What's the worst bass you've ever owned or played?

[Fitzy73]

my first bass was a kay , i was young and didnt know anything about doing a proper setup, i loved it until a played a bass collection at a mates house, i soon seen the light of day or did i , are these kays as good or demand the same price as tokai or greco

http://www.adverts.ie/electric-basses/1969-kay-p-24-bass-guitar-kay-bass-amp-case/3389628

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1401559751' post='2464787']
OLP MusicMan - these were revered amongst my bass playing friends whilst I was growing up, I always wanted the blue one with a maple neck and a matching headstock, low and behold a few weeks ago there was a used one sitting on a rack on Denmark Street. I gave it a go, and granted it was fitted with 'ex-strings' [/quote]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1401572856' post='2464957']
What are 'ex-strings'?
[/quote]
Anyone going to tell me what 'ex-strings' are?

[BassTractor]

Early seventies: a Höfner violin bass, or should I say vile bass. Poor construction with poor bridge&saddle stuff, and poorly put together as a whole. Don't know if they all were like that, and assume they weren't. This one was not a musical instrument.

Mid to late seventies: a Rick 4001. Maybe it was mostly the frustration of being disappointed, but I had to fight it as if it were a bull or wildebeest or crocodile or something. It just wasn't willing like a musical instrument should be. Reminded me of the difference between my own and my teacher's flute, where I'd need to fight mine, whilst hers started playing if you just thought of a tone.
Worst thing is I can't understand the physics of it on a bass. Is the tone sucked out by nut/bridge/neck/body? Idunno, but I do know I'm still exhausted 40 years later.
Around 1980 I played a cheap Fender copy (a Cort maybe?) and it just worked without resisting - nice even.
Same with an ultra cheap rag a few years later. No sweat.
I really don't get it.

2011: an Axl Marquee AP-800, my first own bass, had a twisted neck, and not in the modern, controlled fashion. I hope it was just a dudd, but it took away my confidence, and I went back with it, getting something comfortingly expensive instead.

[theyellowcar]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1401572856' post='2464957']

What are 'ex-strings'?
[/quote]

http://youtu.be/e6Lq771TVm4

2:48 if you've seen t before, watch the whole thing if you haven't

[Delberthot]

[quote name='theyellowcar' timestamp='1401616494' post='2465193']
[media]http://youtu.be/e6Lq771TVm4[/media]

2:48 if you've seen t before, watch the whole thing if you haven't
[/quote]

Ha, exactly what I had in my head

The worst bass for me has to be the Epiphone EB-3. Not only did I have to join 2 straps together for it to sit right but after an extra long gig my back was completely knackered and it took a couple of weeks to return to normal.

I partially agree about the Ricks though but i think it's more down to the shape. I reckon if I could get one to sit right then that would be half the battle. The pickup cover for the long gone horseshoe pickup is a pain but there are a few companies making bezels so you can remove the cover and avoid losing half the skin on your fingers as they rub against the metal surround.

[BetaFunk]

Ah yes, the hilarious Monty Python sketch. I did see this on it's first airing in the late 60s and although found it slightly amusing i've been trying to avoid it ever since which can be difficult as it means that you have to have the tv remote control in your hand at every waking moment ready to switch channels immediately. It was all a bit too much jolly grammar school / university chaps humour for me although it did have it's moments with Bicycle Repairman being one gem. Very funny.

[KingBollock]

I was given a Satellite bass for free once, it played really nicely and sounded fine, too. The worst bass I ever played was a £900 Hamer. But that was the only bass I ever played that wasn't nice.

As for sixers... I was given an Encore Les Paul copy that was so horrible that I gave it back. But the very worst was a rather more expensive Jackson shark-fin that a paid a few hundred quid for (second hand) after coming into some money. It was nasty, it felt like playing a plank. After a few days I realised I was never going to get on with it, no matter how much I wanted to, so I took it back to the shop and they gave me my money back.

[bakerster135]

Mine was a sunburst 1973 Precision, got it when I was 16 (now 30!) for £300! It looked beautiful and had the ashtrays, but it was absolutely devoid of any tone, acoustically and plugged in it sounded totally dull, lifeless and awful...I was distraught.

