Bass you just couldn’t get on with?

[leschirons]

An Alembic Epic and also an Essence. Nice build quality but it ends there.

KSD 705. Looked great, felt and sounded terrible.

[bassbiscuits]

I struggled with the Mike Lull PJ4 I had.

I loved the look, the amazing feel of the neck, the light weight and perfect balance.

It sounded brilliant by itself, but in a gig, with a band, I could never get it to sound like i wanted. I swapped pickups, swapped strings from rounds to flats and back, but it just didn't do the sound in my head.

It came to a head when i bought a £200 secondhand Yamaha which got closer to the sound I wanted than the Lull, for less than 10% of the cost of the Lull, so I sold it.

It was a great bass, but just not for me.

Edited November 5, 2017 by bassbiscuits

[oldbass]

It hurts to admit it cause I had a fantastic lightweight RW Jazz once but yep,..Jazz basses. Nothing bout them seems right to me..ergonomics, sound, feel etc etc....pity, cause so many top players seem to use them.

[josie]

1992 Fender Jazz Plus 5. Fairly rare top-quality beast in lovely condition and well set up - I knew it would be challenging, but it was just too challenging. Heavy, with a slabby telecaster-like body which just refused to feel comfortable, and well balanced but hangs two frets to the left of any of my other basses, so I was forever playing a full tone too high. I should really get around to trying to sell it.

[Woodinblack]

Ibanez BTBs (neck too wide), Dingwall combustion (lovely neck, couldn't get a good sound), Precision (neck too wide), Stingray (something about the neck but not sure what).

[SimonEdward]

My Alembic long scale signature standard four-string. An impulse purchase 16-years ago. Too big for me + overly complicated eq + no Oooomph! Never played and never gigged.

[dmccombe7]

Rickenbacker 4003 in white back in 80's. Bought new, kept it a few mths and found it very limited in tonal variation. Just didn't suit what i was doing and no idea why i even bought it.

Quite fancy one now tho jst to say i have one in my wee collection.

Dave

[martin8708]

Rickenbacker 4000 something bass.

I Did a few numbers with a Beatles tribute band , the bass player just handed over his Ricky and buggered off ( for a few beers ? )

I have played lots of basses in my life , but everything just seemed wrong , I felt like I was playing an Ironing board.

[la bam]

A Shine telecaster bass copy. HORRENDOUS neck dive to the point of i didnt even keep it as a spare for my spare.

Also very shiny and slippery so made the dive even worse.

[Skybone]

Where do you start?

Fender Modern Player Jazz: looked nice, sounded dreadful, played... OK-ish
EBMM StingRay (late 90's): Looked ace, played ace, sounded pants. Had an '89 that was brilliant, but stupidly sold it, bought another one. Awful.
Aria Pro II SB1000: Wanted one for years, but the sound was pants. Superb build and another great player though.
Tobias Toby: Another looked great & played great, but sounded pants.
Washburn Mercury MB4: What was I thinking selling my old Thunder 1A for that? Except it was a damn sight lighter then the Westone.

Pretty sure there are others, but these are the ones that stick in the memory.

[Bobthedog]

Early Ibanez SR something. Just felt really cheap and I could never get a good tone out of it with my equally poor amp. Never gave it a chance with other amps.

More recently a G&L M2000. People who heard me play loved it, but again not for me. Neck was slow (for me) too and finally a Stingray MM HH V. Heavy, strings right on the edge of the neck and my poor style vcould never adapt and also loathed the sound. Not an issue with my current crop of Fenders, Dingwall and Roscoe basses.

[Mudpup]

Yamaha BB424X

Went into music shop intending to buy some sort of Fender Precision a few years ago. Played about 5 different ones at various price points but didn't like any enough to spring for one. Shop bod pointed out a BB424X on the wall and said if i played it i would buy it, no thanks mate i want a Fender and not fussed about Yamahas (especially white ones).

Oh go on then i'll have a quick go........The sound was exactly what i was looking for - love at first listen. Ok, i can live with the white too. But the neck is just a tiny bit wrong for me, too chunky. Not to worry - i'll get used to the feel, the sound is worth it.

