What was your biggest gear surprise?

[Marikk]

Exactly. I have a set of the EB cobalts on order. How would you compare those to the Labellas Marikk?

I pretty much just put them on a couple days ago and have been working a bunch. I actually had to order them from Link Removed because at the time and to my knowledge even now i cant get them in a store in my area or from any Canadian online realtor. But even with the HUGE hit in currency exchange i take, Jason treats us Canadians well on the shipping
But they sound great but i couldnt have put them on two more different beasts.
The Labellas (Surprise) are on my MIA Fender P. it sounds exactly like you'd expect a PBass with Labellas to sound.
The Cobalts flats went on to my German Warwick $$. The sound brighter, more aggressive. Though i need a bit more time with them and i didnt try them yet on passive mode. One thing i did notice was the strings were a bit more "sticky" that the other two brands i used (and no that was not after watching some porn) but i would think after more play time that will wear off
The Chromes are on a MIJ Fender Aerodyne PJ. They were a bit more aggressive than the Labellas out of the gate. I set the P pickup to standard height and the J pickup in the bridge a little higher than normal. I get a great tone out of the P and can add in as much J as i want for some snap and sizzle. Still clearly not rounds but they cover the territory i like and sound/feel great

 

[Bassheart365]

I pretty much just put them on a couple days ago and have been working a bunch. I actually had to order them from Link Removed because at the time and to my knowledge even now i cant get them in a store in my area or from any Canadian online realtor. But even with the HUGE hit in currency exchange i take, Jason treats us Canadians well on the shipping
But they sound great but i couldnt have put them on two more different beasts.
The Labellas (Surprise) are on my MIA Fender P. it sounds exactly like you'd expect a PBass with Labellas to sound.
The Cobalts flats went on to my German Warwick $$. The sound brighter, more aggressive. Though i need a bit more time with them and i didnt try them yet on passive mode. One thing i did notice was the strings were a bit more "sticky" that the other two brands i used (and no that was not after watching some porn) but i would think after more play time that will wear off
The Chromes are on a MIJ Fender Aerodyne PJ. They were a bit more aggressive than the Labellas out of the gate. I set the P pickup to standard height and the J pickup in the bridge a little higher than normal. I get a great tone out of the P and can add in as much J as i want for some snap and sizzle. Still clearly not rounds but they cover the territory i like and sound/feel great

Thanks for the detailed reply. I also really like Sadowsky Black Label flats. They are made by Labella and very similar to the Deep Talkin', but with a bit less tension and a bit more brightness (at least initially). And I get all my strings from Jason at bassstringsonline.

 

[Doner Designs]

Agreed. While it seems that some players are looking to boost mids to be more easily heard in a mix, there's plenty of bass magic in a mids-scooped sound, and not just for slap. To that end, I just bought an EH Knockout pedal from the TB classifieds. Looking forward to getting it. If it sounds as good as the online samples I've heard, it may prove to be one more ingredient to enhance my latest playing technique interest (necessity, actually).....playing with a pick!

Depends a lot on strings too I suppose. I'm a flats fingerstyle player so the lows and low mids can get boomy kinda easily. I use 4 band preamps in my basses because I like to cut the low mids to tighten up the sound and boost the high mids for definition, clarity, cut, etc. The high mids also help compensate for cutting highs (which I do to avoid hiss).

 

[bolophonic]

Not bass gear, but years ago I found a rad motorcycle jacket hanging high in a tree in a park one night in Ann Arbor. I wore it for years before attempting to repair a little tear in a seam. Inside the split was a little fossilized bindle of heroin. SURPRISE!

 

[Doner Designs]

I'll have to go with strings. I'm always trying new ones.
Tried flatwounds for the first time ever this year. No idea what took me so long. So I bought a set of La Bella Deep Talkin' flats. I'm in love with flats now. But I also play roundwounds on my other bass. Best find this year was Dunlap Superbrights - nickel plated. Love these too.

Different flats can sound VERY different. Lots of threads on that. You can spend a lot of $ experimenting with flats.

 

[Doner Designs]

High quality speaker cabs.
1. Baer ML112. Fretless and DB never sounded so good, clarity in a mix, & intonation much easier.
2. Berg CN212. So light at 45lb, makes every amp & bass sound better. Exposes sloppy playing is the only downside.

Me too. Berg HG310 was an eye opener for me. Amazing cab. Sealed 310 that weighs about 30 lbs and sounds like heaven. I ordered a second one not long after getting the first.

