Worst bass you have owned and why?

[2pods]

Worst was an 80's Fender P with a horrible gun metal finish. It just sounded lifeless, and it weighed a ton.

Also a Yamaha BB300(?), a medium scale bass which was great until the nut broke during rehearsal. I took it back to Sound Control and got another one, and I broke the nut on that one in the same place in the same song*. SC were calling me "Mr. Destructo"
I gave up on them and got a synth module instead (stiil had my fretless anyway).


* Alright, I'll own up. It was the slap bit in the middle of Sting's "Set Them Free"

Edited August 7, 2010 by 2pods

[Ancient Mariner]

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='908742' date='Jul 28 2010, 11:10 PM']Avon EB0 copy. Gave tin and firewood a bad name. Awful thing.

Probably worth £150 as a 'Lawsuit' now.[/quote]

Another ex-Avon EB0 owner in the late 70s here. Didn't play terribly (and would have played much better if I'd known back then what I know now) but sounded woolly and vague, not helped by the flats someone had fitted.

I've now got a couple of cheap basses, and have been amazed at how well they can play with a fret level and intonation/neck relief/action adjusted carefully.

[OliverBlackman]

Im gonna get some gripe for this, but the epiphone thunderbird i had was useless for everything but the reason i bought it....To look like the origional bassist from The Darkness

[OliverBlackman]

[quote name='Johnston' post='918357' date='Aug 7 2010, 09:28 PM']I love my Epi T-bird it just looks, feels and sounds the part[/quote]

Maybe theres no such thing as a bad bass? Just a bass that doesnt suit what you want out of a bass. But im sorry johnston, i couldnt play any of the music i wanted to play on it so it went for the ashdown amp, which i dont really like since i got the hartke rig. But thats a whole different topic

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='blackmn90' post='918425' date='Aug 7 2010, 11:21 PM']Maybe theres no such thing as a bad bass?[/quote]


There is

[Chris2112]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='910493' date='Jul 30 2010, 06:08 PM']I don't think I've had a bad bass - this is the one I'd rank lowest...(bitchin' case though eh?)

[/quote]


You've been lucky, because that looks incredible!

[pete.young]

Vox Wyman. It weighed a ton because of the thick chrome scratch plate, sounded like crap and was horrible to play. Wish I'd kept it - a couple of years ago, clean versions were selling around the grand mark. I think I got 15 quid for mine.

[nomis]

a ''vintage'' music man copy, awful... just awful!

[JMT3781]

Ibanez BTB 6 string... dreadfull thing. It was one of the first ones they made... the later ones were far better in every respect

[Chris2112]

[quote name='JMT3781' post='919705' date='Aug 9 2010, 03:30 PM']Ibanez BTB 6 string... dreadfull thing. It was one of the first ones they made... the later ones were far better in every respect[/quote]

I had a first generation BTB405QM. I think it must be about 8 years or so since I bought it...it was some years ago now! Great bass, really loved it. Didn't really know what to do with the dual band mid control at the time but I recall it did sound awesome!

[bobbytodd]

mine has to be a bc rich beast the fretboard was far to big the body was whaayyy to big and pointy and i wasnt to impressed with the pick ups but it looked awesome.dont think ill ever buy another bass off tinternet

[Machines]

Vintage V940FL for me. Unlined fretless neck and bubinga body, good concept but badly executed. The electronics were shocking, never seen such messy wiring in my life - they didn't even bother to blow the sawdust out of the cavity before putting the pots and EQ in. Neck pocket had a 1mm gap around it, terrible. That said it played well just sounded a bit weak due to the EQ.

[Stu-khag]

I've never bought a bad bass but then again haven't bought many.
I've mentioned this bass on a few occasions but when I started playing I had a BC rich white thing for about a year. It was a bit like Duffs from guns and roses. Played horribly added with not being able /willing to get it set up. I have to say it helped me get my hands up to strength though as I was gigging within a month of playing the thing.
I've played a few basses that I've been very disapointed with. I passed on a ricky 4003 for 450 quid about 8 years ago as it played like a pig.
Tried a Marcus Miller Jazz in town about a month or two ago. I thought it looked great. I couldn't get on with the pup and bridge cover so had a go without them and I really didn't find anything nice tonally about it.

[ShergoldSnickers]

As promised a photo of that Wilson Rapier bass:

[attachment=56158:WilsonRapier.jpg]

The amp is an HH V.S. Bassamp Combo, with a fretted Shergold Marathon leaning on it. Later swapped for the current fretless. Hull University gig in one of the smaller rooms. Halfway through the set I'd leap onto the step ladders and shave off the false beard as I solo'd. Heady days.

