Your best (and worst!) bass gear purchases of 2025?

[Al Krow]

Well it's somehow already the start of November and following on from the same topic we've successfully run since 2017 - a chance for some useful hints and tips with Xmas goodies still ahead, and, of course, nothing to stop us changing our minds between now and year end! 

As with previous years, the only "house rules" are that it's bass gear and something you bought (or at least arrived) in 2025. 

 

Here's the last thread in the series from 2024 as a reminder of some of the goodies we bought then.

 

Obligatory GAS inducing pics please!

[Linus27]

For me, this is super easy, my best purchase was the Harley Benton Custom Line Chorus CH-5 pedal. As a fretless bassist, I'd been on an endless mission to find that awesome Chorus tone that I'd always had in my head. I've tried EBS, EHX, Behringer, Boss, MXR and many others but none came close to that lovely 80's Chorus tone. I then stumbled across a Bass The World video of the Harley Benton Custom Line Chorus CH-5 pedal and it was the tone I was after. At £33 it was worth a shot and I can honestly say it is unbelievable, absolutely perfect. Sadly, it's been unavailable for the last few months and I contacted Harley Benton to purchase a backup but sadly they said they will not be making them again.

 

[bassbiscuits]

BEST: Mine was a Simon and Patrick SP6 acoustic guitar which I bought at the start of the summer and which I’ve used at every solo gig since. It’s the best sounding guitar I own and paired with a Seymour Duncan Woody soundhole pickup it’s ended my search for a great acoustic sound. 
 

Second to that, is rather boringly a Cioks DC5 isolated power supply for my acoustic pedal board. After a series of problems with buzzing, signal noise etc I bit the bullet and got one and have enjoyed noiseless performance since. Winner 🏆 

 

Both pictured below. 
 

Update - an honourable mention also for the Tonerider Classic P pickup I dropped into my project bitsa P Bass. Brought it to life. 
 

WORST: None really but probably the least dramatic was a pair of Meinl Bongos. I’d always fancied myself as a percussion player since my teens and finally got around to treating myself on a whim. Needless to say after an overexcited week or so they’ve been parked, unplayed, in the corner. 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by bassbiscuits

[Lozz196]

Best is easily my Sandberg Superlight California TT. The difference playing a 6lb bass makes to my back is quite amazing. Roll on my Sandberg Superlight Lionel (due Nov 2026).
 

Worst, well I decided to buy a nostalgia bass, a Yamaha BB1100s as this was my first “proper” bass. As well as overpaying for it it also needed some work doing on it. It’s still a great bass but given overpayment & work needed that has to make it the worst purchase.

[Ed_S]

Mine would be my pair of Rockbass Streamer LX 5s. The black one is a pre-2024-revamp model, came as very cheap and scuffed b-stock with a dead preamp, neck like a banana and frets hanging off the edges, but quite a light example at 3.8kg so well worth saving. Fixed it up and it's now a passive workhorse. The white one seems to be a 2024 with the new frets etc. but still came as cheap b-stock (maybe a demo unit for the new spec?) and whilst it needed setting up, it seems to be perfect. Average weight at 4.2kg, but looks smooth under stage lights. One of us needs to, and it'll never be me. The Ibanez SR Premiums have gone and the Warwick RBs are my main gigging pair.

 

 

Have to also give a shout to my travel-light front-of-gigbag rig, which all arrived this year:

Fender Telepath wireless -> Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig v2 -> TC BAM200

 

The BAM obviously has its limits, but it's so much more useful to me than the Elf I had; it's loud, it takes the Fly Rig well and its EQ actually does something.

 

Worst... nothing's really coming to mind. I've not bought all that much, and I think it's all been alright.

[snorkie635]

Best purchase this year is a black Fender Vintage reissue P bass. Two 'problems' to watch out for in my view: the gloss on the neck is crap and the position markers are almost impossible to see under poor lighting - might not be a problem for others, but just putting it out there.

