Dream basses that left you disappointed

[dmccombe7]

10 minutes ago, Jerry C said:

Steinberger XM2. Took me years to find one. I think it's absolutely beautiful in black with white binding - a work of modern art. Unfortunately, it was the only bass I've ever owned that had a dead note on an open string - the E. I didn't even think it was possible, but it happened. 

Is that not usually a bridge saddle or the nut gap not wide enough. I'm no expert but kinda curious.

Dave

[ianrendall]

1 hour ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Have to say I agree, I am fond of my Metro J but it ain’t perfect. The hum cancelling J pickups have a very noticeable mid scoop to them (particularly on the neck pup). Not a huge issue as that’s easily EQ’d but I expect to have a better flat tone from the get go. Perhaps that’s just me though. 

I think they should apply a sticker to every Sadowsky sold. 
 

[NJE]

Tried a Sadowsky Modern 5 string, it was tame and characterless and the B string was way too flappy for me but that could have been strings. It felt no better than a Lakland Skyline to me.

I had lusted after and Alleva Coppolo for ages and then finally tried one secondhand but in mint condition. It was fine, nothing exciting just ok and I didn’t think the build quality was there for the huge price tag and my old overwater Jazz was way better to me.

[binky_bass]

Years back before I was fortunate enough to own the basses I currently own, I had always longed for a Gibson Thunderbird... I've since owned two or three over the last 5 years or so and each time I open the case and looked at the bass I think 'ahhh yes, this is why I wanted you!' Then I pick it up, play it and immediately think 'right, when's the next eBay £1 sellers fee happening...' Their sound is so underwhelming and they feel cheap despite being the better part of £1600 new. Always in love but forever disappointed by the Thunderbird. 😔

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by binky_bass

[ubit]

14 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

Years back before I was fortunate enough to own the basses I currently own, I had always longed for a Gibson Thunderbird... I've since owned two or three over the last 5 years or so and each time I open the case and looked at the bass I think 'ahhh yes, this is why I wanted you!' Then I pick it up, play it and immediately think 'right, when's the next eBay £1 sellers fee happening...' Their sound is so underwhelming and they feel cheap despite being the better part of £1600 new. Always in love but forever disappointed by the Thunderbird. 😔

 

Thats sad to hear as I too have always wanted a Thunderbird. I do have a Gibson Les Paul Bass which surely is much the same sound wise and I like the sound from it. I did own an Epiphone T bird a few years ago and found it totally underwhelming. The pick ups were quiet and I had to turn up at the amp to compensate.

[Jerry C]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Is that not usually a bridge saddle or the nut gap not wide enough. I'm no expert but kinda curious.

Dave

No. Pushing the end of the neck against a wall restored full sustain to the open E. Leaving the neck hanging killed E sustain, and you could feel it in the bass body vibrating too much on that note (sucking energy out of it). Just a bad combination of resonances between neck and body, cancelling out at E 😕

[neepheid]

28 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

Years back before I was fortunate enough to own the basses I currently own, I had always longed for a Gibson Thunderbird... I've since owned two or three over the last 5 years or so and each time I open the case and looked at the bass I think 'ahhh yes, this is why I wanted you!' Then I pick it up, play it and immediately think 'right, when's the next eBay £1 sellers fee happening...' Their sound is so underwhelming and they feel cheap despite being the better part of £1600 new. Always in love but forever disappointed by the Thunderbird. 😔

 

Give an Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro (now called Thunderbird 60s Bass) a try?  Closer to the original Thunderbird than anything Gibson has done for a long time.

Or save a chunk of change and get an Epiphone Embassy.  Same pickups, same bridge, same scale length, same body wood.  Set neck vs. neck through, mahogany neck vs. mahogany/walnut 7 ply, better ergonomics (smaller body, less reach to fret 1, better balance, lighter).  But it's not quite as rock 'n' roll as a Thunderbird...

[WAYNESWORLD]

I’ve been fortunate to own a lot of mine and other peoples” dream bass’s” Wal Status,Jaydee,Thunderbird,Musicman.many Fenders new and signature models, Warwick etc etc over a very long period.As a weekend warrior all my band income was re invested due to GAS searching for that holly grail.I have no regrets about any of  my dream purchase ‘s.I was lucky and fulfilled my dreams.But this is the thing.My son and wife bought me a Ibanez  5 string fan fret for a special birthday after I expressed an interest.Not a dream bass you may say but it has become my all time favourite. Would I swap it for anything else. Not a chance What makes it special? Well to paraphrase. This is my Ibanez there are many like it,but this one is special ,this one is mine and there is no other like it. Would it be the dream bass if I had the dream in the past knowing what I know now. In a heart beat.

