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

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Best and worst was probably my Sienna Sunburst Player Mustang bass.

 

It was my best purchase due to it having a very nice grain pattern on the body, where I've seen others that are nowhere near as attractive, and I was able to buy it in near mint condition with a nice Fender short scale gig bag included for a very good price on ebay. Once I had set it up with a fresh set of 30" scale chromes, It plays very nicely and the pickups have some punch to them.

 

I'd say it was also worst as Fender don't specify the best electronic components for the player range, so I had to do some work to turn it into an instrument I'd be happy to gig with.

 

The stock switch was junk that did not always make contact when switching, the pots were Korean "Jin Sung" which I know nothing about, and the output socket, although looking like a switchcraft was of lighter construction. A bigger issue was that with the volume at anywhere less than 100%, rolling down the tone pot also reduced the volume which I have since learned is normal for this model and I have seen described as "50's style wiring".

 

I wasn't too worried about the issues as the neck, body, pickups etc were fine and I already had all the bits available to build a new loom, so I shielded the cavities with slug tape and built a new loom bases on a typical P bass circuit with CTS pots, a switchcraft switch, orange drop capacitor, and pure tone socket. The bass is now how it should have been originally.

 

I also fitted a Fender Hi Mass bridge as I had a spare one and I prefer these to a standard BBoT, and a thumbrest as I use these on my JMJs.

 

If I had not been confident and capable to take on the job to fix the shortcomings of the stock electronics, I would probably have been quite unhappy with the bass, however I am used to tinkering with my instruments so I wasn't at all worried. I quite enjoyed the project and there was a good feeling of accomplishment when everything worked perfectly first time once I had reassembled it.

 

I took it to rehearsal, and the range of sounds available make it more versatile than my JMJs, but it feels similar enough that I could easily switch between them on a gig.

 

Details of the upgrade project are outlined here ->

and here ->

 

Edited October 25 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

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Edited October 23 by Jean-Luc Pickguard
double post

[rushbo]

I've had a good year for gear with no regrettable purchases. The highlights:

 

An Aria STB jazz bass. £40 from FaceBook Marketplace. I bought it purely as a mod platform, but apart from some cosmetic changes (new pickguard, headstock reshape) I'm keeping it stock - including the old strings. It's ace.

Another Zoom B3 for my small board for gigs where space is tight. I love Zoom B3s...

A Cobra equipment bag. Big enough for all my bits and pieces (and the aforementioned mini-board) with room to spare.

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 23:20 by rushbo

[Obrienp]

Best and worst so far:

 

Best: LFSys Monza, such an amazing cab. Read the reviews on here. I haven’t seen a bad one yet.
 

Worst: Positive Grid Spark Cab. On paper sounds like a great enhancer for your Spark 40, or other Spark amp, or even a low powered multi-instrument active FRFR cab, for not much cash compared to other offerings on the market. In reality it turned out to be very noisy on idle and through the DI out. Such a shame because the bass tone was pretty good through it and it worked well for acoustic and electric guitar as well. I sent the first one back and ended up returning its replacement. I’m still waiting for the refund.

[mrtcat]

Haven't bought anything bass related this year. I've done 112 gigs so far and all I've spent on is fuel and tyres. I just don't crave stuff anymore. Bass playing has become nothing more than a means of earning and the less I spend, the more profitable it is. 

[Al Krow]

27 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

Haven't bought anything bass related this year. I've done 112 gigs so far and all I've spent on is fuel and tyres. I just don't crave stuff anymore. Bass playing has become nothing more than a means of earning and the less I spend, the more profitable it is. 

 

Being content with your gear and sound is surely a good thing (ok heresy on Basschat, haha)?

 

But do you still get a buzz from gigging and look forward to it, or does it feel like any another job now?

[Mokl]

I've had an extravagant year for me, by recent standards anyway. Acquired an Alusonic Django Std 5 earlier in the year and very pleased with the tonal variety and playability of it.

 

Somehow convinced myself I needed a Stingray Special a month or so back (I've had a late 80s Stingray a good 30 years now) and am really loving it now I've adjusted to the slightly different tone and getting to grips with the 18V preamp. It's a great sounding thing and really rekindling  my passion for playing, so worth every penny.

 

No duff purchases I'm pleased to say. A few difficult farewells to some lovely basses though.

Edited Wednesday at 22:07 by Mokl

[Rayman]

Best: Fender Meteora. It took the place of the Thunderbirds for live stuff. 
 

Worst: Vox Pathfinder 10 practice amp. Absolutely rubbish. 

[SimonK]

Best: £75 in total for the head and both cabs (OK has to replace a transistor on the head but now it works just fine)!

 

 

Worst, not really this year, currently still like everything!

[biro]

I finally caved and bought a TRB1006J. I had tried them before, but for some reason never gelled with them. For whatever reason, this is just fantastic—the tone I've been after for a while.

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, my Behringer head failed earlier this year, so I bought an Ashdown 15 Studio.  

I bought it for the 300W/15 Combo....but mostly because it weighs 28 pounds.  It's a fine amp for our little trio.

 

In May I ordered one of the Joe Dart Sterling basses.  Just received notification that it shipped.  

I've had a lot of fun chatting about buying a bass and knowing anything about the artist.  😃