What are you most picky about?

[JRA]

weight? i don't know if i've turned totally "picky" on the weight thing, but i sure have enjoyed assembling parts into nice playing lightweights.

i'd probably be the pickiest about the 'hang'/balance (seated or standing) --- does it feel right for hours on end?
and, the neck (fretless with a profile that tells my fingers what to do...or at least points them in the right direction! ).

if all of my basses were black = ! (although, my newest is CAR ) TBH: i could give a about the way the thing looks by the time i hear the count-off! but i do like to look at the pretty ones when they're just sitting there.... "play me, play me!"

 

[shadven]

Unfinished headstocks.
If I see one hanging up, no need to even take it down and plug it in.

I don't get it? You like unfinished head stocks or you don't? Does this mean you like painted matching head stocks. Just curious

 

[shadven]

1. Not a fan of owning red basses or tobacco sunburst basses. They just aren't for me.
2. Fender fanboy here. I've tried other makes and models and they just don't suit me or do it for me. Fender or bust.
3. Four strings. I can barely handle the four that makes a bass. I'm not adding more strings to make my life even more difficult. So no five or six string for me. Thank you.
4. Not an active bass fan. I don't want to put batteries in my instrument.
5. I like my basses shiny and new. Straplocks when playing. Cases when moving. Guitar stand when resting.

No offence to all the fabulous players who love/enjoy the opposite to my five listed.

I think I just found my brother! I don't mind a little honest age on my basses. I have a few vintage Fenders. I'm a P-bass guy, and I really like the earliest Precisions with the single-coil pickup and the tele shaped headstock. 4 strings is plenty for me! And Fender is number 1!

 

[shadven]

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?

Fender P-bass though a MESA WD-800 head powering an Ampeg HE410 cabinet.

 

[jd56hawk]

I don't get it? You like unfinished head stocks or you don't? Does this mean you like painted matching head stocks. Just curious

If I see bass with an unfinished headstock, there's no need to even take it down and plug it in, because there's no way I'd buy it.
I'd call that picky.

 

[woodyng2]

My main pickiness concerns are Playability, weight, and sound.
If I have to fight any of those factors, the bass won’t last long with me.
Playability is almost always down to strings and setup. I’m comfortable with a variety of neck shapes in a full scale. (I don’t like super skinny necks, though).
Weight 9 pounds tops, and it best be well balanced, at that.
I prefer passive setups, be it 1 or 2 pickups, SC or HB. Just keep yer emgs and 3 band eqs.
No fatties! (Slab bodies) either.
Actually, I guess I’m very picky!

 

[_Some Dude]

Fender P-bass though a MESA WD-800 head powering an Ampeg HE410 cabinet.

Not bad, 2 out of 3.

 

[Ed Goode]

I wouldn’t ever say I was picky, but I know what I like and what has worked for me for pretty much my whole musical life. At least a 34” scale, at least 18mm wide, flat wound high tension strings, no frets … I’m 70 years old and darn lucky to still be an active gigging musician, I’m not settling for anything that I don’t like …

 

[singlemalt]

I’m picky about lots of things: weight, four strings, 19 mm string spacing,..price and value.

Over 8 1/2 lb and it’s not happening.

It’ll probably be a Dingwall. It’ll sound and play great.

I probably won’t care much about color or finish.

Yesterday, I ran into an older Fender jazz that had the truss rod adjustment at the heel. No slot to access the truss rod and it looked to me like the old “take off the neck to adjust the truss rod”

I know Fender did this at the dawn of time, and you think I’d have run into it before now, but damn...what a stupid design!

I don’t even like truss rod access covers. The screws are always tiny, soft metal crap and the wood strips out. Magnetic would be ok. Just make it easy!

Is easy access to the truss rod too much to ask?

A deal breaker I never thought of before seeing it up close and personal.

Good thing I’m not into vintage Fenders!

 

[Merlo79]

Ergonomics. Can't play a bass I don't find comfortable.
Also picks. Most don't suit me and I almost won't bother unless I have the right one. Can't stand tortex.

I don't care about things such as weight or action, tho. A 20 lbs bass? Challenge accepted.
I can slide my hand without touching the strings? Cool, I'll be able to pick insanely hard without noise.

 

[Deleted member 382780]

Ergonomics. Can't play a bass I don't find comfortable.
Also picks. Most don't suit me and I almost won't bother unless I have the right one. Can't stand tortex.

I don't care about things such as weight or action, tho. A 20 lbs bass? Challenge accepted.
I can slide my hand without touching the strings? Cool, I'll be able to pick insanely hard without noise.

Can’t stand tortex? What about it don’t you like because I’ve found them to be some of the best picks out there

 

[TJL]

It comes down to the eternal fight between what I prefer, and what will work for the job at hand. My preference is ultra low action, 40-100 strings with 125 low B, and D'addario Pro Steels. That works for me all day long when playing live. Studio recording is another story. I usually have to raise my action a bit to avoid that "clank" sound from happening during a session. Not exactly fret buzz since I mill and crown all my basses to allow for buzz free ultra low action, but more of the noise created when my hand pushes the strings against the frets. Raising the action, the use of flatwounds, and rolling off the treble may not be my preference, but for studio work, they may be necessary.

 

[Matt R]

Hold on while I find a shopping cart.........

 

[Merlo79]

Can’t stand tortex? What about it don’t you like because I’ve found them to be some of the best picks out there

I know, from my limited experience people love them.
It's the texture. Playing them feels like a subtler version of scraping the fingernails on the chalk board and some of them wear out in a way that further emphasizes this.

 

[tri2bob]

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?

I'm most picky about tone. All else is secondary.

 

[Deleted member 382780]

I know, from my limited experience people love them.
It's the texture. Playing them feels like a subtler version of scraping the fingernails on the chalk board and some of them wear out in a way that further emphasizes this.

ok yeah that does make sense. They’re meant to mimic turtle bone so \_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Dave Neal]

Women! No tats, no piecing's in weird places, no or little make up, doesn't sound like she has a sinus condition, educated but not a crazy lefty and other than that any Yamaha.

 

[OregonMike]

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?

Black also sounds better. I think that's also been proven.
I'm pretty adaptable with neck shape but I do like a flatter radius, and low taught action/tension.
Most everything else is aesthetic.
I only play a pbass. No frills, tried and true design, and just feels natural to me.
Finish has to be nitro, so I always end up painting my own.
Rosewood, never maple. (again, aesthetic)
Tinted neck.
Never a white pickguard.
I'm sure there are other little things, but like I said, I'm fairly adaptable.

 

[Downwiththebass]

Good intonation, plays evenly across all strings when plugged in. Light weight if used for 3+ hour gigs. Since I've aged and have hand pain, sadly short scale for long gigs, although when occasionally playing in a church praise band (3 or 4 songs max) I still use a 35" scale Schecter Studio 5.

 

[The Expendable Clay]

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?

I'm so opposite you lol
I prefer no buzz, so I go 45-105 or 40-100 on a 35" scale
I love a 14-16" neck radius - so no Fender
I have an 11 pound Schecter that I love. Although it's too heavy lol. My preferred weight is 9 lbs or right under.
I don't really like super dark basses because they don't show up on a dark stage. I like white or light ash color or seafoam green, etc. and maple boards.. yes