Basses, Amplifiers, and Cabinets you DO NOT like... and WHY!

[getz out]

Based upon some recent threads, maybe we can get a thread going that discusses personal preference.

 

It would be nice if we could try no bashing, no one-liners like "Brand X sux, Brand Y r00lz"... it would also be nice if we could not write a novel on detailed nonsensical descriptions using adjectives that are hard to interpret...

 

It could be nice if there were some responses regarding different opinions and observations.

[getz out]

Eden WT-300/400/550/800 amplifiers; pretty much any Eden with a tube front. I know people love them, and I think they sound okay solo in a store, but every time I have used them as a backline I found the inherent, over-saturated tube sound was mushy in the mix.

[DavidMPires]

I don't like Harkte 1x15 combos co's they just don't cut through the mix, also I don't like peavey TKO because I never been able to pull of a good sound from them.

[_Sweet Willie_]

I have not had good luck with Carvin bass amps -- in particular the Red Line series of heads.

 

1. Too many EQ options -- more troublesome than helpful in my opinion.

 

2. Tonesuck -- honestly, with all those EQ options I feel like I should be getting better tone. Yet I fail.

 

That said, I'm very curious to try the newer line of Carvin heads (BR series?), and a friend of mine uses a Carvin power amp as part of his rig and it has been a workhorse for him.

 

Peace.

--SW

 

[Tom Capasso]

I have found the Eden550 to be unremarkable. I'll admit that some of that was my inexperience in proper parametric EQ tweaking, but still.. I got a decent sound, but nothing special, and for that money/reputation, I expected more. There are too many other options out there....

 

Fender 100W combo. Tried this out some years back and the distortion started with the volume at 4. yuck.

 

Ampeg rack-style heads - again, not terrible, but given the weight, price, and power, they didn't float my boat. The ones with parametric and graphic EQ seem like overkill.

 

Aguilar GS112 - I thought it was woofy. I directly compared it to other 12 cabs and bought something else.

 

Phil Jones - an odd tone to my ears. And another case of probably well made equipment that's too heavy and too expensive compared to the market. no thanks.

 

I am reserving judgement on Acoustic Image. They are too clean/brittle on their own (I've tested them un-effected). Ed F puts a Boss VF-1 processor in front and likes it, so my "jury" is out until I test it accordingly. I like the size/weight, and have heard it played successfully with electric cello...

 

I confess that there are some brands I never (or rarely) try out. SWR, Fender, Ampeg tube-power and Hartke are the main "left-outs" here. Can't say why, though I am something of a boutique-preference kinda guy...

 

Tom

[alexclaber]

I haven't actually played that many amps in anger due to almost always taking my rig to gigs, and whenever I've used something else I've been able to find a good sound in it though it usually pins me in a certain sonic corner but change is good, right?

 

I do have a big bugbear with amps with too many knobs because 90% of bassists seem to make their tone worse when given knobs to tweak. Give everyone a passive bass and amp with passive tone stack and make them pass an exam before they're allowed more EQ and the world of bass would sound better!

 

IMO bad tone is usually the result of operator error. But then again few bass amps and cabs live up to their claims, especially since 'pure' tone become the latest buzzword...

 

Alex

[JonathanD]

I have found I don't like the SVT410HLF. Its too boomy for me and seems to soak up energy. By itself it sounds great, but I didnt like it in a band situation. The 610 seems to not have this problem.

On the lines of Ampeg, I dont like any of their closed cabs (410he 410hs, 118, 115, BXT410 or BXT115). They seem to quick to give a distorted sound. Another point I dislike is that they dont have a lot of bottom, maybe these cabs are meant to go with a HLF cab or some other low freq cab, but I never got to test that out.

Genz Benz 410 with 400 amp. That is a very crisp and clean amp. When I played it I didnt know as much about manipulation equipment as I do now. I thought it sounded like a tin box when I last played through it, maybe that was my fault though.

Last dislike: Playing through the pa just isnt as fun as through a nice rig.

 

[getz out]

On the lines of Ampeg, I don't like any of their closed cabs (410he 410hs, 118, 115, BXT410 or BXT115).

