What gear have you bought or acquired, simply because you thought you ought to..?

[Skybone]

Active EQ Basses: I know it's an unpopular opinion, but apart from an old Westone Thunder 1A, I've never managed to get the sound I want out of a bass with an active pre-amp. I've owned a few, including StingRay's (2EQ), an SB1000, a G&L L2000 Tribute, and a few others. The SB, 'Rays & G&L were nice to play, but I couldn't get that sound. Went back to a passive bass, and there it was.

 

Flatwounds: tried them, didn't get it. 

[BlueMoon]

A bass that looks more like a coffee table surface. In fact, after the first I still wasn’t totally convinced………..so in the best BC tradition, I got another. The basses were a Tune TBC (Exotic) 4 stringer and a Marleaux Constat 5.

[HeadlessBassist]

1 hour ago, ghostwheel said:

Jazz Bass.

Guy Pratt and an awful lot of others play Jazz Bass, so I thought, it'd be the way to go. Having tried a couple of those, but never really got on with. Dreadful neck profile, weird body. The "default" sound is as annoying as Warwick Corvette, and everything else feels like a desperate try to get a P or Stingray-like sound out of it.

 

In order to love the Jazz bass you need to love its scooped burpy sound. I loved the punch and scoop of the 2008 standard models, and was dismayed in 2012 when I tried the 'new' model with the Custom Shop pickups. They'd flattened out the scoop and made it sound very generic. Luckily things got better in 2016.

[Sean]

Anything that's not a Spector, Mesa or GK. YFKI. 

[ghostwheel]

26 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

In order to love the Jazz bass you need to love its scooped burpy sound. I loved the punch and scoop of the 2008 standard models, and was dismayed in 2012 when I tried the 'new' model with the Custom Shop pickups. They'd flattened out the scoop and made it sound very generic. Luckily things got better in 2016.

It seems I like quite the opposite. The only JB I liked to play was a Harley Benton JB-75 MN. It's got a neck profile which is a way more to my tastes, and it's bridge PU is placed a bit further towards the bridge. I then tried to find a Fender Classic '70s JB, nut to no avail. Looks like nobody would like to sell theirs. So I gave up on JB. Stingray does the job very well, and there always is some P-Bass there too, just to avoid getting an itch I always get when I have no P-Bass

Each to their own.

[prowla]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Being a man of a certain age, I can remember a few manufacturers that seemed to be either the go-to source for building your own or something to use as a modding platform.

 

Schecter were one of the first (before they became a defacto maker and just sold parts), SX Guitars, Sue Ryder (obvs).  There was a load of guff about 20 years ago about Alex Lifeson investing in a guitar maker who subsequently went bust and all the stock was being sold off cheap - I'm struggling for the headstock name...Signature?  Performer?)

 

I used to have Schecter and Mighty Mite catalogues - they were fun to read through and spec fantasy guitar builds.

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Flatwound Strings - Lovely sounding things, but they feel as if they're driving channels into my fingers and somehow feel 'sticky' within those channels. (I know @Rich agrees with me on this!) Also, as soon as you play with other musicians, your sound magically disappears into a big sonic hole

 

 

I agree with this one... my fingers don't enjoy the feel of flats. 

[Stub Mandrel]

My Phil Jones Bass C4.

 

It sounds great but even driven by a TE Elf it really isn't good for anything other than 'unplugged' gigs.

 

So it's my home practice rig and fantastic for that.