DBer's perspective on Pork Chop shopping

[Gornick]

For those who double on the plank, what do you look for in a good slab? And how do you like the setup?

Been thinking of picking up a Fender something of other, and am in the process of trying a bunch out, maybe lay out a couple bills, nothing serious. (I know it sounds like one of those kids coming over to ask about a Cremonatino on Ebay or something, but nonetheless.) There is, of course, a mountain of info over on the light side, but I would love some input from the cremundgions over here.

[Jason Sypher]

For my money I think there is nothing more versatile or musical sounding than a great vintage P-bass or J-bass with top of the line modern pick-ups....

[Jake]

Carvin has a new series that is based on a Fender Jazz Bass. I've never heard one, but they very high quality.

[Marcus Johnson]

J bass.

[TroyK]

I used to want my slab to sound as close to DB as possible. One day, I realized that I only really play the thing when I am doing something different. So, my current axe is a Fender Jazz, with sort of round wound strings. I love passive Warwick Corvettes, though.

I had a fretless P-Bass with flatwounds for a while, but it didn't really do it as an electric bass and it didn't fool me as a doublebass. The 2nd jazz pickup is nice.

Ernie Ball Stingrays are nice. I prefer passive pickups, for a few reasons, including the fact that I don't want to worry about a battery dying as it sits in the case for months and months and months.

[Herbie 80's]

I've only ever come across two slab's that I'd want. One is my current slab, a copy of a Hofner 500/1 built to my specifications, strung with Roto Jazz 77 Flats. I love it.m Fretless, btw.


But I love my DB more.

And a Music Man Bongo. Oh god.

[relacey]

I've got a couple of low end Carvins, a Fender J copy, and a higher end Ibanez but about two years ago I bought an MTD Kingston Z4 (one of the Korean made models from Tobias) and it put the others to shame in range of tone. I think they are still available at less than a grand. I got a good deal on mine from Music123 in their scratch & dent plus a sale. I'm still looking for the scratch or dent. I like my setup fairly low with flat-wound Thommasik jazz strings. Plus, Tobias puts some really beautiful woods on their instruments.

I'd say look at how the bass balances, how it hangs when standing, and if you're going to play seated how the bass sets on your leg. I never liked the Fender Jazz as they don't balance right for me when standing, although fine when sitting although a touch neck heavy. One of my Carvins is almost unplayable seated as my right hand winds up somewhere over the 16th fret, and it is a heavy mother to play standing. However, for a rock gig with a better than average chance for a bar fight it's my go-to axe. Nothing like 15 lbs of rock hard maple to even the score.

I may get flamed for this but almost everything on a slab is fixable except the balance. Don't like the sound, put in new PUPs. Need more tone control, add an active circuit or a good preamp. I just don't see them as quite as temperamental as the DB. I'm not into boutique bass guitars. There's a lot of good options out there for not a ton of money.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by relacey

I may get flamed for this but almost everything on a slab is fixable except the balance.

I agree. The problem with slab is that you have to hold it up all night, it doesn't stand there and play itself like a DB. And if it's your secondary instrument, then it has to be comfortable to make up for a relative lack of practice. It's hard to have fluid shifting if you are also using your left hand to keep the bass from doing a "neck dive."

A proper strap helps. I like a wide one made of leather that is just a bit sticky, so the bass doesn't slide around.

I found a cheap Ibanez that just fit me like a glove. It's more or less a J copy, but with a P style pickup in the neck position. I use that P pickup almost exclusively.

[Nathan Parker]

I like the Fender Precision, because it is very uncomplicated ( 2 knobs ) and it gets a good sound that is pleasing to my and most peoples ears.

Please bear in mind that people do not call me to play electric bass, so my opinion is not super valid, but most the electric bass stuff I listen to was played by guys using fenders, so they can't be that bad.

[Jazzdogg]

Weight and balance are very important to me, but the feel of the neck and fingerboard, the set-up, string selection, and the string spacing are also at the top of my list.

Most TB electric players seem to prefer very low action and a sound that's way to zingy for my taste, with round-wound strings that enable abundant fret clatter and finger noise, way too much treble, and smiley-face equalization.

Doesn't make much sense to rely upon someone else's recommendations unless you know how their biases and preferences relate to your own, which requires a modicum of disclosure.

The most important questions for me are (1) will a particular electric bass be comfortable in my hands and on my shoulders for 4 hours and (2) will it give me the sound I like.

[Gornick]

Thanks for the input. Of course, it's all subjective, but it's a good topic to discuss, regardless.

My general lean is towards a Jazz. I would like to have at least a little tonal range at hand.

Haven't thought about weight/balance issues, so that is helpful.

I do know I want nothing to do with active pickups. I have wasted an hour or two troubleshooting a friend's bass to find out it actually had a battery in it.

I personally have found that the super low action thing won't work, since it's too easy to go too heavy on the attack.

[moles]

I disagree that putting new pickups or anything else will always fix a bad sounding slab. I spent years and $$$ trying to fix some not-so-great sounding basses, and sometimes it worked (sorta), and often it Did Not work.

I've learned that the best sounding basses (IMO) always are a little bit thumpy and almost dead sounding acoustically. Going for something that sounds big, bright, and with lots of low end trying it out at the music store always seems to fall short on the gig.

I've got a lower end Ibanez fiver that is a great example of how this works. Unplugged it sounds like it's got almost no sustain - but plug it in and the sustain is there, right underneath all the thump that helps punch it through the mix.

[Jazzdogg]

I don't recall having read whether you're considering a fretted or a fretless electric bass. For me, these kinds of decisions involve a series of forced rankings, and fretted or fretless is among the first choices.

