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Name a bass that really surprised you?
- Thread starter IGotGas
- Start date
I was very surprised by an old Fender short scale Musicmaster, one of the most fun and playable basses I've had. Bought for $100, sold for $150 I think, should have kept it. For me it was like a P sound but better because it wasn't as boomy but still had that midrange grunt. I'd love to find another one and turn it into a fretless piccolo.
Looked pretty much identical to this...
Another one was an early 80's G&L L2k bought back before anyone but session guys knew about them. My first experience with an active tone monster, that thing had mojo for days. I liked it so much that I eventually replaced it with a modern L2500 that unfortunately sounded nothing like it nor did it have any of the mojo factor, so double surprise with G&L.
Looked pretty much identical to this...
Another one was an early 80's G&L L2k bought back before anyone but session guys knew about them. My first experience with an active tone monster, that thing had mojo for days. I liked it so much that I eventually replaced it with a modern L2500 that unfortunately sounded nothing like it nor did it have any of the mojo factor, so double surprise with G&L.
This one surprised me, too... sounded pretty good but a little buzzy with the stock roundwounds (odd spec for a fretless, guess they want a Jaco vibe?), really nice with some decent flats.
a '92 yamaha rbx350. pointy headstock and small, compact body with P/J pickups. can set it up amazingly low (around 1mm) and while it may not be the best sounding bass i've ever played, it is very thick sounding. the bridge pickup solo'd isn't nasal at all, very full and throaty. the P p'up is pretty fat and sounds like a good P.
Mines not so much a bass I'm afraid to show in public but it did surprise me based on what everyone was telling me. I ordered a Gibson les Paul brand new, never heading one before or even seeing one. While waiting for it to arrive I mentioned it to a few people and they all generally had the same reaction. Everyone told me it was going to sound like absolute mud. However, after playing it for over a year now it's probably the best bass I've ever owned, and the tone is a lot of what I'm going for. I threw a set of chromes on it and it definitely isn't muddy, and it balances well, I can let go and hop up and down without the neck dropping more than an inch or 2
A Hondo 860(or was it 830?) P bass copy I found in the trash in my neighborhood,
Was missing G string tuning gear.Candy apple red,plywood laminate body & white pickguard with a cream colored P pickup(not Di Marzio).
Put a standard P bass tuning gear on it,strung it up,plugged it in & the damn thing sounded great.Think 70's rock P bass.
Used it a lot for a couple of years then sold it for $125.00.
I've had 70's & 80's Fender's that didn't sound nearly as good!
Was missing G string tuning gear.Candy apple red,plywood laminate body & white pickguard with a cream colored P pickup(not Di Marzio).
Put a standard P bass tuning gear on it,strung it up,plugged it in & the damn thing sounded great.Think 70's rock P bass.
Used it a lot for a couple of years then sold it for $125.00.
I've had 70's & 80's Fender's that didn't sound nearly as good!
The cheapest, Indonesian made Hofner Club bass. Got it for $275 with case and put some La Bella Beatle Bass flats on it. Nailed the old-school hollowbody sound very well, and was light and very easy to play. Even the intonation was pretty good for the fact that the bridge was not a modern one.
I sold it because I thought I was going to move away. Later on, I bought a German Hofner, but it wasn't a good specimen and I sold it again. To be honest I miss the cheap one!
As to your bass problem....easy solution. Start a metal band.
I sold it because I thought I was going to move away. Later on, I bought a German Hofner, but it wasn't a good specimen and I sold it again. To be honest I miss the cheap one!
As to your bass problem....easy solution. Start a metal band.
scottbass
Bass lines like a big, funky giant
A Brawley.
I walked into GC one Saturday and there was a natural finish, neck-through Brawley 4-string with black hardware hanging amongst the basses. It was manufactured somewhere in the Far East. It had two soapbar pu's. I'm not sure if it was active or passive, but I'm thinking it was active. I played it - it played like butter! I couldn't get a good sense of how it sounded since there were lots of people playing things in GC at the time, and the one SVT they had for demo purposes was in use. It was marked "closeout" and was priced around $250, if I recall correctly.
I decided I would go back when it was more quiet to try it and (probably) buy it. So I went back two days later...Monday, midafternoon. Of course it was gone. I had never heard of a Brawley before, so I asked the bass guy about it. He told me that Keith Brawley had left Fender/Squier to start his own company, had manufactured a few basses domestically, then he sent the manufacturing offshore. He was now out of business and that was the last Brawley bass I would ever see there.
I have been looking ever since, but I have only seen a few on eBay and I have never seen the particular neckthru model that I played that day.
I walked into GC one Saturday and there was a natural finish, neck-through Brawley 4-string with black hardware hanging amongst the basses. It was manufactured somewhere in the Far East. It had two soapbar pu's. I'm not sure if it was active or passive, but I'm thinking it was active. I played it - it played like butter! I couldn't get a good sense of how it sounded since there were lots of people playing things in GC at the time, and the one SVT they had for demo purposes was in use. It was marked "closeout" and was priced around $250, if I recall correctly.
