• 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.

Your Worst Bass

#121
The "worst" bass I have is the Yamaha SBV 500. It sounds incredible, is light enough to enjoy, and looks good on stage. The neck is so narrow it plays like a guitar, and the intonation is spot on across the board. It is the worst because it has no top horn to hide my gut.
FEB00041.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pet Sounds, Jefenator, tito0515 and 8 others
#124
Squier VM Jazz (the natural one with the BnB maple neck). It is so incredibly heavy (nearly 11 lbs), the body just feels overly huge - even for a Jazz, and you can actually see the seams where the 3 piece body was glued together under the clear coat. Heavy and unwieldy while standing up to play.

It sounded okay and the neck was fine so I took the neck and put it on a Squier black on black PJ which looks great now and used the Duncan Designed J pickups on a different Jazz body for awhile. Still have the body and most hardware just sitting in a closet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PennyroyalWe
#126
hi PennyroyalWe :)

PennyroyalWe said:
What’s the worst bass you have in your collection, and why do you have/keep it? As always, pics are encouraged!
Click to expand...

My basses are all bad! :D I always buy the baddest I can get!

That said, I mostly play fretless these days (that makes my other three fretted basses "worse"?)

JRA said:
i'm guessing that i just don't like stupid, skinny pickups placed in a stupid offset body. :laugh:
Click to expand...

Attention!

big.jpg


:D

greetings

Wise(b)ass
 
  • Like
Reactions: PennyroyalWe and JRA
#127
My double bass. I decided to "fix the bridge" myself, (hey, a guy needs a hobby) and long story short, a proper luthier needs to reset the post and cut a new bridge. Also, after a few moves (one transatlantic) the fingerboard needs some serious planing. It was/is a Chinese cheapy, but it actually sounded much better than it had any right to be, back when I was still playing it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PennyroyalWe
#131
PennyroyalWe said:
What’s the worst bass you have in your collection, and why do you have/keep it? As always, pics are encouraged!
Click to expand...
The worst bass I still own is my first bass. A early 90s squire II red precision with a white guard and maple neck. I still have it in my closet although it’s missing a pickguard and knobs. It never played well, had a twisted neck from the factory. But I’m 41 and have had it since I was 12. I’ve owned tons of basses and somehow held onto this old red P. I lost the guard and knobs through the years. I’ve been meaning to put her back together for nostalgia sake, this thread actually made me go on reverb and buy a white guard and some knobs and strings for her. Pics to follow of the rebirth of my old POS bass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rllefebv, PennyroyalWe and MYLOWFREQ
#133
  • Like
Reactions: Volker Kirstein
#137
leonche64 said:
The "worst" bass I have is the Yamaha SBV 500. It sounds incredible, is light enough to enjoy, and looks good on stage. The neck is so narrow it plays like a guitar, and the intonation is spot on across the board. It is the worst because it has no top horn to hide my gut.
View attachment 3797974
Click to expand...

This should be on my to get list. A buddy of mine in a local band called Kitty Rotten played one at a show. It was awesome to look at and sounded great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: leonche64
#138
PennyroyalWe said:
What’s the worst bass you have in your collection, and why do you have/keep it? As always, pics are encouraged!
Click to expand...

The fretted one, of course. Doesn't matter beyond that, the fretted one would always be the worst. And I keep one around mainly to help with my preamp design work, only one person has ever requested that I play it on a gig.
 
Last edited:
#139
My worst bass is a five piece Ash Memphis P bass body that I attempted to restore with a Squier CV loaded pickguard and pickups. A previous owner had tried to carve out a deeper well for the pickups with a hand chisel and had chiseled straight through the backside in several places. They also epoxied some steel T-nuts in the wrong places that I attempted to dig out but failed. I filled the holes with powdered ash wood and superglue. Installed a fretless neck that had a crack repair near the low G on the E-string. This thing sounded sweet for a couple months but the neck had a strange warp that got worse with time and then the rosewood fingerboard cracked up towards the bridge. This thing is current neckless, and yes it is my worst bass, but it still has potential.
 
#140
I don't have a 'worst bass' but I have several that were terrible out of the box. (40 something years in repair I can get just about anything to play), but fresh from the factory, the worst by far was Epiphone Allen Woody. It arrived with 22 different height frets (every 3rd. note was unplayable), the wrong neck angle (I had to grind down the saddles, and recess the bridge ferrules to get it low enough, the pickups were wired backwards, the list goes on and on. It is finished, and plays beautifully now, but I would pity a beginner, or someone that doesn't have the repair chops I have, who got this bass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PennyroyalWe

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back