After playing nothing but a 4-string fretless P-bass or a DB for 30 years, my main gigging bass became a fretted five-string electric about five years ago. Now I'm planning to play fretless five-string electric and DB almost exlusively, and I've found that my preferences in fretless electric basses have changed a lot since the 1970s!

I only mention this because, for me at least, deciding to play a fretless electric has pushed a few bass makers to the front of the line; horses for courses and all that jazz.

I'm eager to read more about your tonal and ergonomic preferences, which basses you choose to audition, and what you ultimately choose to buy.

[Gornick]

I thought of going fretless, and my ears could handle it, but I don't intend on spending a LOT of time working on the technique aspect. I'll definitely try one when it comes up.

I started on guitar many years ago, and have put in some slab time before coming over to the real thing. The slab was a loner and I didn't get into details much. It was a Yamaha P-bass clone I believe, one pickup, easy enough to play. It got me through a year of gigging with a wacky lounge cover band with a wide variety for repertoire. When I got the DB, I dropped the slab immediately and did the rest of that stint learning my way around the fingerboard. That was 6 years ago (?) and I am only now thinking of actually owning one, sooo.....there you have it.

Not looking at a huge investment, as I have plenty of GAS on the dark side of things. Definitely will post when and if the deal is done. Otherwise, would love to know what some of the other doublers got laying around.

[TroyK]

I got rid of my fretless P Bass because I just didn't want to work on it that much and my DB fingering starts creeping into my electric playing and such and it's nice to have the cheat the fret affords you. And honestly, it doesn't hurt the sound. If electric bass was my main instrument, I could see being fretless or having two identical fenders, one fretless and one not, but as an occasional side thing, why not get help from the frets? Its actually really nice not to have to worry about intonation for the night.

When I was trying to make my EBG sound like a DB, then I went through all the flatwounds and had favorites, but I had a rock gig a few years ago and understood why at volume with a full band, that's not the sound you want. Its good to be able to dial tone in and out so that you can hear and be heard. Still not liking what Slinkys did to my DB callouses, I settled on Ken Smith's Burners, which are sort of ground round. Smooth enough to no mess my fingers up and keep the noise down, round enough to get me a full range of tones.

Though I hardly ever play it, I've been thinking lately about selling my jazz bass and picking up a standard, passive Warwick Corvette. I love the big heavy, chunky necks and you can get all kinds of sounds out of them. I might actually play it more if I had one and I could probably break even on the sale/buy.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

For my money I think there is nothing more versatile or musical sounding than a great vintage P-bass or J-bass with top of the line modern pick-ups....

I did a blues recording session this past weekend and the studio had a vintage (not sure of the year but the guy said it was old) P-Bass with older passive Bartolinis and was in hog heaven. I'm not sure it woulda been great if I was doing slappy slap stuff but for blues it was amazing.

I have a Warwick 5-string that I mostly bought for the occasional blues or r&b gig. I purposely bought fretted. I had a fretless jazzbass for a while but I just felt like I was getting this Jaco-like sound without the musical genius. I play DB if fretless in the order of the day. I also purposely bought a bass with a passive/active switch. Very handy to get a variety of tones. Plus the bonus is that if your battery dies on the set you can just switch to passive mode.

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by Gornick

For those who double on the plank, what do you look for in a good slab? And how do you like the setup?

The EB isn't as generic as some folks might think, once you get into the nuances of set up and materials/ construction. After you play EB for awhile, I hope you will agree. Maybe you would enjoy a short scale model. I know that Larry Grenadier and some other high profile doubler's are playing short scale Fenders. I recently did some serious gig time with a very nice Teisco NB-2 from the mid '60's, set up with Thomastik flats. I'm negotiating a trade for it with the owner right now.

I noticed in your profile you list the Raven Labs pre amp. Exclnt! With that unit you shouldn't need to worry about having active electronics on the bass, (unless you prefer them that is).

Originally Posted by Jason Sypher

For my money I think there is nothing more versatile or musical sounding than a great vintage P-bass or J-bass with top of the line modern pick-ups....

Absolutley! Though I have had good luck in that my vintage Fenders sound great with the stock pickups.

[Jefenator]

As you might expect, the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to.

I usually prefer a BG set up with flatwound strings and high action. Gives me less adjusting to do as I switch back & fourth from DB.

I agree, one pickup is a good place to start. More emphasis on technique - less electronic distractions.

IMO it would be worth your while to find the coolest music store you can and try a bunch of stuff out - see what speaks to you. Though for the actual purchase, on your budget (or any budget for that matter), I like your odds best here on the TB classifieds.

[Gornick]

Originally Posted by Jefenator

I usually prefer a BG set up with flatwound strings and high action. Gives me less adjusting to do as I switch back & fourth from DB.

That is the direction I was leaning towards. I threw some flatwounds on that loner back in the day and considered a definite upgrade in feel and tone.

I know that Larry Grenadier and some other high profile doubler's are playing short scale Fenders.

Interesting, I would imagine the opposite, less adjusting from the 41 or so scale length. How short you talking? 30? 32? am I correct in thinking of 34 as the standard? When is that TB merge taking place? when will the floodgates open?

[MR PC]

30" inch scale, Mustang or Musicmaster models. The Teisco is 30". 31" is real nice too, my favorite, but not so many models are around with that scale. 32" is pretty common on some Gibson style basses. 34" is the standard for most people, since Leo Fender brought out the old P-Bass.

Maybe the shorter scale feels more like the longer scale of the upright "scaled" down. In that case the muscle memory might transfer easier, dunno. Short scale basses can have a *****similar***** envelope and note duration of the DB as well. Maybe.

In general, I like electric basses that are "under built". Rattling bridges, and floppy truss rods.

Rabbit holes!