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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?

#601
Had 2 rickenbackers 4001 and a 4003...first one was an uncomfortable to play, way overpriced, heavy, one sound worthless POS...A few years later I decided to have another go at one and picked up another one..it was an uncomfortable to play,way overpriced,heavy,one sound wothless POS... I know a lot of players love em'...I think they're awesome looking basses...just not for me...Never again...
 
#603
A bunch of G&L L-2000's and a 2500. Some of these had great wood and acoustic tones, but some playability/neck issues among the bunch, and the real problem is that I could never find the kind of tone I wanted. I've come to learn that ceramic magnets are not the answer for me.

Also had a Carruthers CB-4 that was made for me - many good sounds, great piece of light mahogany, but somehow, at the end of the day, not the sounds I was looking for. I sold it, but now realize that perhaps I should have kept it and swapped out the EMG pickups and pre for something more to my liking. It wasn't the soapbars per se - over the last year, my main axe has been a Sadowsky Metro R5-24.
 
#607
EPIPHONE ZENITH!!!! Hands down the biggest piece of crap to creep out of China. The fit and finish was horrible, the paint was smeared around the F-holes. The SHADOW pickup was installed with double-sided tape. There was overspray all over the back of the neck.

I was wait-listed to get mine, and when it showed I couldn't get it back in the box fast enough.:crying:

The paintjob on the Dean Cabbie was a bit of a disappointment as well. I was excited to hear of a BIG hollow-body with humbuckers, until I saw the checkerboard sides and banana yellow top!!!:hiding:
 
#608
For me, I'd say acoustic/electric basses in general. I picked up a '06 Michael Kelly Firefly in spruce, with a beautiful flamed maple top. I was surprised about how nicely made it was, and it looked beautiful, but I just couldn't catch a groove with it.

I thought I'd use it at the firehouse and for in-house noodling when I'm just sitting around, but the body thickness and awkwardness put it on CL after a few months. Horrible feedback when plugged in, too...
 
#610
Epiphone Embassy V. It got the Editor's Choice Award in Bass Player Magazine, has a swamp ash body, and looks pretty cool for an Epi, but it has playability issues that I've been unable to solve with setup, weighs as much as I do, and the pickups are mud city.

I suppose complaining about it on TB every chance I get won't help my chances of selling or trading it ever. I may keep it so I can threaten my son with it: "Finish your brussels sprouts or you'll have to practice on the Epiphone for half an hour." He'll be able to crush walnuts with his hands by the time he's 9.
 
#613
I know I might get some crap for this... but as much as I loved my Spector Euro 4, I found its lack of mids hard to deal with in live situations. It just didn't have the kind of sound that I wanted or needed at the time. It was mainly personal sound preference though. It may have been the amp I was using too. :hmm:

I do have to say that I did LOVE plugging straight in and recording with that bass. Amazing.
 
#615
philzbass said:
I know I might get some crap for this... but as much as I loved my Spector Euro 4, I found its lack of mids hard to deal with in live situations. It just didn't have the kind of sound that I wanted or needed at the time. It was mainly personal sound preference though. It may have been the amp I was using too. :hmm:

I do have to say that I did LOVE plugging straight in and recording with that bass. Amazing.
Click to expand...

Um.... what? I'll admit the Tone Pump preamp is a POS but I've never encountered a Euro Spector that lacked mids. If anything it was probably your amp, especially since you said it was amazing when plugged in straight.
 
#617
SoonerMatt said:
Um.... what? I'll admit the Tone Pump preamp is a POS but I've never encountered a Euro Spector that lacked mids. If anything it was probably your amp, especially since you said it was amazing when plugged in straight.
Click to expand...

You know, it probably was the amp/amps I was using during that time. I didn't have a good amp to play that Spector through, and I've always kind of wished I would have held on to it until I had the cash to invest in a decent amp. I did find the TonePump to be a pain, just didn't like the boost only layout. In live settings I couldn't dial in the kind of tone I wanted, it was either too bassy and muffled sounding, with little or no definition, or too trebley, clangy and thin sounding, with nothing in between.

But as far as recording goes, I could get any sound I wanted out of that thing plugged straight in.
 
#619
I'm embarrassed to even admit I had one of these, but it's the Ibanez Fieldy 5...talk about dull, flat, muddy tone. I couldn't get a crisp descent tone out of this bass to save my life. The electronics suck....just sounded horrible. And it was impossible to intonate. Plus, stringing the thing was a huge pain in the butt. I also hated the battery cavity design too. I wound up just giving it to my nephew who thought it was super cool...
 

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