Have you ever bought a BASS and hated it

[Marvin]

Yes.

Rockbass Corvette. It was one of the early ones with a standard bridge, not the Warwick style bridge. 

Awful bass. Hung badly on a strap so first fret felt a millions miles away. Neck was like Captain Cavemans club. Well made but looked dull and a bit unrefined. Electronics were OK but could have a habit of picking up interference at the drop of a hat. There was literally nothing to like. I was relieved when I got rid of it.

[Russ]

12 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Of all the "Stingray" clones I've tried the only one that actually sounded like one (to my ears) was my old Ibanez ATK305. Was pretty much a sonic carbon copy unlike other models with a bridge humbucker. 

I had a ATK405 years ago. And it was one of the best sounding basses I've ever played, and it recorded beautifully. Neck was a bit chunky, and it was quite heavy, but it's probably one of the best basses Ibanez ever made.

 

If nothing else, Ibanez need to revive that pickup set. Most of the newer Ibbys I've played have looked and felt great, but they mostly sounded incredibly anaemic, even with the Nordstrand or Aguilar pickups. Better than the Bart Mk1s, but still not exactly a "big" sound.

 

The ATK MM/J set had some serious cojones. I always wanted them to make a BTB with those pickups. 

[dave_bass5]

4 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Ironically I tried a used one last week in Guitar Guitar Epsom that I nearly bought. An older Korean model but it was 11lbs plus!!! How old was your one and where was it made? Based on my personal experience the older Koreans beat USA Fenders. 

I have no idea of the spec now. I got it early 2009, via the Bass Gallery, and yeah, it was a bit heavy compared to my other basses, but on as heavy as the one you tried IIR. I never had any issues with the weight and it was a really nice player, but too warm for me back then. 

This is how it ended up before i sold it on here. I did see it re sold on here a few years back. 

 

[Terry M.]

42 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I have no idea of the spec now. I got it early 2009, via the Bass Gallery, and yeah, it was a bit heavy compared to my other basses, but on as heavy as the one you tried IIR. I never had any issues with the weight and it was a really nice player, but too warm for me back then. 

This is how it ended up before i sold it on here. I did see it re sold on here a few years back. 

 

The one I tried was also black with the matching headstock.Had blocks but no binding. Shame it didn't work out for you.

[Terry M.]

59 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I have no idea of the spec now. I got it early 2009, via the Bass Gallery, and yeah, it was a bit heavy compared to my other basses, but on as heavy as the one you tried IIR. I never had any issues with the weight and it was a really nice player, but too warm for me back then. 

This is how it ended up before i sold it on here. I did see it re sold on here a few years back. 

 

This is it.

[dave_bass5]

13 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

This is it.

Yeah, thats how mine arrived. Hated the white pick guard but other than that a lovely looking bass.

[Terry M.]

16 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Yeah, thats how mine arrived. Hated the white pick guard but other than that a lovely looking bass.

I'm with you on the white pickguard thing. I generally don't like them on any bass. Don't start me on clear plastic ones 🙈

[dave_bass5]

5 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I'm with you on the white pickguard thing. I generally don't like them on any bass. Don't start me on clear plastic ones 🙈

Haha. I’ve still got a mirror one from the 80’s in a drawer somewhere. Been tempted to put it on my current Fender P. 

[Rayman]

Fleabass “water bass”, the blue one with the orange pick guard. Described by Flea himself as “not a toy”, that’s exactly what it was. A terrible little thing, cheap components, cheap wood, and it sounded crap. 

[PainInTheBass]

On 14/01/2025 at 12:22, PainInTheBass said:

buying a cheap squier affinity p bass for kicks was just not worth it

This thread got me thinking, and I ended up taking said bass to a luthier who did a sterling fret job and setup, including lowering the nut. The combined price of the bass and work is £300 and what I have now is an instrument that plays as well as my other very expensive basses.

 

I no longer hate it. All is forgiven.

[Bass4real]

5 hours ago, PainInTheBass said:

This thread got me thinking, and I ended up taking said bass to a luthier who did a sterling fret job and setup, including lowering the nut. The combined price of the bass and work is £300 and what I have now is an instrument that plays as well as my other very expensive basses.

 

I no longer hate it. All is forgiven.

That's the only thing I've not done, it hasn't happened to me often 2 or 3 times.

Years ago When I was waiting impatiently

( very )

for a used RICKENBACKER 4001 . 

When I got it , It was the opposite of what I thought it was gonna be.

I didn't actually hate the bass

I hated the fact I believed a stock RICKENBACKER Sounded great 

Geddy Lee  Chris Squire , lemme never said anything about the upgrades they did to their Ricks . Maybe nobody asked them 

Yea well ,

My fault .

I'm a big fan of early RICKENBACKER BASSES

And I will never buy one again.

:?)

The 1978 Gibson Ripper I bought in early 80s 

was a real piece of shite.

I did hate it 

Never bought another Gibson bass

I bought a HARTKE bass in 2012 I figured HARTKE amps are Kool their Bass is probably good also.

I was WRONG hartke BASSES suuuuucccckkk .

I hated that bass 

Only 3 outta the 30+ basses I've owned over the years 

That's only 10 % 

I'm good with that 

 

 

 

 

[Kev]

Oh I have another one.

 

A multiscale 5 string built by Blasius.  Really cool looking bass, bought blind for a really good price for a luthier built bass with a huge spec.  

 

Took delivery, definitely the closest to hate I've been.  I just didn't like the thing at all, yet objectively there was nothing wrong with it.  Balanced well, good weight, very good playability, disliked the tone but I struggle with most EMG sets.  But I just didn't gel with it whatsoever. 

