Worst bass you've ever played that you did not own.

[Cat Burrito]

Gibson Les Paul - weighed a tonne, 6 thinner strings and no bottom end!

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

Any of them! 

True. All complete BS. And then there's the amps...

[markdavid]

On 5/22/2018 at 02:19, bigsmokebass said:

Been mentioned and I’m not a hater.... but the Rickenbacker Basses are punching above their weight for ‘nothing special’ for £2000+, when you can consider what else is out there for less or equal price... some nice boutique builds out there.

Taylor GS Mini..... 

I think this is true of most brand name basses (as in not custom built) over the 1k mark , Fender, Hofner, Gibson etc , they are all overpriced imo but it comes down to whether you are willing to pay the money or not and whether they are worth it to you

But yes Rickenbackers are particularly overpriced, I will probably never own one as having 2 truss rods to adjust just seems like way too much hassle, I hate having to adjust 1 let alone 2

Btw I have owned Fender basses and own Hofner basses at the moment fwiw

Edited May 23, 2018 by markdavid

[Guest MoJo]

15 hours ago, Floyd Pepper said:

Never forget picking up a friends Line 6 Variax bass (I think that’s what it’s called). The modelling bass thingy.

The thing was so heavy, I felt my central nervous system shutting down instantly with the weight of this thing on my shoulder/back. In case that wasn’t enough, they managed to design a nice thick slab body with no contours. When he suggested we went through the models, it was just too much.

Respect to anyone who can get though a gig with that strapped on them:)

So that's why they never caught on. I always wondered why they weren't more popular (apart from being fugly)

[matski]

I fully expect to be either hung, drawn and quartered or possibly banned from Basschat for life for saying this, but for me it was the Wal Custom bass: really heavy, very peculiar neck profile, mystifying control pots that I couldn't get to grips with at all. This was back in the days when there was a shop called Allbang & Strummit at the Seven Dials in Covent Garden in London where one could find a quite literal 'wall of Wals'. 

(Runs away and hides)....

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, matski said:

I fully expect to be either hung, drawn and quartered or possibly banned from Basschat for life for saying this, but for me it was the Wal Custom bass: really heavy, very peculiar neck profile, mystifying control pots that I couldn't get to grips with at all. This was back in the days when there was a shop called Allbang & Strummit at the Seven Dials in Covent Garden in London where one could find a quite literal 'wall of Wals'. 

(Runs away and hides)....

That’s where I tried my first Wal, which I liked (as per my post above). Different strokes for different folks.

[Grahambythesea]

I’m going to go back in time a bit further - Rosetti/Egmond Bass 7. Terrible neck, awful pickup and looked cheap. 

[casapete]

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

Terrible neck, awful pickup and looked cheap. 

Shouldn't that just read '....was cheap' ?!!

[bigsmokebass]

7 hours ago, markdavid said:

I think this is true of most brand name basses (as in not custom built) over the 1k mark , Fender, Hofner, Gibson etc , they are all overpriced imo but it comes down to whether you are willing to pay the money or not and whether they are worth it to you

But yes Rickenbackers are particularly overpriced, I will probably never own one as having 2 truss rods to adjust just seems like way too much hassle, I hate having to adjust 1 let alone 2

Btw I have owned Fender basses and own Hofner basses at the moment fwiw

Truer words have never been spoken  I've never tried adjusting a dual truss rod but I imagine it's not too hard... I bet the necks never move enough to adjust them. 

Some good basses out there in the mainstream market, each to their own on brand and model but for me, some of the budget instruments are really turning heads for playability and functionality. 

[spectoremg]

18 hours ago, markdavid said:

I think this is true of most brand name basses (as in not custom built) over the 1k mark , Fender, Hofner, Gibson etc , they are all overpriced imo but it comes down to whether you are willing to pay the money or not and whether they are worth it to you

But yes Rickenbackers are particularly overpriced, I will probably never own one as having 2 truss rods to adjust just seems like way too much hassle, I hate having to adjust 1 let alone 2

Btw I have owned Fender basses and own Hofner basses at the moment fwiw

NOT Spectors, they're great value at any price point.

