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things you bought that didn't work out for you
- Thread starter pcake
- Start date
......
edmidlifecrisis
Registered mediocre bass player
I bought one of those Vitamix machines when they were trendy. I hated it. It was impossible to use and clean. I use a blender a lot but I have a ninja that works great. The Vitamix was a write off.
As far as basses go, a Rickenbacker. Hated everything about it except its looks. The biggest issue was the neck; I've never had my left wrist scream at me as hard as it did with that bass, and it would only take playing it for 2 - 3 minutes for it to start.
Car: I bought a used Nissan Sentra hatchback in 2000. Within days, it was obvious that something was very, very wrong with the transmission. Unlike the MECHANIC - yes, from an actual, accredited auto shop - who sold it to me, I was honest when I went to sell it: "$500 for a mint-body Nissan Sentra, engine fine as far as I know, transmission ******..."
Coffeemaker: I'll never buy Cuisinart again. Had the exact same model fail on me, both within the span of about two years. Nothing obvious happened to either of ' em - in both cases, they still had power; they just wouldn't brew coffee anymore. And the way they were built, with the metal part of the housing molded into the plastic part, very few screws, etc., I couldn't even take it apart to attempt to figure out how to fix 'em.
Car: I bought a used Nissan Sentra hatchback in 2000. Within days, it was obvious that something was very, very wrong with the transmission. Unlike the MECHANIC - yes, from an actual, accredited auto shop - who sold it to me, I was honest when I went to sell it: "$500 for a mint-body Nissan Sentra, engine fine as far as I know, transmission ******..."
Coffeemaker: I'll never buy Cuisinart again. Had the exact same model fail on me, both within the span of about two years. Nothing obvious happened to either of ' em - in both cases, they still had power; they just wouldn't brew coffee anymore. And the way they were built, with the metal part of the housing molded into the plastic part, very few screws, etc., I couldn't even take it apart to attempt to figure out how to fix 'em.
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Now, I'm just speaking for myself and I'm not trying to step on any bass player's toes or be controversial.
Bass stuff I bought that over the years (not other things) that didn't work out for me.
Mesa 400+ all tube amp.
Stingray basses and the USA Sterlings also.
15" bass speakers.
Heavy bass cabs.
RotoSound 66 strings.
Round wound strings.
Basses with active Eq.
Five strings.
Fretless basses.
A bass violin.
Quarter pounder P Bass pickup.
Short scale basses.
All instrument cables except George Ls.
(There's more but I can't think of them right now.)
things you bought that didn't work out for you
Bass stuff I bought that over the years (not other things) that didn't work out for me.
Mesa 400+ all tube amp.
Stingray basses and the USA Sterlings also.
15" bass speakers.
Heavy bass cabs.
RotoSound 66 strings.
Round wound strings.
Basses with active Eq.
Five strings.
Fretless basses.
A bass violin.
Quarter pounder P Bass pickup.
Short scale basses.
All instrument cables except George Ls.
(There's more but I can't think of them right now.)
A five strings bass. I've tried during to years but finally came back to 4 definitely.
A fretless bass: it was a MIM jazzbass, well done with nice bart pickups. Very nice sound. But after 3/4 months, i understood that fretless was not for me.
A fuzz pedal for bass: Funny as hell too. But quickly became useless in the music i play. And so all my other effects too.
A fretless bass: it was a MIM jazzbass, well done with nice bart pickups. Very nice sound. But after 3/4 months, i understood that fretless was not for me.
A fuzz pedal for bass: Funny as hell too. But quickly became useless in the music i play. And so all my other effects too.
Yeah, when I just had a simple (honestly fairly old) Oster blender I used it and cleaned it every week. I have considered just getting one of those little mini blenders, if I feel like making a smoothie or milkshake or something right in a jar for my kids, but the stick blender does the trick for most things I need and takes almost no effort to clean. A Vitamix is probably an amazing every day use tool for someone, but not me.
I had a similar experience with my Rickenbacker bass, but I stubbornly tried to make it work for years. A lot of my bass heroes played Rickenbackers and I always wanted one. When I finally saved up and bought a Jetglo 4003 I was in love with looking at it, but it was uncomfortable to play, I struggled to get a sound out of it I really liked, and at one point the chrome delaminated on the pickup surround and sliced my hand open like a razorblade during a gig. I ended up playing my backup P bass more than the Ric and finally just sold it after like 5 years. Similar way I felt about owning a Gibson Les Paul. I liked the idea and look of it more than I liked playing it.
I can sum up a lot of my music gear purchases that didn't work out as "Liking the look and idea of something doesn't necessarily mean you'll like playing it"
I did this, but it worked out too well. My wife and kids liked it so much we wound up moving there full time 3 years after buying it.
18 years later, we're in a different home, but still in the same small lake town where we bought our second home. Don't miss the big city one bit.
