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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?

#341
I have an EBMM SR5 single coil and it was my dream bass, before I got it. Grew up playing a Karera p-bass, got out of college and got a decent paying job that I could finally afford to give into G.A.S. Bought an MIA Fender Jazz, industry standard for a reason. Bought the SR5, got used to the five string, got used to the sound. Tried all kinds of strings, Slinkys, DR with a .125 B string (the Marcus Miller set), settled on TI Flats. I finally realized that I can't stand the MM pickup position, it is too nasally and while it can get a ton of low end, it just can't get the punch of a Precision in that frequency range. Maybe because I grew up playing a passive precision style bass, maybe I don't like active pickups, just don't dig the SR5 at all for what I want to do with a bass. Now I am playing a CV 50s Squier with a Hanson Chi Sonic in it, sounds like what I want. The Jazz bass has Upright Bass strings on it now for some dubby drum and bass stuff. The SR5 sits in the case in a closet and the only time I found it superior is playing through a really bad amp where options are limited and I can get a little more control over the EQ.
 
#342
cassius987 said:
I am consistently disappointed when I go try out Jazz Basses hoping to find one I like; it still hasn't happened since I sold the last one I owned, an MIA that the buyer told me was the best he'd played, but I couldn't enjoy the tone after a year of ownership and "hot rod" mod after "hot rod" mod after "hot rod" mod. Different strokes. When I bought that first one, I bought it because I kept telling myself, "Yeah, it's a Jazz Bass so it HAS to be good." My preconceptions overruled the fact that my ears were, even at that first play test at the music store, not totally thrilled. To date, the best Jazz Bass I have ever played (that was still not good enough to take home) was a Road Worn Jazz Bass that was on clearance.

I really like MusicMan as a whole but the particular 3-band Stingray I used to own always sounded weirdly metallic and "prickly" to my ears, unless I fiddled with the EQ until the natural sound of the bass was beyond recognition. Again, the buyer liked it, and I'm glad about that but I don't miss the bass at all. I may pick up a 2-band 'Ray some day as I've tried those out and liked the sound a whole lot better. I think if I'd been better at setups when I owned that bass it might have worked out a little better for me, too.

I played some really cool boutique basses on a few occasions (won't name the builders), and I guess I was just disappointed to realize that while they're good basses, they were hardly special. The justification for the price seemed to be how highly customized each bass was, and to me that's not all that valuable.

The good news is, I love what I've got in my stable now and can't see getting rid of it.
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Ya know, as a long time Fender guy, I think judging a Fender from how it plays on the wall in the store would be a mistake unless you are at Rudy's in NYC. They are consistently the only cats I have ever found who take the time and care enough to make sure their Fenders are properly setup. Most other stores just put em on the wall, and they sit there, occasionally getting banged around by somebody's kid brother until they are sold. Tragic, but I guess that's how things are.

I just picked up a MIA 2004 Fender that played like sh*t. but I looked at all the basics, checked out the neck etc. and went ahead and bought it with the understanding that with some tweaking it would be fine. As it turned out, the bass was more than fine. After getting it to my tech and getting him to do his magic on it, the thing plays better than my old standby and has taken pole position in my gig arsenal.

Fenders don't come out of the box playing optimally, you got to get them that way yourself. I think that is part of the reason boutique basses are popular, they at least are usually set up well. You wont find any badly set up Sadowskys or Foderas in the shops that make them. But go down the street to Sam ash and play them there. Then you'll see what a massive difference proper setup makes in judging a bass. Sadowsky, Rudy's, Fodera etc. know better. They respect the players who make the trek their respective shops to see them. Too bad major retailers don't.
 
#344
I didn't buy one, but I just played a new Gibson Thunderbird. Lousy finish, 1st and 2nd frets on the E buzzed like the Dickens and the knobs and tuners just felt cheap to me. Worst of all, this thing had a profound lack of balls. Absolutely not the tone I wanted or expected. Perhaps I shouldn't have been using Reid Diamond from Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet's absolutely delicious tone as a reference point...

Such a bummer.
 
#349
plangentmusic said:
Have you ever gotten something that you thought would be just perfect -- and then the more you played it, the more you hated it?
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Hate? Never. I guess I'm lucky, but every bass I've felt compelled enough to actually pony up the dough and buy, had enough redeeming qualities that whatever it's uncovered "deficiencies" might ultimately have been, "hate" was never in the picture.

No dissapointments, either. Just recognition of some compromise inherent or existing in the instrument.

I guess I'm lucky. But I'm also a glass is 1/2 full kind of guy, and maybe that has something to do with it as well.
 
#352
Sadowsky Metro: build quality was fair, but not as astonishing as people often suggest. Sonically speaking, it made me wonder if they left the steroids out of it at the shop. Sounded like a Fender. And not even a stand out Fender. Just a plain jane Fender with a noisy preamp. Oh, and dead spots. Never again.

Lakland 55-02: Impossible to set up to my taste, and it had a 35" scale baseball bat of a neck. As I grow disenchanted with EBMM, I miss the sound of the 55-02 even more, but as I buy increasingly comfortable basses, I do NOT miss the wrist pain that wrestling with that tree trunk brought on. And all of my basses at present, with the exception of my last EBMM, are 35" scale.

And speaking of EBMM, I'm also finding that my EBMM love is waning dramatically. Their newest crop of designs, with the push buttons and all that, feel really cheap when I try them out. And they make weird design decisions on their revamped classics, like not letting me run the rear picking in my HH in parallel... Its a beautiful bass that is case surfing until I figure out what to do with it (that is, where to sell it).
 
#354
Stingray. Black, rosewood board two band eq. Beautiful bass, I so wanted to love it. Probably one of the best instruments I've owned in terms of quality fit and finish. Awesome neck but it was SOOO active sounding. It was just so harsh sounding. I just kept turning knobs looking for a good sound, couldn't find one. Sold it very reluctantly.:(
 
#357
Warwick Thumb 4 bolt-on. I had it for about a year and a half and just never fell in love with it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the instrument, though. It sounded great and I loved the neck, but the look didn't inspire me at all and it didn't feel right in my lap (not balance wise, just... I dunno, it just wasn't me).
 
#358
Fender MIM Standard Fretless Jazz Bass. Couldn't get it to sound how I wanted. Fender, D'Addario, nor Rotosound flats, nor GHS Pressurewounds (though those came closest), nor DR Hi-Beams got what I was looking for, thanks to that rosewood board. I'm much happier with my Carvin B40F, with stainless roundwounds on its ebony fingerboard.
 
#360
A few:
1. Stingray 5. The strings always felt super tight and it sounded dead with new or dead strings. And it was HEAVY.
2. Rickenbacker. I owned a 1980 Rick and it felt terrible to me. But I had another Rick a few years ago that was incredible.
3. Warwick Fortress. Felt great, played great and sounded great at home. Never could get a decent sound at the gig. (BTW I love Warwicks)
4. Squire Vintage Modified Jazz. Put together well but HEAVY and couldn't get any low action. Also lacking lows in a big way. I played a P bass and this Squire back to back and the VMJ sounded like a banjo.
5. Sadowsky Metro. This bass was put together extremely well. It had none of the Fender growl whatsoever. Another bass that sounded dead with new or dead strings.
6. Ibanez ATK. Greenish neck wood. Heavy. Ugly ash(it was a natural finish that normally is my favorite.) the worst, clickety-clackety fret wire.

Disclaimer. I don't dislike any of the aforementioned manufacturers. My opinions are based only on the ones I have owned and/or tried and would definitely try these same makes/models again.
As a side note I bought most of these basses used.
 

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