TheGreek Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Every now and again somebody will ask for a recommendation for a bit of kit and will get loads of replies that "my ***** is a fantastic bit of gear....". Now I can't remember the last time I bought something that I really thought was crap...not to my taste, yes but nothing that wouldn't suit somebody else who plays in a different style or wanted a different tone. Got me to thinking, there are lots of really good inexpensive basses, and lots of good VFM amps and heads, certainly better than when I first started playing in the 80s so are there any [i]really[/i] bad bits of kit that are a real "[i]no no[/i]" and that people should be steered away from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Are Rickenbacker still in business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I was given an Encore bass for my daughter. It’s truly awful. No amount of setting up gets it close to a nice feel and it sounds terrible. As there are loads of decent options available for not a lot of cash it’s amazing they are still going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Cheap "Guitars for kids". Awful and totally embarrassing, because they are rubbish for kids to learn on. They sound bad, they play even worse and don't even get me started on the tuning problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 [quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1509487865' post='3399429'] The worst bass I've owned was a Tuscany 'Bird' bass. The Bird bass was the absolute pits. A junk Chinese 'Rickenfaker' with badly voiced and badly mis-matched pickups. Soft, junk wood, a terrible rippled finish with no clear coat, cheap hardware and crap fretwork. Absolute junk from top to bottom. [/quote] Tuscany also did a Sandberg copy. I had a pair in to do a review of some pickups made by another company. The pickups would have been brilliant if they weren't in the somewhat questionable instruments I had to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 When I started I played bass lines on a Spanish guitar and an amp was out of the question. A friend used his parents radiogram instead of an amp. Today's rubbish gear is sheer luxury compared to the gear we started on back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1509491739' post='3399467'] When I started I played bass lines on a Spanish guitar and an amp was out of the question. A friend used his parents radiogram instead of an amp. Today's rubbish gear is sheer luxury compared to the gear we started on back then. [/quote] This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Much rather a Spanish guitar than an Encore, to be honest a box and four bits of string would be superior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJpullchord Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 As above. When I learnt guitar, I had to replace strings with fishing line as nearest guitar shop was an hours bus away. Perhaps it's too easy now? The kit and the knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1509491739' post='3399467'] A friend used his parents radiogram instead of an amp. Today's rubbish gear is sheer luxury compared to the gear we started on back then. [/quote] Amen Chris. I modded my parents radiogram to use as a power amp and used a modded Philips Tape Recorder as a pre-amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Hard? Call that hard? We used to rehearse in t'paper bag in middle of road..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 YOU WERE LUCKY................................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Laney amps... Carlsboro amps.... Horrid things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 MacGregor amps Kay Basses Encore Guitars Yup, even today's "dreadful" is a thousand times better than what was about in the 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1509537108' post='3399670'] Laney amps... Carlsboro amps.... Horrid things. [/quote]I think the question was aimed at modern gear not old stuff, Carlsboro went bust years ago I believe and Laney do decent amps these days in my experience anyway. Probably some noname Chinese copies need to be stayed away from unless they're for decor only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='dood' timestamp='1509487824' post='3399428'] Cheap "Guitars for kids". Awful and totally embarrassing, because they are rubbish for kids to learn on. They sound bad, they play even worse and don't even get me started on the tuning problems. [/quote] This. I did some guitar teaching last year for kids aged about 7-14. The younger ones all had cheap beginner acoustic guitars which were universally dreadful - impossible to tune and a struggle to play. Ive just picked up a Tanglewood travel-sized acoustic which will hopefully prove a bit more useful should my lads decide to learn when they're a bit older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1509537347' post='3399674'] MacGregor amps [/quote] Blimey I'd almost forgot about those... I had a 200W bass head back in the early 80s.. it was not great. Replaced it with a 50W Marshall bass head which was much better and also louder. Wish I'd kept hold of THAT sucker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I'm sure that there still is crap new gear being made and sold, but these days you'd have to specifically search it out, and even then it will still be better than what those of us who started out in the 70s and earlier had to put up with. I've been playing since the early 70s, but I didn't own a decent guitar or bass until the 90s. Before that I used a modified acoustic guitar, a solid electric I made myself at school, a very badly abused Burns Sonic Bass and a 12-string Baldwin semi-acoustic with a twisted neck. I did have some decent synths, but then in the 80s the crap ones cost about the same as the useful ones so as long as knew what you needed, you could get something decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I remember when all this was trees. And you could leave your front door open. Is it time for my nap yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1509537108' post='3399670'] Laney amps... Carlsboro amps.... Horrid things. [/quote] You never tried a Carlsbro 60/100TC then? Poor man's Marshall, sounded great. Also the Top 50 , made by them too. Superb amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) Rhetorical question really.. Like most of us on here, amazed at how modern production has revolutionised bass building. My Jack & Danny bass, £90 in 2016, on par with my £500 Washburn from 1990 (£794 in today's money..!). Lots of cheap crap accessories out there though - Amazon specials - cheap and nasty tuners, patch cables, gigbags.. Edited November 1, 2017 by Drax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Behringer bass chorus pedals. I've bought three over the years. All of which had the same fault, they stopped doing the effect after five mins playing. Never want another of their pedals after that experience, though I believe most their gear to be ok and some excellent value for money from what I hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksterphil Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='Rich' timestamp='1509544413' post='3399782'] I remember when all this was trees. And you could leave your front door open. Is it time for my nap yet? [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razze06 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I agree that almost all the gear you buy these days from a reputable music gear shop is going to be ok. Perhaps not what you were looking for, not your cup of tea etc, but not downright bad. Unfortunately the niche reserved to the stuff that gets produced and sold to people who have no idea what they're buying needs to be filled by something. These days is truly ghastly ultra cheap stuff made in China or India just for that purpose. I visited a large "guitar" shop in Beijing some time ago, and the stuff they had hanging on the walls was so low quality, so badly finished and frankly so noticeably misshapen that I wouldn't even consider hanging on the wall of pub... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 [quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1509554730' post='3399882'] Behringer bass chorus pedals. [/quote] I have one that works well...yellow finish. From what I've read they're good pedals, reasonably priced.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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