What are you most picky about?

[Pings Bass]

For music I'm most picky about:

1. Musicality. Must have interesting melodies, harmonies, and counterpoint, along with emotional depth.
2. Groove. No throbbing straight eighths, no wall of sound. Must swing and have space between notes.

For instruments I'm most picky about:

1. Must stay in tune
2. Must play good
3. Must sound good

Bonus if it looks good, too.

That's it.

 

[LBS-bass]

I am with you on the low action and the light, bendy strings.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

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?

Yes, I guess it boils down to low( easy) Action! I initially was gonna say FEEL! How it "feels" in my grubby mits! its gotta feel good!Hence my love for unfinished Necks,I love the feel of bare wood.easy,easy pervs, its more of a tactile thing than sensual! And the necks profile. I prefer thin to thick. i can play either but really like thin, not shredder/wafer thin, but comfortably, Nice,not chunky fat. although I owned a baseball bat for a while that grew on me.As for weight yes Lighter is better! My first bassses was an anchor! that put grooves in my young shoulders and just made it hard to manuever around!made me feel Slow,clumsy & awkward.luckily, I was gifted a super comfortable & light Ibanez after graduation! Recently Ive learned to setup my Basses, through the process of upgrading/Modding a couple of Ebay finds & warmoth builds! So ive dialed in all my basses to my Liking! as for string guages, Ive always like med. light ( 45-105) But the circle I used to hang out with loved Telephone Cables! never under stood their mentality! They liked to fight with their instruments! And would remark My bass was tooo Easy!! As for color, dont care. I like solid metallics,& candy Colors. I dont like Bursts,or Brown dyes or sun/tabacco, they just look sooo old fashion. for that matter ifind Tort to be nauseating ugly. solid blackor pearl is nice. but probably prefer no PG.Do own 3 color dyed basses that show off the beautiful woodgrain. most of my collection are Dark colors over lighter ones. Most picky about the overall look, then its feel! Gotta look good, then great!

 

[rafunk]

Pasive
Pickups set quite low. I like to have a wide dynamic range. If the pickup is too high I don’t like it farting when I play hard.
Quite flexible strings. DR Sunbeams in roundwounds and TI for flats.

 

[SJan3]

It took me a long time to realize I prefer P-shaped bodies to J. Almost disappointing, since I grew up on J’s.

Me too. My 1st was a '66 Jazz purchased new because, as a kid, I had to have the 2 pickup model. It took decades to submit to the Precision and now it's all I want to play.

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

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

Yeah, but then you're also cutting the D and.....

mother of god.

you can raise or lower any single string on a 4 string pbass pickup without affecting the others, can't you.... Wow.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

No fret buzz and minimal clank. So I prefer higher action.

I also prefer lighter gage strings. My current E is 95, but I could likely handle a 100.

Took me awhile to realize this, but I seem to prefer smaller basses. I came to this conclusion only based on my bass buying and selling history. I was surprised.

I prefer bursts.

Prefer a pickguard.

 

[BBQV]

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 pretty much your opposite…

Heavy strings (never below 45-105).
Action on the higher end of the spectrum.
Round radius, not flatter than 10”.
I dont’t mind heavy (even if it isn’t a must).

I too like black basses, but it’s not a deal breaker.
But most importanly, I do need the neck to be thick. I prefer wide and thick, but narrow works just as long as there’s lots of wood between my thumb and the fretting fingers.

 

[TJH3113]

Even string output.

 

[Haans]

Looks. If it doesn't look right, there's no way it's coming home. Still, it has to be playable, or at least close to. And have 3 or 4 strings.

 

[TrevorG]

Low action but fret buzz not obligatory. Tone within the range I like rather than every option under the sun. 21 frets MINIMUM! Under 9.5lbs please.

 

[ajkula66]

Neck profile. That's one thing that I can't fix since I don't believe in "shaving" the neck...let someone else enjoy the instrument "as-is", no need for me to butcher it. Nothing over 1.5" nut on a 4-string, matched with a 12" radius if possible.

Ergonomics. Very few basses have failed this test since I'm quite forgiving in this respect, but there are several that I just couldn't get used to regardless of how awesome they sounded. Some I never bought in the first place after trying them out (Alembic Series One, Gibson Thunderbird, Hofner 500) and the others I bought and sold with the promise to myself to never even look at one of them again (Warwick Thumb, Gibson EB-1, Kramer Alu-neck).

My $0.02 only...

 

[Sam Evans]

1. Ergonomics. I know that's composed of a lot of individual things, but it's all equally important to me, considering my (mostly past but still occasional) RSI issues.
2. Sound. Yep, it takes a back seat to ergonomics, but not by much. I won't play a bass with less than ideal ergonomics, but I'll put up with a bass with so-so sound.
3. Appearance. I like a pretty bass, but it's not really that important to me.

Luckily these days, I don't really have to choose one from the other, as there are plenty of basses that meet my personal standards on all three accounts.

 

[MCF]

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?

Action. No need to work harder than you have to.

As for black basses, this one has your name on it Jimmy.

 

[WillyW]

— no sunburst

— no tort

— that covers it.

 

[2F/2F]

Fretboard radius is my #1 most important specification. The curvier the better; I love the old Fender, Music Man, and G&L fretboards (7 1/4" – 7 1/2" radius). I do tolerate flatter boards, if there are other redeeming characteristics of the bass. E.g. I love my new Guild Starfire II, even though it has a 12" radius.

The next most important characteristic is fret size. The smaller the better. Old Fender frets (or even narrower and lower) are where it's at for me. Again, I do tolerate other sizes, but if frets are too high and clunky (like modern G&Ls), I will have them leveled down significantly, or just replaced.

High action and heavy flatwounds for me. I do have other types of strings, but they are by far the exception. However, my action is always high, even when I have lighter weight rounds on a bass.

Weight? I don't love a heavy bass. I do have some heavy basses (almost all "vintage" instruments), and I tolerate them when needed. When I have a choice of weight, I do indeed consider it. However, I don't like light basses either. 8 1/2 – 9 1/2 lb. is a pretty nice range for me.

Very picky about color, and looks in general. Aesthetics are important to me.

Extremely picky about cases. I like hardshell, and classic looking vinyl, leather, and wood ones, when possible. I have very few gig bags.

 

[jpmcbride]

1) Low action
2) No neck dive
3) Output jack on the front. Unfortunately I have to compromise on this one. A lot of basses have the jack on the side of the body and while I don't prefer it, its not a deal breaker if I really like the bass. MY #1 (Gibson Les Paul Junior DC) has the jack there.

 

[legalbass]

Most picky about setup -- need my low action and a nearly straight (and stable!) neck. There are several factors that go into a bass guitar I can learn to live with, but there is simply no substitute for my preferred setup.

No throbbing straight eighths, no wall of sound.

So you *don't* listen to AC/DC, eight hours a day?

 

[Dave Campbell]

To me, basses that have headstock painted same color as body look weird with maple fretboards.
Can't explain why, it just irks me.

 

[G On Bass]

Low action with light strings
No neck dive at all. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. If I hang my bass on a mannequin and go out of town for 3 weeks, it best be in the same position it was when I left. I don't have a mannequin, but if I did...
Neck profile (no clue what the numbers or specs are, just has to feel right)
At least 18mm spacing (all mine are 5 strings). I can do 19mm but not 16 or 17.
I don't care too much about color or anything as all that is cosmetic and can be changed easily.
Weight just has to be not too heavy. I think maybe 10 pounds or less.

 

[MDStingray]

A ding on the back of the neck.
Weight.