Eventually took it to Music Ground in Doncaster, and did an almost straight swap for a Stingray, which sounded absolutely amazing in comparison! I later sold this for university rent money, and I've always regretted it...

First bass was a Columbus Jackson/Charvel style, which was actually not at all bad and well worth the £30 I paid!

[Norris]

Another vote for the Kay SG - truly horrendous!

[Nibody]

I bought a Dean Metalman V on a whim. Sounded like s**t, neck felt like s**t, finish felt cheap and nasty. Sold it to the local crack converters for £20 more than I bought it for.

[Nibody]

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1401645676' post='2465514']
Mine was a sunburst 1973 Precision, got it when I was 16 (now 30!) for £300! It looked beautiful and had the ashtrays, but it was absolutely devoid of any tone, acoustically and plugged in it sounded totally dull, lifeless and awful...
[/quote]
Stupid question but did you try changing the strings?

Edited June 2, 2014 by Nibody

[GrammeFriday]

Worst ever played: probably the Basschat Relay Bass, of which I am currently custodian. So bad it's ... just really shockingly bad.
Worst ever owned: MIM Fender Precision. Clunky, dull-sounding, unresponsive and very uninspiring.

[planer]

I had a Marlin Slammer. It was....well, you know - less than perfect. A lot less.

[bakerster135]

[quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1401716562' post='2466084']
Stupid question but did you try changing the strings?
[/quote]

Yes, it wasn't the strings...

[visog]

Interesting discussion... some basses are bad through design, materials or QA, the latter category felling even the mighty, Rickenbacker, Stingray and I'd add Fender too. I you may not like the design but it's rare you get a bad Ibanez or Yamaha.

Oh and in response to the thread, I'll call out my £75 Egmond from Colte Guitars, Chester...

Edited June 2, 2014 by visog

[notable9]

And just to be controversial..

Worst bass for me was my 77 Stingray. No way you say? Yep. It was sooo heavy... gawd I could just about pick it up and that awful three bolt/tilt adjustment maple neck never seemed right somehow, I was always looking at it and fiddling with it.

And the sound. I got it in 1979 just when a lot of pop bands were using a Jaco-ish type of bass sound, Duran, Thomson Twins et al but could I get that poppy hard grinding middletone out of it, not at all. Hopeless!

In complete contrast is my battered 71 P which never needs tweaking, feels like an old pair of trainers and sounds wonderfully thick, woody and grindy..brill.

[molan]

I received a bass for a setup a couple of years ago. It was a vague attempt at some sort of Aria SB copy.

Quite nice woods, multi laminate neck and a decent body shape with active electronics.

Upon strapping it on I noticed the awful neck dive. Worst I've ever experienced, plus it must have been 12lbs+.

The next thing I discovered was blood on my left hand!

Some of the fret ends were so sharp it had literally cut one of my fingers. On closer inspection they were also really, really uneven in height.

The active electronics included switch positions where literally nothing happened. Some of the tapered pots were either off or on with nothing in between - this included the volume pot. . .

Spinning it over I discovered the neck screws to be bloody great flat-head wood screws. Looked awful but they did hold the neck pretty tightly.

I adjusted the neck which had some serious banana bow action going on, spotted the bridge which was really solid but looked like a school metalwork project and went to work on the tuning and intonation with a new set if strings.

Did a quick test and discovered the 12th fret harmonics were way out and wouldn't ring cleanly.

I looked a bit closer and realised this was because the fret markers went 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 11 / 13 / 15 etc.

I simply hadn't spotted that the double dots for 12th fret were at 11 instead!

How could anyone get this so wrong!

It must have been a project build bass put together by someone with some basic woodworking skills who knew very little about musical instruments.

When I handed it back to the owner he said it was much better and he was really looking forward to gigging it!!

Edited June 3, 2014 by molan

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='notable9' timestamp='1401781385' post='2466677']
And just to be controversial..

