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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?

#482
I'll probably get flamed here but i've tried 2 Wals and they sounded decent at home, not incredible...but with the band I absolutely hated the way they sat in the mix and my soundman who is highly thought of encouraged me not to bring them anymore. We tried all eq settings, diff guage strings..just couldn't dig them.
 
#483
My custom shop G&L 2000, built to my specs, etc. was a great instrument, & the rest of the band all loved the sound. I had been playing an extra long scale custom instrument for a number of years previously & could not make the necessary adaptation to the long scale of the G&L(extra long scale not an available option). We couldn't make it work, & I had to move on.
 
#485
My very first bass. I'm 14, and it's down to the local music shop, with Mum (a woman who can spot a bargain from a thousand yards).

I'm checking out the Ps and the Js, knowing that there's no way I'll get my hands on one, but hoping for something that will at least have some vague credibility with the guys in "the band" (five other talentless losers who think playing music will result in the girls at school not projectile vomiting whenever they look at us).

And there it is: the ultimate example of bass un-coolness. It's some no-name Japanese monstrosity (this is the early 70s - Japanese meant "unplayable" then). It appears to be the bastard lovechild of a Gibson 335 and a Gretsch Country Gentleman - only its a bass. It looks like it came straight off the set of "Gidget Goes Hog Wild in Georgia", having passed briefly through Transylvania.

It's black (that's good!), with pink metalflake body binding (that's not good, not good at all). It's enormous, and about 3 inches thick. It's got these weird pickups with something that looks like gold-ish rope around the poles. The knobs are some sort of Bakelite: "Yes, Igor, yes! Throw the switch and the creature will live! MWAAHAAHAAHAAH!"

Call me shallow, but I knew this bass was not going to enhance my prospects of actually talking to girls (is there another reason for joining a band at age 14?) In my mother's eyes it was a thing of beauty - or, at least, the price tag was. A$59. $30 cheaper than anything else in the shop.

How did it sound? I've no idea - I've got this sort of mental block. I don't actually remember ever playing it. Certainly not in public - frighten the horses if you know what I mean.

A few months later I found a second-hand Fender Music Master bass for sale for $100. Lake Placid Blue. Vaguely cool. Managed to sweet talk my Dad into it - "My musical progress is being blocked by the awful bass Mum bought me ... women, huh! Blah, blah...".

I do remember that we sold the monster to some poor bastard (and his Mum), for $45. He didn't seem overly impressed either.

Damn, I wish I still had it. Not for it's collectible value, just for it's wonderful weirdness. It's like someone had been told about bass guitars, but had never actually seen one in the flesh - and then built one anyway.

I've still got the Music Master :hyper:
 
#487
Telecaster - tone was blah and had a thick neck and uncomfortable body.
Violin shaped Hofner - felt cheap and sounded thin and mid-rangy
Gibson EB2 - beautiful instrument that sounds very clunky. best you can say is that with flats it is so clunky it almost sounds like an upright.
Gibson EB3 - surprisingly hard to get a versatile tone out of (it does have a unique tone) and the second one I owned had the cherry stain from the body bleed into the neck binding creating a pinkish color.

These were basses that at least I thought held promise. I still rate them above the countless cheap basses that have no unique tone whatsoever.
 
#490
outbackyak said:
My very first bass. I'm 14, and it's down to the local music shop, with Mum (a woman who can spot a bargain from a thousand yards).

I'm checking out the Ps and the Js, knowing that there's no way I'll get my hands on one, but hoping for something that will at least have some vague credibility with the guys in "the band" (five other talentless losers who think playing music will result in the girls at school not projectile vomiting whenever they look at us).

And there it is: the ultimate example of bass un-coolness. It's some no-name Japanese monstrosity (this is the early 70s - Japanese meant "unplayable" then). It appears to be the bastard lovechild of a Gibson 335 and a Gretsch Country Gentleman - only its a bass. It looks like it came straight off the set of "Gidget Goes Hog Wild in Georgia", having passed briefly through Transylvania.

