What are you most picky about?

[JimmyM]

Here's my list:

---Super low action and light strings. I'd rather there be a slight fretbuzz than sacrifice higher action. So I get every bass I have as low as I possibly can, and never use anything heavier than 40-100 or 40-120 for 5 string, even when playing flats.

---Neck radius. Between 9.5" and 12" seems to be my comfort zone for a 4, though I just got a Yamaha 5'er with something like a 24" radius and it feels good. But any rounder than 9.5" and I can't bend strings without choking out or raising the action. And that ain't happenin'.

---Light weight. I wear the term "weight weenie" like a badge of honor and don't care if you he-men "Just go hit the gym" types like it or not. Wasn't always a weight weenie but a chronic should problem, due to a heavy-as-heck Jazz I used to own on a 2" seatbelt strap, put a stop to that. I've got a limit and I do my best to stick to it, and since I've got light basses that I love already, I see no need to buy any that are going to make my shoulder worse.

---Black. If it's not black, it must go back. I don't mind other colors interspersed with the black base color, but a bass has to have black as the base color for me to buy it these days since I scientifically proved that I look the best with a black bass. Any bass you might see in my little collection that's not black was grandfathered in before the testing.

And you?

 

[DownUnder_Funk]

+1 on low action. I actually like a little fret buzz as it suits my tone which is fairly aggressive fingerstyle and I dig in reasonably hard.

Ergonomics are also very important - no point having a cool bass if it hurts your hands and/or back playing it for hours. My Spector is the heaviest I have at around 9.2lbs so have bought a 4” strap specifically for it. Wouldn’t want to go much heavier.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

---Super low action and light strings. I'd rather there be a slight fretbuzz than sacrifice higher action. So I get every bass I have as low as I possibly can, and never use anything heavier than 40-100 or 40-120 for 5 string, even when playing flats.

Low action – but for me, that allows heavier strings with higher tension. Playing with a light touch, I like strings that feel really taut, so that I nonetheless get a vibrant tone, full of life. With all the rounds I've tried so far, that tone arrives at 45–105. Fortunately taut strings allow a low action, which for my left hand mitigates the high tension.

 

[lowphatbass]

I’m pretty flexible about a lot of things. I’m pretty good at setting up basses to meet my needs. I’d probably pass on 90+ out of 100 basses….mainly because I have good basses already.
One thing I won’t put with us neck dive. I don’t mind heavier basses so I feel very fortunate that I don’t have to compromise here.

No Neck Dive…Period.

 

[JimmyM]

Low action – but for me, that allows heavier strings with higher tension. Playing with a light touch, I like strings that feel really taut, so that I nonetheless get a vibrant tone, full of life. With all the rounds I've tried so far, that tone arrives at 45–105. Fortunately taut strings allow a low action, which for my left hand mitigates the high tension.

Yeah, I tried that for a while, and went back to the lights because I like to bend strings, and the more bendable they are, the better for me.

 

[foal30]

Plectrums

 

[KohanMike]

Balanced output, too many times my bass ukes or modified ones with under saddle pickups are out of balance and it's a pain to get them right.

 

[corndog]

Low action for sure. If I can’t get the action down to where I like it, I don’t want the bass.

Even output across all strings. I have a pbass and the A string has noticeably higher output than the e string.

String tension. I’ve tried a lot of strings and just like higher tension strings. I bought a set of TIJF’s and although the tone was amazing, I couldn’t stand the low tension.

 

[Bass V]

TONE

 

[JimmyM]

Low action for sure. If I can’t get the action down to where I like it, I don’t want the bass.

Even output across all strings. I have a pbass and the A string has noticeably higher output than the e string.

You should be able to adjust that with pickup height adjustment.

 

[Rib 13]

Low action

More than one pickup

Roundwounds as new as possible

 

[Kawai2g4b]

I am absolutely most picky about the upper horn strap placement on a bass. I don’t have long arms, so a 12th fret-aligned strap button is ideal.

In hindsight, this is why I have never been able to settle on a Spector or Warwick.

My other thing I’m picky about is a non-intonable bridge/saddle. This is why it was so hard for me to find an acoustic bass guitar. However I lucked out in a Washburn a year or two ago.

 

[ELG60]

Knobs . . . Must hăv lotsa knobs

 

[Daniel Piper]

I am picky about basses that are colourful and stand out.

I’m picky about pickups that spit and sizzle when I dig in. They gotta have more to give at that point.

 

[Sailfish]

Oddly enough, I am the exact opposite when it comes to strings & setup, I like crazy neck bow, inch-off the fingerboard action, and my favorite strings are the La Bella '50s flats. Another thing is neck back to front thickness, my first bass was a 6 string Ibanez, and since my fingers are long, it pushed the area between the palm and the fingerboard straight into the edge of the neck, which caused quite a bit of discomfort.

 

[JakobT]

It absolutely, positively has to be black. Everything else can be fixed.

 

[RayWithFlats]

I’m pretty picky about neck profiles, although it’s a bigger deal with guitars than basses. I thought I only liked thin necks until I played our guitarist’s fancy Ibanez AZ which had a pretty substantial neck but with such a beautiful curve to it.

With basses I’m all about fat, round vintage tones. I’m not completely anti-modern tones but I grew up in the ‘90s when the “Stingray with fresh, bright rounds and a pick” tone was everywhere and I think I had my fill of it then. I still love that tone on some of those records (Josephine Wiggs FTW) but it’s not something I’d want to recreate today.

 

[chris_b]

Currently, my bass pickiness consists of, weight (under 9lbs), string spacing at bridge (18-19mm), tort and tone. For most of my life the only item on this list would have been tone, but age (old back and fingers) has added a couple of necessary requirements.

 

[ahc]

Drummers.

 

[DeepHz]

Low action for sure. The problem is the occasional fret buzz. For some weird reason it does bug me!