Your best (and worst!) bass gear purchases of 2024?

[Al Krow]

Following on from the same topic we've successfully run since 2018 - a chance for some useful hints and tips with Black Friday and Xmas goodies still ahead, and, of course, nothing to stop us changing our minds between now and year end! 

As with previous years, the only "house rules" are that it's bass gear and something you bought (or at least arrived) in 2024. 

 

Here's the last thread in the series from 2023 as a reminder of some of the goodies we bought then.

 

And definitely post your GAS inducing pics please!

[tauzero]

Both were basses.

 

Best was a Sei Jazz 5, the Basschat Bike - I think I'm the 10th owner.

 

 

Worst (and this is most definitely a relative term) was a Cort GB5 Custom - I'd had a GB4 Custom which had a neck comparably as slender as an early Warwick Thumb, but the GB5 has a slightly thicker neck. Great bass, looks good, sounds good, balances well, but I wanted a slimmer neck, and so it got PXed for the Sei.

 

[neepheid]

Hmm, best has probably been my Lekato WS-70 wireless bugs.  Should have gone wireless years ago! 

 

 

Honourable mention to the Hotone Harmony pitch shifter/harmonizer pedal I bought - it is tiny, cheap and does a surprisingly good job of handling singer's requests to put songs up/down 1-3 semitones as well as giving me a blendable octave up/down and a detune effect.

 

 

Worst - probably the Digitech Bass Synth Wah I bought - I snagged it for a keen price from a second hand shop down south but it was broken  

Edited 8 hours ago by neepheid
Pics added for the more visually oriented ;)

[NigeJ]

Best so far, complete GRBass backline, and finding a Westone Spectrum DX, which was my first good bass at a really good price. 

[triplebass]

David Gage Czech Ease travel double bass with hard-case which i got at a very fair price.

I also enjoy very much the Squier Rascal and the HB Mustang basses.

Very happy with the Mark bass Tube amp + GR carbon 10” speaker.

 

The worst is yet to come perhaps?

[MacDaddy]

As you say, worst is relative. I bought an FX pedal I have absolutely no practical use for, purely because I really wanted one when they came out 20 years ago.

 

Best. Ibanez UB804, an EUB. My first upright. Loving it! 😍 

[pete.young]

No contest for best purchase.  LFSys Monza.

[asingardenof]

Haven't bought much this year, but the Sadowsky onboard preamp I bought to replace the knackered stock Sire one in my V7 sounds glorious.

[lemmywinks]

Best:

 

- Cort GB Modern 5 off here

- Memory foam tips for the KZ IEMs (from the KZ AliExpress store)

- Lekato WS-90 wireless bug

- TGI Extreme gigbag - the standard for road worthy gigbags on a budget

- East Uni Pre - instantly improves any bass by 62% (science)

- PJB C8 Lite and TC BH800 off here - needed a small, light, loud and great rehearsal rig on the cheap, BC came through

 

Worst:

 

- Cort GB Modern 5 from GuitarGuitar x 3

- Sonicake B Factory from their eBay store - nicked or lost by Evri

- East Uni Pre - having heard one I need to buy another two now which isn't cheap

- Lekato wireless XLR - no line level pad option so doesn't like my IEM feed out of the box

Edited Wednesday at 22:57 by lemmywinks

[Jackroadkill]

I think the only bass gear I've bought this year was a Cali76 from @Salt on your Bass?, and it's superb.  Does that count for best and worst?!  No, just best, I think.

[edstraker123]

Best - Retrovibe L'il Richard bass( FB Marketplace but a basschatter)

Worst - Donner Octave pedal from Amazon.

[Lozz196]

It`s a difficult one, I`ve not bought any items that haven`t been any good, but have bought some that I`ve sadly found don`t suit me due to my rickety body, rather than for their "goodness" as musical items. I refer to a rather stunning white/maple US Precision which I bought, at 8lbs-ish I thought I`d be ok with it but have found that as well as weight, the scale length is a big factor for me now. So that was def the worst. Best, a sub 8lb CIJ Fender Mustang Bass, great instrument and a weight I`m fine with at the moment.

[Merton]

Have tried to avoid buying anything this year but failed dismally with the full abstinence… For me, hands down the best purchase was the Handbox WB100 I picked up in the summer.

Worst… some strings which have ended up all ha ing a dead E. Gave up my experimentation and moved straight back to Newtone.

