I have a friend who just got one. The jury's still out for me, I'll probably get a chance to play through it soon.
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Overhyped Features You Just Had to Have
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
I have a friend who just got one. The jury's still out for me, I'll probably get a chance to play through it soon.
Original Bass Whammy. I had no business buying one, but just had to have it. I used it once or twice but kept it around. After I learned that bass playing Tool fans had to have it, I sold on Ebay for a ridiculous price. So terrible purchase, but not really.
Bear in mind, also, that all of the vintage instruments I've handled have been located in or around WV, OH, KY, PA, MD, etc. - pretty brutal weather extremes, makes it exceedingly less likely that something as finicky as wooden electric instruments stay in great shape unless they're super well cared-for all their lives, few are. I'm sure vintage standouts are way more common in the SouthWest, for example, or even down South where winter's not bad.
There are certain iconic guitar sounds that were produced on 22-fret guitars whose polepieces were directly under the octave node (i.e., where the 24th fret would be), and strictly speaking there is no way you can replicate that exact sound on a 24-fret guitar. So if you want those sounds then yes, 24 frets is bad. Otherwise...
Ah, but just imagine what a bass with a 2Tek bridge and Lightwave pickup played through an Aural Exciter would sound like!!!! I mean...it wouldn't sound like a bass, but damnnnnnnnnn
I did. Then it dawned on me I didn't need the battery anymore. : D
I am so glad this thread reminded me of the Nightbass. That is like the ultimate cautionary tale for GAS.
Now, the Digitech Bass Harmony Machinr worked surprisingly well (especially for its time) but had no practical application I could fine.
Now, the Digitech Bass Harmony Machinr worked surprisingly well (especially for its time) but had no practical application I could fine.
It's funny how fads come and go, I could point to each decade I've played and find something a bassist just couldn't live without, until of course the next fad happened. chorus pedals, pointy basses, headless basses, badass bridge, biamped rig, active bass, midi, the lists go on and on. But we had to be current and that's what it took.
Right now the current fad is a passive p bass and a micro amp, at least on talk bass. Who's knows what the next "must have" will be. But I guarantee, most will have to get it.
To answer the question of my most useless fad? The sanded back of the neck.
I ruined a nice p bass neck back in the day by removing all the finish off the back of the neck. The reality was it didn't make the bass any faster or more comfortable to play. These days a sanded neck feels fast at first, but play it for any length of time and your hand will polish it back to a gloss feel, and is just as fast.
Right now the current fad is a passive p bass and a micro amp, at least on talk bass. Who's knows what the next "must have" will be. But I guarantee, most will have to get it.
To answer the question of my most useless fad? The sanded back of the neck.
I ruined a nice p bass neck back in the day by removing all the finish off the back of the neck. The reality was it didn't make the bass any faster or more comfortable to play. These days a sanded neck feels fast at first, but play it for any length of time and your hand will polish it back to a gloss feel, and is just as fast.
Well standard P basses are all passive and they are quite standards ... don't seem to me a big hype ... I agree on the sanded neck ... this is definitely a hype IMO
Actually some players need the back of the neck without the finish for a simple reason:
They used 1 instrument so much that the finish wore off naturally from playing.
I agree p basses are standards, I've played one since 1981, but as classic and wonderful as we see them these days, there were periods of time that they were not in style and jazz basses were the Fender to have. Seems it has shifted for the time being.
I'm not sure how this is a need, but a preference for sure, especially if you are used to a certain feel of a neck you have played on long enough to wear the finish off, but honestly unless touring or playing constantly it takes many years to wear the finish off like that, and that really only applies to a lacquer finished neck anyway. I have a great 85 mij p bass, had a maple neck/board finished in poly. I stupidly took a razor blade and scraped the finish off the back of the neck and fretboard to make it faster and give it more of a woody tone. I then coated it with boiled linseed oil until it soaked in and sealed. The neck was sticky for years, and the bass definitely was less bright sounding, too much. I ended up putting some EMG pickups in to brighten it back up, and the neck feels good now after 30 some years (I did it in the late 80s) it is polished and feels great, and no longer stinks, lol.
I will never sell the bass so there is no worry about resale but if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have done it
I bought our guitarist's tc electronics chorus/flanger pedal when he got a rack in 1990.
The best (and only pedal I ever used
)
He bought it back for the same price in 2005 when he left the band. (because he sold his rack 
)
In all those years I used the pedal only once for a recording.
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
The best (and only pedal I ever used
)He bought it back for the same price
in 2005 when he left the band. (because he sold his rack )In all those years I used the pedal only once for a recording.
may the bass be with you
Wise(b)ass
The worst hype I've fallen into is trusting the mostly anecdotal and situational opinions of people on talkbass.
I have improved so much better as a musician by trusting myself and making my own decisions.
I have improved so much better as a musician by trusting myself and making my own decisions.
I don't know that it makes them any faster, but it makes them far more comfortable for me personally. Not unfinished wood, it's my understanding that raw wood goes bad over time and exposure to heat/cold/humidity/sweat, and I've never played an instrument that had a completely unfinished neck. I've always sanded the backs of the necks on my basses (all have had maple necks) down to bare wood and then applied a few (6-10, depending on thickness) coats of Tru-Oil to them, rubbing with 00 steel wool between coats and after I'm done. It makes an awesome slick satin finish that I find much faster and more comfortable than any gloss finish, and doesn't polish up glossy that I've ever seen. Clean it with 0000 steel wool every week or two, and it stays indefinitely- I've never had to re-sand one and oil it again. I don't care about resale, I didn't buy them to sell, I bought them to play. If it costs me a little when it comes time to get rid of one, so be it if it means I can enjoy it dramatically more while I own it.
Yep, I am actually a electronic tech, but never tweaked on my basses, neck, set up, etc. it's actually very enjoyable, wished I would have learned how too, years ago.
The only "Z Man" that I am aware of is in Kansas City at a place called "KC Joes". It is a BBQ sandwich of which there is no equal in the civilized world....
The Legend of the Z-Man - Joe's KC BBQ
I'm telling you from experience - NO EQUAL!!!
Brass nuts. I requested this on 2 basses that have essentially the same neck, I think bone or graphite would be better in hindsight.
+1
I didn't develop the preference for a neck with no finish by wearing it off... I developed it by playing upright bass for 4-5 years before ever picking up an electric bass. Finished necks feel so sticky to me.
Will get lynched for this, but tuner stomp boxes. Tried them but never owned one, never liked them. Nothing beats a piano giving me an A to tune to and I take it from there.
To a lesser degree, headstock tuners, though I do use these. A small nuisance in one's gig bag though.
Used to use an A440 tuning fork, but lost it, it was a good quality one and the ones they sell now are crap and from the reviews, not always accurate. I'd get another if I could find a good one that is reasonably priced.
To a lesser degree, headstock tuners, though I do use these. A small nuisance in one's gig bag though.
Used to use an A440 tuning fork, but lost it, it was a good quality one and the ones they sell now are crap and from the reviews, not always accurate. I'd get another if I could find a good one that is reasonably priced.
