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 October 27 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 October 30 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 had to replace a transistor on the head but now it works just fine)!

 

 

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

Edited November 8 by SimonK

[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 not knowing anything about the artist.  😃

Edited November 6 by Hurricane Jimmie

[mrtcat]

On 30/10/2024 at 14:16, Al Krow said:

 

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?

I still enjoy the playing part but I can't say that playing covers at weddings excites me. It pays well enough for me to feel very fortunate to do it but it's definitely more about the money than the love of the gigs.

 

I've done over 500 gigs with this band but it seems that the challenges (awkward venues, difficult clients, ridiculous noise limiters, rude guests etc etc) are becoming more frequent issues and it definitely has dulled the enjoyment side. It's a lot of driving too. 

 

That said, I'm a very average player who is paying bills by playing bass so I'm definitely not complaining. 

Edited November 3 by mrtcat

[BassAgent]

Hands down the best purchase I did this year was my Lakland USA Joe Osborn 5:

 

The best five string Jazz I've ever played, except for maybe the odd Stenback. It outplays Celinders, Sadowskys and every other boutique Jazz.

 

Worst purchase? A couple of XLR-jack cables for my new Adam monitor speakers. Why worst? They were the wrong kind.

Edited November 6 by BassAgent

[dmccombe7]

Not that i buy a lot of gear but here goes.

 

Best :- Mesa TT800 (many will know how long i've waited for this amp and it certainly hasn't disappointed)

 

Close 2nds :- Godin Shifter Classic from our very own @theplumber and from our very own @walshy a Pinegrove 4" bass strap with Levy wireless pouch that is so comfy over a 2-3hr gig.

 

Worst :- nothing this year i'm afraid.

 

Dave      

[Quatschmacher]

I’ve only bought a few bits of gear this year and sold a fair bit.

 

Haven’t really got a worst purchase as I’m happy with the stuff I did get. 

 

Bass related, I finally got an early Japanese OC-2 which is hitting the spot.

 

Also finally scored a bigger Aclam pedalboard for a great price so could finally get most of my pedals set up properly. 

 

Synths are where my funds have been disappearing, though I did sell one of mine to a friend who’s smitten. I bought another friend’s spare Juno 106 I’d been borrowing for about 18 months as I love it so much. And the UDO Super 8 I got recently is lovely.

 

I sort of want to explore analogue compressors and preamps a bit. May well end up with the new Chase Bliss Wombtone by the end of the year though. 

[BassTractor]

2 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

UDO Super 8

Wow!
Yeah, I might be willing to guess you're chuffed with that one.  Not that I've even seen one IRL, but just from how the UDOs are being talked about.

Enjoy!

 

 

Edited November 7 by BassTractor

[Huge Hands]

My best purchase this year?

 

Forscore app on the iPad.  Dusted off my boy's iPad which he doesn't use any more and paid £19.99 for the app.  Has allowed me to scan all of my local concert band sheet music into the iPad.  I also bought a cheap Joyo footpedal to turn the pages.

 

It is dead easy to use and has transformed rehearsals as I am not spending ages frantically trying to find that one piece stuck to the back of another while the band starts playing.  Playing my first actual concert with it on Saturday.   Was dead easy to set up a playlist for the night and drag and drop the various scores into it.  It now all clicks through the concert in order.

 

Worst purchase?   I guess the Joyo MA-10 practice amp.  I can't complain too much as it was under £40 on offer on Amazon and it works as a practice amp in my home office, but it buzzes like mad unless you earth yourself on the strings and the sound is not to my liking. but I kept it and it does a job, so no major biggie.

[mike f]

A late entry and straight in at number one for me is the return of my 2001 Limited Edition Warwick Thumb BO. Traded 12 years ago and bought back last week. The story, and picture, is in the Bass Guitars forum.

Edited November 7 by mike f

[Quatschmacher]

10 hours ago, BassTractor said:

Wow!
Yeah, I might be willing to guess you're chuffed with that one.  Not that I've even seen one IRL, but just from how the UDOs are being talked about.

Enjoy!

 

 

It’s a (qualified) yes.

 

The keybed (Fatar TP/8SK) is far better than any other I’ve played (bar the Fatar TP/8S in the Moog One). The layout is so spacious and immersive. Programming it is pretty quick and fun; the lack of menu and display means you use your ears. The sound is lovely, not as full-sounding as analogue oscillators perhaps but plenty nice. Build quality is excellent. Many times more solid than the Sequential 6 series and the Moog Muse.