[Bleat]

Well In my current pursuit of going in a more acoustic based direction, this Aria acoustic is easily the best new purchase so far this year. After tightening the rather loose truss rod and filing the nut slots down a bit, it now plays as well as my Washburn electric which I use as a benchmark for doing setups on other instruments. It's a beautiful looking and playing bass for the money. The 32" scale length is a dream to play. I do need to get used to no dot markers on the fretboard even though I mostly only ever look at the side dot markers. It also has a nice, well featured preamp, with an ok built in tuner. The machine heads are functional but will be upgraded in due course. Comes with a very basic gigbag which I wasn't expecting but better than nothing I guess. Overall I'm more than happy with the latest bass purchase.

Edited 17 hours ago by Bleat

[Owen]

On the spur of the moment, I bought a Moog Sub Phatty. It appeared in the classifieds here and was "local" to where we were at the time. It turned our 5 hour journey home into an 8 hour journey. My wife is extraordinarily patient. I had been thinking about a small, monophonic synth for a long time and realised that the asking price was less than I would expect to spend on a bass. I have been messing with synth pedals for years, but this showed me that there is a reason keys played bass sounds different. Having all the controls in one place and accessible immediately has made playing and manipulating it very easy. Don't get me wrong, I am not doing Stevie Wonder bass (more is the pity) but I can do what I want with remarkable ease. It is SO much easier than doing a poor imitation on bass guitar. 

 

Am I going to keep it? I am not sure about that. Now that I have experienced it, I suspect that a midi keyboard running into Logic will provide all the synthy goodness I will ever need. But it is certainly my best ever impulse purchase. 

Edited 17 hours ago by Owen
because of the spelling. Always because of the spelling.

[tauzero]

At the moment, the simultaneous best and worst is a Shuker Uberhorn 5 fretless - beautiful bass with an unplayably high action, bought at long range in a Gardiner Houlgate auction. The problem with the action is due to a mullered truss rod, so it is currently with Jon for a complete rebuild and conversion to 34" scale from 35".

[neepheid]

What a year it has been.  Tried to go abstinent, failed in March, and then went a bit mad, oops.  So much good gear, but I have to rank as #1 the bass which put me out of this year's Gear Abstinence Challenge, a bass which had been living rent-free in my head for the past dozen years or so - the Greco LGB-700 in purpleburst...

 

 

I know they say "don't meet your heroes" but this bass is absolutely fabulous, everything I dreamed it would be.  Of course, I made it mine by altering the control system a touch (instead of the stock VVV it's now 6 way Freeway switch then VT), but the pickups are great, and it looks utterly fantastic.

Honourable mention go to the Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter - hands down the best pitch shifting pedal I have ever heard in terms of preservation of tone and tracking.

 

Worst?  I haven't bought anything truly awful this year, it's more a case of "least good" really.  I suppose it's the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB310 I picked up.  Was really curious about these basses and wanted to try one.  It's a fantastic bass, but it's not for me, mostly because it's too damn light!  It's for sale now.  A shame, if it had a bit more heft about it I'd probably have kept it.

[Woodinblack]

Well, the ric is doing well, but I have only just got it so it is too early to say how good it is and I am happy with my new XVive A58, but I haven't gigged them yet. I am struggling to think of something I bought this year that i feel much about - in all honesty so far the best thing I have got this year is a K&R microphone stand that has been great!

[chris_b]

I bought some batteries, but that's it.

[Len_derby]

Best, and only, purchase this year. A Squier short-scale Jaguar bought on BassChat.

 

 

[Lozz196]

49 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I bought some batteries, but that's it.

Overdone the spend there, Chris……

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Worst?  I haven't bought anything truly awful this year, it's more a case of "least good" really.  I suppose it's the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB310 I picked up.  Was really curious about these basses and wanted to try one.  It's a fantastic bass, but it's not for me, mostly because it's too damn light!  It's for sale now.  A shame, if it had a bit more heft about it I'd probably have kept it.

 

That's exactly the reason I sold mine, many years ago - I was used to the weight of a Thumb and there was this featherweight thing, great to play but felt so insubstantial. I'd rather like a 5-string now, decades later.

[casapete]

58 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

Best, and only, purchase this year. A Squier short-scale Jaguar bought on BassChat.