It's black (that's good!), with pink metalflake body binding (that's not good, not good at all). It's enormous, and about 3 inches thick. It's got these weird pickups with something that looks like gold-ish rope around the poles. The knobs are some sort of Bakelite: "Yes, Igor, yes! Throw the switch and the creature will live! MWAAHAAHAAHAAH!"

Call me shallow, but I knew this bass was not going to enhance my prospects of actually talking to girls (is there another reason for joining a band at age 14?) In my mother's eyes it was a thing of beauty - or, at least, the price tag was. A$59. $30 cheaper than anything else in the shop.

How did it sound? I've no idea - I've got this sort of mental block. I don't actually remember ever playing it. Certainly not in public - frighten the horses if you know what I mean.

A few months later I found a second-hand Fender Music Master bass for sale for $100. Lake Placid Blue. Vaguely cool. Managed to sweet talk my Dad into it - "My musical progress is being blocked by the awful bass Mum bought me ... women, huh! Blah, blah...".

I do remember that we sold the monster to some poor bastard (and his Mum), for $45. He didn't seem overly impressed either.

Damn, I wish I still had it. Not for it's collectible value, just for it's wonderful weirdness. It's like someone had been told about bass guitars, but had never actually seen one in the flesh - and then built one anyway.

I've still got the Music Master :hyper:
Click to expand...

That was funny as hell, as I was reading this I was able to conjure those images clearly.
 
#491
I bought an original-style US-made Hamer Cruisebass 5-string back in the mid 1980's, way before 5's became as popular as they are today. Beautiful candy-apple red w/ ebony fingerboard and active EMG P/J pickups. But it had a mahogany neck which was extremely weak and unstable. I was constantly adjusting the truss rod to try and keep the action down, and by constantly I mean several times a week. Plus I never could get a tone I liked, really "nasal" and lacking bottom end.
 
#492
A few people have mentioned Spectors. I adore the sounds of them as recorded by prominent pros like Graham Mabe. I tried one of the non-USA versions (Czech?) a bunch of years ago. It seemed like a decent build, but I could not _stand_ the preamp -- called the Tone Pump, or something like that. It was all fake, exagerated bass, and completely obliterated and adulterated whatever the basic sound of the instrument was.
 
#497
Warwick Streamer LX 4 - Beatifully versatile sound, always with an underlying low mid punch. However, I could not get a solid sound due to the mixed pickups. Seemed like either way I'd eq it, it'd ALMOST be there, but not quite. Plus, the neck made my hands beg for mercy after an hour. Sold it after a solid couple years.

Warwick Thumb BO 4 - This was a quite the unique Thumb BO to me. I had tried several and this one spoke to me tonally. Combined with my old Eden rig, the low mids kicked you in the chest with brutal force. Made my old Streamer seem like a toy. It always naturally had a mildly overdriven sound. In Drop D it was honestly untouched in my arsenal. However, I could not get over the awkward neckdive even with a comfort strap. Plus, it was heavier than most and I could never get used to the neck length and thickness. Learned my lesson twice with Warwick. Sold it after 2 years of desperately trying to convince myself the tone was worth it.

EB MM Stingray 4 - Lovely high mid cut with bass for days. However, I could just not appreciate the neck and the 3-band eq was not that great. Picked up a Pre-EB which put it to shame in playability and tone. Dropped the 'Ray after maybe 3 months of buying it. EB disappointed me, not MM.
 
#498
I'm currently struggling with this same issue with the Epiphone TBird Pro 4. I've had mine for 9 months and am finding "sound issues" arise, since I've compared it to other rigs. Wood Workmanship is REALLY fine. I think overall size is something to consider also, but its at the top of my list to move this year.
 
#500
kramer striker 5 from the defunkt MusicYo site, I liked the string tension fron the reverse headstock & spacing but the pickups and bridge were awrul.
Like an idiot I dropped $200. bucks into pickups and a new bridge and I hate the thing even more now.
Frankly my only defense was that I bought it online while rather intoxicated.
Bloody awful piece of junk.
 

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