A Tobias Renegade I bought from an honest TBer used (and returned) . The tone was dull and lifeless.
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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?
- Thread starter plangentmusic
- Start date
NYC SADOWSKY 4
An older one , but 90% similar to the ones they make now.
Ash/maple with quilted top. Bass was around 7-8 pounds. Took it one gig, one session, then put it away and sold it. Absolutely no midrange and hollow sounding. Spent thousands, couldent hear a note in a mix. All scratchy highs and woofy lows.
So much for light ash basses.
The gig and the studio were both regular places for me so it was a very fair test. Had to go back and replace the tracks with a different bass. I wont spend another penny on Sadowsky and his philosophy of no midrange=better sit in the mix.
What a bunch of hooey IMO.
k Sad fanboys, flame away!! lol
An older one , but 90% similar to the ones they make now.
Ash/maple with quilted top. Bass was around 7-8 pounds. Took it one gig, one session, then put it away and sold it. Absolutely no midrange and hollow sounding. Spent thousands, couldent hear a note in a mix. All scratchy highs and woofy lows.
So much for light ash basses.
The gig and the studio were both regular places for me so it was a very fair test. Had to go back and replace the tracks with a different bass. I wont spend another penny on Sadowsky and his philosophy of no midrange=better sit in the mix.
What a bunch of hooey IMO.
k Sad fanboys, flame away!! lol
Peavey Cirrus.
Played one that belonged to another player and was impressed.They were not easy to get at the time as they were pretty new.Ordered it from my local Peavey dealer,picked out the wood,etc . It took a couple of months to get because Peavey was backordered on those Eddie VanHalen guitars.Thought I liked it at first but it didn't sit with main band as well as a Fender. Was OK for disco slap crap. It also only sounded good with Peavey Cirrus strings which nobody stocked and had to be ordered special. The pickups/ preamp became weaker sounding. Not in signal output but just became thinner sounding after a year. Sent it back to the factory for servicing ( took about 6 weeks) got it back and it still didn't sound right to me. Got rid of it soon after that.
I know these basses have their fans but maybe I got a dud.
Played one that belonged to another player and was impressed.They were not easy to get at the time as they were pretty new.Ordered it from my local Peavey dealer,picked out the wood,etc . It took a couple of months to get because Peavey was backordered on those Eddie VanHalen guitars.Thought I liked it at first but it didn't sit with main band as well as a Fender. Was OK for disco slap crap. It also only sounded good with Peavey Cirrus strings which nobody stocked and had to be ordered special. The pickups/ preamp became weaker sounding. Not in signal output but just became thinner sounding after a year. Sent it back to the factory for servicing ( took about 6 weeks) got it back and it still didn't sound right to me. Got rid of it soon after that.
I know these basses have their fans but maybe I got a dud.
for me it is a ibanez sr505, i was in love with that ting for long time, untill i try squier mb5 to half price
I picked up a Squire with a P/J configuration and it was the biggest piece of crap ever. Sounded like smashing a flounder up against a weak wood fence!
Rickenbacker 4001... I didn't like anything but the looks on that bass. I was lucky enough to try one from someone, who happened to have it in his car. And if that's not enough, it was a very well-kept model from the 70's.
So I plug it into my amp and start plucking the first few careful notes on it, but everything was a disappointment! The sound was surprisingly thin and very low compared to my Jazz Deluxe from 2000. Nor did it feel very nice to play, I couldn't find a comfortable place to put my thumb, which usually rests on the jazz pick up, and the neck was just a mess, my fingers didn't "fly" across the fretboard, as they do on my Jazz.
Of course those two instruments are quite different, but I'm definitely never gonna buy a Rickenbacker!
So I plug it into my amp and start plucking the first few careful notes on it, but everything was a disappointment! The sound was surprisingly thin and very low compared to my Jazz Deluxe from 2000. Nor did it feel very nice to play, I couldn't find a comfortable place to put my thumb, which usually rests on the jazz pick up, and the neck was just a mess, my fingers didn't "fly" across the fretboard, as they do on my Jazz.
Of course those two instruments are quite different, but I'm definitely never gonna buy a Rickenbacker!
I'm with you on that. The Rickenbacker is the biggest disappointment that I've never owned.
Marcus Miller 5 Jazz. I tried a 4 and thought, WOW! I ordered a 5 sight unseen, and the sound was very DARK, and no punch at all.
For me two Rick 4003's and a Fender Jaguar.
The Ricks had issues, the Jaguar just was not doing it for me long term at all.
The Ricks had issues, the Jaguar just was not doing it for me long term at all.
