"You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
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What are you most picky about?
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Most picky about?
After neck/spine surgery weight has become more important than ever. Part of getting older I guess.
Also, no black, no tort, no more than 4 strings, no active basses and only short scales.
I suppose all of those things put me in great disdain from others on here, but that is something I'm not picky about.
After neck/spine surgery weight has become more important than ever. Part of getting older I guess.
Also, no black, no tort, no more than 4 strings, no active basses and only short scales.
I suppose all of those things put me in great disdain from others on here, but that is something I'm not picky about.
Ha ha! I'm with you on some, but somewhat different on others.
1. I used to despise red basses. Now I have two, and am waffling back and forth about getting a 3rd. But I've always loved almost any kind of sunburst.
2. I'm also primarily a Fender guy. I've had several really nice StingRays, Rickenbackers, Sadowsky, and several others; but always feel most comfortable with my Fenders. But currently I have some great non-Fenders (albeit Fender-LIKE). A (Ruby RED Metallic) G&L LB-100 and a Lakland Skyline Jazz with J-Sonic pickups). So I'm not exclusively Fender.
3. I'm with you here. I feel most comfortable with a 4-string.
4. With you here as well. I'm not adamantly opposed to active, but I definitely prefer passive.
5. Somewhat ambivalent here. I like shiny and new, but don't mind real road-worn instruments. But if I get a new bass (or used in excellent condition), I take very good care of them and try to keep them as pristine as possible without being totally anal about it. Straplocks? Yes, but rather than "formal" straplocks, I always use neoprene washers. They do an excellent job and cost about 40 cents per bass/strap. If I'm just driving to practice or a gig, I prefer a good gig bag. But if it's going into a trailer or other "community" travel method, definitely a hard case. And I'm also with you on a stand or hanger when not being played.
Low action - so much so that a couple of years ago I finally found the motivation to buy the proper tools and learned to start doing it myself.
It's been one of the most rewarding things I ever did for myself bass-wise, outside of picking up the instrument in the first place.
It's been one of the most rewarding things I ever did for myself bass-wise, outside of picking up the instrument in the first place.
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"You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
Evidently, you don't drink much.....057912
^^^
I love my black bass. I also covet a Warwick Corvette Bubinga. I suppose I could always make it black, right?
https://cdn-tp3.mozu.com/24645-3713...-5c1bd47a0803?quality=60&_mzcb=_1618890579000
As far as buzz, I have learned that most buzz I hear unplugged is not transduced by the pickups. So who cares. I like low action and I beat the crap out of it. The more fun I am having, the harder I play. If I can hear buzz, then I need to turn up the amp.
My Geddy Lee is 9.8lbs, but I sit when I play(bum left shoulder) so again, who cares. 34"/20 frets is my ticket.
https://cdn-tp3.mozu.com/24645-3713...-5c1bd47a0803?quality=60&_mzcb=_1618890579000
As far as buzz, I have learned that most buzz I hear unplugged is not transduced by the pickups. So who cares. I like low action and I beat the crap out of it. The more fun I am having, the harder I play. If I can hear buzz, then I need to turn up the amp.
My Geddy Lee is 9.8lbs, but I sit when I play(bum left shoulder) so again, who cares. 34"/20 frets is my ticket.
Over the years I've become picky about quite a few things:
1. Low action is a must.
2. Relatively flat fretboards. I prefer 12" radius or flatter generally, but it's especially important on fives where I'd happily go with something like the 24" radii on some Yamahas. I still love my 2003 Fender J with 9.5" radius, but all my others are G&Ls with 12".
3. Upper strap button no higher than the 12th fret, because I want a short reach to first position when standing.
4. Rolled fretboard edges. I found these very comfy on my first Fenders, and have insisted on them since, though I do like my G&L basses with less aggressively rolled edges.
5. No sharp body edges.
6. On fours, no 1.75" nut widths for me, and 1.5" strongly preferred. (I'd be fine with a 1 5/8" nut, provided the neck was otherwise comfy and had at least a 12" fretboard radius.)
7. On fives, I want string spacing narrower than 19mm. I like the 17.4mm on my G&L, but 18mm is fine too.
8. With very few exceptions, I won't do traditional sunbursts.
9. Nothing heavy, which to me is above 9.5 lbs.
1. Low action is a must.
2. Relatively flat fretboards. I prefer 12" radius or flatter generally, but it's especially important on fives where I'd happily go with something like the 24" radii on some Yamahas. I still love my 2003 Fender J with 9.5" radius, but all my others are G&Ls with 12".
3. Upper strap button no higher than the 12th fret, because I want a short reach to first position when standing.
4. Rolled fretboard edges. I found these very comfy on my first Fenders, and have insisted on them since, though I do like my G&L basses with less aggressively rolled edges.
5. No sharp body edges.
6. On fours, no 1.75" nut widths for me, and 1.5" strongly preferred. (I'd be fine with a 1 5/8" nut, provided the neck was otherwise comfy and had at least a 12" fretboard radius.)
7. On fives, I want string spacing narrower than 19mm. I like the 17.4mm on my G&L, but 18mm is fine too.
8. With very few exceptions, I won't do traditional sunbursts.
9. Nothing heavy, which to me is above 9.5 lbs.
Good call.