Edited June 5, 2021 by WAYNESWORLD

[binky_bass]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Give an Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro (now called Thunderbird 60s Bass) a try?  Closer to the original Thunderbird than anything Gibson has done for a long time.

Or save a chunk of change and get an Epiphone Embassy.  Same pickups, same bridge, same scale length, same body wood.  Set neck vs. neck through, mahogany neck vs. mahogany/walnut 7 ply, better ergonomics (smaller body, less reach to fret 1, better balance, lighter).  But it's not quite as rock 'n' roll as a Thunderbird...

I'm not in the market for 4 strings I'm afraid! I'm firmly a 6+ string bass player!

The Thunderbird was a itch that I wanted to scratch and did so a few times but was always far too underwhelmed to keep the ones I had for more than a few weeks. 

The Embassy basses do look like a decent buy with a good spec for the price point, but for me it was always the looks of a Thunderbird that drew to it, so to loose that would totally wipe out any interest in an alternative! There's something deeply rock 'n' roll about a proper Gibson Thunderbird, I think that was part of the allure! 

[TheGreek]

53 minutes ago, WAYNESWORLD said:

I’ve been fortunate to own a lot of mine and other peoples ”dream basses” ...Wal, Status, Jaydee, Musicman, many Fenders new and signature models, Warwick etc etc

Me too...and I'd like most of them back.

[binky_bass]

9 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Me too...and I'd like most of them back.

Trick is don't sell the good ones! 

The only bass I truly regret selling, and annoyingly the ONLY one I've sold that I have never been able to track down, was a Nordstrand NX6. I've hunted for this for many years and have never even heard a whiff from it since I sold it. The only comfort is that I sold it to buy my ACG 9 which Will never leave me! 

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Jerry C said:

No. Pushing the end of the neck against a wall restored full sustain to the open E. Leaving the neck hanging killed E sustain, and you could feel it in the bass body vibrating too much on that note (sucking energy out of it). Just a bad combination of resonances between neck and body, cancelling out at E 😕

That's really quite interesting and curious now how you found that out. 😂

[Geek99]

I’m lucky that I don’t have a dream bass 

lack of spare cash and a fair idea of my talent level leaves me having set myself a ceiling of £600. It’s perfectly possible to find something acceptably good in this range (new or used) that suits my pocket and is capable of better than my own ability levels allow me to extract 

 

note @Sarah5string I tried an Ibanez that was so beautifully made that i thought it must sound equally good, but it did not; bubble burst 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Geek99

[nilebodgers]

2 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

I’m lucky that I don’t have a dream bass 

lack of spare cash and a fair idea of my talent level leaves me having set myself a ceiling of £600. It’s perfectly possibly to find something acceptably good in this range (new or used) that suits my pocket and is capable of better than my own ability levels allow me to extract 

 

note @Sarah5string I tried an Ibanez that was so beautifully made that i thought it must sound equally good, but it did not; bubble burst 

I’m with you on that, I’d not normally spend over £500-ish, but I allowed myself up to £1k for a special retirement purchase. I got a s/h fender pro jazz for that and it is just the nicest thing I have ever played.

[White Cloud]

On 03/06/2021 at 14:26, Kev said:

I had a similar experience.  Always dreamed of owning a Wal, the perfect tone in my head.  Managed to get hold of one, the tone was wonderful...but everything else just didn't work.  Neck shape, pickup shape, ergonomics, none of it.  Shame, if I'd have hung on to it, i'd have got a few grand more selling it now...

Same. Spooky! Just wrong on every level ... Sound apart lol.

[TheGreek]

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

Trick is don't sell the good ones! 

Easier said than done when searching for that elusive "perfect tone".

I traded my first Status Kingbass for a GB Spitfire after I bought a GB Rumour which was exactly what I wanted. The Spitfire is NOT a Rumour - I was disappointed and eventually sold the Spitfire and bought another Status Kingbass. Eventually traded this in a part ex for a Ritter Cora.

Throughout this I moved several "dream basses", in fact I do not own any of the above basses any longer - as I said "that elusive "perfect tone" ".

[Geek99]

1 minute ago, TheGreek said:

Easier said than done when searching for that elusive "perfect tone".

I traded my first Status Kingbass for a GB Spitfire after I bought a GB Rumour which was exactly what I wanted. The Spitfire is NOT a Rumour - I was disappointed and eventually sold the Spitfire and bought another Status Kingbass. Eventually traded this in a part ex for a Ritter Cora.

Throughout this I moved several "dream basses", in fact I do not own any of the above basses any longer - as I said "that mythical  "perfect tone" ".

