lazybones Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 sounded like a duck farting in the fog wins description of the day,followed by ,it went out of tune if someone sneezed in nairobi......very funny your prizes are in the post..always worth reading these posts ,for the humour as well has the honest opinions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1381309935' post='2237202'] I've actually been quite lucky when it comes to sh*t basses. I've owned a few that haven't really suited me, but actual 'bad' instruments? Only 2: 2) Musicman Stingray 5. Too light, IMO shoddily put together, blemishes in the finish, weak output and generally felt a bit toy-like. I really don't know why I didn't get on with it but it just felt alien to play; it was a single H version and was impossible to play comfortably. The body was too big and I couldn't get set on it no matter the strap height and sitting with it caused my right wrist to cramp after 5 minutes of playing. Dreadful thing. Vastly overrated in my opinion. I sold it making a profit of £200 so it wasn't all bad I suppose. Truckstop [/quote] Usually view with interest everyone else's opinion but cant agree with this. You must have gotten a complete dog of a bass my friend. I've played many fivers and the second mm I owned was easily the best non boutique bass I've ever played. Mutts nuts in output and looks and weight - the whole package. It was a plain H and it was better than the mm 25th anniversary HSS I had and got rid off after two months of it. Try again maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1381505932' post='2240060'] or people are just soo very different. [/quote] This. As evidenced by the Rick comments and the fact that they're one of the few instruments I consistently get on with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 [quote name='4000' timestamp='1381576210' post='2240802'] This. As evidenced by the Rick comments and the fact that they're one of the few instruments I consistently get on with. [/quote] Regarding Ricks, hate the neck on mine (it's a real fight compared to a P or Jazz standard), the shape may be pretty but is hard work. However......that tone makes it worth it. Talk about love/hate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 [quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1381604025' post='2241352'] Regarding Ricks, hate the neck on mine (it's a real fight compared to a P or Jazz standard), the shape may be pretty but is hard work. However......that tone makes it worth it. Talk about love/hate. [/quote] Yes, I've been surprised at some of the comments about Ricks too... I always loved their sound. The necks on all the ones I've played have been fine Not the thinnest or fastest I've played, but certainly narrower than any Fender necks The thing I find uncomfortable about Ricks, is the body shape - looks great but somehow, it doesn't quite "sit right" for me .... that, and the awful big square block of a pickup guard Just can't understand why they'd place something over the strings, right in the way of your right hand Can't quite see why many folk dislike them... The company attitude toward their design, and copies is crazy, but the basses are great - but that's just my opinion.... Back to the subject of my OP I recently picked up a Burns bass (one of the new ones) That looked good, but was really uncomfortable to play It was really top-heavy, so the machine head end of the bass just wanted to tip down to the floor The small body and the position of the strap holder meant the bottom end of the neck was a long way away - I could hardly reach F or F# on the E string Lots of switches/ switch positions too Which as others have pointed out, seemed to affect the sound much Not one of the worst I've ever played, but not a great bass, all the same.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Riffed Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Hi Folks, I only have cheap and strange basses in my collection, 8 in total, that would probably add up to about 2 grand if I had to replace them all. I have played lots of the regular "named" stuff but the thing that surprised me most was a Rickenbacker 4003. Up until I saw the comments on here I thought it must've been me! I was left wondering where the additional £900.00 had gone between the Rick and my poor little Tanglewood Warrior. (Yeah, I know) That price gap has now extended to about £1300!!! Why? How? I was so disappointed as I had always wanted one based I on the look of it. I have tried several since, in the off chance that it was a dodgy one, and sadly my opinion hasn't changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 [quote name='Nick Riffed' timestamp='1382103431' post='2248020'] I have played lots of the regular "named" stuff but the thing that surprised me most was a Rickenbacker 4003. Up until I saw the comments on here I thought it must've been me! I was left wondering where the additional £900.00 had gone between the Rick and my poor little Tanglewood Warrior. (Yeah, I know) That price gap has now extended to about £1300!!! Why? How? I was so disappointed as I had always wanted one based I on the look of it. I have tried several since, in the off chance that it was a dodgy one, and sadly my opinion hasn't changed. [/quote] Yeah the general consensus seems to be that Ricks are a bit s**t... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentmod Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Ah I Had one of these as my first bass and the neck was warped on mine too. Horrendous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Jaydee Supernatural Roadie 2 - weak electronics and a neck the ended up with a back bow that would have shamed Robin Hoods weapon of choice...before it completely failed. This was also the bass at the top of my wish list at the time (mid 80's) and this contributed to much shedding of tears. Absolute dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) I've never owned a terrible bass, thankfully. There are a number that I have been disappointed by when trying them out though: Epiphone Thunderbird - seems to be a common theme here but I've played a couple and they were both god-awful muddy messes of basses. I hated everything about it, despite having listed after one for AGES. 