 

The SVT18, SVT15E, BXT410 and BXT115 are all ported.

[getz out]

Gisbon Thunderbirds; their neck is unusable for me. The lack of taper makes my hands cry.

[JBFLA]

I do have a big bugbear with amps with too many knobs because 90% of bassists seem to make their tone worse when given knobs to tweak. ...IMO bad tone is usually the result of operator error...

Alex

 

Guilty here - my most un-favorite setup was a Furman Pre/Parametric with a BGW amp and an Ampeg SVT cab. This would have been in the mid/late '70's. I couldn't hit a good tone setting with a brick, but looking back it was most likely OE.

 

Don't like - My old Kramer DMZ somethingorother. Aluminum neck from hell that (during Michigan winters) would fluctuate a full step from the start of the set 'til the end. Looked cool, probably why I bought it.

 

...but I was young. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jim

[jcadmus]

I've never played through an SWR I liked, but that's probably more personal taste than anything else. They make fine amps.

 

I'm very surprised to hear Tom say he finds the Eden 550 unremarkable -- I get tons of just gorgeous booty out of mine. And I set the eq almost flat, with the enhance knob at about 9 o'clock.

 

But again, it may be personal taste. And some of it may be the cabs I'm running too, though - Eden D210XST and D115XLT.

[JonathanD]

Thank you getz, you are right. However I dont like those cabs stand alone.

 

I cant stand any of the warwick basses I have played. Only because its like playing a bass with a 2X4 for a neck. I didnt even get into how they sound because the neck was not to my liking.

[jeremy c]

I cannot play a headless bass.

Since I don't look at the neck a whole lot, every time I try to play a headless instrument, my hand just comes off the end of the instrument.

 

I also don't like that you can't really play the instrument sitting down and it doesn't seem to hang on the strap in the right place for the arm positions I am used to.

 

Or maybe I just don't like headless basses. Do I really need a reason?

[Seamy ALB]

Ashdown amps from the top to the bottom. Doesn't matter what the bass is the tone will be the same plus I have had a number of friends who have had serious reliability issues with them.

 

I used to really dislike Fender basses, as I have gotten older I appreciate the wisdom in the design and the tone is unmistakable. I may even buy one in a few years. Do they do 6's?

[Eric VB]

I was very happy to be rid of my Peavey TNT 100. Not enough SPL for a band, and too big/heavy for a practice amp. It would have been nice to have more than just one clean sound, too. I guess I could have added a preamp or something, but, er, why waste my time?

 

Like getz, I'm not a big fan of the T-bird. It's too hard to play high on the neck; not for me.

 

Also, a Dean 12-string I tried just didn't feel very well made in my hands. I kept expecting it to just fall to pieces at any minute.

[Gruuve]

Hmmm...based on recent experience...I dislike the Carvin Bunny Brunel fretless basses. They are gorgeous and have tremendous attention to detail, have a very woody tone with lots of lower-mid emphasis and reduced upper mids...not a very articulate tone IMHO. I can definitely see other folks really liking them though, so this dislike is purely a personal and subjective one. The Carvin BB-5 fretless I recently sold would qualify as the least favorite fretless I've owned.

 

Dave

 

[Gruuve]

I cannot play a headless bass.

Since I don't look at the neck a whole lot, every time I try to play a headless instrument, my hand just comes off the end of the instrument.

 

I also don't like that you can't really play the instrument sitting down and it doesn't seem to hang on the strap in the right place for the arm positions I am used to.

 

Or maybe I just don't like headless basses. Do I really need a reason?

 

Agreed on this one, although I think that's limited to older Steinbergers and Hohner copies of them (not true of a Moses Graphite Keybass I played once...I'd suspect it's not true of David King basses nor Status Graphite basses). I had a Hohner Jack V headless for a while (the full-bodied headless), and I always found myself two frets wrong. The newer Steinberger Synapse basses have an arm that you hook the left side of the strap to, so they hang in a more typical position relative to left-hand expectations...not sure about the other current Steinberger models though.