Fixed 

[Black Coffee]

Rickenbacker basses are the one bass I love to look at but can’t get on with to play.

Ive owned three - a fretless 4003, a fretted 4003 and a Laredo with a maple neck.

 

The fretless had a bad bridge pickup and was a shocker to get a decent sound from, so it had to go; the Laredo had a defective truss rod and the fretted 4003 was structurally sound but the ugly cheap plastic U bend had to go and this left a razor edge to carve my thumb to pieces on as I played it.

Still love the idea of trying one again as the look is bass kryptonite to me but I can’t afford the financial hit of another disappointment.  Maybe there is a reason why very few people play them, as my experience in reality was 3 very expensive shocking wastes of time,  money and effort.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Black Coffee

[FinnDave]

I wanted an Ibanez 4 string with Nordstrand pick ups ever since selling my six string version - too heavy for 2-3 hour sets and even after a year of playing them, I still got lost on the sixes.

Picked up a VGC Ibanez SR 1200, same woods, finish, pick ups and bridge as my old SR 1206 but lighter and with the proper number of strings.

Brought it home, tuned it, plugged it in and…..

 

 

It was everything I've wanted in a bass - at least as good as my Sandberg Panther Special. I might talk to John East about putting one of his pre-amps in it (I'm addicted to his sweepable mid-range) but in every respect, it's perfect.

I know this doesn't really fit the thread, but with someone saying earlier that dreaming of an Ibanez was indicative of very low aspirations, let me tell them they are wrong.

[Geek99]

7 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I wanted an Ibanez 4 string with Nordstrand pick ups ever since selling my six string version - too heavy for 2-3 hour sets and even after a year of playing them, I still got lost on the sixes.

Picked up a VGC Ibanez SR 1200, same woods, finish, pick ups and bridge as my old SR 1206 but lighter and with the proper number of strings.

Brought it home, tuned it, plugged it in and…..

 

 

It was everything I've wanted in a bass - at least as good as my Sandberg Panther Special. I might talk to John East about putting one of his pre-amps in it (I'm addicted to his sweepable mid-range) but in every respect, it's perfect.

I know this doesn't really fit the thread, but with someone saying earlier that dreaming of an Ibanez was indicative of very low aspirations, let me tell them they are wrong.

That was (at least partly) me. Mine sounded too polite like a geography teacher who’d been turned into an instrument. 

[FinnDave]

11 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

That was (at least partly) me. Mine sounded too polite like a geography teacher who’d been turned into an instrument. 

Mine snarls like no teacher you'd want to meet!

[Jerry C]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's really quite interesting and curious now how you found that out. 😂

Trial and error, trying to get rid of dead notes on many basses over many years. Physics, resonant systems, oscillators, damping. Think of a pendulum you're holding in your hand (a weight on a string). If you don't move your hand while the pendulum swings, it will take a while before it comes to a stop. That's like a string vibrating on a stiff, non-moving neck. Now, if you move your hand with the pendulum (same direction), it will stop a lot faster. That's a string on a neck that vibrates (resonates) at just the right frequency and in phase with the string. It will dampen it. Now, if you prevent the neck from vibrating with the string, such as by propping it against a wall, or by adding weight to the headstock, to increase its inertia, it won't be able to dampen the string, so no dead notes. Try it with the usual dead notes on the G string some day. Only problem is, it's awkward to play with your bass pushed into a wall, or with a big weight bolted to the headstock... Solution? Stiffer, denser necks. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Jerry C

[Downunderwonder]

On 03/06/2021 at 23:30, Sarah5string said:

I had been lusting after a BTB Ibanez for years. They looked stunning, had the pickups I like, and already beign a big Ibanez fan I was certain I'd play one and fall instantly in love.

That was until I actually played one. The sound was lacking and weak, plus t didn't feel anything like the Ibanez I'd played in the past and loved. It felt bulky, heavy and just not the same as I'd imagined.

Needless to say I no longer want a BTB Ibanez.

Have you  had any basses that you'd wanted but just didn't fit the bill when you actually came to play them?

Still got it? Might need a fresh battery to blow your socks off.

[Sardonicus]

An Epiphone Thunderbird was the beauty that shattered my dreams.  I always wanted one and when I got the chance to buy one, I snapped it up.  I knew about Thunderbird's being headstock heavy but the neck dive on mine bordered on being violent.

It just never felt right to play and I always felt that we were fighting each other.

I now have a Jazz Bass and that is a pleasure, a dream to play , sounds amazing and it's mine for ever.

[Sarah5string]

I can now add Musicman stingrays to this list. I just couldn't get the tone I wanted out of one! Very disappointed as they look amazing