What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?

[georgiagoodie]

And the loser is.......
'77 Rickenbacker 4001 (Jetglow), new, $400.oo
Back in the '70s I always loved Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, and Paul McCartney. I just loved the look....so cool (I got a Rick jetglow 660-12 last year...has the same cool look, and is a fantastic guitar). So I had to have one. I SO wanted to love it! I already had a used '74 black Fender Jazz (paid $125.oo for it back in '76....(STILL my main bass after 35 years.....perfect!)), but my band was gettin' good gigs, so I borrowed the bread from my Dad, and ordered the Rick.........SO disappointed (heart-broken, actually).......thin sound....many dead spots....ridiculous bridge pup cover (took it off).....horrible bridge (I actually replaced it with a BaddAss II way back in '77. I guess I'm the only guy ever to do that! (It actually played a lot better after.....)). I traded it in '80 for a Mighty Mite Custom Tele' guitar (Still have it...great axe!).

 

[JLS]

A Carvin LB75P. too beautiful for words...but with a dead piezo under the B string, and a bowed neck, with a completely maxed-out trussrod. Wish they'd been more careful checking that out, before they sent it...

 

[dgce]

And the loser is.......
'77 Rickenbacker 4001 (Jetglow), new, $400.oo
Back in the '70s I always loved Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, and Paul McCartney. I just loved the look....so cool (I got a Rick jetglow 660-12 last year...has the same cool look, and is a fantastic guitar). So I had to have one. I SO wanted to love it! I already had a used '74 black Fender Jazz (paid $125.oo for it back in '76....(STILL my main bass after 35 years.....perfect!)), but my band was gettin' good gigs, so I borrowed the bread from my Dad, and ordered the Rick.........SO disappointed (heart-broken, actually).......thin sound....many dead spots....ridiculous bridge pup cover (took it off).....horrible bridge (I actually replaced it with a BaddAss II way back in '77. I guess I'm the only guy ever to do that! (It actually played a lot better after.....)). I traded it in '80 for a Mighty Mite Custom Tele' guitar (Still have it...great axe!).

Same with me in the 80s. Loved Squire. Worshipped Geddy. I wanted a Rick more than anything else but being a kid and broke, it was Fender knock-offs for me. I got a little older and made a bit more cash and tried a sweet looking Jetglow Rick for a little over $400. I couldn't believe it. I hated it! Thin sound. Neck didn't feel right at all. It looked so cool but that was it. I eventually got a P-bass.

Oh well, even Geddy went back to his Jazz bass. Oh, btw, back in the day Geddy also replaced his Rick's bridge with a Badass. But I think he hung in there with his Rick a bit longer than you.

 

[baileyboy]

Mid 70s Ric 4001... flat tone, really disappointed. Traded it in for a Fender P, which I've used ever since.

 

[scubaduba]

A pathetic thing it was - the low B flopped around like a dying fish and sounded like a slow, ripping phart in a mud puddle; not that the E was that much better.

LMAO!!!

 

[pbass2]

G&L L2500

Had a Tribute, and then tried a USA. I loved the feel of those basses--the neck, how it hung there on a strap, the build quality. I even loved how it sounded unplugged when I'd noodle on the couch with it.
I just could never quite get a sound that didn't seem murky or shrouded, like there was a wet towel over the tone.

Crazy though, I might try one again someday--dunno why, I WANT it to work for me!

 

[boriology101]

did you buy a new one? if it's new, howcome the trussrod could be already maxed out when it's not even being played by anyone? that's horrible

A Carvin LB75P. too beautiful for words...but with a dead piezo under the B string, and a bowed neck, with a completely maxed-out trussrod. Wish they'd been more careful checking that out, before they sent it...

 

[JLS]

did you buy a new one? if it's new, howcome the trussrod could be already maxed out when it's not even being played by anyone? that's horrible

No, no, no!--you can't get them, new, at GC, this was a used instrument, bought online. This is not a slam against Carvin, far from it! I was so disappointed, that this bass had been mistreated--possibly cooked, in a car, in Arizona?--and not gone over carefully, before it was shipped.

I've still got my eye on another used Carvin...

 

[zachoff]

Biggest disappointment is now my Epi EB-3.

The neck mudbucker is too far away from the strings and way too low output to be very useful and the bridge pickup doesn't sound good. The bridge is hard to adjust and it has pretty ridiculous neckdive. All around poopy bass that I'll probably have forever because I'm apparently the only one dumb enough to buy one.

