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Overhyped Features You Just Had to Have

#144
24 fret neck, 5 string, and a whammy bar. Didn't get the whammy on the 5, though I wanted to and the shop that made it talked me out of it. Glad they did, because the next bass I got from them was a 4 with a whammy bar, and while I enjoy having one bass with a whammy, I have no desire to get another one. Same with 24 frets and 5-string. I pretty much stick to my Fenders with 20 frets or my Hammersmith PJ4 with 21. That's enough for everything I'm doing. I did threaten to start using the 5 again in my new band, but I just can't, so I use an EHX Pitch Fork with some flange and overdrive on it instead :D
 
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#149
Oh, this is easy...... The much-dreaded ART Nightbass. That damn thing gave me fits!!! I delivered newspapers, pizzas, cut grass, played gigs, literally everything to get one of those. I finally got myself one, and that damned thing..... Man, it sounded like crap. So friggin' cheezy-sounding. I was PISSED, to say the least. I think that's why I'm more of a purist, when it comes to effects.
 
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#150
Killed_by_Death said:
I like MIDs, so I thought that I needed the newer Ibanez with the 3-band EQ
turns out whatever band they're manipulating with their MIDs knob is not the MID that I like
1,200 Hz is the one that trips my trigger, which I found out when demoing Rumble amps
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I love the rumble series amps. I've been playing a rumble 150 since 2010 and it's still going strong after a fair bit of abuse. One thing that always amazes me is the built in overdrive on that series of amps; when mine finally kicks the bucket, I'll probably crack it open and replicate that OD circuit in a pedal.
 
#156
On my first legit bass-- an L2000 in 1986-- I got it new with a Kahler tremolo in it, like I'd seen Will Lee use. I suspected that would not be a huge asset, and it wasn't. But, it was a thing and I was going all out on my first-ever brand new bass! Will Lee had one so...
 
#157
Dr. Cheese said:
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.
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I have experimented a lot, amps, basses, pedals, etc, to find what I like, been playing bass around 30 years, just learned to do intonation, and truss rod, 2-3 months ago, one of the main reasons, is because the best guitar set up guy in the area, is always so far behind, and inconvenient to deal with, I think most musicians try many different things. I will say it's been a costly journey for me.
 
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#159
andawun said:
I'm still afraid to touch a truss rod!
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While techs probably appreciate that ($$$), truss rod adjustment, generally speaking, is easy. It's a binary (either/or) adjustment. You just have to understand why you're adjusting it. And when the adjustment is going the way you want it. If it isn't... go the other way.
The same goes for string height and intonation.

None of these adjustments are elliptical or require much thinking.
;)
 
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#160
Hand slap said:
I have experimented a lot, amps, basses, pedals, etc, to find what I like, been playing bass around 30 years, just learned to do intonation, and truss rod, 2-3 months ago, one of the main reasons, is because the best guitar set up guy in the area, is always so far behind, and inconvenient to deal with, I think most musicians try many different things. I will say it's been a costly journey for me.
Click to expand...

Your trajectory is similar to mine. To be honest, I got better at tech work from reading stuff on TB, watching YouTube videos, and having friendly set up guys tell me what to do.
 

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