"Sustain is overrated too."
You will burn thunderbirdless in hell for this.
Seriously, the older I get the more the middle- and high-register comparative sustainlessness of bolt-ons bugs me. I'm at this point playing a lot my Yamaha Billie Sheehan something. It's a wonderful bass in many aspects, but it doesn't sing in the higher registers. Not like a TBird or Ric does. Whenever I go up there, I go "
Duh, where's the cello effect?"
I play a lot of melodies on bass, without a sustainy sound they don't fill as much, making my excursions sound thinner than they need to be.