I decided I would go back when it was more quiet to try it and (probably) buy it. So I went back two days later...Monday, midafternoon. Of course it was gone. I had never heard of a Brawley before, so I asked the bass guy about it. He told me that Keith Brawley had left Fender/Squier to start his own company, had manufactured a few basses domestically, then he sent the manufacturing offshore. He was now out of business and that was the last Brawley bass I would ever see there.
I have been looking ever since, but I have only seen a few on eBay and I have never seen the particular neckthru model that I played that day.
My number one surprise is a fretless SX J-bass I got to try at a TalkBass GTG down in Virginia. It had been given TLC and a pro setup. It played like a dream, plenty of mwah. I don't recall the TB user, shame on me. 
Obviously, the biggest surprises come from the low-end basses. Expectations for boutiques are much higher, so they tend to be disappointments, if anything. That said, the Sadowsky in my avatar continues to be my favorite, which is a surprise because I tend to be a grass-is-greener-over-yonder kinda guy.
Obviously, the biggest surprises come from the low-end basses. Expectations for boutiques are much higher, so they tend to be disappointments, if anything. That said, the Sadowsky in my avatar continues to be my favorite, which is a surprise because I tend to be a grass-is-greener-over-yonder kinda guy.
A Brawley is my main bass, @scottbass. I've had it for 6 years now and will never let it go! It is not a neckthru but it does play like butta. The pickups, tuners, and nut were rather low quality so I replaced them. Wish I could find one of the neckthru models also, would snatch it up in a second. I've seen my model in used music shops for $99, If you ever see one....get it. Well worth the cash and for less than $400 you could make it to an incredible bass.
Attachments
Mine would be a $299 Squire 5 string. Black with white pickguard.
I was messing around in a local music store, waiting for something (can't remember now), and saw this bass, decided to pick it up.
The only issue with the bass was the frets were a little too big (width-wise) for the neck, so you could feel them as you slid your hand up and down the neck.
THAT SAID: It sounded awesome, its playability was amazing, and it was just downright fun to play. I came so close to walking out with it.
Oh well
I was messing around in a local music store, waiting for something (can't remember now), and saw this bass, decided to pick it up.
The only issue with the bass was the frets were a little too big (width-wise) for the neck, so you could feel them as you slid your hand up and down the neck.
THAT SAID: It sounded awesome, its playability was amazing, and it was just downright fun to play. I came so close to walking out with it.
Oh well
SX Ursa. It was 10 times the bass I expected for the price. Even the set up was good, right out of the box. Still using it, unmodified. $186.00 delivered, and I use it for travel and practice, but could easily gig with it without regrets.
- Apr 21, 2000
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- Gallien Krueger for the last 12 years!
Years ago, Dave Siff showed up at a GTG with a Reverend Rumblefish. NOT what I expected! That bass had balls for days, and sounded great to boot! As for econo basses, the first SX I ever bought for $119. I took it to a "professional" studio, and it sounded like a bass 7 or 8 times its price. That bass ended up being on 3 major label singles. It has this thing I can't explain. I still have that bass.
Picked up another surprise bass! Not sure when, where, or why I bought it, but anyway it's an "Azelia" P/J 4 bolt passive. It's very light, not sure the blend control actually does anything, but after my tech set it up and put new strings on...about 15 seconds in of noodling around we were like...holy cow! It's Pbass sound is really quite good, esp when played via pic!! Quite good definition (guess that coukd be the J?) and all for like $90 delivered!! Hahahaha think I might put some quality tuners on it and swap in some P/U's I have laying around just for giggles and grins!!
I could list a host of well regarded instruments that really shocked me at how little I liked them when played...
I'd have to say one that was a "holy cow, I must own this" was a G&L 2000 fretless that I bought new back in... yikes... 1984. Something about that bass just spoke to me - sounded great, felt great - a fine bass that I was simply not good enough to own at the time. I ended up selling it for a painful loss (one of my very last "new" purchases) and would be pleased to have it back today.
I'd have to say one that was a "holy cow, I must own this" was a G&L 2000 fretless that I bought new back in... yikes... 1984. Something about that bass just spoke to me - sounded great, felt great - a fine bass that I was simply not good enough to own at the time. I ended up selling it for a painful loss (one of my very last "new" purchases) and would be pleased to have it back today.
For me, it's this little SX short scale PJ.
After I tweaked it out a little, it is completely amazing to me. It's the most effortless bass to play that I've run across in the 30 plus years that I've been at it.
No short scale weirdness in anyway compared to a 34...well except for the fact that it's just smaller.
After I tweaked it out a little, it is completely amazing to me. It's the most effortless bass to play that I've run across in the 30 plus years that I've been at it.
No short scale weirdness in anyway compared to a 34...well except for the fact that it's just smaller.