[Chaddy]

A Grands worth of Music man bass ,  Crap neck with a weird feel and fit that didnt match the string spacing and build quality./ feel was cheap cheap cheap. Sounded like a £50 quid Tanglewood from Cash Converters  - Which is oddly what the College also had in stock with strings that were 3 years old . Same feel! urrgh. 

the 2nd was a ARIA Jazz copy , Bought on a whim, and gone after one gig.  Went back to Yamaha full time and havent looked back since ( Bar a Chinese warwick ) 

[casapete]

18 minutes ago, Chaddy said:

A Grands worth of Music man bass ,  Crap neck with a weird feel and fit that didnt match the string spacing and build quality./ feel was cheap cheap cheap. Sounded like a £50 quid Tanglewood from Cash Converters  - Which is oddly what the College also had in stock with strings that were 3 years old . Same feel! urrgh. 

the 2nd was a ARIA Jazz copy , Bought on a whim, and gone after one gig.  Went back to Yamaha full time and havent looked back since ( Bar a Chinese warwick ) 

One of the few brands that I’ve never played a bad example of is Musicman. Sure, there’s been ones I’ve preferred over others, but their excellent quality has always been pretty consistent to me. Maybe the one you tried had been messed with or something?

Agree with you about Yamaha too - never tried a duffer, even the cheaper ranges.

[Chaddy]

Just now, casapete said:

One of the few brands that I’ve never played a bad example of is Musicman. Sure, there’s been ones I’ve preferred over others, but their excellent quality has always been pretty consistent to me. Maybe the one you tried had been messed with or something?

Agree with you about Yamaha too - never tried a duffer, even the cheaper ranges.

Was all stock , Just the feel of it was just , Dunno ? From memory I remember looking at it closely for any tail tell signs for example the scatchplate had been took off etc but looked neat as was pretty new . Just didnt appeal.. even the pickup plastic was poor.  - Could say that for all new Fenders as well lol 

 

Aye yammays are good, Ive got two RBXA2 's , one a 5 string black thats been modded with some SD's and its a dream to play for me. Unique as well as no one else has one like it that I have EVER come across. - Worth a punt as there are a few online for £200 if you can grab one  

[LewisK1975]

Was at a local pub gig some time last year, got talking to the bass player.  "Nice Stingray", says I.  "Have a go", says he.  OMG, I swear the action was about a half an inch off the fretboard.  I said, "Mate, you're working much harder than you need to be",  "I like it like that" he said, "I like to feel it's fighting me back!"  We're a strange bunch.. 

[casapete]

18 minutes ago, LewisK1975 said:

Was at a local pub gig some time last year, got talking to the bass player.  "Nice Stingray", says I.  "Have a go", says he.  OMG, I swear the action was about a half an inch off the fretboard.  I said, "Mate, you're working much harder than you need to be",  "I like it like that" he said, "I like to feel it's fighting me back!"  We're a strange bunch.. 

I used to be a bit like that, till I had issues with my shoulder and hand that makes a high action too much. When playing guitar I still prefer the action a bit higher than most I think, can't be doing with stupidly low sets ups that rattle and choke etc. Mind you, I also prefer big round necks too, so must be a bit of a masochist 

[Paulhauser]

12 hours ago, spectoremg said:

NOT Spectors, they're great value at any price point.

I’m a Spector player so maybe biased but this is actually true, I have yet to see a Spector of any price point failing to deliver.

This topic is a great read by the way! 😂

[stingrayPete1977]

9 hours ago, LewisK1975 said:

Was at a local pub gig some time last year, got talking to the bass player.  "Nice Stingray", says I.  "Have a go", says he.  OMG, I swear the action was about a half an inch off the fretboard.  I said, "Mate, you're working much harder than you need to be",  "I like it like that" he said, "I like to feel it's fighting me back!"  We're a strange bunch.. 