And i couldn't. It bugged me every time i picked it up. After a year i sold it because it was never going to work for me. But i still miss the sound and build quality........it was a fantastic bass.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Mudpup

[tony_m]

Both of the Squier Jazzes I've had (a natural '70s VM and a CV '60s). Their 9.5" radius necks just never felt right / worked for me, whereas my CV '60s P which also has 9.5" radius neck virtually plays itself, as does my CIJ Jazz with a 7.25" radius neck.

[Funky Dunky]

2015 Fender Jazz Am Std.

Beautiful instrument, sounds fabulous. I just can't make it speak. I find it cumbersome to play. Makes me sad. It's going up for sale soon

[lurksalot]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1508330605' post='3391398']
Spector Euro 4LX. Possibly an unpopular choice...

Some awesome tones, but the preamp output was WAY too hot (and no trimpot on this version). The ergonomics just didn't work for me and although I liked the tone, it didn't fit the band I was in at the time.

Traded it for a Fender Marcus Miller Jazz, which was also a bit meh. Too heavy and with a stupid preamp. I can work with most instruments, but those two were moved on pretty quickly - the beauty of the Basschat market place!
[/quote]

I loved the tones on my Euro 4 but I just couldn't get on with the thickness of the neck , my legend is a bolt on neck and just slightly thinner and is a different beast and still love it.
I am going short scale though cos of my small hands but will always have a place for the legend , the Euro was traded for a lovely Gordon Smith SG!

[LITTLEWING]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508314091' post='3391217']
Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz.

I was playing in a band whose music was calling out for some fretless bass and to that end I'd bought a cheap Acrylic Bodied Wesley that had already been de-fretted for £70 off eBay to get me started. I'd seen nothing but positive reviews for the Squier both on the bass forums and in the musical instrument magazines, where the overall tone was that the VMJ fretless was just about the best fretless bass you could buy for under £500. One Saturday I spotted a Squier in a local music shop, and after half an hours playing I paid my £209 and went home with my new bass.

Unfortunately playing in a music shop for half an hour is not really a decent real-world test for any instrument. The first thing I noticed when I got it home was that it didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and I had to pull the whole bass over in order to reach the G string machine head - something I never had to do with my 36" scale Overwater. Next I discovered that in comparison with all my other basses including the cheap Wesley, the Squier sounded thin and weedy, and in rehearsal with my band I really had to pump the volume up when I used in order to be heard.

So I embarked on a round of upgrades. First came the Badass Bridge which made a slight improvement, followed by a J-Retro pre-amp, that allowed me to overdrive the input to my amp in all sorts of new and "interesting" ways, but still didn't make the bass sound as full or fat as my other basses. Finally a set of Bartolini pickups which were supposed to be darker sounding than the standard J-style models started to get me into the right ball park as regards sound, but by that time I'd get fed up with all the other short-comings of the bass like the huge (in comparison to my other basses) body and the awkward neck joint that seemed to be constantly in the way when I was playing up the neck, and the fact that for me it just didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and so I went back to playing the Wesley until I go the opportunity to buy a second hand Pedulla Buzz at a very attractive price.

I'm sure that there's nothing actually wrong with the Squier, but 3 decades of playing basses that owed very little to Leo Fender's designs - Burns Sonic, Overwater Original and Gus G3 - meant that I wasn't ready to step into the past and put up with design issues that even the Burns, originally made in 1960, had improved upon.
[/quote]

Have to agree. I had a Squier VM Jazz 5 string. I tried to love it but everything about was just horrid and wrong for me. Waste of wood and wire.

[Dan Dare]

G&L L2000. Fabulous pickups - very versatile tones. Nicely put together, not too heavy, a quality instrument. But... just couldn't get on with the neck. Wide and flat - more so than my P bass - and just struggled with it. Perhaps because I've played a Jazz for 30+ years. I persevered, because it was such a good, do-it-all instrument, but sold it in the end and got a P Bass Special, which just seems to suit me. However, the pickups/sound aren't as good as the G&L.

[Mickyk]

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1508362691' post='3391761']
Yamaha BB424X

Went into music shop intending to buy some sort of Fender Precision a few years ago. Played about 5 different ones at various price points but didn't like any enough to spring for one. Shop bod pointed out a BB424X on the wall and said if i played it i would buy it, no thanks mate i want a Fender and not fussed about Yamahas (especially white ones).

