What do you hate about certain basses you own or have owned ?

[Dr.Dave]

Hate's a strong word - it's just personal preference really.

I never liked Jazz Basses because they don't seem to hang right on me - they leave my hands in the wrong place. I've had a couple because they're fantastic sounding basses but couldn't get used to it and sold them.

Ricks always nose dived in my hands - never owned one

I was gutted to find that the G string not sounding properly on my Ray is a common Ray problem. I couldn't hear it at practise levels but at gig levels it's def. there. Everyone said when I moaned 'Oh - didn't you know that'. Like you have to part with a load of cash before anyone tells you !!! I sold it.

Regarding the fix that someone's posted - fair enough if it works for you but I have a Bart Ray up on my Shuker and you can't dick with the pole pieces - no problem. I've heard the same pup on a Ray - problem. I think there's more to it than that.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Dr.Dave

[RhysP]

Hated my Rickenbacker 4001's; I loved them so much before I owned one that when I finally got one it was a total disappointment - build quality was average at best & I just never get a really good sound out of them.

Loved my Jaydee Supernatural, but hated the fact that the neck was so unstable. I spent more time adjusting the truss rod than I did playing the bloody thing. I also now think they're incredibly ugly.

Loved my Levinson B4, but ended up hating the skinny jazz neck & the four-in-line headstock.

[spongebob]

+1 on the Rics for me. Had a number of 4003's, and the QC was highly questionable on all.

[LukeFRC]

Hmmm....
Status Shark 2 pro-active: lovely warm tone- nowhere live- very inoffensive.

Warwick Streamer Stage 1 - amazing bass- have a feeling it would be even more amazing with passive pups. Interesting Eq points on preamp too.... not awful but means very dependant on the amp's preamp for how good it will sound.

Valenti jazz - fuggly headstock, sharp pointy bits round edge of body. I think they call it 'modern styling'.

JV P bass- perfect.

Peavey T40- brilliant bass to play, really fun live... but way too many sound options for me- it reminds me why I bought a P bass. My Streamer is very very light but it weighs almost half this!

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1323355182' post='1462398']
You see, I really would find that completely unacceptable in an instrument of that price, and having to void the warranty by making good a design fault would piss me off to the point of suicide.
[/quote]

Yup, peeed off is an understatement. It went back to the shop I bought it from but they didn't know what to do. Tried to sell it but no one wanted bass with only 3 strings working.

It was lucky someone on Basschat posted a free fix that takes 10 minutes otherwise I'd have had to put another pickup in, voiding the warranty anyway. It was someone with "funk" in their username, many thanks whoever it was because the bass is great now.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Fat Rich

[Twigman]

JV P - it's got a Squier logo and the pickguard has warped permanently as a result of storing plectrums under it



Warmoth P-J brand new that i built last weekend - I drilled for the top horn strap button off the centre line - I measured twice but still got it wrong - the string tree is also about 2mm too close to the G string so the D string could pop out (it did the first time I strung it....looking for a wider string tree atm ;-)

Edited December 9, 2011 by Twigman

[LeftyBiskit]

bough one of them RV4'S-Dodgy selector switch-AND the soldering is absolute sh*te.,Edit- If i say anymore I could be in for a lawsuit.-or maybe not

[Skybone]

Owned quite a few, mainly actives...

Kay P Copy: POS.
Westone Raider: m/ m/ Very much a "hair metal" 80's colour scheme, but a great shape. Single P pickup, nice sound, but prone to headstock dive.
Aria SB Special II: Not too much variety in the tone. Great looking & playing bass.
Westone Thunder 1A: very heavy & prone to headstock dive. Great sounding & playing bass though.
Washburn MB4: It was alright, nothing spectacular.
Tobias ?: Again, it was alright. Nice & light, reasonable sound, but not great.
StingRay 2EQ: Fantastic, why did I sell it? 1989 blonde, 4 bolt maple neck, beaten up, but sounded gorgeous & played superbly.
Aria SB Special II: Again. Love the shape & playability. Couldn't get the right sound dialled in.
Aria SB1000: Always wanted one, beatiful to look at & play, but a complete let down sound-wise.
StingRay 2EQ: Late 90's, rosewood board, 6 bolt birdseye neck. Nice to play, but sounded awful.
Mex Jazz: Brilliant. Only flaw was the join between the scratch plate & control plate weren't quite flush.
Ric 4003: Superb. Bit heavy, but great sound & fantastic player.

