Grrr! What do you hate about gear you love?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

My Fender Mustang GTX100 guitar amp is almost perfect. The emulations of top amps and pedals sound brilliant, and with the ios app to control it, it is very easy to use.

 

I'm about to try using it as a USB interface in logic to overdub some guitar onto a track. As I went to plug the usb cable into the back of the amp I couldn't tell which way it has to go in. As it is micro USB, trying to force it in the wrong way will destroy the socket so I have had to refer to the manual to ensure I only apply push it when its in the correct orientation.

 

Any other type of socket would be preferable to micro usb -  old USB B or USB C would make so much more sense. Even the old mini USB would have been better as you can see which way it should go and it would be impossible to force it in the wrong way causing damage.

 

 

[MichaelDean]

I love my Boss GX-100. It does so many things really well. Still 100% pleased with it and it handles everything I need it to.

 

My issue with it is, why can't they programme a good pitch shifter for it? It's bad on bass and guitar - can't track either well. Or is it tracking too well, detecting tiny pitch changes, and that's what's getting reproduced? I don't need to shift my pitch often and when I do, it's me messing around, but it's really annoying that they just kinda gave up when they got to that. It'd almost be better that they just didn't include that option rather than tease you. 

[tauzero]

I love my Sei Original headless fretless 5. It does have a minor stability issue with the neck, so it can need truss rod tweakery two or three times a year - I carry a capo and a set of allen keys in the bass bag, and adjusting the truss rod takes about 15 seconds.

[joeystrange]

I hate that my old Ampeg rig weighed more than the sun.

[Rich]

Classic Trace Elliot SMX gear. I adore everything about it except the weight.

[chris_b]

Sadly my favourite bass is way too heavy for me to gig these days.

[nilorius]

I think that - Dunlop Crybaby 105Q wah is too big and heavy for me, but i still prefer it as my nr.1 bass wah.

[Lozz196]

Similar theme to a good few here, sadly my fave basses - Precisions - are too heavy & big for me nowadays. 

[Gasman]

My fender silverface Bassman 100 I bought new in ‘80, still the best sounding amp I’ve ever had, the weight is in hernia territory but would be much more tolerable if only the amp didn’t suffer from chronic transformer dive!

[Dad3353]

4 minutes ago, Gasman said:

My fender silverface Bassman 100 I bought new in ‘80, still the best sounding amp I’ve ever had, the weight is in hernia territory but would be much more tolerable if only the amp didn’t suffer from chronic transformer dive!

 

Move the carrying strap a bit over, to the centre of gravity..? It doesn't have to be centred, you know. Just sayin'. 

[Gasman]

Hmm, sounded like a good idea, so I’ve just been out to the garage and checked out the possibilities (yeah, it’s 2am but I can’t sleep...).

 

As I thought, unfortunately the amp is an upside-downer, with the chassis bolted to the inside top of the case and valves dangling. Without totally dismantling it, there’s no access to the strap bolts and blind drilling from the outside would be, er, a bit too adventurous for me so i think I’ll struggle on lopsidedly for the rare occasions it gets gigged.

 

 

[Lfalex v1.1]

Many of my favourite basses do not fit in "standard" sized cases.

 

The Warwick Fortress won't fit in Hiscox cases as the upper horn is too long. 

The Ibanez EDA and EDC have convex curved bodies and need a deeper case.

And as for the Epiphone Blackbird, that's going to need a special one all of its own.

 

Also, the Blackbird is nearly 48" long from tip of headstock to rearmost point, and resolutely won't fit across the width of a lot of cars, even out of a case or bag.

[NHM]

The pull out mute switch knob on my Bassman 500 is so awkward to grip it's near impossible to operate without changing the master volume level

[snorkie635]

Usually, when I find something I really like, the company either goes bust, or stops producing that particular model. Finding spares, etc. becomes a pain. Maybe I'm a jinx? 🤭

[toneknob]

Effects pedals. Sort out a convention for placement of input, output, expression and power sockets

 

[pbasspecial]

8 hours ago, nilorius said:

I think that - Dunlop Crybaby 105Q wah is too big and heavy for me, but i still prefer it as my nr.1 bass wah.

