Worst bass you have owned and why?

[Linus27]

In line with the best bass for you thread, whats the worst bass you have owned and why?

Mine would probably be the Status Shark that I very briefly had in 1998. It just sounded thin and cheap and felt even worse to play. Shame as I love the shape of the headstock but it really was very rubbish.

[AndyTravis]

Washburn XB100 in about 1998, i don't have any pictures.

Just a pretty uninspiring P-Bass.

My Yamaha BB300 was, and Still is a much better bass, i bought it because i thought i needed another bass at the time. I didn't.

[Beedster]

Tie for first place with me, both Fenders and both Jazzes

MIJ Geddy Lee Jazz: just sounded puny as hell and the neck was so thin it was unplayable. Not a bass, just a long guitar really.
MIA Jazz, late 90's. Shocking QC and tone. Described as 'rattly' by my then bandmates. Could not be set up.

Both probably explain my ongoing negativity towards Jazzes!

C

[Musky]

A Fender Precision that I bought new in 1981. It came with a warped and slightly twisted neck - it didn't actually play [i]that[/i] badly, but I didn't mourn for it when it was nicked 6 years later.

:Edited to make some sense!:

Edited July 28, 2010 by Musky

[Clarky]

Not sure that I have ever owned a genuinely bad bass. The most disappointing relative to my expectations is a tie between a Gibson SG Reissue bass (the short scale and I did not get on and the hardware was more than a bit rubbish) and a vintage 70s Jazz (awful heavily lacquered but ultra-skinny neck was so uncomfortable)

[mep]

A Marlin. Don't remember the model, but it was a total plank. My precision copy had been stolen and this was my (cheap) replacement until I got my Charvel.

[velvetkevorkian]

A MIM Fender Jazz 5 string I bought from a friend. The action was always unplayably high as the truss rod was unadjustable. Also, all the pickguard and one (!) of the pickup covers had been painted a kind of metallic purple- kind of matched the finish but looked a bit sh*t. In retrospect, it could probably have been saved but IIRC I donated the bits to charity.

[waynepunkdude]

Aria Pro 2, piece of sh*t.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Clarky' post='908734' date='Jul 28 2010, 11:01 PM']Not sure that I have ever owned a genuinely bad bass.[/quote]

Same here. I try to give them a pretty heavy roadtest prior to purchase. It can be dangerous buying online as you are going in blind. I was a bit dissapointed with an Epiphone Flying V which I bought online. Lesson learned.

[Low End Bee]

Avon EB0 copy. Gave tin and firewood a bad name. Awful thing.

Probably worth £150 as a 'Lawsuit' now.

[fatgoogle]

A jack and danny 5 string bought about 2 years ago. Manky so i attempted to mod it which failed and then to my great luck managed to swap it for a epiphone les paul and a fender acoustic. Best deal ever i believe.

[Musicman20]

A MIA Jazz, era 1999/2000. Absolutely dire. Poor QC and didnt have ANY grunt. That put me off a new Fender for a long time, until 2008 gave us the new versions.

[Grand Wazoo]

That's easy....

I don't have any pics but it was a sh*tty jap copy of a Les Paul bass, given to me as a gift, one day I found the neck was so badly warped, no one could fix it, I was so crossed with it, I put it in the fireplace and watch it burn. The name on the headstock was HB. never seen another similar. Thank god for that too. I think HB was Harley Benton..... not sure. Long may they burn, they are sh*te.

[PantZ Bassplayer]

My first bass...a Satalite jazz copy...4 peices of fence wire on a banana..tone/volume pots did nothing at all!! when I bought my first good bass, I had to re-learn how to play as I kept bending the G string off the fretboard!! Still, it was 1976 and I was in a punk band, so I suppose it got me out and playing..........avoid at allcosts!.

Edited July 28, 2010 by PantZ Bassplayer

[Mr. Foxen]

Jedson Telecaster shaped bass, bought on ebay with a lowball bid. It was photoed at an angle so I didn't twig it was guitar scale. Never found strings that would work on it. Still laying around somewhere with nothing useful worth stealing off it for a project. One day Bassassin will post a wanted ad for some part of it and I'll sell it to him for a pittance.

[MythSte]

I guess this could be construed two ways, Worst playing (setup, quility etc) and most disappointing.

I think the worst playing bass I ever had was an Ibanez EDA905, loves the idea and the warped shape, but I think the previous owner had funked up the truss rod.

Most disappointing bass? Hmm, thats a tough one! Possibly my musicman bongo, It was the bass I'd always wanted but I just couldnt get a good tone out of it Build quality and finish where amazing though.

[Marvin]

My first bass a Westone Spectrum 11. Just awful in every respect, quality, tone, playability, I could go on and on. Early 90's cheap basses that come nowhere near the budget end basses today. I think Crazy Kiwi mentioned he had one and would probably support my view.

[witterth]

For me, an Ibanez "blazer" ,you know, the supergrass ones.
for VERY weak pickups,
and, sorry fender fans, a precision bass (70s one...I know ..I know) because, I just, well, dont like them...sorry!

Edited July 29, 2010 by witterth

[KERMITNT]

the worst bass i got was a gretsch that was moded and the action was so high that a dinosaur could pass under the strings

i playes one a jackson bass that was the worst sound ever heard on bass, ehhh how to discribe? it was like an underwater hippo fart

[dave_bass5]

Worst bass for me was a Squier P bass special 5 string. The neck was so wide i really couldn't play it and it put me off 5 string basses for a few years.

Biggest mistake, well that would be my DJ5. Never liked the tone of it, even with the pup's changed.

[rjb]

Tanglewood Rebel. The worst by a country mile.

[quote]Marvin: Early 90's cheap basses that come nowhere near the budget end basses today.[/quote]

Yep.

Edited July 29, 2010 by rjb

[Geoff]

Some horrible silver Yamaha. It sounded boomy and the electronics kept giving up on me. Eventually me and my friends set it up in the back garden and fired mini paintballs at it.

[casapete]

A mid 70's Fender Precision - weighed a ton, thick horrible finish and dull tone even with new strings. Must admit I've never found
anything by Fender (basses and guitars) from that period to be much cop. Was cheap though, and made a small profit when I part ex'd it for a pre EB Stingray - which was everything the Fender was n't.

[ShergoldSnickers]

A Wilson Rapier medium scale bass. BP used them for drilling for a time as the neck dive was so pronounced. The body wood was one stage removed from Balsa. The two pickups looked a bit flimsy as well. Bizarrely though, it didn't sound too bad, just a bit anaemic in sustain, and a bit of a wooly bottom E. I eventually knocked the frets out using a shoe and a screwdriver. I put the right gauge white plastic card in the fret slots, sanded it down and got a useable fretless.

I'll dig the photos out later.

[Deep Thought]

Fender Aerodyne Jazz. Uncomfortable, not a much of a sound, crap electrics. Don't like the Jazz body shape either. No more Jazzes.