[Chris2112]

I must have got one of those when they first came out. It was so "first gen" that it didn't even have the Wilkinson pickups! The neck pocket was slightly shoddy, however there was some flame in the maple of the neck which was nice. It sounded pretty dire now that I look back, and played awfully as I strung it with Rotosound Steve Harris flats, which sounded crap and were unbelievably stiff.

[Machines]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='919920' date='Aug 9 2010, 06:52 PM']I must have got one of those when they first came out. It was so "first gen" that it didn't even have the Wilkinson pickups! The neck pocket was slightly shoddy, however there was some flame in the maple of the neck which was nice. It sounded pretty dire now that I look back, and played awfully as I strung it with Rotosound Steve Harris flats, which sounded crap and were unbelievably stiff.[/quote]
Yep that's what I put on, it was very dull and they were like steel rods. I chucked them and put some old roundwounds on and it was a lot better, chewed the fretboard a little but was worth it for the tone.

[bigsmokebass]

Baught new: Ibanez SRX355, horrible horrible bass that put me off Ibanez for a life time.

admittadly, and hence "baught new" is because i soon turned it into a fretless project and made perhaps the best fretless ive played.

Edited August 10, 2010 by bigsmokebass

[LemonCello]

My worst bass ever was a 1970's Kay Rickenbacker copy. Am I being thick when I say I think it came from a Kay's catalogue??? Twas a long time ago, but it didn't put me off as I traded the 'Rickenplank' for some kind of Hondo, a shiny brown thing reminiscent of an Ercol sideboard! In fact, the action was so high you could fly a sideboard under the strings!

Long break away from the Bass until I bought a black Aria SB600 in New Zealand of all places. Liked this a lot but sold it (idiot) to fund the purchase of a hard case for my 'cello.

Am enjoying my two very different basses, Corvette $$ and VMJ and I have to admit I really have started to love the VMJ. Great neck, fat passive sound and faultless build quality.

Have my eye on a '75 Jazz refin. Just a matter of time!!

[benh]

Worst bass I ever owned has to be a Stagg 5 string my dad bought me when I'd just started playing - the neck literally split in half mid-practise!

(Mind you, what did he expect for £50!)

[Rumblebass]

Excellent thread, has had me laughing all afternoon, I have had some shockers in my time, & someone even mentioned one that I did own, but nobody else had ever heard of them (Gherson Jazz!). I didn't dream it then!
The most dissapointing bass I ever had was a genuine 1973 Gibson EB3 bass I bought when I had a spell in a Cream tribute band. I'd always wanted one anyway, having been a big Jim Lea fan, and the chance came to buy one. After a few gigs, I realised what a pile of sh*te it was, very heavy, the neck used to dive so much, I had to have a velcro strip on the underneath of the strap, and a matching one on my shoulder, just to keep the thing level, even then it used to almost pull my shirt from my back! Awful tone, ranging from muddy, to very muddy, to fart in the bath. I was obviously blinded by love when I first saw it & overlooked its deficiencies, but then I did exactly the same when I met the wife!!

Cheers
R.

[Andy]

It's a tough call between:-

a Kay short scale that cost me 10 quid when I was 13 - it had a truss rod that span round freely in the neck and rattled when i played - not in great overall condition either - hence my first band nickname 'Rusty Kay'

a Hondo Precision copy (a big step up the ladder to £40) - the fretwork was so bad i got re-nicknamed 'Buzz Hondo'!

and a franconia jazz copy (£70) - had a neck like a banana which eventually cracked and pretty much broke free of the body as a result of some overly exhuberhant tremelo work!

I guess you get what you pay for?

[stingrayfan]

Squier Jazz - took your fingers off the strings and it buzzed like a swarm of angry wasps. Nice body though, should have kept it and tried to make it less anti-social.

Actually, reminds me of an ex-girlfriend.

[Max Normal]

Warwick Streamer Stage II. Nice looking bloody expensive piece of wood and incredibly fast and easy neck, but flat and lifeless and too woody sounding despite the active circuitry. OK if you just want to play minty jazz, apart from that, overhyped crap.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Max Normal

[Vibrating G String]

New it would be an OLP and a Status. Modded the heck out of the OLP and now love it, got rid of the Status as it was beyond my ability to fix.

[beardybass]

Mine was a Dean, wouldn't really say it was terrible, but I just couldn't get on with it. Not even sure why I bought it to be honest, never did particularly like it! Just a moment of pure stupidity I think!