I've been fortunate to have played with excellent drummers for the last 25 years, but it wasn't always so. I've also done gigs just to play with the drummer, driven too far, not been paid enough. A good drummer just makes it all worthwhile.
Back in 1978 I saw Stanley Clarke's superb Alembic basses and wanted a bass like that ever since.
Natural finished dark woods.
No pickguard.
Gold hardware.
(I was stunned by the Alembic prices!Never bought one.)
But most bass makers at the time(80's) were too concerned with paint,pickguards and chrome.
So I had to concede to buying what I really didn't want.
Avoiding basses with pickguards,but having to surrender to paint and chrome for the time being.
Since 2007 I will not buy a bass that is a color in the light spectrum.
Or has a broad sheet of plastic covering parts of the top.
Or has less than six strings.
Natural finished dark woods.
No pickguard.
Gold hardware.
(I was stunned by the Alembic prices!Never bought one.)
But most bass makers at the time(80's) were too concerned with paint,pickguards and chrome.
So I had to concede to buying what I really didn't want.
Avoiding basses with pickguards,but having to surrender to paint and chrome for the time being.
Since 2007 I will not buy a bass that is a color in the light spectrum.
Or has a broad sheet of plastic covering parts of the top.
Or has less than six strings.
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I’m the kind of guy where if I said I would never own X, someone would immediately hand me an X, and I’d play it and think it was great.
A short list of things I said I would never own… Fender basses, Ampeg, Les Pauls, an overdrive pedal, an hybrid amp, EL34s, an amp under 100w, and a Telecaster.
Anyone want to take a stab at what I currently use?
A short list of things I said I would never own… Fender basses, Ampeg, Les Pauls, an overdrive pedal, an hybrid amp, EL34s, an amp under 100w, and a Telecaster.
Anyone want to take a stab at what I currently use?
Very neat you responded to my post. Cheers for that. When I say shiny and new..... I just don't want something that I got new at the store, trashed by carelessness. You know? I don't mind real road worn instruments as well. And dare I say.... I loathed synthetic road worn basses until I got my road worn Flea bass and fell in love.
So I learned a valuable lesson.
Never say never
The funny thing is when you see one of your favorite musicians playing a certain instrument and you run out to get one thinking it's the best bass ever only to read a current interview of them complaining about how much they hate it.I’m the kind of guy where if I said I would never own X, someone would immediately hand me an X, and I’d play it and think it was great.
A short list of things I said I would never own… Fender basses, Ampeg, Les Pauls, an overdrive pedal, an hybrid amp, EL34s, an amp under 100w, and a Telecaster.
Anyone want to take a stab at what I currently use?
Fanned frets - gotta have 'em. And frankly that narrows the field so much that given my budget I can't afford to be much pickier than that.
Reasonably low action. I like it low enough that I can get some growl or buzz when I dig in. I really dislike high action.
Radius 11" +/- a little. To flat or to curved feels odd. My heartfield is 19 5/8" (500mm) and I do not like it. My EBs are 11 and my Better Mousetrap is 12. They feel great.
Neck thickness and width on the thinner side. I got little hands and that helps. Think that is a big part of why I prefer my EBMM Sterling over the stingray
Weight on the lighter side. It use to not matter, but it does now. Getting older sucks.
Balance. I am not going to fight neck dive. Overall comfort is part of the deal for me.
Radius 11" +/- a little. To flat or to curved feels odd. My heartfield is 19 5/8" (500mm) and I do not like it. My EBs are 11 and my Better Mousetrap is 12. They feel great.
Neck thickness and width on the thinner side. I got little hands and that helps. Think that is a big part of why I prefer my EBMM Sterling over the stingray
Weight on the lighter side. It use to not matter, but it does now. Getting older sucks.
Balance. I am not going to fight neck dive. Overall comfort is part of the deal for me.
I tend to be super sensitive to dead spots.
I will not play them in a pit.
I do not like dead spots, not one bit.
Hate dead spots on the neck.
they make my freakin bass a wreck.
I will not play them in a pit.
I do not like dead spots, not one bit.
Hate dead spots on the neck.
they make my freakin bass a wreck.
Like many others... Low action is a must. I don't care if the strings rattle a little bit.
I've gotta have five (5) strings, which must have normal string spacing. I refuse to call it "wide", because it's the same distance, string-to-string, as the Fender/MM four strings I started out on (19-20mm at the bridge). Music Man and other 17-18mm fivers have narrow spacing, end of story.
OH, I can't forget: FENDER-STYLE ERGONOMICS! In short: a body with the bridge near the butt-end, and a horn that extends to the 12th fret -- if a bass has this, then it probably won't neck dive, which would be a deal-killer for me. Note that Fender-style doesn't mean P or J specifically. One of my basses is a single-cutaway, and another is headless: both still qualify.
I adore "bassic black", looks even better when it's broken in (so to speak), but for me it's a nice-to-have and not a must-have.
OH, I can't forget: FENDER-STYLE ERGONOMICS! In short: a body with the bridge near the butt-end, and a horn that extends to the 12th fret -- if a bass has this, then it probably won't neck dive, which would be a deal-killer for me. Note that Fender-style doesn't mean P or J specifically. One of my basses is a single-cutaway, and another is headless: both still qualify.
I adore "bassic black", looks even better when it's broken in (so to speak), but for me it's a nice-to-have and not a must-have.
