Most Disappointing purchase

[rocmonster]

Stingray.
Traded a late ‘60’s beat up P-Bass I received as payment on a debt (I never liked P-Basses) for a 1978 Stingray that I thought I would love but was too heavy, neck too chunky, and I could never get the right tone out of it. I had it for a month and then traded it in for a ‘79 jazz that in the long run was much worse.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

In the early 70s I had a fireglow Ric 4003. I bought another one about a year ago. I returned it. The current Rics are not like the old rics.

 

[Mr. Headless]

Every Steinberger I've ever owned. I want to like them, but each one has simply not impressed me.

BLASPHEMY!!

 

[Jack Deth]

Assorted pack of picks. Never use them, but always seem to have them for some reason.

 

[Mr. Headless]

Lots of hate for Rickenbacker in this thread. I bought a new Rickenbacker 4003 Walnut from MF, in 2017. MF was running a deal and I was able to get it for $1,530. Only issues I had with it was the bridge pickup needed to be raised slightly and I had to file the nut in the D string slot when I changed to new strings from stock strings. Other than that, it's been a fine bass. Rickenbackers can achieve a sound that no other bass can.

It is not "hate" if someone is recounting, accurately, their experiences with something. In the various Rickenbacker posts, there is enough similarity in the details to indicate (to me, at least) that there have been some pretty serious quality issues there. But maybe it was due to particular personnel, or budget issues, or some other issue that had an effect on some production runs, while other runs produced high quality, long-lasting basses.

 

[pfern]

Makes sense. Also, given the opportunity to write a review, most people won't bother posting a positive review but rarely hesitate to write a negative one. People LOVE to complain. See any product on Amazon.

 

[dasherf17]

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 purchased a case for my Thunderbird (an Epiphone neck and body to build up). Got it through Amazon based on the phrase "for Thunderbird", right? According to measurements given in the picture and measurements of the bass I found online, I'd have 1/4" inch to spare. Case comes, it's about an inch too short.

 

[twinjet]

TI Jazz Flats. Still no idea why the hype. The E was wolfy, which was the biggest bummer, but they also felt extra tight and not at all comfortable to play on or listen to.

I've since read that others have had single string issues with the E string, so maybe I got a bad set. Still, overall, big disappointment.

TI Jazz Flats might have been my worst purchase if I had paid MSRP. I had the opposite problem you did. They sounded good, but were too floppy!

 

[fretlessbass]

Unfortunately, All of my 6ers...I got on board very early with six-string basses, before they were commercially available—i loved the concept, loved the range, loved playing solo arrangements on them, etc!
I’d bought a bunch of them, but after about 20 years, I’d still never found one with as fat a sound as a 4 string P or J.....and I hated that tinny C string!
Just so happened that my then-wife bought me a 4–not realizing there was difference between basses.
Just to show my appreciation, I played it on exactly one gig....and little by little, sold off seven 6 string basses!
I do have a couple 5s, but my 4s are always my first choice.
My guess is that 6ers are much better today, but to be honest, the idea no longer really intrigues me.

 

[user362432]

Another Ric ex-owner here. Way back in time.
I put in that purchase, all of my money, love and desire. It blows it off, after just a day or two. I tried to save myself and suck it up... Finaly, I sold all of the crap and stopped playing.
I learned my lesson quickly. Any high dollar thing is potentially disappointment. So, When I started to play again, I talked to myself first. The limit was $500 for the piece. I have 9 instruments now, and every single one is loved and I am almost equally happy to play them, each in their own way. All Asian. Those people work hard to gain reputation and they do max. to reach it. Made in USA - not so much. They know they have $2000 just for the sticker. Thank you very much!

 

[6stringtheorist]

Long scale Gibson Les Paul bass. It exactly matched my '80 deluxe, so why not? Well, I tried to make it work, I really did, but sold it after a couple of years. Heavy, clunky, neck dive, didn't hang well, neck was too thick, scale too long for the design, so the nut was a mile away, and the tone was okay but not great. An emotional purchase that just didn't stick.

Had a similar experience looking for the Gibson EB-4L model for the longest time and was soooo disappointed when I finally got ahold of one in pristine condition. Did an immediate neck dive as soon as you strapped it on due to the huge headstock and the extra scale length. On the other hand my '75 Gibson EB-3 balanced perfectly standing or sitting and sounded fantastic thru an Ampeg B-25 head and FYI the B-25B's were actually rated at 55 watts so why not just call it a B-55 never could figure that one out oh well . . . . .

 

[Saint]

Tough call here. It's between the beautiful red G&L El Toro I picked up for a song a few years back, the Sans Amp I briefly owned, or the 8-string bass that I could never find a use for.
Or maybe it was the Impossible Whopper, which tasted just as bad as a normal Whopper.

 

[ajkula66]

the beautiful red G&L El Toro

Sheer curiosity on my end: what didn't you like about the El Toro ?

 

[Redd Hatt]

Sheer curiosity on my end: what didn't you like about the El Toro ?

Honestly...I had the same question on the Sansamp.

 

[Saint]

Sheer curiosity on my end: what didn't you like about the El Toro ?

Just couldn’t get a sound that felt right to me. It was one of those purchases where I totally scored a rare bass at an outstanding price and wanted to love it and just couldn’t get there. Maybe the regret isn’t in the purchase, but more in the fact that I couldn’t fall in love with it.

 

[Saint]

Honestly...I had the same question on the Sansamp.

Just sounded terrible to me no matter what I did. I didn’t know it then but now know that I like tubes and solid state emulations don’t cut it for me.

 

[ajkula66]

Maybe the regret isn’t in the purchase, but more in the fact that I couldn’t fall in love with it.

Fair enough. There's no accounting for taste and preferences. I loved mine and it did everything I needed it to for more than a decade, but thankfully not everyone is the same.

 

[Saint]

Here’s the one picture I have of it

Just couldn’t get a sound that felt right to me. It was one of those purchases where I totally scored a rare bass at an outstanding price and wanted to love it and just couldn’t get there. Maybe the regret isn’t in the purchase, but more in the fact that I couldn’t fall in love with it.

 

[jon5252]

A few years back I purchased a brand new fretless EB Stingray 5 HS- beautiful bass in transparent blue with roasted neck and ebony board. I had another one which I had played for a couple of years as my main bass and was super excited to get my hands on the new one. I could not get a decent sound out of that bass to save my life. I think I tried half a dozen different types of strings on it trying to get it to sound like something- it was just incredibly thin sounding and disappeared in the mix. I sold it and watched it come up on Ebay with different sellers four times over the next six months. My main bass now is a Stingray 5 Special and I really like it, but that one bass just did not go together right.

 

[roccobass]

I acquired a beautiful Status bass from a local shop who specialized in boutique basses. Sounded great in the shop. (They always do) And at home (There too)

I gigged with it 5 times. Changed strings to a heavier gauge, tried different heads and cabs and I could not get a good tone much less cut through the mix. Always was on the thin side. Even tried it on blast volume. No go. Thankfully, someone bought it off me.