Worst bass for me was my 77 Stingray.
[/quote]
Just when this thread was flagging i reckon now it could top the legendary Beatles thread.

[bakerster135]

[quote name='notable9' timestamp='1401781385' post='2466677']
And just to be controversial..

Worst bass for me was my 77 Stingray. No way you say? Yep. It was sooo heavy... gawd I could just about pick it up and that awful three bolt/tilt adjustment maple neck never seemed right somehow, I was always looking at it and fiddling with it.
[/quote]

I'm not sure this is too controversial, it's quite well known that there are plenty of stinkers about from every era of Musicman construction (Fender/Charvel/Ernie Ball). I've played lots of crap pre-EB and EB Musicman basses, and there's huge inconsistency (even despite the supposed infallible Ernie Ball quality control!...). Luckily, mine's not one of them

[dincz]

My worst bass wasn't a bass but it led me to bass. A classical guitar that had been restrung with steel strings. The resulting bow in the neck gave it an action that made it impossible to hold down more than one string at a time and so I played bass lines

[thebassman]

My first bass was a Hohner precision, it looked good and was pretty solid , besides the slightly wobbly tuners.

My worst bass was a Westone Thunder 3, I thought it was great for a year, until the neck turned into a banana

cheers

thebassman

[Graham]

I had a de-fretted Avon jazz copy, it had a twist in the neck that made the first few fretts on the g-string unplayable. It also needed an electronics service when I got it as the input jack and nexk pickup didn't work. If the neck had been straight I'd have probably kept hold of it as it wasn't terrible, just not great.

The first one I think of when it comes to worst bass was a Fender American Deluxe Jazz 5-string, from the same era as the Deluxe Precisions that had the humbucker at the bridge. I just felt clumsy on the neck, couldn't play anything properly and the tone was unusably thin to my ears. Swapped over to a 'Ray 5 in the shop and the world seemed right again.

[Marc S]

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1401581018' post='2465046']
The shortest lived bass for me was a Burns Bison. With no tone, power and a head that hits the floor, it came out of the box was played for around a minute and returned back to the shop......
[/quote]

Yes, I had forgotten that a few years back, I tried one of these in a guitar shop
It looked like it should be good, and was something a bit different

However, the balance of this bass was awful
As you say, the top of the neck just wanted to hit the floor all the time
- and it was quite heavy too....

Also, my arms are fairly long (I'm 6 feet tall)
but I struggled to get my left hand into a position where I could comfortably play the bottom notes
It left me feeling that someone with shorter arms wouldn't be able to play it at all

The switch and control knobs also didn't seem to do very much either

Looks good, but not a great bass IMO

Edited June 4, 2014 by Marc S

[Marc S]

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1401581018' post='2465046']
It's a redundant statement to say all the old Kay/Satellite/Axe/etc basses are crap. Of course they are crap. They are cheap starters and can never be seen as anything else but.

However, my mate got a Satellite bass in '79 along with a cereal box sized combo and Bass-balls fuzz pedal, and to us it was the best thing ever. I was far more disappointed with my MIM Mike Dirnt P Bass that was so heavy it was unplayable.

[/quote]

Oddly enough, the first time I ever played a bass (a few years before I started playing)
a colleague at that time brought in his Columbus Jazz bass

Several years since then, he'd bought a USA Fender, and loved it
but he hung on to his Columbus, and reckoned it wasn't too far off the quality of the Fender,
once he'd made changes to the electrics
I think those early Columbus guitars were made in Japan? But I might be wrong.....

Another pal had a Sattelite Les Paul, and he rated that fairly highly, at the time
I suppose, like anything else, there is some variation in quality and quality control
And you can always do some major work to improve some guitars...

Nothing would have improved my old Kay Rick copy....
..... except some petrol and a match

[stubass]

"Falcon" precision copy. I didn't think it was that bad til I played a mim, night and day. Think it had several paint jobs and is now in pieces in my loft. I will put it together one day for sentimental and ornamental reasons, good memories. Next worst was an epiphone thunderbird, not cos their that bad, just felt like a wrestling match every time I played it.