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things you bought that didn't work out for you

#161
P. Aaron said:
I've used an electric Craftsman in the past. I got no relief moving from Michigan to Texas as leaves fall at an even greater rate in Texas. The lawn is a bit bigger as well, and I have to bag leaves in TX. In MI, we just raked 'em to the curb & public works took them away.
Yeah, gas motors are a bit more work, and noisy BUT, they clear volumes faster.

I did discover that slightly wet leaves seem much more compliant to blowing the direction one wants them than when they're dried out. However, they still weigh a bunch in the bags.
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yeah, wet leaves add up quickly 😭 at my job we bag up the leaves and throw it in the dumpster, then the garbage guys come when the dumpster gets full. we also have one vacuum for the leaves but we have 3 blowers
 
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#162
Jon Draffan said:
Oh yes. I have purchased not one, not two, but THREE Drake Custom basses that weren't the right thing...at the time. I think one of the challenges (for me at least) is that the "right" bass can be moving target based on my current preferences, band I'm in, physical changes, etc…

There is a Modulus, and a Rob Allen Mouse in the wake of my instrument turnovers too :woot: Oh yeah, and an Ibanez ANB205. Sheesh! I forgot about so many!
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Gads! I have 5 Drake customs, two I designed with Andrew and three of his designs and all are my regular players.

Interesting how different the concepts of "feel" "tone" and "utility" can be from person to person.

Then there's my Jack Casady bass that I love but fits me like a concrete overcoat so it seldom gets played.
 
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#164
pcake said:
in the past, ariex and i have made some purchases that we weren't just impulse buys, but the items really didn't work out for us.

a manfrotto monopod - i had been handholding my cameras for bird photography, didn't find a tripod flexible enough, so spent several hundred on a monopod. it made sense, but in practice, i really disliked it. i don't think i sold it - i think it's in the back of a closet. maybe.

ariex's nordic track. years ago, i owned a cheap and noisy cross country ski machine, but it was great to use, so ariex decided to go for the real deal. we bought it used from a guy i'll always remember because his entire house and garage was packed with large and expensive fitness gear that he didn't use. we bought the nordic track, took it home, and i immediately discovered that, unlike my knockoff, part of the challenge of the real nordic track was keeping your feet from sliding off the "skis". i hated it. ariex tried to be more forgiving, but after a few months we sold it as it wasn't that useful as a clothes rack LOL

what are some things you bought that just didn't work out, not because they were defective but just because they didn't work for you?
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Wow... deja vu! I also have the manfrotto monopod sitting in a closet ("seemed like a good idea at the time") AND I ditched the nordictrak after a few weeks.
Bonus: Bowflex didn't last long at my house either :-)
 
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#166
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.
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Just saved me on the lake house purchase ;). I honestly thought that was how it would go down.

And same on the kit builds I built one and thought it was a cool strat, then got bored.

Couldn't tell you about a bowflex but I picked up a pull up bar at a bike rack once and use it every weekday.

As far as stuff that didn't work out for me: I got an airbrush for undercoating my car, you can imagine how that's going. Without a compressor or a space to use it, I'll be returning it soon.
 
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#167
pcake said:
ditto on the bowflex. our blaze wasn't at all a good fit for us., and we don't miss it.
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Bowflex. Bought one back in the 90s after hurting my shoulder from overuse due to weightlifting. Bought it to rehab my shoulder, and over the next several years it worked perfectly for me. But after those 3-4 years, I grew stale on it and was able to get back into hitting the iron, so I sold it.

Fast forward about 20 years, similar situation...weights were aggravating my joints so I took a gamble on another Bowflex. This time around I just didn't care for it. Can't really pinpoint any specific reason, but I just never connected with it as I had previously. Ended up selling it also and went with a Gr8Flex (Total Gym clone).

I'd bought both Bowflexes used, so I didn't take a big hit on either when I sold them. I wouldn't recommend against getting one, since they can provide a decent workout, but I'd never recommend buying a new one. Plenty on the used market to choose from.
 
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#168
Worst ever? A used 2006 Mercedes Benz ML500, by far.

Honorable mention....

Fretted bass. I've finally accepted I hate frets....except on my mandolin.

I have a lot of stuff... Audio gear, workout equipment (treadmill, heavy/speed bag station, weight bench and weights, kettle bells, resistance bands, sparring gear, etc), home-brewing equipment to do 5 gallon all-grain mashes, repair gear (electronic and automotive, including a large air compressor, oscilloscope, etc), photography stuff, 3d printer, .... Most of which just sits around, but was ALL enjoyed, thoroughly used, and served me well. I still cycle back to almost all of them once in a while....probably because I'm stubborn and cheap, and refuse to admit that something I bought didn't work out well ...;)

I did sell my airplane a year or two ago. I got my PPSEL with it and was about 2/3 of the way to my IR, but the incredible hassle of ownership (take all of the previous comments about vacation cottages, multiply by 10, then factor in trying to satisfy government agencies) sucked the joy out of it. One of those things where the dream and reality didn't overlap enough, sadly.
 
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#169
Ah yes, the Nordic Track. I got mine off the curb, used it for a couple years (actually I dug it at the time), then put it back out on the curb when I moved. There were a few things wrong with it when I got it, so I fixed those. Bad weather days you could prop a book up and get after it.
 
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#171
Boss BB-1X Bass Driver digital preamp

I wanted to like this. And i’d use it at gigs and people would compliment my tone, but this pedal is just too damn weird for me. I’d rather have XLR than TRS out anyway.
 
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#172
About 2002.

A brand new Mesa 400+. Brought it home from the store, plugged it in and something fried out in the amp 5 mins later!!!. Took it back to the store, they sent it to a local shop, 3 weeks later, fixed.

NEVER liked the amp at ALL! Could never tame the mids.

Sold it at a lose!

Replaced it with a Little Mark II 500 watt. Was more than happy at 1/2 the cost!

Lesson learned? Don't believe "hype"!!!!!
 
#174
bassdude51 said:
About 2002.

A brand new Mesa 400+. Brought it home from the store, plugged it in and something fried out in the amp 5 mins later!!!. Took it back to the store, they sent it to a local shop, 3 weeks later, fixed.

NEVER liked the amp at ALL! Could never tame the mids.

Sold it at a lose!

Replaced it with a Little Mark II 500 watt. Was more than happy at 1/2 the cost!

Lesson learned? Don't believe "hype"!!!!!
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i don't think it's about hype - i think it's personal taste. plus you definitely had some bad luck. but just because something is good and other people like it definitely doesn't mean that everyone will like it.

i first tried mesa gear in the mesa store on sunset before 2000, and i really liked the tone. fast forward to a little over a year ago, and i got a mesa D-350 head. no issues at all, best sounding head for my taste that i've ever owned.

btw, i really like markbass, too.

butterfingers1 said:
Jazz bass.
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which one did you have? why didn't it work out for you?

i had a squier CV '60s jazz, but due to prior injury, it hurt to play, so i had to let it go. nice bass, though...
 
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