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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?

#361
you know i got to thinking about this and the only basses i haven't been disappointed with is my peavey u.s.a. millennium and peavey u.s.a. cirrus bass. i have had about 50 different basses and i those are the only ones i like. now if i can only find an amp i like.
 
#362
thmsjordan said:
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.
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I think you misread. I had that Jazz Bass for several years and it was professionally setup twice. The problem was I kept wanting to believe it was a good bass based on its reputation rather than decide for myself. I got another bass later that, out of the box, totally outperformed the Jazz for me, and that's when I sold it.

Now, I had another Jazz Bass that was MIM and I will agree that it was a great example of something that came very poorly setup. However, it also had a few intrinsic flaws, basically some dead spots on the fingerboard that were unfixable. So it went back to Musician's Friend pretty quickly.

lfbassguy said:
you know i got to thinking about this and the only basses i haven't been disappointed with is my peavey u.s.a. millennium and peavey u.s.a. cirrus bass. i have had about 50 different basses and i those are the only ones i like. now if i can only find an amp i like.
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I think this illustrates the way some player's just have a certain sound or feel in mind and some basses just meet that expectation better than the rest, regardless of quality. It's not a bad thing as it points out that we all have our preferences, and even if several of us find one thing disappointing, that doesn't make it any less respectable. I don't disrespect Jazz Basses, for sure.
 
#364
For me ...

EBMM Stingray 4HH. Bought it in Korea new, loved the tone, but I could never get it to play without buzzing all over the place. I flipped it for the Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Standard I have today.

Warwick. Any Warwick. Whether at GC or anywhere else. If I wanted a Louisville Slugger for a neck, I'd go to a sporting goods store. And every one of them, regardless of who owned them or was selling them, sounded awful to my ears.

Any Ibanez. Always felt, sounded and played cheap to me.
 
#369
A Franken-P that I assembled. I bought a body of unknown origin here on TB, added a Mexi-P neck that came from a Jazz bass I bought off Craigslist. I made a project out of making it as black as I could. Black bass, black hardware, black strings. Loaded it with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders.

I'd never owned a P-Bass before, so I didn't know what to expect. Didn't really like the sound of the finished product, so I tried to sell it or trade it. Got no takers, so my son is rockin' it now and he sounds good on it. Maybe I'm just not a P bass guy.

AutoshowandBasses061.jpg
 
#371
First for me is a Ric. I am a big Geddy and Chris Squire fan, and love how they sound playing them. I have tried several, and they do not work for me. They are not comfortable for me, and I could not get the sound I wanted.

Secondly Warwicks. I think the build quality is good, and others sound good on them. I have never played one that really worked for me.

Gibson basses. In general I found the necks chunky. I did like the RD Artist tonally when I played one way back when, but it is a long time ago.
 
#372
This is tough...

I can honestly say I hated the Fender Jaguar Bass...had a ton of dead spots., I had two of them...total JUNK.

I love my Laklands, my 63 Jazz and 66 P-Bass...

What I need to do is stop looking at new basses and enjoy the basses I already have, the basses that are tried and true...
 
#374
Washburn Force 5 ABT. Looked good on the shelf, played well enough for the ratty old strings it was strung with, even sounded good with the Bartolinis it was equipped with. However, the low B is a real letdown, and I don't see why I should keep a bass around that doesn't do what I bought it to do.
 
#375
Veilette-Citron custom. Saw a picture of it in a magazine,, thought it was one of the best looking basses I'd ever seen. Bought it factory direct - w/o having ever played or even heard one. Within 6 months of receiving it I hated it. Played okay, but sounded dull, lifeless,, horrible. Both Joe Veilette and Harvey Citron now have their own individual boutique bass companies. I don't think I'll be looking to either for my next bass!

Oh,,, and the brand new Gibson Ripper I traded my P-bass for back in '74. I wanted a bass as 'non-Fender' as I could find. I got it! Only one usable sound,,, played badly,,, poor build quality.

You would think after those 2 disasters that I would've learned my lesson, but now I'm considering buying a brand new (Gibson) Epiphone bass that I've never heard or played - a Zenith. Great concept! We'll see.
 
#378
Sadowsky said:
Although I understand that bass preferences are subjective and personal, it is always upsetting to hear that anyone has been disappointed by a Sadowsky.

Roger
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I understand you have pride in your product, and you should.

But if I may...

...they're basses, not automobiles. I realize it's a lot of work required to make them by hand, but the bottom line with the customer is the end result.

When something cost thousands of dollars, even if its great, it may not be what they want, hence, there's going to be some unhappy customers.

Perhaps if your products were half the price you'd sell ten times as many.
 
#379
Sadowsky said:
Although I understand that bass preferences are subjective and personal, it is always upsetting to hear that anyone has been disappointed by a Sadowsky.

Roger
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Well, I don't own one, and I have owned many, many basses over the years, and I have 7 electric basses, which are my favorite basses, and I truly love them. But I must say, I played a Sadowsky that belong to a friend of mine, and I immediately fell in love with it. It was by far the best bass I ever played in my life. And this is coming from a guy that has owned Surine, Ken Smith, hi end Yamaha, Fender, etc.
I think the set up is very important. For instance I love Jazz Basses, and I have never once in over twenty years played a Jazz Bass at a store that I liked! And yet, I have owned 3 SX in the past that after set up played better than most basses my friends brag about.
Unfortunately (in a way) I have made up my mind not to buy any more basses. I have more than enough, and they are very good basses too. But if I ever buy another it will be a Sadowsky!!! That is the only bass that still gives me GAS!!!
 
#380
Rockbass Corvette 5A. What a junk. Strap buttons came out in two weeks, battery cover screws rolled empty, electronics failed on its first gig (turned out to be bad battery connector) and it didn't even sound that good. And then the neck. A friggin' baseball bat split in half and then fretted. I know Warwicks have thick necks and I've played a "real" 5-string Corvette but that was worse. Don't know if Rockbass basses have improved in 4 years but back then the quality was just sad, even for the price.

On the top of that I got too many comments about the upper horn reminding people of a certain human male reproductive organ... :D Sheesh, why everything has to be automatically dirty nowadays...

The again, never had a disappointment with Ibanez. The most solid quality I've ever experienced, in every price range. Just wanted to say that.
 

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