 

 

I’ve acquired one of these too this year, mine is in black though.

Nice little basses. 

[casapete]

1 hour ago, Bleat said:

Well In my current pursuit of going in a more acoustic based direction, this Aria acoustic is easily the best new purchase so far this year. After tightening the rather loose truss rod and filing the nut slots down a bit, it now plays as well as my Washburn electric which I use as a benchmark for doing setups on other instruments. It's a beautiful looking and playing bass for the money. The 32" scale length is a dream to play. I do need to get used to no dot markers on the fretboard even though I mostly only ever look at the side dot markers. It also has a nice, well featured preamp, with an ok built in tuner. The machine heads are functional but will be upgraded in due course. Comes with a very basic gigbag which I wasn't expecting but better than nothing I guess. Overall I'm more than happy with the latest bass purchase.

Nice looking bass. How is it regarding not feeding back, any good?

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

That's exactly the reason I sold mine, many years ago - I was used to the weight of a Thumb and there was this featherweight thing, great to play but felt so insubstantial. I'd rather like a 5-string now, decades later.

 

Thankfully, there are several people here who give the impression that they won't touch a bass which weighs more than 8lbs, sadly more often than not for health reasons, so hopefully it will find some favour in these quarters.

[NancyJohnson]

Best?  Necks from China and an XB Driver.

 

There's not been any bad.

[Acebassmusic]

Usual "in's" and "out's" at the "Acebass Musical Equipment Temporary Storage & Refuge Facility" 🤣 Like others, I've not had any "bad" purchases but have 3 that really stand out and work for me: my Elrick Evolution Gold V, Anagram multi-fx and MVave Chocolate Plus midi foot switch. I'm a happy bunny that doesnt see me wanting to change any of my gear until at least a week on Tuesday! 😮🤣🤣

 

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Best purchases were the Fender Precision to Jazz conversion neck, EB cobalt flatwounds, Hipshot lollipop tuners, ultra heavy knurled callaghan knobs, and EMG GZR P Pickup I used to transform my long-neglected unlined fretless bitza Precision into my favourite long scale bass to play. Worst buy was probably the HX FX pedal I bought several months ago, which I'm sure is an excellent piece of kit, but I've realised I don't really need it and haven't got around to actually trying to use it.

 

[Al Krow]

10 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Best purchases were the Fender Precision to Jazz conversion neck, EB cobalt flatwounds, Hipshot lollipop tuners, ultra heavy knurled callaghan knobs, and EMG GZR P Pickup I used to transform my long-neglected unlined fretless bitza Precision into my favourite long scale bass to play. Worst buy was probably the HX FX pedal I bought several months ago, which I'm sure is an excellent piece of kit, but I've realised I don't really need it and haven't got around to actually trying to use it.

 

 

That's a lot of "best" 😅 You got one from that list that you would opt for above the rest if you only had one?

[lozkerr]

This is both the best and the worst. Found for a song on fleabay but the full refurbishment cost was not so much a song as a double album. But I'd wanted one of these for ages and it sounds fantastic!

 

 

I'm pondering getting an Electro-Harmonix Freeze and a decent expression pedal before the end of the year so I can try the 2026 abstinence thread.

 

[Al Krow]

58 minutes ago, Acebassmusic said:

Usual "in's" and "out's" at the "Acebass Musical Equipment Temporary Storage & Refuge Facility" 🤣 Like others, I've not had any "bad" purchases but have 3 that really stand out and work for me: my Elrick Evolution Gold V, Anagram multi-fx and MVave Chocolate Plus midi foot switch. I'm a happy bunny that doesnt see me wanting to change any of my gear until at least a week on Tuesday! 😮🤣🤣

 

 

 

OMG I love that Elrick! I've had mine (the "cheaper" Expat Czech made one) for 4 years and totally love - fabulous bass and my mainstay for gigs.

Edited 13 hours ago by Al Krow
Getting the spelling of the bass right, always helps! :)

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

9 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

That's a lot of "best" 😅 You got one from that list that you would opt for above the rest if you only had one?

Okay - I choose the bass, which is "the best" due to all of the new components I used to rebuild it into a new bass.