 

[Duke21]

My biggest disappointment is. 92 4003 Rick I intended to buy, but the guy who had the bass for sale decided in the last second to keep the bass. This was the closest I've been to owning a Rick!

 

[calebbarton]

I bought a 5 string fender jazz MIM a long long time ago. Really didn't like it. The B string sucked a lot, the setup was terrible (before I knew what low action was) and it just didn't work for me. Of course, now I have the Fender Marcus Miller sig which the op was complaining about and I love it. To each his own.

 

[boriology101]

I bought a 5 string fender jazz MIM a long long time ago. Really didn't like it. The B string sucked a lot, the setup was terrible (before I knew what low action was) and it just didn't work for me. Of course, now I have the Fender Marcus Miller sig which the op was complaining about and I love it. To each his own.

I had the same experience. I once used a fender MIM jazz5 red wine finish. Altough it looked good, the low B really sucked. I didn't know how to do a good setup by that time. I wonder how it's going to change if I still have it now and I do setup and some do some parts replacements.

 

[Shake-N-Bass]

Funny you should say that. That was the reason I got the MM! As playable as the Sterling is, and as HOT as it is, I always thought the sound was too bright and clanky. Then I discovered the middle switch with the bass and middle turned down and the lows all the way up. Unbelievably fat and warm and still plenty of output!

The MM, to me, is THE most versatile bass I've ever played. Again, everyone's taste is different. But I think you have to work with a MM for a while to see what it can do soundwise.

+1

 

[Jools4001]

I had lusted after an Alembic ever since Stanley's School Days, but they were very rare in the UK.

Then around 10-15 years ago (how long ago it was exactly is a fuzzy memory) on one of my many trips to The Bass Centre in Wapping they had a selection of them.

Elan, Epic, a Stanley Clarke signature and an Omega of some sort. I tried them all and was crestfallen to find out that I didn't like any of them (not that I could have afforded them on a window shopping expedition anyway). Maybe it was dead strings or setup, but they all felt lifeless and dull sounding

 

[JIO]

Seems funny. This thread shows all of these 'rejected' basses but that even w/flaws, drawbacks, and shortcomings, these same basses will have something that appeals to someone somewhere for whatever reason, and there are players (occasionally found on other tb threads) that absolutely love those exact same instruments.

If you read through all the pegged disappointing basses on this thread and agreed w/every one, I would be very surprised.

 

[Flabass]

Gibson Les Paul Recording bass. Never liked the tone, weighed a zillion pounds.

 

[Manfred_Bass]

1. Tobias Toby Beautiful made lack of tone.
2. Steinberger Great sound no weight feels like a broom stick
3. Warwick Thumb neck drive pain in the shoulders and neck

 

[john_martin_sai]

And the loser is.......
'77 Rickenbacker 4001 (Jetglow),....I traded it in '80 for a Mighty Mite Custom Tele' guitar (Still have it...great axe!).

 

[bassingeorge]

So...let's see:

Squier Affinity P bass for sure...it was my first bass...and a cheap one so I guess it doens't really count.

The big BIIIG disappointment was an MIM Fender Jazz Bass Standard in 3 tone sunburst I saved sooo hard for me to get. I changed pickups, had a pro set up, changed strings, used a sans amp...and NOTHING...the bass pretty much sucked.

I'm no pro player...I wasn't even gigging in the time. But every time I used it I thought about what could I change next!

Sold it to my neighbor at a very good price, saved a got a G&L Tribute L-2500 which I have been playing for 8+ years and I love!

The other huge disappointment...An ABG..a Michael Kelly specifically. I've yet to take it to a luthier to get some work done on it. I just think the luthier is going to charge me more than $500 for repairs, refret (I defretted it in a moment of desperation, oops) and I'm not willing to pay that much.

Other basses I loathe:

Fender Marc Hoppus signature Jazz Bass
Epi or Gibson Thunderbird!!! I HATE THEM!
Ibanez Soundgears

And I aaalways wanted a Warwick...they look so cool and organic...but I just CAN'T stand how they feel and sound when I play them. They feel fat, they sound dull, clanky at the same time...and just plain bad.

Bought a Squier Matt Freeman Sig. P bass (Classic Vibe Series) and I think I've found a bass that I'm keeping forever. No complaints.

 

[bassteban]

I've played a lot of fairly high-end basses that didn't work for me for one reason or another, but the only one that was a genuine disappointment was a 73 Precision. It wasn't awful, but a mutt MIM replaced it in every dept- feel, sound- even looks.