what is the top priority in your instrument?

[wooheehaa]

comfort, in the sense of body contours, neck shape, fret size, upper fret accessibility etc

tonal attributes

versatility

appearance

sentimental value

what is your take?

 

[kilgoja]

all of the above

 

[famousbirds]

all of the above

Carrots, for real

 

[longfinger]

Without "reliability", none of the above matter in live gigging situations.

 

[RxFunk]

Comfort, tone, reliability

 

[jamersonburton]

#1 tone. But being comfortable is a very close second. then i would say reliability comes third, and then everything else is tied for fourth.

 

[peledog]

Playability - don't like fighting a crap bass.

 

[danielfnj96]

Both comfortableness and tone are tied in 1st place.

 

[Hobobob]

With all the options available today, I don't see any reason not to be picky. Comfort, playability, looks, tone, reliability... They're all important to me, and there's no reason not to get an instrument with all of them.

 

[Phillip Jordan]

My top priority is that it's an Fbass.

 

[joebar]

Both comfortableness and tone are tied in 1st place.

+1 this

 

[bigmoosepi]

whether I like it or not.

 

[bassclef112]

My #1 priority is even response on all the fretted notes, no dead/semi-live spots. I'm finding this is not such an easy requirement to fill and it usually comes down to how much of a compromise I am willing to make in this department against things like comfort and tone.

Example - I had an Alembic Rogue with custom electronics that was a joy to play. It was lightweight, layed on me like a glove and the neck and tone were outstanding, but it had a dead spot right in the middle of the neck and I couldn't live with it. Gone.

So for a new instrument (not an ebay purchase), after the initial eye-catching features and comfort factors (neck, balance and weight) the first thing I check for is note response. At this point in my bass playing anything lacking in this criteria is a deal breaker. I'll take an ugly one that isn't in a heart beat.

 

[TigerInATrance]

I first go for aesthetics, next comes playability, then comes tone. If the first two are there, the third can be massaged back in and I will most likely change out the electronics anyway.

Comfort comes with time and versatility and sentimental value (as well as resale value) never come into play...

 

[drummer5359]

Comfort, followed closely by carrots.

 

[Jookbox]

Comfortabilityness

 

[darkstorm]

Of those I'll pick comnfortability. Cause that of course includes playability and asthetics comfort. Sounds very important to but other then establishing =ht ebass has basic voiuce char wanted, in most cases I;m not going to max the sound untill I have it set uo for action to provide some useful musical fret rattle and adjusted the pups for best sound to me. If bass is superb to me in other ways then pup repalcement if needed, or preamp replacement if needed can be justified. Though Ive found brands that consistently get me in main desired tone or a acceptable alternative I can like as much for the most part. If the instrument isnt comfortable then it doesnt matter how good it sounds. Its not going to be an enjoyable bass.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

all of the above

Same here.

 

[TinIndian]

Comfortable neck is #1. If it doesn't feel right in my hand it doesn't matter what it sounds like. Tone/Sound is #2. Looks is a distant 3rd.

If it is unreliable that would a me problem.

 

[MattZilla]

Sentimentality will keep me from selling an axe, but it won't push me to drag one out to a gig or jam.

Appearance of being the only EB player in a town of fender, mm and warwick players is icing on my Tone-versatility-comfort cake.

Occasionally the tone from my maple-board J is necessary and the EB stays home, but usually the EB does everything anyone expects a bass to do and more.

I suppose that if I felt that my EB were uncomfortable it never would've come to be in my custody... Or if I couldn't coax at least one (let alone four or five) good sounds from it...


Carrots.