[Stacker]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1323362870' post='1462536']
+1 on the Rics for me. Had a number of 4003's, and the QC was highly questionable on all.
[/quote]

Agreed. Even the DCM660 I got new had the low E falling off the fingerboard if you got serious with it. Had to get a replacement nut an do it myself. I've got shot of them all bar that one and the V63.

[Clarky]

Love old Fenders but hate having to take the neck off every time the truss rod needs a tweak. Such a design flaw

[discreet]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1323440394' post='1463432']
Love old Fenders but hate having to take the neck off every time the truss rod needs a tweak.
[/quote]

Hey Clarky, what's a 'truss rod'?

[Clarky]

Jamerson asked the same question, I beileve

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='far0n' timestamp='1323340145' post='1462108']
[b]Current basses:-[/b]



Vigier Passion - Monster tone... if you can find it. Most of the time you can't. String balance is poor, very very middley sound, so massive mid scoop and a huge dollop of bass is essential. Suits 12" cones I've found.






Status 1000 (or maybe a 3000 I think) - Bizarre sound that carbon fibre lark, not for me at all. Can see how it's popular with the slap guys though. Very clanky and rattley

[/quote]

Really? I'd rate my Passion S3 V among the very best. Run the EQ flat, works a treat "as is" No, it hasn't got an overblown bass end, but it seems to sit right in any mix, live or recorded.
Intonation's a pain with the Kahler bridge, though.

The Streamline sounds amazing. Pity mine seems to be disintegrating- the fretboard's gone all weirdly discoloured/rough at the dusty end and the gel coat is cracked beneath the tuning knobs. Dunno why.
Oh, and the intonation's a pig to do on that, too. And they're not made to take non-taper-cored E and A strings without filing the saddles.... Grrrrrr

Ibanez EDB600. Super bass. Shame Luthite cracks irreparably at the slightest impact.

Ibanez SRX700. Super bit of wood. Real shame they cut the corners on shonky pick-ups and a primitive EQ

Iceni / Zoot. Never could get it to sound "right". Schoolboy manufacturing errors - no pick-up springs/foam at all. Intonation was hard to achieve with some strings/gauges. Neck had to be shimmed to get the relief right...

Warwick Streamer LX 6. Weight. About 15lbs!

Yamaha Attitude ltd 10th Anniversary BS Sig. Dives a little. For all the cunning jiggery-pokery, there aren't that many sounds/tones in there. It can't sing. Only shout.

Fender Jazz. (MIA, 2004) Routes hidden under scratchplate. mystery circular route under there, too. Just. No. Need.

Warwick Infinity SN4 Looks like a twiglet. Neck's still rough right up at the dusty end. Sounds enormous, though.

Squier VMJ. Heavy.Crap pots. Shame. Wicked neck

Ovation Acoustic. Sorry? Did someone speak? Don't they all suffer from this, though? I know! I'll plug it in and turn it up....
HOWLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Maybe not.

[Musicman20]

Ricky necks and poor attention to detail (not keen on the problems with paint and binding)

Fender truss rod adjustment (even the new American Standards still havent solved it without making precautions to not damage the guard)

Warwick ergonomics (the few Ive tried just don't agree with me)

The one bass I am so glad is gone is my ex-Fender Precision Deluxe USA with humbucker/split P pups. Awful bass, very heavy, uncomfortable to play. Beatiful to look at, but not to hear or play.

[Ian Savage]

My Bass Collection was perfect for me when I started out (sparkley, active, skinny neck), as I progressed with the instrument I found that these were everything I didn't want in a bass

The Jap Grabber copy - love the sound, touch on the heavy side.

Peavey Milestone I - nothing I 'hated' about it, just a bit soulless.

Current bitsa Precision - love it

[Graham56]

I don't think you guys have been thinking this through...

The next time any of you try and sell a bass we'll all be checking in here to see what you really think of it.

That "lovely sound, plays like buttah, hate to part with it!" will translate to "heavy, neck-diving dog with uneven string response and s**t preamp".

Oh, and my lefty P-bass has a great presence, no-nonsense passive sound, wonderful chunky neck, and plays like a dream...

