• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The most and less durable stage basses

#22
You can't go wrong with a durable passive precision or jazz or t-40. None of those has ever let me down.

As for non durable, older semihollow basses can have a great tone, but they weren't all made very well. Whenever I played out on my MIJ 60's EKO violabass copy, I feared it was going to implode in my hands. Needless to say it doesn't get on stage very often anymore.
 
#24
My Steinberger XL2 was probably the most durable I ever used. Never ever went out of tune and withstood constant physical abuse night after night. When I sold it, it barely even looked scratched. As a sidenote, a buddy of mine took his and hit a concrete pillar with it like a baseball bat and the pillar chipped. The bass only had a minor nick that you could barely see or feel. Tough stuff.
 
#26
on the cheapie side of things, my sx ash jazz has taken everything from the ocean to sitting overnight in a freezing van to people shoving drums and keyboards on it (which i didn't find out about until afterwards :() and it's still as sexy as ever.
 
#28
watch out for washburn. I have a low/midrange price one - I played it a month after I got it, then a pot broke. Had it fixed on warranty. Then a week after I got it back, the input jack broke. Had it fixed on warranty, it took a couple of weeks for some reason :S Day after I finally got it back, I accidently knocked it out of its mount = the bridge piece for the G-string broke + the back of the headstock cracked, starting from one of the tuners :(
Got it fixed, but im afraid to play it now, and i cant get it sold :(
 
#29
squier p bass

seriously i bought one mega cheap from a second hand shop to smash up onstage it took 3 hard swings before the neck cracked and even then it didnt break so i launched it into the offstage wall where it bounced back and landed on the guitarists pedal snapping the stomp plate off it and causing him to chase me across the bar

needless to say we never played there again
in the end i had to lean the dam thing against a wall n kung foo kick it to break the neck all the way through
 
#30
I reckon my neck-thru Thumb bass could be used to subdue a few people and would still be in tune after I'd wiped the brains off it. I also threw a Jazz bass out of a second storey window once, it landed head-first - admittedly on a lawn - but it was absolutely fine. Bit muddy.
 
#31
Fenders and their clones will survive well - built to last, plus you can just replace the neck if anything happens to it. By contrast, mahogany-neck Gibsons are the worst for durability. Very many of the used EB-type basses you see will have had the neck glued back together in the vicinity of the headstock.
 
#34
My old jazz has fallen on concrete, fell on me, fallen on my car, fallen out of my car, fallen for my dog, been used as a cricket bat, been used as a personal self defense weapon (that wasn't pretty), been left in my hot car on a 44 degree (celcius) day (the paint from the refinish job blistered EVERYWHERE), been drenched in beer, bourbon (YUK!), snot, spit, dog, and, on top of all this, it still goes, is still my number one, and I love her so damn much. The old girl has never not once let me down. And all this in only a few (maybe 3..?) years. It has aged WELL beyond its years in my ownership, and has taken the whole lot in it's gorgeous stride, a true testament to how reliable it is.
 
#38
My most durable:
- Squier Jazz... dropped it on it's head once and bent one of the tone nobs. Still sounded fine
- Gibson RD standard... that thing could crack concrete.
- Peavey T-40... a few mentioned it before. It's a tank!

Not so durable:
- Fender P deluxe special (MIM)... bad electronics. Replaced one tone pot and it was fine afterwards.
 
#39
Agreed on passive Fenders and Laklands - damn near indestructible!

But man - for me - the most durable bass I've come across would have to be a Modulus VJ4.

I have treated that bass with mucho disrespect and it ALWAYS functions properly - AND stays in tune.

Hard to go wrong with graphite and alder.

Ian
 
#40
spade2you said:
I've seen a few of the EB basses suffer the same fate.

Realistically, basses will work well if you PLAY them. If you're worried about durability, I'd suspect you wear helmet and drool on yourself.
Click to expand...

That's about the gist of it. Plenty of musicians travel all over the country with instruments that are much more fragile than most electric basses. Fenders are pretty durable, I suppose, but the key to keeping any bass in good condition is to remember what it's designed to do.

cdef said:
Fenders and their clones will survive well - built to last, plus you can just replace the neck if anything happens to it. By contrast, mahogany-neck Gibsons are the worst for durability. Very many of the used EB-type basses you see will have had the neck glued back together in the vicinity of the headstock.
Click to expand...

I've heard this about T-birds myself.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back