Really sorry to say but I still haven't touched a post 90s Fender bass that plays and sounds good. A few days ago I tried my friend's new American Standard Jazz bass which he seemed to be proud of and I was so disappointed - once again dull wood without any resonance at all, poor fret work, felt like a plastic feeling toy. I know Fender fans can get angry on this but I really haven't tried a good Fender bass after 90s. Then again I was at my friend's place in Finland and he had a 82 jazz. Boy, was this bass good! Great woods, great finish, great setup, great tone! It felt like a real Fender compared to those new ones. Really don't understand how this hype works on those younger players. Perhaps they haven't tried the REAL Fenders?
The other disappointment was (sorry Roger!) a Sadowsky Metro I bought new from an online store in Germany. It was really dull and difficult to play. Sold it soon. Then after that I got two very good sounding Metros. Sold these later though.
And the same sad experience was (sorry if that's the wrong thread) related with the old Sadowsky black label string. They were so uneven frequently wise, no high end at all nor any low end. Tried another similar set - the same. Then complained in Talkbass and Roger sent me a set of his new blue label and black label strings for testing. I really appreciated that move, BTW! And these strings are really really good!!! I have suggested these strings to all of my friends bassplayers. So check out you too!
But my biggest surprise in a positive way was my new Fodera NYC 5. Much better than any other Jazz type instrument I've played so far. I like it more than the original 60's JBs I used to have. Everything is right with that bass - the wood (Wow!!!!), the fretwork (WOWWWWW!!!! Never seen such good so far!), the playability, the sound. Not noisy pickups at all. And I like Mike's pre too. I have tried their expensive models too and have to say that I like this NYC even more.
The other disappointment was (sorry Roger!) a Sadowsky Metro I bought new from an online store in Germany. It was really dull and difficult to play. Sold it soon. Then after that I got two very good sounding Metros. Sold these later though.
And the same sad experience was (sorry if that's the wrong thread) related with the old Sadowsky black label string. They were so uneven frequently wise, no high end at all nor any low end. Tried another similar set - the same. Then complained in Talkbass and Roger sent me a set of his new blue label and black label strings for testing. I really appreciated that move, BTW! And these strings are really really good!!! I have suggested these strings to all of my friends bassplayers. So check out you too!
But my biggest surprise in a positive way was my new Fodera NYC 5. Much better than any other Jazz type instrument I've played so far. I like it more than the original 60's JBs I used to have. Everything is right with that bass - the wood (Wow!!!!), the fretwork (WOWWWWW!!!! Never seen such good so far!), the playability, the sound. Not noisy pickups at all. And I like Mike's pre too. I have tried their expensive models too and have to say that I like this NYC even more.
I visited recently several local music stores and found some pretty ok Fenders. Found a MIM bass with really good wood. The quality was lousy though - there was a big gap between the neck and body and some rough corners here and there. But the wood was resonating nicely. Better than the US Fenders I tried in the same day.
Then tried some Squier JBs and was amazed by the quality of the wood and craftmanship. Sure, these are not a replacement for your Sadowsky but they played better than some US Fenders. Sure, the hardware is crap, the pickups and electronics should be replaced but the overall feeling was very nice. A big surprise for me.
I also found a US made P-bass which was ok.
Then tried several Highway Ones - one of the biggest disappointments of all times. Haven't tried any normal Highways so far and got the same experience once again. The wood was REALLY dull, very much like the cheap ESP LTDs. All the basses were heavy, the fretwork was bad and there was no sound at all.
As I have found mostly very poor quality Fenders in my neighborhood and other countries nearby I've got an idea that perhaps Fender sells better instruments in US and sends out the crappy ones to the countries like Estonia (where I live). Anybody knows anything about Fender's marketing strategies?
Then tried some Squier JBs and was amazed by the quality of the wood and craftmanship. Sure, these are not a replacement for your Sadowsky but they played better than some US Fenders. Sure, the hardware is crap, the pickups and electronics should be replaced but the overall feeling was very nice. A big surprise for me.
I also found a US made P-bass which was ok.
Then tried several Highway Ones - one of the biggest disappointments of all times. Haven't tried any normal Highways so far and got the same experience once again. The wood was REALLY dull, very much like the cheap ESP LTDs. All the basses were heavy, the fretwork was bad and there was no sound at all.
As I have found mostly very poor quality Fenders in my neighborhood and other countries nearby I've got an idea that perhaps Fender sells better instruments in US and sends out the crappy ones to the countries like Estonia (where I live). Anybody knows anything about Fender's marketing strategies?
(EDIT: Original post removed by me after seeing the post below. I can't afford to hurt Roger's feelings, I might want another bass from him at some point 
).
).
Not sure what you mean by that because the Highway ones are the only ones with that moniker.