Cheers

Graham

[RockfordStone]

my ibanez edb605, great sounding bass when recording direct, nice to play, but through an amp its lack of a wooden body means its a bastard to get a good sound out of sometimes

[lee4]

My Warwick $$;too heavy and the Just-A-Nut III kept catching my hand.

[far0n]

[quote name='Graham56' timestamp='1323449491' post='1463592']

Oh, and my lefty P-bass has a great presence, no-nonsense passive sound, wonderful chunky neck, and plays like a dream...

Cheers

Graham
[/quote]

...and we'll all know you're lying

[JohnFitzgerald]

You all use the wrong shops, clearly.

If I bought something out of my local place and really hated something about it, it would be back like a shot. And that wouldn't be a problem.
That's how we work. He's not the cheapest, but you don't get that sort of service with mail order. I'm just as likely to take one out on loan and either not buy it or buy it if I like it.

I very nearly thought about doing a trade with someone locally for a bass of pretty similar value to my Jazz. Just to try something new.
He contacted me last night to say he'd taken cold feet and didn't want to go ahead.
I have to say, I wasn't dissapointed about this.
I'd just polished the bass up, plugged it into the Trace Head and it sounded ace.
I didn't want it to go.

I've had it 5 years now and there still isn't a mark on it.
I got rid of a Fender and kept the Squier because I preferred it.

Sorry, no complaints here.
This beautiful bass is a privilege to own.

[Clarky72]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1323421357' post='1463060']
Owned quite a few, mainly actives...

Kay P Copy: POS.
Westone Raider: m/ m/ Very much a "hair metal" 80's colour scheme, but a great shape. Single P pickup, nice sound, but prone to headstock dive.
Aria SB Special II: Not too much variety in the tone. Great looking & playing bass.
Westone Thunder 1A: very heavy & prone to headstock dive. Great sounding & playing bass though.
Washburn MB4: It was alright, nothing spectacular.
Tobias ?: Again, it was alright. Nice & light, reasonable sound, but not great.
StingRay 2EQ: Fantastic, why did I sell it? 1989 blonde, 4 bolt maple neck, beaten up, but sounded gorgeous & played superbly.
Aria SB Special II: Again. Love the shape & playability. Couldn't get the right sound dialled in.
Aria SB1000: Always wanted one, beatiful to look at & play, but a complete let down sound-wise.
StingRay 2EQ: Late 90's, rosewood board, 6 bolt birdseye neck. Nice to play, but sounded awful.
Mex Jazz: Brilliant. Only flaw was the join between the scratch plate & control plate weren't quite flush.
Ric 4003: Superb. Bit heavy, but great sound & fantastic player.
[/quote]


Is the SB1000 such a letdown you fancy selling it if you still have it?

Edited December 20, 2011 by Clarky72

[Marvin]

I once had a Westone Spectrum 11. It was plainly sh*t, I hated everything about it. The colour, neck, body, pups, bridge, pots, tuners, shape.......

[guildbass]

My '63 Hofner Senator...animal glues in the neck were old so the neck moved. It fed back on 'A' onstage, crappy floating wooden bridge meant the intonation was marginal by the 9th fret!

My Guild 302... fabulous instrument apart from it being a tad neck heavy which was OK, but sounded like you were hitting a biscuit tin full of mud. Dull, heavy ponderous lows and mids. Tops worked well mind...quite flute-like...I think it was the set neck construction that gave it the sound. Astonishingly strong though, never EVER went out of tune irrespective of the temperature...Made a Streamer seem fussy!

My Fingerbone Fretless. Sounds EXACTLY like an 80's boutique fretless should sound but it's basically a super 'P' so half the fretboard is across your tummy.

[steantval]

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1323344217' post='1462160']
My Ray is too quiet. and it cant be fixed. Changed batter, pickup height had it checked out and thats just how it is.

To be honest I hate it.
[/quote]

BUY A LOUDER AMP.

[Emily Jaguar]

Epiphone Thunderbird IV - Far, far too heavy. The neck is too thick. Under consideration of selling it..

Washburn T14 Taurus - Frets are too big and neck is too wide. I stupidly carved the word "WHALE" into it (long story why I did that). I'm selling the bass and the engraving of "WHALE" makes the price go down a hell of a lot! To get rid of the engraving, it'd cost more than I'd originally bought it for. *Facepalm*