When I was young and receiving my first steady paycheck, I went out and bought a car. It's not the car that was the problem, although being a Nissan it had a few, but I soon regretted agreeing to a five-year loan, especially as I was putting a lot of miles on it (long commute plus driving to gigs). Since then I've bought cars outright and stopped kidding myself that spending more than I can reasonably afford will improve my life in any way.
Musical instrument-wise, a few pricier guitars, particularly a Collings OM1, Hamer Artist, and G&L Korina ASAT II. They were all quite nice, but they didn't improve my playing. The Collings was too loud and bright for at home playing, and I felt guilty owning it. I sold them all and kept my more modest guitars. (Although my favorite is a 2008 PRS Mira, bought used when no one seemed to want them, so that one worked out well).
Most of all, however, I spent far too many years surviving on fast food, ready-to-eat meals, and junk. When I finally switched to a healthy diet and learned to cook, not only did I halve my size, but a lot of health issues (including mental) vastly improved.
Musical instrument-wise, a few pricier guitars, particularly a Collings OM1, Hamer Artist, and G&L Korina ASAT II. They were all quite nice, but they didn't improve my playing. The Collings was too loud and bright for at home playing, and I felt guilty owning it. I sold them all and kept my more modest guitars. (Although my favorite is a 2008 PRS Mira, bought used when no one seemed to want them, so that one worked out well).
Most of all, however, I spent far too many years surviving on fast food, ready-to-eat meals, and junk. When I finally switched to a healthy diet and learned to cook, not only did I halve my size, but a lot of health issues (including mental) vastly improved.
Almost forgot about this one...a Ray 34. Beautiful instrument, in sunburst. Took it home, and the first thing I did was try to EQ out some of the brightness. When I couldn't quite get there via the amp settings, I swapped out the rounds for Chromes. That helped but still was too twangy and bright for my taste. I'm a passive Pbass guy all the way, and although I wasn't attempting to make the two basses sound alike, I was never quite happy with the overall tone from the Ray 34. Plus, at 10.5 lbs, it was the heaviest bass I'd ever owned, and after 45 minutes it would be too much for my shoulder.
Kept it for about 5-6 months. I'd put the original rounds back on it, and it was still in mint condition, and was very thankful that GC let me return it with only a re-stocking fee deduct. Wanted to love it but never got there.
Kept it for about 5-6 months. I'd put the original rounds back on it, and it was still in mint condition, and was very thankful that GC let me return it with only a re-stocking fee deduct. Wanted to love it but never got there.
Smokers are sometimes asked to consider how much money they've spent over their years of smoking and what they could have bought had they saved that money instead.
I've never smoked in my life, but I can relate to you on this one. I wonder sometimes how much I spent and what I could buy today if I had eaten junk and fast food maybe just half the time that I did. From age 13 until 50. That's a lot of french fries and Doritos.
-Mike
Excellent points. It's a common financial advice refrain about the cost of going to a coffee shop, but I've very rarely heard anyone mention the cost of fast and snack food, especially for daily lunches. And while we often think of them as convenient and efficient, I've found tossing together a stir-fry is faster and easier than heading to a drive-through. And I feel better afterwards.
Related: I took a long road trip recently and brought a thermos with soup and a couple other things I'd made at home. I stopped in a rest area for a break (I wouldn't try eating soup while driving). A guy walked by, stopped, stared at my soup and thermos, then looked down at his tray of Burger King food, shook his head, and said he wished he'd thought of that.
This thread prompted me to put my Vitamix blender and Cuisinart food processor up for sale, because they were in a cabinet unseen and out of mind for almost 2 years.
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A Wal bass. Just couldn’t get with the V-shape neck. Gave it a year, but sadly, no deal. The upside was that I won it in a contest, so flipping it was a win-win.
I kept a spreadsheet of my work lunch costs back in 2014-15. Over that two-year period, I averaged $700/yr. I ate relatively cheap, mostly Wendy's/McD's/Arby's types of fast food, and this only four days a week (Fridays were half days, no lunch).
Since 2019, I've stopped all venturing out for lunch, mostly bringing fruit, granola bar, or the occasional Lunchable meat/crackers. Less than $1/day average. Roughly $200 annually.
I honestly couldn't tell you what I've done with that $500/yr savings. But I'm sure I've spent it wisely.
Since 2019, I've stopped all venturing out for lunch, mostly bringing fruit, granola bar, or the occasional Lunchable meat/crackers. Less than $1/day average. Roughly $200 annually.
I honestly couldn't tell you what I've done with that $500/yr savings. But I'm sure I've spent it wisely.
edmidlifecrisis
Registered mediocre bass player
After I posted my comment on buying a VitaMix and hating it, I remembered that (thankfully) I didn't actually buy it. We got it from my mother in law when we moved her into assisted living and downsized her stuff. Even though it was free, I just hated the darned thing despite spending a good part of my lifetime with blenders, Osters, Food processors and now, Ninja's.
