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

[Jerry_B]

I bought this 1986 Westone Spectrum GT earlier this year, which was a nice find. They don't turn up for sale very often but this one was on Ebay quite cheaply so I snapped it up. It's in a particular shade of red that my phone camera can't capture very well. Initially I wasn't sure about it as the bridge pickup sounded very thin and it has a quite odd volume/tone/tone arrangement with a push/pull phase reverse on the volume control. However, after taking it apart and doing a bit of work to raise the pickup height, it's turned into a very giggable bass.

[LeftyJ]

Best:

- Sandberg California VS Lionel (shortscale).

- LaBella Deep Talking Flats for said Sandberg. I've always preferred the zing of new roundwounds, but on the Sandberg they just made sense and I enjoy them a lot!

 

Worst:

- Sadowsky MetroExpress Hybrid 5 fretless. It's a fun bass, but has some annoying QC issues. I still haven't decided if it's a keeper after two weeks of owning it. I haven't had much time to play it yet as I need to learn some new songs for my band which require the use of a downtuned fretted 5. 

- Line6 HX Stomp XL. Great piece of kit, but a bit of an impulse buy that I really didn't need. I've probably used it only three times since acquiring it in May. 

- Nordstrand Nordymute (x2). Another impulse buy, even when I already knew they're wildly overpriced for a piece of scrap wood with some foam glued to the bottom.

[bnt]

On 13/12/2024 at 15:27, bnt said:

I've only purchased pedals this year, so:

 

Correction: I bought the Squier CV Bass VI back in February, though it feels like longer ago. That would be my best purchase. It's not perfect e.g. it has a flaw in the wiring, and I'm still tightening the truss rod after installing heavier strings, but it has been a real help with pick playing.

[Rich]

Best: Novation MiniNova synth. Loads of fun. Love it.

 

Worst: TC Spectracomp. I'm sure it's very clever, but it's impossible to tweak settings on the fly. Very definitely not the compressor for me. 

[Aidan63]

Best : Xotic Effects Bass RC Booster pedal, off Ebay, set to 'B15' voice it just works, is simple and small, runs on battery, and very cost effective

Worst : Squier, Samick made, CV Racing Stripe Mustang, off here, I have cleaned the neck and strings multiple times with isopropyl and I can still smell previous owners aftershave on my hand after playing it and its made the case smell too - its lighter than my seafoam green Cort made one, but doesn't sound as good - still pondering doing a pickup change a la PawnShop to it

[Stub Mandrel]

23 hours ago, Jerry_B said:

I bought this 1986 Westone Spectrum GT earlier this year, which was a nice find. They don't turn up for sale very often but this one was on Ebay quite cheaply so I snapped it up. It's in a particular shade of red that my phone camera can't capture very well. Initially I wasn't sure about it as the bridge pickup sounded very thin and it has a quite odd volume/tone/tone arrangement with a push/pull phase reverse on the volume control. However, after taking it apart and doing a bit of work to raise the pickup height, it's turned into a very giggable bass.

 

My brother has one. Dave Brock played a Spectrum guitar for several years.

[peteb]

Right then, the best would be:

Thumpinator – a high pass filter for getting rid of low frequencies that you can’t normally hear. I’ve played a few venues where there is something odd going on with the low frequencies on the bass guitar, so you end up having to take out all the bottom end leaving you with a less than inspiring bass tone. When I’ve played the same places this year, the Thumpinator seems to have sorted that out at a stroke!  

Caveman preamp pedal – a bit of a luxury and it’s not as if you couldn’t gig without it, but a quality piece of kit that sounds great and gives you more options, both live and recording. Not cheap, but worth it. 

 

The worst:

MXR octave pedal –I was thinking of getting rid of my existing octave pedal but decided to keep it just in case. Then I saw a MXR going cheap secondhand and now I have two octave pedals that I don’t use. It’s a really good pedal, but I never use it! There’s got to be some other use for it other than playing ‘I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ in soundchecks!  

NUX C-5rc wireless system – it’s not bad, but I have had a few issues with it and I’m not going to use it at bigger gigs. It will have its uses, such as rehearsals or jams and small gigs where I don’t want to bring my pedalboard that has the Shure GLDX receiver on it. It is what it is – OK but not great. 

 

Jury still out:

A stripped late 70s P bass – looks cool and sounds great, but it isn’t going to replace my other 70s P bass as my go-to bass of that type. I didn't pay too much money all things considered and I’m still getting to grips with it. Jon Shuker is going to do some work on the frets to get it just right, so it will be a player (as Jon said when he saw it). However, if anything really cool came up that I just had to have, then I suspect that this would be the bass that would have to make way (I could be wrong though, lets see what it is like when I get it properly sorted out)! 

 

Edited Monday at 23:25 by peteb

[paul_5]

10 hours ago, Rich said:

Worst: TC Spectracomp. I'm sure it's very clever, but it's impossible to tweak settings on the fly. Very definitely not the compressor for me. 

Me too; it was great when hooked up to my MacBook, but less so for live stuff.

Edited Monday at 23:17 by paul_5

[Jerry_B]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

My brother has one. Dave Brock played a Spectrum guitar for several years.

 

I've been playing Spectrums since '88. Still have my original Spectrum DX (see pic) and it's still going strong. Generally I really like Westones (I have a few) but the Spectrums are my particular fave.

[Chadu25]

Best purchase for me is this beautiful Fender American Vintage II 60s Precision bass I got for my birthday. Before this I’ve owned a Fodera Monarch 4 Standard and a Lakland 55-94 which are fantastic basses and superb build quality. Would’ve kept both but I can’t justify keeping too many high value basses since I rarely do pub gigs now. 
 

This one felt home for me. And I find myself going for a simpler setup. I’ve not even coveted or GASsed on other basses since getting this. I’m months sober on checking out other basses. My goal now is to have this beauty age and just keep playing it. 
 

Pedal wise, I’ve not had any bad/worse purchase. It’s more of me wanting to try new gear when I can that’s why you’ll see me post new iterations of my board in the thread lol. I easily move on with board setups and find myself in a rabbit hole of constantly GASsing on different stomp boxes

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 13:19 by Chadu25

[chriswareham]

On 15/12/2024 at 21:12, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Well played that man.

 

Well, woman actually:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx_Sqq6jooI

[Stub Mandrel]

On 18/12/2024 at 12:26, Chadu25 said:

Best purchase for me is this beautiful Fender American Vintage II 60s Precision bass I got for my birthday. Before this I’ve owned a Fodera Monarch 4 Standard and a Lakland 55-94 which are fantastic basses and superb build quality. Would’ve kept both but I can’t justify keeping too many high value basses since I rarely do pub gigs now. 
 

This one felt home for me. And I find myself going for a simpler setup. I’ve not even coveted or GASsed on other basses since getting this. I’m months sober on checking out other basses. My goal now is to have this beauty age and just keep playing it. 
 

Pedal wise, I’ve not had any bad/worse purchase. It’s more of me wanting to try new gear when I can that’s why you’ll see me post new iterations of my board in the thread lol. I easily move on with board setups and find myself in a rabbit hole of constantly GASsing on different stomp boxes

 

 

 

 

I have a sunburst one, they are wonderful.

 

I do find it hard to see the brown side dots on the join between brown fingerboard and deep amber neck. My partner kindly used her Silhouette machine to cut me lots of 3/32" dots in white high stick vinyl. Reversible solution and now it will see more gigs.

 

Like you I'm hoping it ages gracefully and not too slowly!