[police squad]

most useful purchase was the MI-PRO 58 wireless IEM system

Most not used, Ashdown preamp pedal, it's a great bit of kit but not used in anger (yet)

Most interesting must be my early 1964 Hofner 500/1 beatle bass

and not bass related, my Brain May 'Super' red special

[Staggering on]

Best purchase was a set of Spirocore Mittel strings for the '70's Czech ply bass I use for bluegrass. It is MUCH louder and clearer with the Spiros and I can hold my own in acoustic jams which was impossible with the Obligatos that were on it and it sounds even better when it is amplified. I played it at four festivals this summer and it stays in tune in all kinds of weather conditions and is a joy to play. 

Edited Wednesday at 20:06 by Staggering on

[Twigman]

My ONLY bass related purchase this year was back in February - an Empress Bass Compressor in blue sparkle. It's clearly better than my BBE OptoStomp which it replaced.

 

I might splash out on a Wireless TX/Rx kit before the year is out.

[chris_b]

Last year saw some buying and selling, but the only thing I remember buying this year was a Korg clip on tuner.

[casapete]

Fender Rumble 500 combo for me. Use it in a quite loud 3 piece blues band and

it sounds ace with my Precision. Portable, loud and great EQ presets make using it 

a joy. Haven’t felt the need to add an extension cab yet which I thought may be 

necessary, so happy days. 
 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by casapete
Add photo

[Grooverjr]

Best, my custom ACG that looks and feels absolutely amazing and keeps on giving me more and more amazing sounds. It is also the only bass that has given me anything other than a horrible deadness with the Nordymute, which must be the worst purchase: gets in the way, has no adjustability and the rubber smells nasty. Although it was officially a present so maybe it doesn't count, in whichcase it's the Peavey T40. Black and maple, it's my favourite looking bass ever - it's got a real Star Wars Imperial aesthetic to it. I was very excited when it turned up and the neck's amazing - all the joy of a maple P neck but with a flatter fretboard - but I just can't get it to sound right for me whatever one of the gazillion settings I try and the body contouring is all wrong so it digs into my ribs. 

Edited Wednesday at 17:28 by Grooverjr

[ossyrocks]

Hmm, this takes some thought.

 

The best purchase is probably my Barefaced 3x10. Undoubtedly the best cab (for me) I've had. It's just brilliant live, in any venue.

 

Can I have a 2nd best? Discovering GK 400RB series amps, and buying ......three of them. The first one was like hearing the sound I'd been looking for all this time, albeit through previously mentioned 3x10.

 

Worst purchase? I don't really have one, but if there is one, it's that I bought a brand new Ashdown head just before I discovered how much I like the GK RB  series heads. So I've basically never used it, even though it's a great amp.

 

Rob

Edited Wednesday at 18:04 by ossyrocks

[Al Krow]

Oooh some great bits of kit coming up on here already...Be even better if you all added some cool pics of your aforementioned kit? 😊

[ossyrocks]

6 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Oooh some great bits of kit coming up on here already...Be even better if you all added some cool pics of your aforementioned kit? 😊

Good point. Post edited.

[JapanAxe]

Best: Boss WL20 wireless setup. For many years I resisted going wireless - didn’t want to digitise my precious analog signal, another thing to go wrong etc. In reality I can move about the stage without restriction, go out front to check FOH mix, and change guitars much more quickly than with a cable. Absolute game-changer for just over a ton used.

 

Worst: JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk tremolo pedal (for skinny-string use). Just did not float my boat. At all. Sold on within a week.

Edited Wednesday at 20:02 by JapanAxe

[meterman]

I rarely buy bass gear so this year was unusual for me, in that I bought a used Squier Sonic Precision bass. I swapped the neck for the one on my Squier Jazz, and bought some La Bella flats for it and for around £150 all in, I'm probably done for electric basses now. I don't need to go any higher or more expensive or fancier than that. That was my best. Obligatory pic:

 

 

Worst? A Harley Benton fretless uke bass that had finish issues and a neck twist. Sent it back, got a refund, no problem. 
 

Might be looking for a 30" scale fretless acoustic bass at some point but it's not a "super-urgent-must-have-right-now-OMG-GAS-is-all-consuming" thing by any means. Probably start doing some research next year though.

[bassbiscuits]

Quite boring practical stuff from me - best was a s/h Boss BCB-60 effects pedal case back in January, to replace my homemade one (which then became my acoustic guitar effects board). 
 

Worst was probably my Ashdown ABM500 head. Nothing wrong with it at all, but didn’t really use it much at first and then decided I preferred my existing rig so sold it on.