I bought a genuine Fender strat that had never been played but had been messed with as it was given to the lad I bought it off brand new for his 5th birthday! The neck was all over the show, intonation out, saddles at weird heights, strings were filthy and about an inch of the fingerboard, I took it to practice and our guitarist loved it, couldn't put it down. Got it set up and restrung to perfection (by EBS_freak), really nice example that sounded lovely, took it to practice again and our guitarist hated it! 

[drTStingray]

I once played a 1959 Precision in a jam session for about half a dozen songs. The bass looked nice and played and felt quite nice but for its value, was decidedly meh! 

And secondly I tried a 1976 Stingray in a shop specialising in vintage instruments - which meant playing it through a flip top Ampeg thingy as all their amps were vintage as well. Once again a nice enough bass but not spectacular and I couldn't get that legendary zing - however when I tried a 'party trick' on it, the unison riff breakdown from Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke, imagine my surprise when none of the notes above the 14th fret actually worked - basically wall to wall fret buzz - played fine everywhere else 😧 the shop guy didn't seem to think it was a problem and could be sorted. I'm afraid I was sceptical and left. A complete contrast to a lone 78 walnut finish Stingray I tried in a shop in Denmark Street full of Fenders - now that was a superb bass - beautifully smooth finger style sound, great slap sound - and unlike the 76 wasn't limited to 14 frets!!! 

Edited May 26, 2018 by drTStingray

[Elfrasho]

My mates ibanez bass. The cheap branded one, sound gear I think?  

Plays terribly no matter how set up, and sounds awful, so much so it sounds broke! 

 

 

 

[Japhet]

For the money I'd have to say a 197? Rickenbacker 4001. You could drive a bus under the strings and everything still clanked and buzzed. Fret ends were like surgical instruments and it sounded dreadful. Probably around £2000 worth in todays money but played like £40 worth.

[stingrayPete1977]

1 hour ago, Japhet said:

For the money I'd have to say a 197? Rickenbacker 4001. You could drive a bus under the strings and everything still clanked and buzzed. Fret ends were like surgical instruments and it sounded dreadful. Probably around £2000 worth in todays money but played like £40 worth.

That sounds like one of the better ones!  

[dlloyd]

Any number of badly set up basses in guitar shops. Most of them would be good if they were tweaked/restrung.

[Dudgeman]

For me.. and it seems a lot of us...it comes down to set up. I bought a Mexican jazz off here which I completely overhauled to Candy tangerine (its in build diaries) thanks to a great initial..and subsequent set up by me...Its superb. Based on my experience of how good this is I went to Dawsons to try US 5 strings to match...tried 5...hated 5. Sticky necks...too much Poly...poor quality and totally uninspiring  ...i was actually quite upset!!... I also have a 4003 Rickenbacker which I want to love so much as my wife bought it for me as one of those bucket list things..i waited 20 years to own one.  But every bit of finish is sharp...the C shape baseball bat neck was unplayable until I stripped all the laquor off the back... It is a blue one and all of the paint bled into the laquor over the white bindings...then the laquor started flaking off...so have removed it from the neck..the whole thing is soooo poor we even took it in to get it verified as real (internet purchase....never ever again) where it was confirmed as real and then I was blamed for the laquor for not cleaning my hands when playing...sweat thing apparently...what BS! The neckshapes are better on the new ones imo...problem is..using Ric o sound bi amped it sounds bloody amazing...but will never gig it. Too much like hard work. They say never meet your heroes... 

[AndyTravis]

I was the same when I owned a ric - didn’t enjoy the ownership really. Gutted - always wanted one.

[josie]

Last September I got to play a couple of songs in the jam at Carlisle Blues Festival. Was handed a beautiful Fender Jazz which had sounded wonderful played by its owner. It turned out to have fat tape-wound strings and a very high action (fine if you're trying to make a Jazz sound like an upright db and you're used to it...). I was nervous anyway, but barely had the finger muscles to get the strings down to the fretboard, and when I did they just seemed to stick there forever. I could only play about half the number of notes I normally would.

Ok that's down to me not the bass, but it's certainly the worst situation a bass has ever landed me in 😞