Although you can judge that particular bass, if it isn't set up well that shouldn't reflect all basses made by that manufacturer. One EBMM could play horribly since it was on a shelf for a year with stock strings and 200 people playing it. Then the one next to it could be set up properly and give the intended sound. Not saying that you are bashing EBMM, just puting it out there that people can't judge a whole company by 1 bad one.
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Tried Some New Basses Today
- Thread starter KingRazor
- Start date
Although you can judge that particular bass, if it isn't set up well that shouldn't reflect all basses made by that manufacturer. One EBMM could play horribly since it was on a shelf for a year with stock strings and 200 people playing it. Then the one next to it could be set up properly and give the intended sound. Not saying that you are bashing EBMM, just puting it out there that people can't judge a whole company by 1 bad one.
bongomania
Commercial User
I tend to agree that judging the quality of a bass (for most people) that is poorly setup is a mistake. None of the basses KR mentioned are as hit and miss as he suggested. What they are is poorly setup and have old dead strings; that is the number one reason for all of the "misses," IMO!
It's not a point of view, it's not a fact either, since quality is subjective, but it's true.
Name any bass manufacturer who only makes basses that are of the utmost quality, and I absolutely guarantee that someone, somewhere, found it to be of sub-par quality.
Any bass can be a hit or miss.
Yep, you're right. I judge every single bass for itself. I don't judge an entire brand based on one or even a few of their basses (okay, I kind of do, but I'm learning not to anymore).
You weren't there, so how can you know if the issues were poor setups? How do you know they weren't simply basses that were either A) total lemons or B) not at all my preference?
Besides, a setup doesn't make as drastic of a change as you people seem to make out, IME.
Please tell us then, in actual detail, why it (Stingray) didn't play as good as your SX or whatever it was you said.
I worked in a music store for years in the 80s and early 90s, and I know first hand that basses with fresh strings and low action get all of the love, and poorly setup basses are considered by many to be lemons.
The 5-string stingray I tried played much better than my SX. It's really the only bass in that store that was a clear step above it. It was smoother, and more comfortable to play notes (both for the right and left hand). It didn't have that feeling of "tightness" that some basses have (it's not a good kind of "tightness").
It also out-played any of the other basses in that store, including other stingrays.
If a bass plays poorly, I won't buy it. Whether it has been setup or not. If it plays poorly before it is setup, there is no guarantee that it will play well after it is setup. A bass that plays well before it is setup is guaranteed to also play well after being setup (assuming the tech knows what they're doing).
So, I would only choose to buy a bass if it played well off the shelf.
How is anyone supposed to know whether a bass that doesn't play well will play well after being setup? How would you know something like that? Do you have some kind of "magic touch" where you can just "tell" it's going to be a winner? I have no such touch.
I don't get your point, two equally setup Stingrays will play about the same. Either you like them or not, but unless one has a fundamental flaw (liked a warped neck that prevent's it from getting a proper setup), they are all going to play about the same.
Strings and setup make a huge difference in how a bass plays/feels and sounds.
I edited my last post and elaborated a bit more.
I think it's funny how you're basically telling me that what I was feeling was not what I was feeling. How on Earth would you know what I felt when I played those basses?
The difference between those two Stringrays was night and day. It was like the difference between old, stale chips and fresh, crisp chips, or something.
I've owned more than one bass and had new strings and setups and IME, it doesn't make nearly that big of a difference.
I'm not sure why you are getting so testy, but you are wrong about this, sorry!
Umm, ok, whatever. There's nothing to be wrong about.
You telling me that I'm wrong about this is just like telling me that I'm wrong if I say that I think Fords are better than Chevys. It's my opinion, about something subjective, no less. I can't be right or wrong because quality is a subjective thing.
It is your opinion that strings and setups can cause drastic changes to the playability of an instrument. It is my opinion that strings and setups only make minor (although certainly noticeable) changes to the playability of an instrument. "If you polish a turd, it's still a turd!"
These are both subjective opinions and cannot be proven right or wrong. I think what I think, you think differently. Hurray.
Every manufacturer makes a dud now and then. I've owned three Stingrays, and just about every one I've tried was pretty good, but I've definitely played a couple that shouldn't have passed through SLO QC.
So has anyone ever bought a good bass online.....im looking to get mine delivered to guitar center...is this not a good idea
No offense, but you are clearly pretty inexperienced (nothing wrong with that). Strings and setup make a huge difference on how a bass plays/feels, period. You really should be more concerned with tone, anyway, because any bass with a straight neck and decent fret work can be made to play pretty nicely.
I have not had much experience, but I don't see how that has anything to do with this conversation.
In the limited experience I have had, strings and setup have NOT made a huge difference in how a bass felt or played.
And I am much more concerned with feel than tone. I'd rather play a bass that was very comfortable but had a mediocre tone than a bass that had great tone, but was uncomfortable to play.
Edit: If you were to say "Strings and setup can make a huge difference on how some basses feel" I might be able to get behind that. But I will never believe that that is always (or is even usually) the case.
And it doesn't really matter anyway. No shop is going to setup a bunch of basses for me just so I can pick which one I like best, and what if I didn't like any of them? Then the shop would expect to be compensated for their work/time. So then I'd be paying for work on basses that I didn't even buy.
So, I avoid any of that by only picking basses that play well right off the wall.
bongomania
Commercial User
I respectfully disagree. I have had some basses by top brands that were just not very resonant, or that had worse-than-average dead spots on the fretboard, even after a pro setup and new strings; and several that had avoidable manufacturing flaws and inconsistencies, having nothing whatsoever to do with the setup.
We're talking about objects made mostly of natural materials that can vary a lot in their density, grain, etc.; and most of the time they are assembled and quality-checked by humans--very fallible, especially when there's a production minimum quota to meet, and especially on a Friday afternoon. Even machine assembly can go out of line quite easily, and again we have the human QC trying approve as many units as possible each day.
My experience is that even top brands have duds come off the production line sometimes, and the more units they move, the more of those duds end up in stores--so the biggest brands are actually the "worst" if you look at sheer numbers of duds on the market. This says nothing about the 99% of the time they produce pure greatness.
bongomania
Commercial User
Lots of people have bought lots of fantastic basses online. But what are you talking about, "delivering yours to GC"? What does that mean?
And besides, if all a bass needs to play well is to be setup, then why don't shops routinely setup all of the instruments in the shop?
I'm not talking about the bottom of the barrel guitars/basses, the sub-$500 ones that parents buy their kids without ever trying them out. I'm talking about the nice ones, the pricy ones. Why not have them all properly setup beforehand?
I'm not talking about the bottom of the barrel guitars/basses, the sub-$500 ones that parents buy their kids without ever trying them out. I'm talking about the nice ones, the pricy ones. Why not have them all properly setup beforehand?
I agree with everything you just said. What I'm getting at is that most people who go on about "lemons," "misses," "duds," etc., are really basing their "opinions" on nothing more than poor setups and old strings; Likely the OP in this thread, for example. I sure haven't seen much discussion about resonance, that's for sure...