Oh go on then i'll have a quick go........The sound was exactly what i was looking for - love at first listen. Ok, i can live with the white too. But the neck is just a tiny bit wrong for me, too chunky. Not to worry - i'll get used to the feel, the sound is worth it.

And i couldn't. It bugged me every time i picked it up. After a year i sold it because it was never going to work for me. But i still miss the sound and build quality........it was a fantastic bass.
[/quote]


i have a BB424x a white one as well i would have to spend a lot more money to get anywhere near the sound these things push out for the price,i am in a 60s type rock n roll band so it never gets fired up totally,but have to say it is on the heavy side.
I also own a Ibanez SR 300 which is like holding a ice lolly stick in my hands compared to the Yam.

[Rich]

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1508312980' post='3391200']
Rickenbacker 4003. Huge disappointment
[/quote]
[quote name='ead' timestamp='1508325936' post='3391350']
For me too. I saved up for a year to buy one and persevered for another year trying to like it but ended up selling it
[/quote]
[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1508324986' post='3391344']
Ricky -- can't remember the model (4001?)
Dreadful.
[/quote]
[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1508330704' post='3391401']
Rickenbacker 4003's - I just don't gel with them at all.
[/quote]
[quote name='Urban Bassman' timestamp='1508330970' post='3391407']
Same for me as the other responses. Ricky 4003
[/quote]

I sense a wee bit of a pattern emerging

[Painy]

I had a Spector Legend years ago that looked stunning but it sounded really thin compared to my Warwick Corvette which was my main bass at the time. It also felt really light in comparison which I know many people would see as a positive but to me it felt like it was made of balsa wood and the neck was too deep front too back to ever feel comfortable.
The worst thing was I traded in a beautiful sounding and playing (although slightly less pretty) Yamaha TRB 5ii.
I sold the Spector on eBay after about 6 months and despite losing a couple of hundred quid (and that TRB) I actually felt relieved to be rid of it.

[Skybone]

The G&L L2000 Tribute I had promised a lot, but never delivered. Seriously well made, great to play, but I could never find "the sound" I wanted from it.

All of this analysis leads me to believe that when it comes to basses, I like single coils over humbuckers. Known for ages that I preferred passives over actives, but never realised about the single coil thing til yesterdays post. See, you do learn something new every day.

[T-Bay]

[quote name='kendall' timestamp='1508317906' post='3391261']
Oddly enough - the P Bass. Always loved the tone of a good P bass. But I cannot get on with the necks, I have small hands and just find it too uncomfortable after playing for 10 mins or so.

I remember sitting in a shop with a Steve Harris Blue Sparkle P Bass, I really wanted it, looked great, sounded great, but just couldn't get to grips with the neck. Even considered a hand transplant but that seemed a bit OTT.
[/quote]
I don't have small hands but I don't like the Precision neck either. I keep going back and trying it but I don't think it's for me. It is on the passively for sale/ trade spot but I should probably bite the bullet and let it go as I can't every see me gigging with it.

[Pinball]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1508309761' post='3391167']
Every Fender Jazz bass I've owned, and I've tried a few...
Sound brilliant
Look even better
Love the sound...

Play in a band with them and I'm like, "argh where's that nice sound gone?"
I want to love them, but can't
[/quote]

I recognize this. I had Delano driven Sandberg JM's on two occasions and had the same problem. I have been wary of Delano driven guitars ever since.

[Barking Spiders]

Another thumbs down for Ricky 4000s and P basses. I love funk and slap but obviously Rickys dont cut the mustard there and I dislike the clangy tones, the sort you hear on Yes albums (not that I like that band one iota). P basses are just too chunky and heavy for my delicate hands though I love the Jazz. Initially I found it quite hard to get on with the Stingray, mainly cos it's a big, heavy b@stard and the strings felt like suspension cables after playing my Peavey Cirrus BXP. However, determined to get that Louis Johnson sound I persisted for several weeks and now love it.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1508367694' post='3391806']
I sense a wee bit of a pattern emerging
[/quote]

Yet I don't think that's as many critics as with the Squier Jazz...?

I am looking forward to the site migration now as I should be able to search within text and compare numbers by make and model. It tired me out just typing that so on reflection, perhaps someone else could do that.

Edited October 19, 2017 by SpondonBassed