 

And no, you don't need a reason not to like something.

[wraub]

Gibson basses in general. Although, I did play a nice RD Artist many years ago, I agree with Dr. Getzenstein re: the necks on most of them. And they all sound tubby. I do dig the look of a Thunderbird, though.

And Les Paul basses just look funny to me.

 

I have also found some Eden amps lacking. They just don't have "it" for me.

 

I would never buy an aluminum coned cabinet, Hartke or not, after seeing several blown ones back in the day, and even cooking 2 of them myself.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[Davo-London]

Over-complicated controls. I like amps that have a neutral set-up as a primary EQ and you physically have to change it to dial in your tone. Say Trace Elliots graphics EQ. Push button to energise or to remove from the signal. That make sense to me. A two-knob mids parametric EQ? Do you focus on the mid freq you want to cut or mid freq you want to boost? Never got to terms with this on the GK.

 

Davo

[mcbn]

I used to really dislike Fender basses, as I have gotten older I appreciate the wisdom in the design and the tone is unmistakable. I may even buy one in a few years. Do they do 6's?

 

No, Fender does not make a 6 string. From my understanding they have no plans to either.

[mcbn]

I don't care for the Ibanez Ergodyne basses. The looks aren't there for me and the feel is all wrong.

 

I also don't like a glossy finish on the back of the neck. I can deal with a satin, oil or no finish, but the gloss feels sticky to me.

[alexclaber]

To expand on my earlier comments, although I enjoy the novelty of playing different basses and rigs, even weird huge necked mud-monsters through furry old boomy amps, I wouldn't want to spend my money on many of them.

 

My ideal amp sounds just like my bass through really really really nice studio monitors (that means flat response throughout the range of hearing and totally uncompressed dynamically) so the further from that a rig gets, the less we'll get on. It also needs to be reasonably compact and light and loud.

 

My ideal bass is very acoustically responsive to my hands with pickups that translate as much of that as is possible with a few different main flavours from neck/bridge/both switching. The neck needs to be slim and fast, the balance needs to be good, the upper fret access needs to be excellent.

 

Alex

[getz out]

No, Fender does not make a 6 string. From my understanding they have no plans to either.

 

Didn't Tye Zamora of Alien Ant Farm have a Fender Custom Shop 6-neckthrough?

[rumpelstiltskin.]

yes, he did. also, ernie ball has finally jumped into the 6-string arena with the upcoming bongo 6. that should be pretty sweet for all the 6-players.

 

i have never been a fan of SWR cabinets. for something that is said to sound "hi-fi", they certainly produce only one tone. and in the one-tone club is much of ashdown, though i can't say that i don't like that one tone too badly.

 

i am also not a fan of ampeg cabinets. like SWR, their amps are fine, though not enough of what i want to spend money on them. but their cabinets do not sound like what i like. there really are very few amps that are just plain bad. but cabinets are the under-appreciated tone control for your rig. and most people set that control to "really not good at all".

 

there are, likewise, very few basses that i just don't like at all. i mean, i really haven't found the love for sadowsky like so many other people in the world (well, apart from that one MV4 i played), but it's not like they're bad basses that are totally unusable. basses are such a personal thing with far more variables than amps or cabinets. it's really hard for a bass to completely miss, and even then it's usually a problem with setup rather than the bass itself.

 

robb.

[Rocky McDougall]

I used to really dislike Fender basses, as I have gotten older I appreciate the wisdom in the design and the tone is unmistakable. I may even buy one in a few years. Do they do 6's?

 

Fender made a limited supply on 6 string basses in 61 & 62 mostly for studio work. They are very rare.

 

Rocky

 

 

[_Sweet Willie_]

I used to not like Ampeg cabs (in general).

 

I recently had a near nirvanic experience with an Ampeg 410HE.

 

Now I think there are Ampeg cabs that I do not like specifically.

 

Peace.

--SW

 

[...]

I'll hate on.

