Prejudices When Choosing A Bass

[Guest]

2x2 headstocks are not for me.

I usually see a cows face when I look at them. If not paired in a straight line they usually look bemused or even scared. 

 

Other than that I'm not overly fuzzy.

 

These are in line but is still looking scared or shocked by whatever is coming from it's right. Sorry for the huge picture.

ps I'm aware that I shouldn't anthropomorphise basses as they don't like it.

Edited December 7, 2023 by HornetPinata

[Paddy777]

- No passive tone control 

- Having a passive tone control, but it doesn’t work in active mode

- Weird square (usually) 2+2 headstocks

- Pointy angles on the body
- MusicMan Bongo’s 🤮 

[AndyTravis]

22 minutes ago, HornetPinata said:

2x2 headstocks are not for me.

I usually see a cows face when I look at them. If not paired in a straight line they usually look bemused or even scared. 

 

Other than that I'm not overly fuzzy.

 

These are in line but is still looking scared or shocked by whatever is coming from it's right. Sorry for the huge picture.

ps I'm aware that I shouldn't anthropomorphise basses as they don't like it.

Cannot Unsee scared cow…

[sky]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

I don't get on with Basses that are too heavy, or with tight string spacing. And phallic looking horns are a turn off! 

the warwick corvettes horn...

[Shaggy]

What a grumpy lot we are......

Really only one absolute turn-off for me - Black block fret markers.  Ugh 😑 

[Wolverinebass]

This is going to be a long list.

 

Singlecuts that look like a melted plastic toy whale.

38mm nut width.

Satin finishes.

The fact that virtually all basses have 40mm nuts nowadays as so many are made in the same factory. Cort, Schecter, ESP to name but a few.

3 point bridge.

Headless basses.

Basswood bodies.

Humbuckers in the Musicman positions rather than the normal ones.

Fender custom shop (You're not making a Wal. Cut the crap eh?).

Warwicks. Mainly for pricing structure and plagiarism.

Block markers that are a weird colour or just not white/pearloid/black.

Foderas. Sorry, how much for a bass that's more polite and free of personality than my aunt?

Dingwalls for the fact that every Nolly wannabe has to have one.

Ashdown basses. They're really not great.

Cheap tuning pegs. Just why?

Oil finishes. It's not a deck chair, get it finished properly.

Inaccessible truss rods.  

Figured necks. Planning on playing with your back to the audience the whole time? No? Well, you've just wasted your money on that roasted flamed maple neck.

Logos on the body. If I wanted my bass to look like an advert, I'd put a Marlboro sticker on it just to be difficult.

Candy Apple Red. Has anyone ever bought a bass this colour? I certainly don't want to go onstage looking like I'm about to play a stale Braeburn apple.

Sparkle finishes. Good luck fixing that when it gets chipped.

Racing stripes. Does a Mustang bass go faster? No, it just looks cheap because of it.

 

[LowB_FTW]

16 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Singlecuts that look like a melted plastic toy whale.

😂

 

16 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Ashdown basses. They're really not great.

My Lodestone Primal Artist is. 😜
 

Mark

Edited December 7, 2023 by LowB_FTW
Signed

[Lfalex v1.1]

25 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Headless basses.

Basswood bodies.

Humbuckers in the Musicman positions rather than the normal ones.

 

 

There was a Silver Bongo in FS a while back that covered these 3 nicely..

[Lfalex v1.1]

We really need posters to list the basses they own at the bottom of their posts to see if they fall foul of their own prejudices... 

[neepheid]

47 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

This is going to be a long list.

 

Singlecuts that look like a melted plastic toy whale.

38mm nut width.

Satin finishes.

The fact that virtually all basses have 40mm nuts nowadays as so many are made in the same factory. Cort, Schecter, ESP to name but a few.

3 point bridge.

Headless basses.

Basswood bodies.

Humbuckers in the Musicman positions rather than the normal ones.

Fender custom shop (You're not making a Wal. Cut the crap eh?).

Warwicks. Mainly for pricing structure and plagiarism.

Block markers that are a weird colour or just not white/pearloid/black.

Foderas. Sorry, how much for a bass that's more polite and free of personality than my aunt?

Dingwalls for the fact that every Nolly wannabe has to have one.

Ashdown basses. They're really not great.

Cheap tuning pegs. Just why?

Oil finishes. It's not a deck chair, get it finished properly.

Inaccessible truss rods.  

Figured necks. Planning on playing with your back to the audience the whole time? No? Well, you've just wasted your money on that roasted flamed maple neck.

Logos on the body. If I wanted my bass to look like an advert, I'd put a Marlboro sticker on it just to be difficult.

