my warwick streamer. bought it after being heckled by a friend for months about how a warwick would be be better the my spectors (i have 3) so i bought one and after a week i took it back and got another spector.
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What Bass Was The Biggest DISAPPOINTMENT?
- Thread starter plangentmusic
- Start date
Almost every Warwick... I love their looks (except the Corvette), but hate the neck, the balance, and the sound.
A couple of years ago I bought a Lakland 55-01 and was totally disappointed with the sound of the bass. The low B sounded great, but the rest of the bass had dead spots all over the neck. I ended up selling it 6 mths later and bought a brand new Carvin LB75AP Anniversary that gave me headaches for the first 6 mths I owned it, but I kept it and don't plan on selling it now. I play it in passive mode, it sounds just fine.
MIM Fender FSR P-bass. Looked awesome, played really well, and sounded great... but the dead-spot at the 7th fret D on the G string was unbearable. Worst dead spot I've ever encountered.
Ditto, man! I'm surprised to see such a lack of Fender bashing, lol. The P-Basses I've tried recently have quite the pleasant surprise to me despite the fact that I don't get along well with pick-up basses. I picked up a Fender Road-Worn Precision recently and it sounded awesome.
I had a Gibson Grabber back in 1979-80 and could never really dig it and gave it to my bass tech at the time. I was also not into my Ibanez Artcore, but I still have it - maybe I should torch it on stage...
Three come to mind:
Ibanez BTB406qm. Had one because it was practically the only affordable sixer available at the time over here, and so I bought one unseen from the used market. And it was horrible. The playability was ok, but the tone was horrendous. Dead, dull, nonmusical and very uninteresting. It could have been helped with a change of electronics, but I didn't bother since the acoustic tone was exactly like that too, even with brand new steel strings it was completely lifeless. Later on tried more of these at the store. Same story. Nothing like the upper range BTB's that I had tried before and considered to be decent basses..
Warwick corvette std. A fine bass, but it turned out to be a classic case of sounding great in the store and not so great in the context I was trying to use it. Not really the basses fault though.
Sadowsky from early 2000's. A great bass in it's own right, but the tone and looks (sunburst & dots.. yuch) never did anything spectacular for me and I quickly found a replacement for a lot less that I like a lot more.. It did work beautifully in a some mixes though.
Ibanez BTB406qm. Had one because it was practically the only affordable sixer available at the time over here, and so I bought one unseen from the used market. And it was horrible. The playability was ok, but the tone was horrendous. Dead, dull, nonmusical and very uninteresting. It could have been helped with a change of electronics, but I didn't bother since the acoustic tone was exactly like that too, even with brand new steel strings it was completely lifeless. Later on tried more of these at the store. Same story. Nothing like the upper range BTB's that I had tried before and considered to be decent basses..
Warwick corvette std. A fine bass, but it turned out to be a classic case of sounding great in the store and not so great in the context I was trying to use it. Not really the basses fault though.
Sadowsky from early 2000's. A great bass in it's own right, but the tone and looks (sunburst & dots.. yuch) never did anything spectacular for me and I quickly found a replacement for a lot less that I like a lot more.. It did work beautifully in a some mixes though.
A 2007 Fender American Deluxe Jazz V. I loved the thing in the store, but with a band, I just never felt like I was "present" in the mix. No amount of adjusting controls seemed to satisfy the issue, so I sold it and bought a G&L L-2500. The L-series basses are some of the few I have played that actually sound better(IMO) with an ensemble than they do alone.
Fender Geddy Lee Signature Jazz. I don't even listen to Rush, but I got it because it wasn't MIM and it looked cool. It's Japanese made for those who don't know.
I never could get over how cheap it felt. The heavily laquered neck wasn't my speed either. Ended up selling it, now my MM SR5 is the only electric I play.
I never could get over how cheap it felt. The heavily laquered neck wasn't my speed either. Ended up selling it, now my MM SR5 is the only electric I play.
