Your best (and worst!) bass gear purchases of 2020?

[PatrickJ]

Only purchased 3 three things  this year (other than strings):

Best

- Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI

Worst

- Peterson Clip On Tuner

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, it does a great job of tuning my bass but £50 for a clip on tuner??? What was I thinking - I could have bought 4 snarks for that price and they do the job just fine.

 

 

 

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Now you know the rules Lozz, pics please or they didn't happen! (Ok I appreciate you'll likely have posted on a NBD thread already...😊)

Interesting on neck depth - given your love of P basses, was the depth too shallow for you on the Standard?

Strangely enough I found it too deep, a real handful. Although regular Jazz width the depth meant that it was no faster than my Precisions and gave me achy fingers. Shame it sounded great with its Custom Shop 62 pickups, so have just ordered a set for one of my Professionals .

Edited November 13, 2020 by Lozz196

[Pukie]

Do I win?

Edited November 13, 2020 by Pukie
Oops better add the picture

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

Best purchase a lovely Status S2 direct from the factory, my worst purchase a Spector Legend Custom, the standard EMG-HZ pickups  sounded really weak and the pre-amp has now packed up! Now awaiting fitting of a Glockenlang pre-amp and a pair of Nordstrand Big Blade pickups which will hopefully transform it into the bass it should be as it is lovely to play!

Just wow! That's a beaut! 

[OliverBlackman]

So far I’ve bought some strings and the basschat strap locks. As the strap locks haven’t arrived yet the strings are currently both the best and worst 😂

[redbandit599]

Best,  my little Ibanez Mezzo 32" 5 string for £258. Innocent, somewhat sweet looking but a right bruiser in the mix. My band now get annoyed if I use anything else...

[PatrickJ]

10 minutes ago, redbandit599 said:

Best,  my little Ibanez Mezzo 32" 5 string for £258. Innocent, somewhat sweet looking but a right bruiser in the mix. My band now get annoyed if I use anything else...

How's the low B string sound on a 32" scale? 

I've always been of the impression that 5 strings just don't work with any less than a 34" scale neck.  Would love to see that theory proved incorrect.

[BigAlonBass]

I've been playing an SX Precision for some years now (Don't laugh, I prefer it to a 'real one') and I recently had the chance of an SX Jazz -  in Lake Placid Blue, apparently. Cheap as chips, to borrow from David Dickinson, and after a couple of daft little 'tweaks' I love it. 

Sad to say, I have no need, or desire, for anything else, so there hasn't been a bad purchase.

[ezbass]

My best purchase is probably my Yamaha Sessioncake, which was not only an absolute bargain, but also led to a better way of practising. It should also see me in profit as buying that meant that I have my Phil Jones Cub for commission sale at The Gallery (shameless plug).

[bartelby]

I’ve only made three bass related purchases this year. 
2 sets of strings

an Ashdown CTM-300

so no bad purchases for me.

[FinnDave]

My best purchase of the year has to be the TE Elf I bought to enable me to rehearse outdoors (with battery & inverter) during the summer. Brilliant little amp, incredibly tiny but doesn't sound that way. I used it (with Barefaced Super Compact) for the one paid gig I was able to do between lockdowns.

Worst purchase - not in terms of what I bought but the result of a complete of thinking was shelling out close to two grand for a Sandberg Panther special at the beginning of January which I have played twice since buying it - one rehearsal and one gig (in February, pre-lockdown). It's a lovely bass, but I can't play it without remembering how much it cost me, and that puts me right off. I've mostly played my Epiphone Jack Casady this year, bought new to still cost about one quarter of what I paid for the Sandberg.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, FinnDave said:

My best purchase of the year has to be the TE Elf I bought to enable me to rehearse outdoors (with battery & inverter) during the summer. Brilliant little amp, incredibly tiny but doesn't sound that way. I used it (with Barefaced Super Compact) for the one paid gig I was able to do between lockdowns.

Worst purchase - not in terms of what I bought but the result of a complete of thinking was shelling out close to two grand for a Sandberg Panther special at the beginning of January which I have played twice since buying it - one rehearsal and one gig (in February, pre-lockdown). It's a lovely bass, but I can't play it without remembering how much it cost me, and that puts me right off. I've mostly played my Epiphone Jack Casady this year, bought new to still cost about one quarter of what I paid for the Sandberg.

I agree always disheartening to lose a ton of money on a purchase, and new basses oftern tend to be the worst for that - probably 'cos they are often the most expensive single piece of bass gear that we buy. If it makes you feel any better my biggest single "loss" was also on a lovely Sandberg - a TM4, although I did get 4 decent years use out of it first.

A great thing about being on BC is having a such a trustworthy market place - when you see sellers have been on here for years and have dealt with some of the folk you know well it really does boost confidence; means I'm much much more likely to buy used gear these days with confidence and, touch wood, have managed to break even, in the round, on used gear that I've subsequently moved on.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Al Krow

[Len_derby]

The best, so far, has been a really nice Mandolin from @thebrig. It’s kept me entertained learning a new instrument during the lock-down. I even took away on holiday during that brief respite we all had. I got a casual job as a beach-clearer.

The worst has been a new gig-bag. Bought in March, it hasn’t been out the house yet.

[Drax]

Bests - Amazon cheap wireless, one less tangle at home. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07L5B64RG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sire P7 and V3 too, both this year. P7 so won me over I sold my Roscoe. 

Worsts - trial and error on 5 string flats cost a lot. Settled on 760FS-Bs. 

 

 

 

[Paul S]

My best purchase hands down is my Guild B-301.  Probably, for what I want out of a bass, my best purchase ever.

