Overhyped Features You Just Had to Have

[Dr. Cheese]

I think everybody, especially newbies, gets caught up in hype, and goes crazy for features on basses and amps that are not really necessary.
Back in the Seventies and early Eighties, I just swore I needed a 24 fret bass for "soloing and more expressive" playing, after all, Stanley Clarke had a two octave neck, didn't he?

The irony was that I was playing by ear and didn't know the notes on the fingerboard, and I only had basic knowledge of chord structure. In other words, I had none of the skills needed to make use of extended range.

I also think about Steinberger and graphite necks for stability. Heck, I was afraid to touch a trussrod, and did not understand intonation. When you are a bedroom player 90% of the time, as was for the first 17 or 18 years of playing, you can wallow in ignorance a long time.

The bottom line is the more I got out and started playing, the more it really sank in that the player, not the bass, makes the difference.

 

[DigitalMan]

I was caught up in the original active electronics hype. Not that they're better or worse, just different. But in the 80's you wouldn't catch me playing a lowly passive bass.

 

[MCS4]

And here I am enjoying the heck out of my 24-fret, active bass with graphite/composite neck...

 

[Baird6869]

Big pickups with a 18v pre. Bigger the better. Big@$$ soapbars looked so damned cool.

I still use them, but also love my Jazz and P pickups (passive).

Also 5 and 6 strings. Not that anyone cared that I was playing a 6 string, but I thought I was cool. Still play 5ers now and actually use the B string for more than a thumb rest.

 

[5544]

Volume knob.

Sure I could buy a quieter amp but then I would have to remove the volume knob to justify the purchase.

 

[two fingers]

As mentioned....
Active electronics- I'm all passive these days.
24 frets - all 21 these days.

For me....

6 strings - Never got any use out of the high Court.
5 strings- I absolutely use the low B.
Pointy headstock- Gimme a break. It was the 80s.
Neon colored bass - I wish I had that hot pink Kramer Forum back to this day.

 

[Runlikegregg]

I notice that the more I play the less I care about anything.
I have a good quality G&L - certainly not the top of the line or anything - I don't care at all about what amp I play through anymore.
I have an Eden because I used to be a tone snob. now just about all 4 speakers in my 18 year old Eden 410xlt need to be reconed and rattle like crazy. I never worry about or care about the amps I play through live at clubs etc.
So I guess my answer is..... everything!

 

[Jebberz]

Neon colored bass - I wish I had that hot pink Kramer Forum back to this day.

In my early high school years, I'd rather play my self spray canned neon green cheap and pointy series A than approach the nice P-Bass the shcooled had... it was sunburst with tort....

 

[garp]

Bubinga.

 

[petrus61]

I notice that the more I play the less I care about anything.
I have a good quality G&L - certainly not the top of the line or anything - I don't care at all about what amp I play through anymore.
I have an Eden because I used to be a tone snob. now just about all 4 speakers in my 18 year old Eden 410xlt need to be reconed and rattle like crazy. I never worry about or care about the amps I play through live at clubs etc.
So I guess my answer is..... everything!

I hear that. While I like to have something that works, is loud and somewhat toneful, amps is always the least interesting aspect of playing for me. I don't know where people who don't gig every single night find the time, storage or finances to get so wrapped up in amps. I guess if I had those three things too, I'd also be wrapped up in it.

I guess the biggest one for me is active basses. I truly wish I had figured out sooner that the sound in my head was never going to happen using an active pre. I also remember thinking that the Ibanez Ergodyne was the nicest bass I had ever seen

 

[Dr. Cheese]

As mentioned....
Active electronics- I'm all passive these days.
24 frets - all 21 these days.

For me....

6 strings - Never got any use out of the high Court.
5 strings- I absolutely use the low B.
Pointy headstock- Gimme a break. It was the 80s.
Neon colored bass - I wish I had that hot pink Kramer Forum back to this day.

I agree about B strings. Even a beginner can make effective use of a B string. The low notes aren't necessary, but they can certainly add positively to the music.

 

[lz4005]

Being a big Sheehan, Hamm and Manring fan as a teenager, I thought I needed to be able to change tunings at a moment's notice. Eventually I had Hipshot drop tuners on 3 basses.

20+ years later I've never needed them on a gig. But I still have them. Just in case.

 

[petrus61]

I also remember desperately wanting a Warwick and when I finally got one didn't fall in love with it. That was my last non-Fenderish bass in 20 years.

 

[Runlikegregg]

Being a big Sheehan, Hamm and Manring fan as a teenager, I thought I needed to be able to change tunings at a moment's notice. Eventually I had Hipshot drop tuners on 3 basses.

20+ years later I've never needed them on a gig. But I still have them. Just in case.

just in case!!! ha ha ha.

 

[TolerancEJ]

If the option is available to me, I prefer 24-frets for symmetry.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

And here I am enjoying the heck out of my 24-fret, active bass with graphite/composite neck...

You only think you are enjoying them. You are, in reality, mired in misery and loneliness. You need to go buy a P bass. You'll feel much better, I promise.

 

[Road Hat]

Quilted Maple and Wenge

 

[Dr. Cheese]

If the option is available to me, I prefer 24-frets for symmetry.

Cool, 24 frets make all the sense in the world, but my point was that two octaves are not a secret sauce that will suddenly make a newbie better.

 

[ThudThudThud]

In the early days of playing I never really had the funds to branch out all that much. Started with a P, but always wanted more. I did have a double humbucker headless bass, and have an 80s weird shape with a V/T/V/T PJ with toggle switch. Went fretless for a while. Went acoustic for a long while. Other than the preamp in the acoustic, I never had an active bass until the last couple of years (Am. Std. Jaguar). I went through a Jazz bass kick for many years. Tried stacked VT/VT/Blend-Master Volume on a J. Tried a J with the push/pull series/parallel. Always lusted after an Ibanez Musician, an Alembic, a Wal, a Kubicki, an Ashley Pangbourne, a Jaydee - something with a cool preamp and focused growl.

These days my two Precisions get the most attention. Even the Jaguar gets more time passive, P pickup than anything else. I guess I didn't really want more. I've got pedals etc. and my J's growl if I need that fix.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard...ugh...what a colossal waste of money...