 

There are some bugs still. A few I reported in the first week have been fixed. The others are on the list to be addressed. Once these are fixed, it’ll be better. There are also a few things which could be improved in software, such as the behaviour of the drift parameter; currently it’s just a really slow LFO applied to a few parameters, whereas it would be hugely improved if it were stable offsets.

 

There are also a few irksome implementation quirks, mostly around shared slider functions. For instance, it’s not possible to have an unmodulated sawtooth on one oscillator whilst having a PWMd pulse on the other as the LFO is simultaneously applied to PWM of oscillator 2 and the wave morph position of oscillator 1. It does put certain classic sounds out of reach.

 

I’d love to see UDO do a fully analogue synth in this style. 

Edited November 7 by Quatschmacher

[BassTractor]

27 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

For instance, it’s not possible to have an unmodulated sawtooth on one oscillator whilst having a PWMd pulse on the other as the LFO is simultaneously applied to PWM of oscillator 2 and the wave morph position of oscillator 1.

Weird, and I see the irksomeness in this. Might do my head in, might not.
I don't know the UDOs and have no idea what parts are analogue and what parts are digital, but in my analogue head, I see this as an LFO output slider rather than two VCO input sliders, which I'd dislike. OTOH a fully flexible output/input matrix too makes one crazy (or me at least), so ...

BTW, from hazy memory, every synth I've used has had its quirks - analogue and digital alike - and I recently bought a Sledge for the nth time despite all the known stuff, as I just like it. 
(Of course, it will almost never allow me to even enter sample mode. 😄)

[Quatschmacher]

45 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

Weird, and I see the irksomeness in this. Might do my head in, might not.

It’s not unheard of. Moog Voyager is similar - the “wave” modulation destination applies to all three oscillators at once. Weird design choice though.

 

Yes, all these things have their quirks I suppose and one learns to get around them or lean into them and use them creatively.

 

Overall it’s a lovely instrument and sets a high bar for other companies. 

[TrevorR]

I’m not a big bass spender so my two best would be another TC Electronics UniTune Clip headstock tuner (can’t have enough of those scattered about), and this humbucking pickup that I got from Catswhisker Pickups earlier in the year to add to my Frankenjazz. It replaced one of a set of their side by side Jazz humbuckers which I had installed on it a few years ago. Nothing wrong with that neck pickup but a project bass is a project bass… what can you do? Sounds so great for half the cost of a Bart or an SD… and Allan’s great to work with as a customer. 
 

Thinking about it… I’d have to add the new scratch plate I got from Tiny Tone to go with it. Absolutely no worst buys, which is great!
 

[SumOne]

My worst is ACS IEM (and an Xvive wireless system, but at least I can sell that). 

 

However, I have ACS pro 17 earplugs and they are one of my favourite purchases! 

 

I don't know if it's a fault, I used the same mould, but the IEMs don't fit well. They are uncomfortable, don't reproduce Bass well. And even if they did I don't think I'd use them - I use an Amp/Cab and our Drummer isn't mic'd up, so I'd need to go to the mixer (easy enough) for Bass to IEM, and mic the drums, or get room mics to get the monitoring. And if ditching the Amp/Cab woud need to beef up the PA. It all feels a bit like adding complexity and cost where the setup with earplugs and monitor speakers (that the drummer needs anyway as he doesn't use IEMs) and Amp/cab worked fine.  I think if the whole band used IEMs and PA it might be a different story, still though - I'd need IEMs that fit/work better to properly hear the Bass. 

 

 

Edited November 15 by SumOne

[odysseus]

I don't think I've bought anything this year, which must be the first time in about 35 years.....

 

Nevertheless, there is 6 weeks or so to go, and I'm pondering a Strymon Cloudburst for guitar purposes..... 

[Al Krow]

Well I've held off making a decision until I had managed to properly road tested the bit of kit in question! but my own "best buy" for 2024 is going to have to be a new digital mixing desk, A&H CQ18T which I had the good fortune to pick up as B stock:

 

 

Hopefully going to provide a significant upgrade to the band in terms of their gigging experience next year e.g. by allowing everyone to have personalised monitor feed.