• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

worst bass you've ever owned?

#64
for me it was an extremely used squier p, my first bass. i didn't play it before buying it because I was a stupid kid at the time, and I later found that it didn't even work. the soldering at the jack had come apart so it only made sound a quarter of the time. the neck was very bowed and the bridge rattled like a can of nails every time I played one of the low notes. but the weirdest thing was that the previous owner had stuffed the body cavities with tissues. every bit of space when you take off the pickguard was jammed with freakin puffs 2 ply.

however, I bought an epiphone EB-0 a year or so later and even brand new that bass was awful. virtually unplayable and the tone was muddy beyond belief. I suspect that the crappy old squier, when new, would have been a much better bass.
 
#68
An Alavarez P-bass knock off that was given to me by an old room-mate. The neck is bowed, it had stickers on it that I have removed, it has a couple of wood screws where the strap buttons used to be, and it feels like it may fall apart at any time. Sure, I could fix it up but.. the wood the neck is made of feels like a Guitar Hero controller at best and I am pretty sure you can get one of these new for about $70 on eBay. Still got it, can't give it away as no one will take it. I refuse to trash an instrument.
 
#70
wcoffey81 said:
my first bass was by far the worst of the three i've owned. it was a late 60s early 70s copy of a gibson eb. i don't think it even had a logo on the headstock. for the first six months, or so, i would pick up the bass, put the strap over my shoulder, take a couple of deep breaths and close my eyes before playing because i knew what was coming. the action was so high, even after a setup, playing it caused my fingers to bleed after just a few minutes.
Click to expand...

Sounds a lot like my first bass. Wonder if it could have gotten from Chicago to Toledo?

But because my memory of that bass is vague, it might have been better than a pointy-headstock late 80-ish Epiphone 4-string I had briefly. The neck was bowed so badly that I think Ted Nugent had used it to hunt with. The truss rod was apparently decorative, and it had a knack for creating new sound textures whenever someone would turn a light on or off.
 
#73
I kind-of "semi-owned" the e-bass of my school back in the time. Nobody else used it, I was not totally sure whether I really want to play bass or not, so I asked my music-teacher if I could have this bass for a while.
I have no idea what brand it was, I still guess there was written PEAVEY on it, but I've never seen the name written in that kind of logo elsewhere. The strings where dead as in "you could find more life in a dead man"-dead, the black finish has vanished more or less completely, the electronics/pickups where just crap and every pre-amp I used back in the time had to be crancked to absolute maximum.

Since that particular bass, I only bought fine instruments :-) Got a squier jazz bass first, sold it for my current washburn XB-500. Although I love the washburn, I hardly use it anymore since I have my Ibanez SR-605, because it has more Punch, more BOOOM en is 50% lighter. The Washburn is more for punk, especially with the Rotosound66 strings on it.
I so miss my squier jazz-bass :-( Eventually I will buy a new one (but 5 strings this time)
 
#76
I have been pretty lucky. I guess it is a close tie with a JC Penney's semi hollow from 1968 and the Yamaha RBX (or whatever it is) tHat I have now as a loan out bass. the body is cracked, i bought it to have a loaner so when people asked, it was here ya go, with no delusions of anyone taking care of it. i did love that JC Penney bass, and would pay dearly to have another to hang on the wall.
 
#78
In 1965 I got my first and worst bass. A used Kingston that had one pickup. The screws holding the pickup down were stripped and the pickup was held in place whith bubble gum. I got it and a Kay amp for $110.00. In all the years since I have never played any bass with a worse sound or set up. I sold it and purchased a new Vox Cougar wich I wish I still had.
 
#79
I've owned 3 bad basses...

My first bass was a p-bass copy by a company called Regal. Haven't seen another one since. Now I realize that the nut was where the real problem with the action was... Way too high. But I learned a lot on the bass including how to make a pickguard out of a monopoly board because you're too broke to buy a new one that will sort of fit.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Anyway...
The next two I sold recently. I got one in a trade for some old computer parts. It was also a pbass copy from Lotus. It played well, and didn't sound bad because of the work someone had put into it before I got my hands on it. It was just so damn heavy. On the scale it was about 15lbs.

The other was a Dean Metalman Z. Now I like the V they make... the body and neck anyway. This thing was just uncomfortable to play. No position standing or sitting didn't cause my some discomfort. Not Deans fault, just a body design fail. So it had to go too.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back