Tried Some New Basses Today

[JoshuaTSP]

On a totally unrelated note, it's been my experience that a classic troll tactic is to make an off the wall comment or two, then play the victim when contradicted - I'm just sayin'...


- georgestrings

I may be the pioneer of that tactic on HC.



Just sayin'

 

[georgestrings]

I may be the pioneer of that tactic on HC.



Just sayin'

Nothing pioneering about it - a few of us saw right away that's what you were doing, and there was nothing new about the tactic then, just as there isn't now...

In other words, it was as transparent then as it is now...


- georgestrings

 

[KingRazor]

As you gain more experience you become better at judging what a bass can be like, once set up to your liking.
I have bought basses that played badly, but they balanced well, felt good, neck was nice, and I could tell it did not need anything unusual to make it work for me.
If I have to wait until a bass I like feels alright off the shelf... I would still play guitar ;-)

But yeah, it takes a while, experience, to understand what makes a bass ok for you despite a bad setup.

Your second paragraph there about basses that played well but just needed a bit of a setup, that describes the Cort bass I played at that shop. The bass played well, just needed a couple of minor tweaks to get it playing how I like.

That 4-string Musicman was just hard to play. I couldn't play parts that were easy on other instruments. I have to believe there was more that was wrong with that bass than just a simple setup.

If I walked in to a shop, determined to buy a bass, and none of the basses played to "my standards", then I'd pick the one that played best and see if they would set it up knowing I was planning to buy that day.

But so far I've never been to a guitar shop where there wasn't at least one bass that was almost flawless of the shelf. Usually it's an Ibanez or an American Standard/Special Fender bass.

Perhaps as I play more I'll get a better idea of which instruments are "salvageable", but in the mean time, I'll continue to judge basses by their "off the wall" playability. And I'll continue to GAS for Ibanez...

 

[JoshuaTSP]

Nothing pioneering about it - a few of us saw right away that's what you were doing, and there was nothing new about the tactic then, just as there isn't now...

In other words, it was as transparent then as it is now...


- georgestrings

I'd don't think so, I've become a master.....sure trolls have been around for a long time, but you guys always got snared in my traps.

For your sake, and everyone's sake....just be happy I don't do it here.

 

[georgestrings]

I'd don't think so, I've become a master.....sure trolls have been around for a long time, but you guys always got snared in my traps.

For your sake, and everyone's sake....just be happy I don't do it here.

I don't care if you do it here or not - I rarely take anything you say seriously since then, and don't usually bother to offer much help your way, because of your trolling past...


- georgestrings

 

[JoshuaTSP]

 

[Bass_Thumper]

KingRazor - I'm sorry but if you don't think that saying you've never played an EBMM that you would pay $100 for isn't trashing a brand, I don't know what is.

 

[KingRazor]

KingRazor - I'm sorry but if you don't think that saying you've never played an EBMM that you would pay $100 for isn't trashing a brand, I don't know what is.

I don't see how that could be considered bashing in any way.

I have said nothing against the EBMM brand itself. I don't think they're a company that turns out poor products. I don't think negatively of their QC. I don't think that people that buy EBMM basses are simply buying into hype. There's no way they would be as successful as they churned out nothing but bad instruments (especially at that price point).

Obviously, EBMM makes some good products, that has been shown on this board time and time again. Just look at the fan base for them on here.

But the small handful of EBMM basses I have personally played were not nice basses, and I wouldn't have paid much for them because, well, they were not nice basses. But that doesn't make me think that there's anything wrong with the brand.

Maybe a couple of them were lemons. Maybe they had been mercilessly pounded on by new players and the shops simply haven't addressed that and the basses are mere shells of their former selves. I'm not blaming EBMM for the condition of those instruments.

That fretless fiver I tried proved to me that EBMM CAN, in fact, make basses that meet my standards (and exceed them, actually).

I'm not bashing anyone.

 

[Old Joe]

I've tried a total of two EBMM basses so far. One I didn't like and got myself a MIM jazz instead. The other I loved and own it, I'll never get rid of it.

The problem with the first one, apart from a bad setup or rather a lack of it, was the neck. Too chunky for my taste. The second , which I own, probably has the same neck profile as the first. The real difference, my hands. The more I've played, the easier it's to adapt to different necks. To the point where I have no problems switching from 30, 34, 35 inch scales, 4 or 6 strings.

This may not be the case for everyone and I agree with Razor's method for choosing his basses. But keep your minds open to the fact that what doesn't work for you right now might work later on. And if it doesn't, get what does work for you.

 

[mdogs]

I don't see how that could be considered bashing in any way.

I have said nothing against the EBMM brand itself. I don't think they're a company that turns out poor products. I don't think negatively of their QC. I don't think that people that buy EBMM basses are simply buying into hype. There's no way they would be as successful as they churned out nothing but bad instruments (especially at that price point).

Obviously, EBMM makes some good products, that has been shown on this board time and time again. Just look at the fan base for them on here.

But the small handful of EBMM basses I have personally played were not nice basses, and I wouldn't have paid much for them because, well, they were not nice basses. But that doesn't make me think that there's anything wrong with the brand.

Maybe a couple of them were lemons. Maybe they had been mercilessly pounded on by new players and the shops simply haven't addressed that and the basses are mere shells of their former selves. I'm not blaming EBMM for the condition of those instruments.

That fretless fiver I tried proved to me that EBMM CAN, in fact, make basses that meet my standards (and exceed them, actually).

I'm not bashing anyone.