They do make a mini version 

[nilorius]

19 minutes ago, pbasspecial said:

They do make a mini version 

When i bought a big one - i din't thought twice !!

[nilorius]

27 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Usually, when I find something I really like, the company either goes bust, or stops producing that particular model. Finding spares, etc. becomes a pain. Maybe I'm a jinx? 🤭

Unlucky You !!!

[TheGreek]

I went through a stage of buying high end basses - can't take them anywhere or use them without worrying that they may get dropped/ knocked/ damaged .

 

[Rich]

3 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I went through a stage of buying high end basses - can't take them anywhere or use them without worrying that they may get dropped/ knocked/ damaged .

 

My Shuker regularly used to get gigged, everywhere (and thanks to a recent renaissance, will be again from now on). It's got one or two dings, but they're made to be played.

If it wasn't for its weight and the fact that I've got other basses that do the job, I'd take my museum-piece Wal out too.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Rich

[tauzero]

Smoothhound wireless system - works well, but why is the power supply 9V centre positive with a standard 5.5/2.1 connector when making it centre negative would have made using daisy chains or multiple outlet power supplies far simpler?

[BigRedX]

18 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I went through a stage of buying high end basses - can't take them anywhere or use them without worrying that they may get dropped/ knocked/ damaged .

 

IME if you worry about this, then it will happen and you will be upset.

 

for all of the 90s I used an Overwater original bass, which I picked up second hand at a bargain price, but which I subsequently discovered would have been very expensive and time-consuming to replace as a new one would have had to be a custom order and would probably not have come with the original filter-based pre-amp. I can't recall this bass picking up any additional dents to the few almost invisible ones it already had when I bought it. Interestingly the much cheaper bass I had as a spare but luckily never needed to use at any gigs turned out to be covered in bashes and bumps when I came to sell it, despite the fact that it had spent most of it's life in its case or on a stand at the back of the stage.

 

Since then I have been playing Gus G3s live including 6 years of almost weekly gigs with The Terrortones where we were on the bill with Punks and Psychobillies. IMO if I don't play these expensive basses at gigs there would be no point in having them. Also just because an instrument is relatively cheap doesn't mean it's going to be easy to replace. In my other band I play the relatively cheaper Eastwood Hooky. As this has become my main bass with this band and there is no suitable alternative, I've been looking at getting a spare. I think I've seen two come up for sale second hand in the last 18 months and both went almost instantly. For a new one you have to pre-order and then wait 6 months. 

 

IME the lack of an easily obtained suitable replacement is more of a worry than getting a bump or scrape on an expensive instrument, so I've stopped worrying about it altogether.

[Old Horse Murphy]

My Spector Bantam- love everything about it apart from I find the EMG preamp makes it sound too clean/trebly for my ears. 

[meterman]

I love my cheapie Squier jazz bass, it plays and records really well, it’s charcoal frost metallic, it’s lightweight with no neck dive, and it looks good with tort, or black or parchment pickguards...

 

BUT I wish it had a ‘blocks & binding’ neck like the 40th Anniversary Gold edition Squier jazz has got. I love blocks and binding on jazz basses. If I ever find one of those 40th anniversary basses, I’ll buy it for the neck and put it on the charcoal frost metallic one. 

[Linus27]

Warwick Gnome I Pro 280w - I absolutely adore this little amp, it sounds incredible, looks super cute but I just wish it had a Speakon connector rather than a Jack connector for the speaker. 

Barefaced Two10 - The Speakon seems to be fitted upside down and every time I try to insert the cable, I do it the other way around.

Fender Japan 62 Reissue Jazz - Best sounding bass I've ever owned, its incredible and I've owned it for 36 years but the only thing I don't like about it is its black. I wish it wasn't black.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Linus27