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things you bought that didn't work out for you

#21
Where to begin!?!

I guess the biggest one was a cottage/lake house. I had a romantic vision of what it should be. Easy breezy days with family and friends sucking down beer by the shore during the day and bonfires at night.

It ended up being a money and time pit, taking up my weekends doing endless chores and fix-em-up projects. Family was only interested in going up on ideal weekend which meant 2-3 times a year. And each trip was a logistical headache.

I spent MANY weekends over ten years on my own up there, usually swinging a hammer. Sold the place just before the pandemic. Mind you, we earned enough on the sale to pay of what was left of our mortgage on our house. Did I mention: “sweat equity”?

Oh, and, fretless bass. And any kit build I’ve ever done.
 
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#22
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Tons of DB string sets, all of which were too floppy. I give those away to students when they don’t work out.
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And some did mot even make it to the bass, like these passione solos and some guts. Good news is Perpetual. Flexocore Deluxe and them old Spiros are all I am going to use moving forward. I have 2 DBs

And Rosins. Pops and Jade are all I am going to use. But have tried many brands before
 
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#25
DirtDog said:
Where to begin!?!

I guess the biggest one was a cottage/lake house. I had a romantic vision of what it should be. Easy breezy days with family and friends sucking down beer by the shore during the day and bonfires at night.

It ended up being a money and time pit, taking up my weekends doing endless chores and fix-em-up projects. Family was only interested in going up on ideal weekend which meant 2-3 times a year. And each trip was a logistical headache.

I spent MANY weekends over ten years on my own up there, usually swinging a hammer. Sold the place just before the pandemic. Mind you, we earned enough on the sale to pay of what was left of our mortgage on our house. Did I mention: “sweat equity”?

Oh, and, fretless bass. And any kit build I’ve ever done.
Click to expand...

I have seen this happen to other people and it doesn't really appeal to me. It seems to me cottage people are mostly ones that grew up with it. You have to be dedicated and it pretty much becomes your "holidays" every year.
 
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#26
DirtDog said:
Where to begin!?!

I guess the biggest one was a cottage/lake house. I had a romantic vision of what it should be. Easy breezy days with family and friends sucking down beer by the shore during the day and bonfires at night.

It ended up being a money and time pit, taking up my weekends doing endless chores and fix-em-up projects. Family was only interested in going up on ideal weekend which meant 2-3 times a year. And each trip was a logistical headache.

I spent MANY weekends over ten years on my own up there, usually swinging a hammer. Sold the place just before the pandemic. Mind you, we earned enough on the sale to pay of what was left of our mortgage on our house. Did I mention: “sweat equity”?

Oh, and, fretless bass. And any kit build I’ve ever done.
Click to expand...

Yup. I've owned a couple of fretless basses and discovered that I do not have the patience or passion to play one. Flat wound strings. I'll play them for a while and then go back to rounds. I have stopped bothering with either...
 
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#27
DirtDog said:
Where to begin!?!

I guess the biggest one was a cottage/lake house. I had a romantic vision of what it should be. Easy breezy days with family and friends sucking down beer by the shore during the day and bonfires at night.

It ended up being a money and time pit, taking up my weekends doing endless chores and fix-em-up projects. Family was only interested in going up on ideal weekend which meant 2-3 times a year. And each trip was a logistical headache.

I spent MANY weekends over ten years on my own up there, usually swinging a hammer. Sold the place just before the pandemic. Mind you, we earned enough on the sale to pay of what was left of our mortgage on our house. Did I mention: “sweat equity”?
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Wild to me how common this story is.
 
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#28
1. A pair of trace elliot 2x8s , didn't cut it with the band (may have been the amp powering it too?)
2. Ernie ball strings.. I've sworn them off. Brand new sets corroding in less than a week with 0 use along with the beachside weather
3. A number of g&l basses I absolutely loved but the necks were too thick.
4. A spector euro which was also amazing but left for a similar reason (bad wrist angle from neck)
 
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#30
Progressive lenses. A committee approach to what happens to your eyes after the age of 40. Guarantees you wind up taking them off and putting them back on a hundred times a day. Also a new pair of Adidas shoes. Insoles came out the first time i took my feet out of them, and they smell like a litter box. $165 for what used to be a nice product.
 
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#31
My wife absolutely wants me to sell it: a Rock'N'Roller cart. It is big(ish), heavy and takes up space. I have used it on a couple of occasions, but the venues I play don't really warrant it. It's not practical for city gigs, stairs, curbs or steps up into venues. I use a foldable hand dolly if I need to move something a fair distance.
 
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#33
spiritbass said:
Yup. I've owned a couple of fretless basses and discovered that I do not have the patience or passion to play one. Flat wound strings. I'll play them for a while and then go back to rounds. I have stopped bothering with either...
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I love the sound of fretless and have owned a couple. I finally realized that I almost never played them and sold them, but I do get occasional GAS for another one. I know I would use it sparingly, at best.

Same thing for short scale basses. I had one. I liked it. I barely played it and sold it. I still GAS for another.
 
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#35
Winslow said:
Curiosity piqued, I just went and looked at B&H, and see Manfrotto now has monopods with tiny little sets of feet that pop out of the ends. I guess those are for folks want a "monopod" that can stand up by itself. The pedant in me calls that "a tripod with a tall stick on top." :roflmao:
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I've got a pretty nice Monfrotto monopod with the little feet that nestle into the bottom. I used to do a lot of medium format street photography with my bicycle as my mode of transportation. That monopod worked out great for that use case since I was comfortable with the limitations and expectations of what I could get from that setup. I could easily strap it to my messenger bag, discretely and quickly set it up for longer exposure shots. At the time, that was all I could afford to spend for something like that and the quality was light years away from what a tripods offered at that same price point. I added a quick release Manfrotto tilt head and it gave me a super useful setup for a highly portable medium format rig.

Sold all my camera stuff years ago (except for my old light meter and a Holga- for the sake of nostalgia) but I 've still got that monopod.
 
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#36
Zooberwerx said:
A real popcorn popper....essentially an electric skillet with agitator and huge domed lid. Works but a b**** to clean. Stashed somewhere and reverted back to the microwave stuff.

Riis
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I’ve never been a fan of microwave popcorn. It’s more charming to use an actual covered skillet, along with a bit of coconut oil, and make real popcorn. Tastes better, and only a couple minutes’ effort.
 
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#40
Winslow said:
Monopods work best if what you're going to be shooting is at a fairly consistent height. That (and venue rules against tripods) is why they're all over the sidelines at sporting events, especially football, soccer, and track meets. The humans are running to & fro across a level plane, so all you're doing is zooming to them, seldom ever dealing with elevation changes. The monopod supports the weight of the camera (and often, gargantuan lenses), and lets you pick up and move down field with relative ease.
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When I shot outdoor sports, I used a monopod all the time. Could not have survived without it. Indoor sports, all hand held but the lenses were shorter / lighter.

Birds? Not so much. They're too random in their motion.

Stuff that didn't work out? I've had a few very popular pedals that just never got used. In some cases I bought 2 or 3 copies over time only to rediscover that I'm not a fan.
 
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