Candy Apple Red. Has anyone ever bought a bass this colour? I certainly don't want to go onstage looking like I'm about to play a stale Braeburn apple.

Sparkle finishes. Good luck fixing that when it gets chipped.

Racing stripes. Does a Mustang bass go faster? No, it just looks cheap because of it.

 

 

I didn't know that there were triangle players here on BC...

[Wolverinebass]

5 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

I didn't know that there were triangle players here on BC...

Only on my days off.

[crazycloud]

2 hours ago, Wolverinebass said:

Humbuckers in the Musicman positions rather than the normal ones.

The original MM PUs are HBers, and what's the 'usual' position for HBs on other basses?

[Wolverinebass]

7 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

The original MM PUs are HBers, and what's the 'usual' position for HBs on other basses?

Look at non Chris Wolstenholme Status basses. The pickups are about an inch further towards the bridge. That's where they should be.

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

We really need posters to list the basses they own at the bottom of their posts to see if they fall foul of their own prejudices... 

 

I do own basses with headstocks. However, every time I buy one, I also buy a headless, to keep the balance of the universe, er, balanced.

[cdog]

I remembered another one, 2 octave fretboards, it's way too far from the end of the neck where my thumb is to the 1st or 2nd frets. 

[crazycloud]

10 hours ago, Wolverinebass said:

That's where they should be.

That's rather presumptuous of you to tell us where PUs should be based on your tone preferences.

[Wolverinebass]

1 hour ago, crazycloud said:

That's rather presumptuous of you to tell us where PUs should be based on your tone preferences.

Not at all. You asked what the "usual" position was, so I told you what is the most common. Alembic, Status and Gibson basses have that position as do virtually all other basses that have double humbuckers. Musicman are the outliers here. The only one more ridiculous is the double buck Warwick where they're almost touching each other in the middle of the body.

 

Maybe you missed the word "prejudices" in the title of the thread. For every single thing someone has listed, someone else will have that as their favourite thing ever. Ironically, I've played double humbucker Stingrays and they've been fantastic to play, but I can't get the snap out of them I'd want due to the pickup positioning.

 

So, for every person who has listed something, it's all an opinion or something that won't work for their technique, hand size, tactile feel, appearance, sound, or whatever arbitrary quality standards they expect when buying an instrument.

 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Not at all. You asked what the "usual" position was, so I told you what is the most common. Alembic, Status and Gibson basses have that position as do virtually all other basses that have double humbuckers. Musicman are the outliers here. The only one more ridiculous is the double buck Warwick where they're almost touching each other in the middle of the body.

 

Maybe you missed the word "prejudices" in the title of the thread. For every single thing someone has listed, someone else will have that as their favourite thing ever. Ironically, I've played double humbucker Stingrays and they've been fantastic to play, but I can't get the snap out of them I'd want due to the pickup positioning.

 

So, for every person who has listed something, it's all an opinion or something that won't work for their technique, hand size, tactile feel, appearance, sound, or whatever arbitrary quality standards they expect when buying an instrument.

 

I also don’t like MM basses only having a pickup bunched up against the bridge - no amount of fiddling with the tone removes that harsh plucking sound for me. A bass without a neck pickup is definitely one of my prejudices too.

[Paddy777]

On 07/12/2023 at 18:33, Paddy777 said:

- No passive tone control 

- Having a passive tone control, but it doesn’t work in active mode

- Weird square (usually) 2+2 headstocks

- Pointy angles on the body
- MusicMan Bongo’s 🤮 

Another one I forgot to add is Black hardware, especially tuners. Awful

[Shambo]

I once had a sweaty nightmare that I was driving around a 3TSB Austin Metro.

 

I woke up with an unswerving dislike for burst finishes of all types.

 

I mocked up said jalopy in an unsuccessful attempt to confront my fears.

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Shambo
looks more 2TSB than 3

[TheGreek]

Basses that look like the colours were chosen by a 3 year old child - especially Tort scratchplates which don't match - black or sunburst bass with red tort.

Edited December 9, 2023 by TheGreek

[Paddy777]

1 minute ago, TheGreek said:

Basses that look like the colours were chosen by a 3 year old child - especially Tort scratchplates which don't match - black bass with red tort.

Yes! Absolutely hideous combination 

[tauzero]

Scratchplates. Horrible things.

[dclaassen]

Not much,really…

-maple fretboards

-Rics

-coffee table basses

-led fret markers

-super skinny necks

[stewblack]

Even though I own several, I'm turned off by P J pick up arrangement on a bass. 

Makes absolutely no sense at all. Not least because it doesn't always apply. 

Black body with dotted maple finger board is a no no, but block inlays are fine 🤷🏻‍♂️