Probably my worst purchase was a combination of various things for a little project.  Years ago someone had given me an old Stagg practice combo, 20W, I think, with an 8" speaker. It lived in the loft.  I decided to carve it about, mount my Trace Elliot Elf in the top bit and put a better quality 8" driver inside.  P. Audio one, 200W, cost me £50.  I struggled to get the front board out cleanly and managed to snap it in half, the jagged bit tore through the grill cloth.  So, rather than chuck it out the window I handed it over to a mate who did all the necessary stuff, put some nice Fender-esque front cloth on it, mended the front board, mounted the Elf inside with little brackets, fixed the new driver inside.  Bloody thing sounds like a radio speaker mounted in a biscuit tin 🤣  I really should know better.

[horrorshowbass]

3 hours ago, BigAlonBass said:

I've been playing an SX Precision for some years now (Don't laugh, I prefer it to a 'real one') and I recently had the chance of an SX Jazz -  in Lake Placid Blue, apparently. Cheap as chips, to borrow from David Dickinson, and after a couple of daft little 'tweaks' I love it. 

Sad to say, I have no need, or desire, for anything else, so there hasn't been a bad purchase.

That's lovely. I bought the P bass version on here for 120 quid. Unreal bass for the money

[redbandit599]

14 hours ago, PatrickJ said:

How's the low B string sound on a 32" scale? 

I've always been of the impression that 5 strings just don't work with any less than a 34" scale neck.  Would love to see that theory proved incorrect.

I think it's fine - I have an NG5 Dingwall 37" B and a Sandberg 34" B.

It's not in the Dingwall league,  but it's as good as the Sandberg. I've since picked up another 32", a Warwick Rockbass Corvette and the B on that actually might be better than the Berg...

Am enjoying that scale length 😀

 

[Al Krow]

20 hours ago, CameronJ said:

Got this bad boy incoming.

It will be my first ever Jazz bass, which is kind of weird when I think about it. NBD thread will follow shortly after its arrival no doubt, and I shall update here as to whether it falls into the best or worst bracket!

That looks like a stunning bass Cam. You were so loving your Dingwalls last year, in fact this Super PJ5 was your "best purchase" last year but I see you're selling them all now! What is it about the Xotic that has blown you away?

On 14/11/2019 at 20:52, CameronJ said:

Best without question - my Dingwall Super PJ5. It’s so good that I’m very seriously considering placing a custom order with Dingwall for a Super J5 next year. 

 

My worst is probably the Future Impact pedal I owned briefly but didn’t get any use out of. This is zero reflection on the pedal itself which can create some excellent sounds - I simply didn’t put any time aside to get to grips with it and then life happened, requiring me to raise some funds. It fell onto the chopping block and a willing buyer snapped it up. I may well own one again, especially after the release of the latest firmware.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Al Krow

[CameronJ]

@Al Krow the candy red Super PJ5 you’ve quoted there is most definitely not for sale. It’s still by far the best bass I’ve ever owned and the Xotic will have to be phenomenal to usurp it. 

Basically I’ve had GAS for an Xotic XJ in this exact colour scheme (“Electrum Gold” with dark tortoiseshell pickguard and rosewood board) for a couple of years now, and every demo I’ve heard of the Xotic jazzes have all sounded exactly how I like a jazz bass to sound.

As it stands I basically have 3 almost identical (yet delightful) P basses. Some would call it a touch excessive. With the sale of my white & tort P4 and natural P5 and purchase of the Xotic XJ, I’ll have condensed my collection to one phenomenal PJ, one (hopefully) phenomenal Jazz and my Wingbass. Plus a decent amount of cash in my pocket too. If it weren’t for COVID I’d more likely be keeping my Dingwalls and buying the Xotic anyway, but that’s not so practical right now.

Edited November 14, 2020 by CameronJ

[horrorshowbass]

Lads, 

Cheap fretlesses.....

Looking at HB fretless (the Jaco copy) or would I better saving up for a Sire v7?

Edited November 14, 2020 by horrorshowbass

[Al Krow]

Just now, horrorshowbass said:

Lads, 

Looking at HB fretless (the Jaco copy), would I better saving up for a Sire v7?

That will very much depend on who you're asking!

Sire make phenomenally well featured basses for the money. But the same could be said for HB who have a dedicated following too on BC.

[horrorshowbass]

Fair enough, these a nice white v2 Sire on andertons but its 2x the price of the Harley. First fretless so  bit of an experiment 

[Doddy]

I can't say that I've bought any bad gear this year. It's all been good.

I recently picked up my new F Bass BN5 which is an amazing bass in every way. It's the best bass I've played by a mile. It came with an excellent F Bass branded case (made by Music Area) and a branded Levys strap.

A couple of months back I got a Fender Deluxe Series Precision Bass Special trade for my old Standard Precision. I definitely came put best in that deal.

Pedal wise, this year I've only bought an Earthquaker Devices Plume, a Rainger FX Minibar, and a Nine Volt Pedals Fishing Is As Fun As Fuzz.  I would have bought more pedals but, you know....Covid.

I has a couple of Accessories too. I had a Gruv Gear Club Bag to carry all my odds and ends, and a beautiful Reunion Blues leather gig bag.

 

[CameronJ]

@Doddy how are you finding the Gruv Gear Club bag? I’ve been gently eyeing them up for a little while now...

[Doddy]

@CameronJ I've only managed to take it to a handful of shows, but I really like it so far. It's well padded and got a load of space in it- I've been using it for all my non musical accessories like my tablet, GoPro, chargers, and all those bits and bobs. It certainly beats the laptop bag I was using. I can even throw a couple of shirts in there if I don't need to take my full suit bag.