For me it was that once I realized this was a mid-heavy bass and not a boomy or muddy sounding bass (yes, at one stupid point in my life that's what I liked) like my cheap ibanez, then it helped me start to appreciate it. So when I eq it I cut back on the bass end a bit and boost the mids and sometimes add a touch of highs. Growls like a monster now. I upgraded to an Aguilar OBP-2 that I like a lot. I also run it at 18 volts since the swap.
#1 for me was my '93 Gibson Thunderbird. I traded a cool '73 Fender Tele Bass for this T-bird. I thought I had to have it. I played it in the store and thought all it needed was new strings and a good set-up. I was wrong. It needed the bridge mounting inserts pulled and re-set to center the strings on the neck. I replaced the bridge and changed out the bridge pup. Now it's tolerable, but definitely not what I think it should be.
Ampeg Dan Armstrong.
I didn't buy it, nor did I want to, but man did it hurt to play. Literally!! The plexi glass is cut with hard lines to look cool, but it was just digging into my forearm like nothing I have played ever before. It also had awful neck dive making it the worst bass to play sitting down since the Flying-V bass
I didn't buy it, nor did I want to, but man did it hurt to play. Literally!! The plexi glass is cut with hard lines to look cool, but it was just digging into my forearm like nothing I have played ever before. It also had awful neck dive making it the worst bass to play sitting down since the Flying-V bass
Rickenbacker 4001. I wanted to love it (HUGE Rush fan) but the scale, pickup placement and that bridge just threw me
Most all Ernie Ball products.
Wish, but that wasn't a big surprise, I should have just expected it.
Warrior, I don't want to post about my experience with them regarding their workmanship/customer service.
Non-neck thru Soundgears.
Wish, but that wasn't a big surprise, I should have just expected it.
Warrior, I don't want to post about my experience with them regarding their workmanship/customer service.
Non-neck thru Soundgears.
Back when I played short scale basses (mid/late 60s) I bought a Gibson EBO - I HATED IT! I liked it by itself, just not in the mix with a band.
'05 MIA Fender P-Bass '57RI
Purchased new and a joke for the $, really bad body mating and neck pocket gap, bad finish job, poor nut set-up, neck plate over tightened causing finish cracks; tweed case didn't close/align properly. Still sounded nice like a P but neck was felt like a 2x4.
Purchased new and a joke for the $, really bad body mating and neck pocket gap, bad finish job, poor nut set-up, neck plate over tightened causing finish cracks; tweed case didn't close/align properly. Still sounded nice like a P but neck was felt like a 2x4.
Two basses stand out for me. The biggest disappointment was a Warwick Thumb 5 NT. I dropped a lot of money on that bass and I tried desperately to like it but all to no avail. The bass was ergonomically wretched, it had a bad case of neck dive, was heavy and the tone was absolutely dreadful (got buried in the mix and was way too muddy in the low end). Also the worst-sounding B string I've ever played. Then there were the problems with cracking (don't get me started). The instrument was a total lemon and to add insult to injury the people at Warwick were complete d***s about giving me a replacement (they wouldn't, all they'd do was glue up the cracks - and charge me for the shipping).
The other big disappointment (though not nearly as disappointing as the Thumb) was a Fender '62 P re-issue from 2008. The fingerboard was uneven-sounding and the G string got lost in the mix. The sound just didn't compare to that of my Fender '62 Jazz re-issue (which I love).
I have to say that I don't share some of the opinions on Sadowskys posted here. I have two and don't really think of them as being Fender-like in sound at all. To me they have a beautifully rich and full-sounding tone (with just a touch of compression) and very few basses can touch them when it comes to sitting well in a mix. Just my 2 cents...
The other big disappointment (though not nearly as disappointing as the Thumb) was a Fender '62 P re-issue from 2008. The fingerboard was uneven-sounding and the G string got lost in the mix. The sound just didn't compare to that of my Fender '62 Jazz re-issue (which I love).
I have to say that I don't share some of the opinions on Sadowskys posted here. I have two and don't really think of them as being Fender-like in sound at all. To me they have a beautifully rich and full-sounding tone (with just a touch of compression) and very few basses can touch them when it comes to sitting well in a mix. Just my 2 cents...