 

* Anything that says "Hartke" on it. Their heads are underpowered and leave much to be desired in the tone department. Their aluminum cone speakers are especially high on my list of "most disliked" due to the utterly horrid sounds that they produce - let alone their sordid history of blowing up/melting/whatever. I've had to use their cabs on a number of occasions where backline was provided and I've never had a good experience; even when the head driving it was something that I generally don't mind (like a GK800).

 

* The few Behringer bass rigs I've played through at Guitar Center out of sheer curiosity. Yuck, yuck, and yuck are my comments on the tone that they produce.

 

* All Jackson basses. In general I love their guitars but the basses that I have played have felt cheap and cumbersome in my hands. Most MIM Fenders that I've played stomp all over Jackson basses.

 

* Ampeg "HLF" series cabs. They all have an over-powering obscene amount of low end. I fought with one for quite some time trying desperately to get rid of some boomy low end mush and get some mid definition in the tone. They would just not have that. These would be great cabs if all you wanted to do was play whole notes and shake stuff. If you actually are looking to hear definition in the notes you're playing I would steer clear.

 

* Warwick basses because their necks are just too damn big for my hands/liking. They sure sound good though.

 

* SWR Goliath III cabs. Those of you scoring at home (or if you're by yourself) will note that I currently own two of these. I've grown tired of their one-trick pony tone. They have way too much mid response and not nearly enough low end response. Cab Hunt 2007 has been underway for some time now. I'm currently waiting on BassNW to get some additional candidates in stock.

 

* Most Alembic basses. Ridiculous cost aside I generally don't like the necks. The only exception to this is the neck profile on the one I own. Their electronics are insane and I would love to put them in more basses - unfortunately the electronics alone cost more than a lot of low/mid range basses.

 

Eden WT-300/400/550/800 amplifiers; pretty much any Eden with a tube front. I know people love them, and I think they sound okay solo in a store, but every time I have used them as a backline I found the inherent, over-saturated tube sound was mushy in the mix.

 

I concur.

[dcr]

I've never found a G&L bass that I sounded good on. I think that's weird, because they're obviously fine instruments, & I'm determined to keep trying. But I've generally found the tone was too bright (this from a die-hard Ric guy!) & nothing I did changed that--certainly not twiddling with all those inscrutable controls. Still, there's just got to be a G&L for me out there somewhere...

 

I also don't like basses that look like they're trying too hard to look exotic. Warwicks are a bit of a turn-off that way, as are LOTS of boutique basses (Nordstrands & a few others aside). I also don't like the upper horn on Ned Steinberger-inspired designs; it looks like it's melted or something.

 

Pieces of bent aluminum cans that get passed off as "bridges" give me the sh!ts.

 

And dead spots. For every dead spot I find--I KILL YOU! And why does just about every bass have them? This is how I know we've never been to the moon.

[dcr]

Also in my G&L category: the Lakland Skyline 55 models I've tried. Big-ass necks, and though I never thought I'd say this, way too much bottom end. Excellent basses, but not for me.

[music-man]

I'm sure I'll offend someone here ...

 

Cabs I'd leave on the street:

Hartke: All the rage in the 80s, and yet neither clarity nor depth.

GK - Underrated amps, overrated cabs. And who cares about the biamping thing, anyway (except greenboy).

Fender - well, except for the 2x15 Bassman cab I kick myself for leaving behind when I moved out west.

Aguilar 1x12 - See Carvin (and I don't care how much they cost)

Carvin 1x15 - Annoying mid-range honk, no low end extension, carpet covering that sucked in lint from the neighbors' practice spaces.

 

Combos I have hated:

Late 80s Fender Bassman combo: Heavy, bulky, and wholly underpowered.

Peavey TKO: Agh: it's what a guitar player thinks a bass should sound like.

SWR LA Series: The write ups in the Musicians Friend catalogues approach fraud. These are truly the worst of the worst.

 

Brands I wish would disappear, so that people wouldn't be tempted to waste their money:

Behringer

Rogue

Johnson

 

Basses I have hated:

Carvin - can't explain why I despise a headstock shape so much, but I really do.

Yamaha BB3000 - It has taken me a few years of playing a solid fretless to understand how much I actually hated my old Yamaha.