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' and was going into a terrible little practice amp but it didn't live up to my (probably vastly optimistic) expectations. Let down. Epiphone EB0 - just awful. Everything about it. EDIT: I should state (for the sake of balance) that despite the Epiphone bashing above, I love their guitars, and the EB3 I played at a trade show many moons ago was lovely! EDIT 2: My brother's Mexican Jazz should've made this list too. He picked it up for silly money but it was (still is) in pretty dire need of a set-up. Maybe it's personal taste, but I never enjoy playing it. Edited May 31, 2014 by theyellowcar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) I've now played a real Rickenbacker. I'm aware of taste, but I can't see how they are bad basses. It felt great to me. Like my Rickenfaker, but without the age related foibles. The worst bass I ever played was my first bass, which was a 1970s (or earlier, potentially) unbranded P-bass copy. It had very high action. At school, none of us knew what we were doing. I did what others had done, and shimmed the neck with a thick piece of flat particle board, maybe 1/4" The bass still had a high action. The bass also conked out when I was playing with the school orchestra. BTW: I know there are some other Kiwis on here. I bought that bass with my paperround money, from Harmony Central, a pawnshop in Queen Street, Auckland. Anyone have a memory of that? After that bass, my Dad said that I could buy a better bass. I had no idea what I was doing, and went to a music shop and bought a more or less random second hand bass because it looked a bit fancy. (Slightly different model from this with different pickups, I think the 1978 model not this 1977 model). Blind luck. I wish I still had it. I've seen some old Satellites etc. as posted in this thread. But, I've had absolutely no desire to try them out at all. I've played almost no basses that were actually bad. I played some Johnson basses, p-bass and jazz bass, when a local shop was closing down and selling them for £60. They seemed OK to me. Not wonderful, but entirely playable. I played some no-brand p-bass with a suspiciously light body (Pawlonia?) Played OK though. Edited May 31, 2014 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subbeh Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 [quote name='bagsieblue' timestamp='1380824652' post='2231226'] Westfield - small bodied, Warwickesque, 5 String. Awful, awful awful. Weak pickups, tone controls next to useless..... Can't believe I gigged it for so long - when I got a MIM Jazz Deluxe the difference was like night and day. [/quote] I had what sounds very much like the four string version of that bass, not one redeeming feature, it played and sounded like crap and had the weakest [size=4]pickups I've ever heard. [/size] [size=4]The Encore I had before it was far superior despite being half the price, amazing that a bass can be bad enough to make[/size] an encore that had a neck like a baseball bat and weighed about the same as a small family car seem actually pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofio Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 You have not played the right ric yet stingray pete. there are dogs like every other brand, fender, musicman etc but there are some cracking rics i personally own 3 of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofio Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 you guys are buying the crap rics , it is as simple as that, get a good one and you wont part with it. you have to seek them out guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaFunk Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 [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' and was going into a terrible little practice amp but it didn't live up to my (probably vastly optimistic) expectations. Let down. [/quote] What are 'ex-strings'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humapuma Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Years ago I played a bass that someone had apparently made themselves, though thinking on it presumably had a proper neck bolted to it??? I don't remember an episode of Blue Peter where they did advanced bass construction any way. Unsurprisingly it was cackola, though to be fair it would have had to be amazing for me to have liked it because it was star shaped, brush painted white and covered in glitter stickers. Unfortunately I'd never heard of Bootsy Collins back then, so its inspirational, funkational beauty was lost on me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 [quote name='humapuma' timestamp='1401572878' post='2464959'] cackola [/quote] I'm stealing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humapuma Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Enjoy! (That was supposed to be a direct response to discreet with a quotational presentation but it failed (or I failed)) Edited May 31, 2014 by humapuma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I am lucky, I never actually had a bad bass, because I started on guitars, so my own personal hell was a Kay strat! weighed a ton. Worst bass I have played for any time is a fender P, couldn't get on with it, huge necked thuddy thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Vox Wyman. Horrible piece of crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 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. 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. Wild Dog? Wild f***-All more like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) [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. [/quote] Well, it was an age thing I think. Shortly after I got my kay strat, I bought a westone concorde, and it really wasn't much of a price difference, but it was a night and day quality difference. Edited June 1, 2014 by Woodinblack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) A 'Grant' which cost me £50 secondhand. It was a Precision copy. They were imported from Asia, by a shop in Edinburgh called Grants, in the 80s. Some guy was trying to sell one on Basschat a couple of years ago for £400 as a collectible vintage bass. I can't remember his name but I do remember how he described it. [b][size=6]+++AWESOME+++[/size][/b] [size=4]It wasn't......[/size] Edit: I found that very ad. Heeheeheee...... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/175221-sold/ Edited June 1, 2014 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 A BC Rich Warlock bass that one of my students brought to a lesson. I looked past the aesthetics and gave it a chance. He'd got it for 'a bargain' price of £100 so it looked like it could've been a great back-up to his other bass (an SR300 in iron pewter)... We swapped basses for half the lesson so I could have a proper look and I wouldn't have had that bass if the guy had PAID me £100 to take it from him. Awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 [quote name='gjones' timestamp='1401585924' post='2465063'] A 'Grant' which cost me £50 secondhand. It was a Precision copy. They were imported from Asia, by a shop in Edinburgh called Grants, in the 80s. Some guy was trying to sell one on Basschat a couple of years ago for £400 as a collectible vintage bass. I can't remember his name but I do remember how he described it. [b][size=6]+++AWESOME+++[/size][/b] [size=4]It wasn't......[/size] Edit: I found that very ad. Heeheeheee...... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/175221-sold/ [/quote] Is this how Sye Ryder basses will be advertised in the future? *runs and hides* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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