So, here's the situation: By way of a contest I'm pretty sure I'm winning at work, I expect to have some money to put toward a bass (and depending on the exact value of the prize, possibly an amp as well). I've been planning to get a Schecter Diamond P-Custom 5 for a while, but I was playing around with an Ibanez SR-605 the other night and I like that as well.
This will be my first bass, and they're fairly different from each other. The Schecter is a fairly straightforward P-bass copy, but with a 35" scale, and a humbucker in the bridge, which is splittable, giving effectively a P/J configuration. It's passive and has an alder body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. There's a volume knob for each pickup, and a tone knob that has the coil split on a push/pull switch.
The Ibanez is a more modern style bass, with two Bartolini soapbar pickups (passive), with an active EQ. 34" scale, ash body, jatoba/bubinga neck, and rosewood fingerboard.
I find the Ibanez slightly easier to play, and I do like that it has the active EQ, but a straightforward passive bass, with a 35" scale length appeals to me.
Diamond P-Custom 5 - Schecter Guitar Research Ibanez.com | Basses | SR605
I've played both basses a few times side by side, and I keep going back and forth on which one I think sounds better, given the same settings through the same amp.
A little background on myself as a player: I've played guitar for almost 11 years, and I mostly play metal. I play a 7-string guitar primarily, and I like a mid-heavy, percussive and punchy tone that leaves plenty of space for the bass to do its job (I use VHT/Fryette and Engl amps). I'm looking for a bass for recording, and possibly playing in a band at some point as well. In general, my preferences with guitar are thicker, wider necks, bolt-on construction, alder body, and a longer-than-normal scale length for 7 and 8-string guitars (mine are 26.5"). I like enough string tension to keep the string from flopping around when I play with a pick, but still light enough to be able to bend and vibrato easily.
I've recently discovered that I sound my best on bass with a pick, rather than my fingers, and I'm looking for a deep and full sort of tone, that's still bright and clear...basically something that would pick up where my guitar leaves off. I realize that this has a lot to do with the amp, and I'm thinking GK MB210, or maybe one of the new Ampeg Portaflex rigs.
