Bad tone

Pills Are Yummy · #1 12-10-2012, 09:40 PM

I've been wondering,
Is there any way around a bass with bad tone? I'm running a Dean Razorback with emg dc40's and BTC tone system through my ampeg, and the tone is just crap. My 87 charvel does the job quite nicely, but alas, I broke the input jack.

Suggestions?

RAMUSIC · #2 12-10-2012, 09:53 PM

Sell the Dean; fix the Charvel. Sorry to be negative but it's a razorback...

IMHO.

hock it...

darkstorm · #3 12-10-2012, 10:02 PM

If it sounds bad even with the active emgs and emg preamp, then yep, get rid of the bass. Prob has poor grade woods in it. I assume you have put new strings of choice on it and still bad tone?

Pills Are Yummy · #4 12-10-2012, 10:02 PM

That's what I was thinking...worst tone ive ever heard. Unbelievably high, thin, tinny

RAMUSIC · #5 12-10-2012, 10:04 PM

Think of it as good news though! Now you have an opportunity/excuse to get something that sounds delicious!

Pills Are Yummy · #6 12-10-2012, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkstorm

If it sounds bad even with the active emgs and emg preamp, then yep, get rid of the bass. Prob has poor grade woods in it. I assume you have put new strings of choice on it and still bad tone?

DM blue steels, still nothing. It's some composite basswood crap. For a bass the size of a tree, it weighs nothing

Pills Are Yummy · #7 12-10-2012, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAMUSIC

Think of it as good news though! Now you have an opportunity/excuse to get something that sounds delicious!

I was thinking Spector Euro 435LX

RAMUSIC · #8 12-10-2012, 10:15 PM

Sir... you and I are thinking alike. A Spector would be stellar!

Pills Are Yummy · #9 12-10-2012, 10:19 PM

Especially in 35 scale

spaz21387 · #10 12-10-2012, 10:23 PM

spend 5$ for a jack and 10$on a soldering iron and fix the charvel then... and on the topic of wood. I have a cheap basswood squier vm p bass and it sounds great. Id say the pickup placement and build quality makes more of a difference than the wood type.

RAMUSIC · #11 12-10-2012, 10:26 PM

Gotta agree with spaz on that one. As listed in my signature, Squier MB-5.. but it was designed well and built in the old Cort factory. Obviously could be improved on, but not bad by any means. Build quality and design are big factors. Tonewoods are secondary.

spaz21387 · #12 12-10-2012, 10:31 PM

and another way to mask a bad sounding bass is fuzz. Get yourself a big muff or similar fuzz! being a metal guy you need a nice distortion.

Pills Are Yummy · #13 12-10-2012, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaz21387

and another way to mask a bad sounding bass is fuzz. Get yourself a big muff or similar fuzz! being a metal guy you need a nice distortion.

I actually prefer a nice tube growl. But great advice! I'll try it out

jmattbassplaya · #14 12-10-2012, 10:36 PM

Some basses just sound bad. I've owned a enough bad basses and enough good ones to know that sometimes you just have zero control over the quality of the tone you're going to get despite what you do. I had a US StingRay with the same problem. It just never sounded good.

Pills Are Yummy · #15 12-10-2012, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaz21387

spend 5$ for a jack and 10$on a soldering iron and fix the charvel then... and on the topic of wood. I have a cheap basswood squier vm p bass and it sounds great. Id say the pickup placement and build quality makes more of a difference than the wood type.

Ay jack will do huh? Alright, thanks. Idk about build quality, this thing is neck thru. The basswood is low quality even by basswood standards. You can literally balance this thing on one finger

soulman969 · #16 12-10-2012, 10:42 PM

If you had a new jack for the Charvel and a soldering iron from the time you posted your initial post until now you'd have repaired it. Fix the Charvel and sell the Dean. Some basses just aren't very good period no matter what woods they're built with. The strings and pickups have infinitely more effect on tone than the body wood.

darkstorm · #17 12-10-2012, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaz21387

spend 5$ for a jack and 10$on a soldering iron and fix the charvel then... and on the topic of wood. I have a cheap basswood squier vm p bass and it sounds great. Id say the pickup placement and build quality makes more of a difference than the wood type.

Except when its poor grade wood. High qaulity basswood doesnt sound dead, low qaulity basswood is garbage like any other low qaulity wood. The dean maybe cheap basswood plywood or something equally gross.

Pills Are Yummy · #18 12-10-2012, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulman969

If you had a new jack for the Charvel and a soldering iron from the time you posted the your initial post until now you'd have repaired it. Fix the Charvel and sell the Dean. Some basses just aren't very good period no matter what woods they're built with. The strings and pickups have infinitely more effect on tone than the body wood.

Yeah, no extra jacks laying around here

Like I said, blue steels and emg's

jmattbassplaya · #19 12-10-2012, 10:53 PM

Jacks are cheap and easy to fix. I definitely suggest you try to learn how to do the job yourself. It's not hard at all to do, but it takes a little patience. Totally worth it.

soulman969 · #20 12-10-2012, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pills Are Yummy

Yeah, no extra jacks laying around here

Like I said, blue steels and emg's

Well log on to your most friendly online parts site and order a spare jack or two. While your at it think over some other key components that may also be good to have a spare or two of on hand. If you gonna own an instrument you should have the capability of making some small repairs when needed.

Getting some tools and supplies to do that with is a great project to start off tomorrow with partner.

You can get all the stuff you need at the local Dollar Store cheap and a decent pencil soldering from any hardware or auto parts store if you don't already have one.

Now as far as your Dean set up goes. I've tried Blue Steels on a Jackson Bass with EMGs I once had and didn't care for them at all and EMGs aren't for every one either. That combination would tend to give you a more modern tonality that would probably emphasize high end over low fundamentals. They did on my Jackson.

You could probably improve the sound of the Dean with a different pickup/string combo but is it really worth to sink and money into it versus selling it? Basswood is actually a very good body material for basses but less so for guitars. It's very resonant and does a nice job of handling lower frequencies without absorbing them. Just because it's a softer wood doesn't make it cheap.

Any bass can be made cheap by virtue of all that goes into it including the labor involved in assembly and finish. The wood has little to do with anything.