that didn't provide good intonation, etc.). I sold it and never got another. The funny thing is that if I had based it on my initial impression, I would have only said the most positive things. Similarly, I've never had any other components fail to perform like that on all the other basses I've owned (from a wide variety of manufacturers, at a wide range of price points and perceived quality levels). It was like they were all saved up for just that one Ric.

Fake news. It would have been covered under warranty for a start? Must have been a new old stock 4003 before the bridge update? I just bought a Rick and it's fantastic. Only fret buzz.

As for most disappointing? Either the Sub Sterling Stingray (which I returned) or an active Spector but it might have just been bad strings. I had a passive NS2 with basslines and it was killer. Wish I'd kept it. I'm more into passive basses but the $$ Warwick I have is pretty impressive.

 

[Kenova]

Low end Ashdown line, Ashdown MAG 300 4x10 combo and Ashdown Five Fifteen combo. Dry, muddy, too middy, not even loud enough.

 

[TNCreature]

The Rickenbacker Cheyanne Walnut 4004.
This was the most dead, joyous, lifeless heavy hunk of wood I have ever touched.

 

[BassGeekJack]

I acquired a Fender PJ in a trade and figured it would be the best of both worlds.... It was the seafoam green passive deluxe model (which I loved the look of), but the glossy neck felt so awful and, as I should have suspected, it didn't get me the full J tone or full P tone, but only something frustratingly close. I've long since concluded that no Fender is going to get much better than my MIM Standard P (though I do like the Player series).

 

[Porkchop2]

After a decade of gigging Hartke 3500 heads and XL cabs, I switched up to an LH1000 and hydrive stuff. Had the LH1000 fail twice, had a LH500 fail. Had 2 of the Hydrive 112 cabs that almost blew. Still have a Hydrive 810 that was actually pretty good (horn blew tho but dont really need it). I later ran the 810 with a old used peavey mark 8 plus that replaced the LH1000 and never failed me. Super disappointed with the Hydrive/LH stuff.

 

[Bill Murray]

I acquired a Fender PJ in a trade and figured it would be the best of both worlds.... It was the seafoam green passive deluxe model (which I loved the look of), but the glossy neck felt so awful and, as I should have suspected, it didn't get me the full J tone or full P tone, but only something frustratingly close. I've long since concluded that no Fender is going to get much better than my MIM Standard P (though I do like the Player series).

hahah too funny man, that very bass started my P/J obsession. I actually used it in multiple sessions too. Loved that thing but sold it because I hated switching between that and my 5 string.

 

[CoffeeLove]

A USA Fender Jazz 5 string, and wanted to like one so bad I purchased a 2nd from a different era. I just hate the wide nut width, so keep coming back to the Stingray 5, just love the neck and tone. However, I always trade or buy used, so not quite as disappointing because I can usually resell for the same price or trade value it was acquired. If you have the itch again, might want to go that route, less disappointing.

 

[Solarmist]

My Carvin BX700 amp that started failing after three years. I wish I would have known these amps were junk, maybe I should have wondered why it was on sale for $370 down from $450 in a going out of business sale. I'm thrilled with my new GK Legacy500!

Also a LTD B155 bass, I could not stand the thick D shaped neck on that thing - the polar opposite of what I'm used to with my Ibby's.

 

[Bonecat]

The Warwick Corvette Limited Edition bass with mirrored split coil pickups that had years ago. I played it in the shop and fell in lust with it. So much so that I traded my ‘96 Fender Anniversary Jazz for it. It was beautiful, amazingly well made, and while not particularly flexible tone wise, sounded soooo good. I played it almost non stop for about a week and noticed that I was having some real problems with my left wrist. Turned out that although it was an awesome instrument, it just wasn’t ergonomically good for me. I had to take it back and get my Jazz back.

And I still have that Jazz bass...

 

[Bill Murray]

A USA Fender Jazz 5 string, and wanted to like one so bad I purchased a 2nd from a different era. I just hate the wide nut width, so keep coming back to the Stingray 5, just love the neck and tone. However, I always trade or buy used, so not quite as disappointing because I can usually resell for the same price or trade value it was acquired. If you have the itch again, might want to go that route, less disappointing.

Yea I agree, I didn’t love the B string on the Fender but it was mostly the neck and string spacing that didn’t work for me. The Stingray just sits right, the most comfortable I’ve been on a 5.

Used/trade is where it’s at, I never actually purchased a new bass. The only time I took a real plunge was for the Modulus...

 

[Ken Morgan]

My experience has been the opposite. I have 4 Indos.... purchased from 2007-2020: Ibanez ATK, ESP LTD and Ibanez Talman... along with a Hamer guitar double-cutaway PRS copy. All of them were playable out of the box, and required only minor adjustments. No issues with electronics or frets. The stock strings on the Talman were garbage... had to replace them, but that was no big deal.

My only Indonesian bass is a Yamaha BB435... it is a wonderful sounding instrument that would still be a good deal if they doubled the price..but

As with all things, as soon as I buy a new product, it’s discontinued by the manufacturer.

 

[songwriter21]

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?

Status graphite, believe it or not, was the most disappointing. It was an S2 Classic. The neck had an s-curve, yes, and s-curve, nut was cut too low, was HEAVY, and the preamp sucked. I know the preamp is voiced/wired differently, but it just sounded brittle and thin. My Carvin Icon blows it away, as did a Peavey GV I once owned.

 

[songwriter21]

Daddario ProSteels and NY XLs. Not as zingy as expected, less perceived bottom end than regular nickel XLs. So in the end in both cases I'm like "this was supposed to be super zingy and awesome tone but... I prefer the sound the regular nickel XLs that cost half as much deliver?"

Remember their predecessor...Prisms? Those were AWESOME strings.

 

[Redd Hatt]

I made some pretty bad gear choices back in the day. My most regrettable purchase was a vintage Gibson Tanker Truck I bought from a fellow musician in the mid 90’s a few hours before a gig and impulsively threw into the car as my bass for the show. I gave it a good run...for about an hour. I think I’m permanently an inch shorter from wearing that beast for the first nine songs. Got a pinched nerve in my neck and ended up trading it the next day for a G&L SB-1.