Well, with that said, everyone (and by everyone I mean anybody that has been bitten by the MM bug anytime in their life) should sell their MM instruments and pour that money into SX basses. I guess that we should have already been aware of the SX love due to all of the big names that play them and of course the lack of big names who play MM basses should have been another clue. If I were Sterling Ball, I would contact Kingrazor immediately because right now, the MM product does not meet his "standards," well except that ONE 5 string fretless...and clearly (and by clearly I mean because Kingrazor says so), Kingrazor is the end all be all in bass playability and quality.

 

[grendle]

I went to GC in early summer to trade a Strat I had for a new bass. In looking around the store, I found a 45th Anniversary SR5 HH in the back corner of the "Platinum Room". It had sat there for well over a year and played like dog crap. I asked the tech on duty if he would do a quick setup on it while I checked out the new Classics that had just come in. He did and I ended up taking it home. Plays like butter and looks like a million bucks.

This past weekend, Sam Ash setup a Squier VM Jazz for a kid that was there with his dad just trying gear out. I find most places will do that if you just ask and are cool about it. It also helps to buy something from them every so often even if it is just a pack of strings, picks or Wonder Wipes.

Been to numerous shops in FL, CA, CT, NJ none would, and I've had cash in hand hand. Always got the, "our set up guy isn't here" or "if you buy it and some strings we'll throw in the set up for free" or "we don't let customers adjust instruments" . Not a major deal for me, I don't buy basses based on the set up in the store. More power to ya though if you can get them to set it up. I did buy a bass recently at sam ash that the tech checked before I left (extended warranty purchased) was happy to tweek after the sale.

 

[grendle]

Well, with that said, everyone (and by everyone I mean anybody that has been bitten by the MM bug anytime in their life) should sell their MM instruments and pour that money into SX basses. I guess that we should have already been aware of the SX love due to all of the big names that play them and of course the lack of big names who play MM basses should have been another clue. If I were Sterling Ball, I would contact Kingrazor immediately because right now, the MM product does not meet his "standards," well except that ONE 5 string fretless...and clearly (and by clearly I mean because Kingrazor says so), Kingrazor is the end all be all in bass playability and quality.

Thats pretty lame. The guy gives his opinion which you obviously have a mouth full of disagreement about and you bash him, personally. That does no one here any good and makes you look like a fool. But I suppose we should all be listening to you because you obviously know what your talk ing about.

 

[KingRazor]

Thats pretty lame. The guy gives his opinion which you obviously have a mouth full of disagreement about and you bash him, personally. That does no one here any good and makes you look like a fool. But I suppose we should all be listening to you because you obviously know what your talk ing about.

No reason to feed the trolls, just ignore him.

 

[SwagAttack]

This thread needs to seriously die out. Last few pages are just babble. People have either made their mind up if he is serious or just full of bs.

 

[KingRazor]

This thread needs to seriously die out. Last few pages are just babble. People have either made their mind up if he is serious or just full of bs.

Yeah, if people are just going to continue to troll, there's no reason to keep this going.

 

[mcnach]

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.

You don't seem to grasp the concept of a setup, what it entails, what it does... that's why you are getting the comments you are getting, and that's why you are getting testy...

 

[KingRazor]

You don't seem to grasp the concept of a setup, what it entails, what it does... that's why you are getting the comments you are getting, and that's why you are getting testy...

What else to a setup is there other than trussrod adjustments, saddle height adjustments, pickup adjustments, and screw tightening?

That kind of stuff doesn't work miracles.

 

[mcnach]

Don't know why everyone's hot and bothered about Kingrazor's method of assessing instruments. It seems to me, given his level of diagnostic and setup capabilities, he's proceeding in a very logical manner for several reasons:

1. He's not in a hurry to buy, so all observations are more objective than otherwise. There is no immediate concern about needing an instrument TODAY.

2. The trip or trips around various stores is an investment in his individual knowledge when it actually comes time to buy.

3. It makes perfect sense to me that an instrument that already plays well off the rack would be a much safer purchase than one that does not as setups typically improve playability, but sometimes it takes a significant amount of knowledge, work, and tools to make a problematic instrument play like butter. Often you cannot even know if any specific production instrument can be made to play up to your own standards of setup until you take the knife to it.

He's sharing his observations. I happen to personally advocate fretwork and setup as key ingredients to the overall package and shop with a gaggle of levels, rulers, and other doodads in my pocket. I try to spot major problems (twisted necks, wild fretboard leveling errors, etc.), and also look for problems that are relatively easy to resolve (1 or 2 high frets, etc.). But, without the capacity to fix these issues, I think it's very smart to judge based on what's in front of you and how it feels off the rack under your fingers.

It's a safe way to buy, when inexperienced, for sure, taking away all guesswork: if I like it now, then I like it, full stop.
That's ok.
But it is wrong to extend the verdict of an individual instrument to all of the same model, or even brand. It makes no sense at all. It shows a lack of understanding of the basics of the instrument. Which is Not a crime! I know it took me a long time to learn, and I still don't know many things. To lack knowledge is Not a crime, but to act cocky is frankly quite silly.

 

[KingRazor]

It's a safe way to buy, when inexperienced, for sure, taking away all guesswork: if I like it now, then I like it, full stop.
That's ok.
But it is wrong to extend the verdict of an individual instrument to all of the same model, or even brand.

And what I don't understand is why you guys think I have extended that verdict to all of the same model or brand.

I never did that, people need to quit making things up.

 

[grendle]

You don't seem to grasp the concept of a setup, what it entails, what it does... that's why you are getting the comments you are getting, and that's why you are getting testy...

You don't seem to grasp the concept that 5 properly set up instruments will still all have their own quirks and detectable differences which you may or may not like. And its ok to have an opinion about that.