What bass would you pick if you were in my shoes?

JETkoten · #1 03-28-2009, 09:47 PM

What bass would you pick if you were in my shoes?
I have to admit when I am on forums and find these kind of threads where people give their advice about someone's potential upcoming purchase I enjoy them tremendously. Now, I'm finally writing one!

I came across a 'new' Warwick 4 string Corv. Standard fretless while looking at a Corv. 5 Standard fretted, while I was getting strings for my bass. A few years back my dad gave me an old G&L L-1000. It took me a while to try it out, but when I did I found tremendous joy in learning some bass lines of songs I like.

I saw that 4 fretless there and thought to myself, oh so that's a fretless wonder what it's like. I played it and loved it. Prior to seeing that I was thinking that either a used Steinberger Synapse or a new G&L L-2500 5 string both 5 string and fretted would be my next bass. Now that I have discovered the world of Warwick, and that I like fretless I'm having a very hard time deciding!

About the Synapse, I think I'd probably kick myself if I missed out on one of those and I've found a deal on one I could barely afford after my next paycheck. However, the price on the 'mostly new' Warwick 4 fretless is one of the best I'll find and there's a used one nearby too that might actually be in better shape than the 'new' one that I could likely talk down to the same as the Synapse, and only $100-$150 more than the 'new' one... I have a very modest income so it will take a good while to save up for the new L-2500 that I had really thought would be my next bass before this week and the fretless and finding the Synapse deal. Ahhh, decisions, decisions, decisions. Any advice? Ideally, please vote in the poll and write a reply too.

Thanks

Ken Baker · #2 03-28-2009, 10:55 PM

I think that the best advice I could give you would be to figure out what sound you hear in your head. Then go find that sound, regardless of what bass produces it. You probably won't be really happy about a bass until you do that. Once you have that sound, you can safely bounce around and try other things.

My vote is a vote for education.

Ken...

ljazz · #3 03-29-2009, 03:40 AM

I second Ken's advice..... unfortunately, it's tough, because sometimes you never really know until you've had the chance to rehearse and gig with a bass for a bit. In my case, I've played P's and J's for so long that it really is the sound I hear in my head, and I have a horribly difficult time getting along with anything else.

To add to Ken's advice......
L1000's are killer basses. I'd find something that will compliment what you have going on with it. For instance, I have my SB1, and strung with flats, it covers a lot of ground (and satisfies that tone I have rollin' around in my noggin). My MIA J strung with rounds compliments it perfectly (but doesn't replace the SB1) by covering the ground the SB1 doesn't.

I've spent a ton of money over the years on basses, only to find I keep coming back to the basses I bought in '87 and '92. And they were picked because of playability, and the fact that they compliment each other. Ultimately, I find the reason they've stayed around so long is that they're what I have going on upstairs. Limiting? Maybe. But they are my voice.

I vote "None... keep saving until you know for sure"..... even though it's tough and sometimes expensive to know for sure.

Ljazz

Nedmundo · #4 03-29-2009, 08:18 AM

I agree with Ken and Ljazz. Save until you really know. It would help a little to know the genres you play, whether you plan to play out, etc. Even so, Ljazz is correct that you don't know definitively until you hear your bass in a band mix. But that's why, when it comes to these recommendation threads, I typically recommend the old "plug-and-play" standards -- Jazz and Precision -- unless the player has some specific need neither addresses. They usually work in the mix, and whether we like it or not, they are frequently the sounds in our heads due to their prevalence in popular music. But of course you could easily prefer something else, like anything with MFD's for example

, so keep playing and figure it out.

strummin · #5 03-30-2009, 03:11 PM

Having been in your position, asking advice/wondering what to buy, the best advice turned out to be going to a few stores and playing a variety of brands/models. Without knowing it consciously, it turned out exactly like Ken's comments. The one I ended up buying was the one that matched the sound I had in my head, what I was looking/listening for. Knew it the first time I played it. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

JETkoten · #6 03-31-2009, 07:48 PM

Thanks very much for all the insightful advice. The $650 fretless Warwick sold to someone else, and after that I had to stop and think, and also I considered more deeply the advice on here.

I'm going to keep on with my L-1000 and save my $$$s for now. I'm going to contemplate the bass sound that I hear in my head when I think of what I'd like to achieve and sound like bass-wise and also look for more opportunities to see the basses that I'm interested in in person to try and play them and hear them before I make any new purchases.

Again, thanks for all that you wrote on here and your votes.

jmattis · #7 04-01-2009, 08:40 AM

$1600 is steep for an L-2500. You should be able to find them in the $1200-1300 range. Unless you're looking at a flamed top with binding or a birdseye fingerboard.