 

It was sold back to a previous owner the next day.  Probably the last time I'll ever buy something completely blind I.e. not having at least played the same model before.

[crazycloud]

Fender Jag. Really bad dive, meh tone, OK FnF but not great for the new price. Felt awful compared to the cheap Samick SS I had (still have) so I swapped it through the local classifieds for a near new Ibanez SR370 to a guitarist that bought the Ibby, but decided he wanted a SS and 'er indoors wouldn't allow him to spend any more money. This was a few years back and swaps back to the store I purchased from wasn't an option. I really don't need the SR4, but it's a nice bass and the burst is acceptably subtle.

[kwmlondon]

Yep. Fender reissue 70s USA Jazz in natural. I’ve always loved thise early 1970s models, and I got a really good discount buying direct from fender and it was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever had. Fit and finish were bad and the E string was anaemic and weedy. The vintage case was absolutely awful too, felt cheap and tacky. After that I never bought another high end Fender. 

[Terry M.]

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Yep. Fender reissue 70s USA Jazz in natural. I’ve always loved thise early 1970s models, and I got a really good discount buying direct from fender and it was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever had. Fit and finish were bad and the E string was anaemic and weedy. The vintage case was absolutely awful too, felt cheap and tacky. After that I never bought another high end Fender. 

Very disappointing from such an established brand. 

[kwmlondon]

56 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Very disappointing from such an established brand. 

I had a USA Pro Jazz that was absolutely amazing except it had terrible dead spots. That was really frustrating as it played like a dream, sounded epic, looked amazing - a really special instrument, but the dead spots were not niggles but huge issues.

[Rolf]

"Hate" is too strong a word, but "disappointment" certainly isn't. I got a Gibson SG bass in a trade and it basically did not feel like a quality instrument, at all. It looked pretty cool, but it was unbalanced, with poor hardware and pickups. It came with flats and everything I played sounded like a dull thud with no sustain. Then I changed to rounds, which made everything I played sound like a dull clunk with no sustain. I don't know how Gibson can keep selling them.

 

Thankfully I sold it pretty quickly, for good money, and spent it on a bass I wanted instead.

[Inga]

any tune bass ever

[Russ]

1 hour ago, Inga said:

any tune bass ever

I have to say, I've never played a Tune I didn't like. Quality Japanese construction, nice pickups and comfy necks. I craved a Bass Maniac when I first started playing, but settled for a very similar-looking Bass Collection.  

 

[Inga]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

I have to say, I've never played a Tune I didn't like. Quality Japanese construction, nice pickups and comfy necks. I craved a Bass Maniac when I first started playing, but settled for a very similar-looking Bass Collection.  

 

i will say the japanese ones are alright yeah the construction is nice as always from MIJ it's just the electronics and general body designs that do my nut in, moreso meant the korean models with my original comment but it's just a bias against all tunes really, have nightmares about them

[prowla]

Nope - I can't say I've ever hated a bass.

[HeadlessBassist]

Maybe 'hate' is a little bit of a strong word, but I have definitely made mistakes over the years.

 

When I was living in the South West, I would treat myself during the Xmas holidays, usually from the Andertons sale. Several basses I bought were epic, like my Fender Elite Dimension, and my American Original Jazz (both of which I've kept for years), but several would be returned immediately.

 

One such case was a ltd edition spalted Maple Spector Euro LX. Yes, maybe the neck was a little thick (fingers to thumb), but the real issue was that the one in the sale was equipped with the insipid Aguilar pickups. Now I know Aguilar make fantastic pickups, but whatever I did with this bass, nothing sounded anything more than dull and generic. The bass had utterly no character. Obviously, I now know that Spectors need the EMGs for their signature sound, but in this case I personally drove it back to Andertons on the very same day to return it.

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Maybe 'hate' is a little bit of a strong word, but I have definitely made mistakes over the years.

 

When I was living in the South West, I would treat myself during the Xmas holidays, usually from the Andertons sale. Several basses I bought were epic, like my Fender Elite Dimension, and my American Original Jazz (both of which I've kept for years), but several would be returned immediately.

 

One such case was a ltd edition spalted Maple Spector Euro LX. Yes, maybe the neck was a little thick (fingers to thumb), but the real issue was that the one in the sale was equipped with the insipid Aguilar pickups. Now I know Aguilar make fantastic pickups, but whatever I did with this bass, nothing sounded anything more than dull and generic. The bass had utterly no character. Obviously, I now know that Spectors need the EMGs for their signature sound, but in this case I personally drove it back to Andertons on the very same day to return it.

I don't have any personal experience with this but I've heard on more than one occasion that regardless of what bass EMGs are in they will all sound the same. Is that meant to be the case?

[Bleat]

I went through a few years of buying, trying, and selling basses in attempt to find "the one" that would stick  I've most certainly had some great basses that I really genuinly regret selling on, but very few that I've been a bit dissapointed with. One that does stand out that came very near to hatred just short of "I totally despise this bit of wood" as I got rid of it before that point was a Retrovibe something or other. Looked like a load of generic bits out of the Chinese factory parts bin thrown together. The body felt like it was made of some light balsa wood, with a neck made from Kryptonite. It looked a bit like a Stingray. Sounded like shite, played like shite. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Bleat

[HeadlessBassist]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

I don't have any personal experience with this but I've heard on more than one occasion that regardless of what bass EMGs are in they will all sound the same. Is that meant to be the case?

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying that EMGs are harsh, but they are always consistently very bright and bitey! They definitely cut through, put it that way.