 

[EdO.]

1. Behringer BDI21. Best $29.00 spent. I like it better than my $289.00 programmable Sansamp. My secret tone weapon.

2. My recently purchased "old style" Rockbass Corvette. I can't put it down. It sounds, plays and feels perfect. $150.00? My perception of the Rockbass line was it was slightly above First Act. I had no clue these were this good for so cheap.

My biggest gear surprise was something very inexpensive. I had been thinking about and researching various preamps (most of them over $300) - and just out of curiosity I bought this for $29 and I cannot believe how good it sounds. It does exactly what I was after:
View attachment 1015870

+3. Read a lot of good reviews on them so I got one, fully agree with the reviews sounds great.

Another surprise for me is the TC Electronic BH250. A cheapie backup but incredibly loud, a great tone even with flat EQ and the cool TonePrint too.

Full agreement here on these also. I have two, a 210 and a 115. I use one (or occasionally both together) as my stage rig with the BDI21 splitting signal between the amp and the board. Works well.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

My Sire V7 Vintage and my Squier Eva Gardner Precision . The sound, build and quality of both far exceeds the $ spent.

 

[Whippet]

4 string basses. They aren't too bad!!!!

 

[Moving Pictures]

Mine would have to be the ToneHammer head paired with my Bergantino CN212 cabinet. Amazing rig to be playing. Great articulation regardless of the bass I am using. The worst you can say is that it will expose your sloppy playing, as said previously in this thread. Grindy to clear.

Runner up would be my Ibanez SRFF805 fanned fret bass. Sounds big, stupidly light and very ergonomic. Almost tireless to play.

 

[bassbully]

My recent Lakland Skyline 55-01.

 

[alack]

I was surprised to find after spending quite a bit of money to acquire two vintage Fenders (a 75 P and a 75 J) there were many occasions when this sounded and felt better than both of them. I assumed it would be relegated to home practice and open jams. She proved me wrong.

 

[gustophersmob]

The 2013 and 2017 Gibson EBs. The tonal variety and just all around awesome of the pickups has been very surprising.

 

[Thornton Davis]

What piece of gear (bass,amp,pedal etc) exceeded your expectations or took you by surprise?

For me it was my 67 Kent 743 bass. I love the tone this bass produces which went far beyond my expectations, plus it's an extremely cool looking vintage instrument.

TD

 

[cool breeze]

Love the vintage Kent and your loyalty to it!

 

[LowEndOperative]

I bought an AmStd Dimension V from Dave's Guitar that was listed as used, but it arrived mint, case candy intact and with a TSA case.

 

[Laurent]

Two gear surprises for me in 2016:

Acoutic BN112 cab: amazing cab regardless of the very low price. I have two of these.

G&L basses: great instruments. I like them enough to currently have two (LB-100 & SB-2 both US made).

 

[Robert Sperling]

The PBass Deluxe special loaded body (seafoam pearl, with EMG Geezers and Badass II bridge) I bought off
fellow TB'er NickinNY. Put a rosewood MIM Jazz neck and fresh set of Fender steels on it and I haven't been
able to put her down!

 

[twinjet]

In the age of limitless online purchasing options available. Man people are buying without trying first. Running off reviews, hype, youtube videos or even just general curiosity. Im sure most of us have had some winners, some losers and some we stood there wondering.

What piece of gear (bass,amp,pedal etc) exceeded your expectations or took you by surprise?

For me its was a Gretsch G2220 i bought off a member here. I seen and it looked cool and i was looking for a shorty at the time. i looked at a few reviews and pulled the trigger. It arrived and had a really nice feeling neck, sounded great plugged in and unplugged. It now sits in a stand by my couch where i can brag it anytime im sitting down and noodle away. the ergonomics of it just fit nicely for me.

An Alesis Multimix 8 FX mixer board. Got it for Christmas, and it's way cool! First time I've actually gotten a real quality piece of gear for my amateur home studio. This is only the beginning...

 

[Basehead]

Ibanez SRSC805DTF. The one I received from Sweetwater is such a great instrument. Very nice build quality and a surprisingly good tone. I was NOT a fan of the Korean Bartolini MK1 PuPs before getting this bass, but the newer Ibanez 3 band EQ is such and improvement over the older MK1 preamp. I could have left it as is.
Sure, I ended up swapping out the stock electronics which, IMHO, put it into boutique territory, but the un-amplified tone and feel of this instrument is great.