What Good Bass Can Most Easily Sound Bad?

Dr. Cheese · #1 11-14-2010, 01:47 PM

I was just on Youtube, and I was struck by the number of clips of really bad sounding slapping on Warwick Thumbs. Others sounded great. My guess is that the pickups so close to the bridge can easily get clanky on a Thumb. Others basses, like Jazzes and Stingrays or Ken Smiths have such dominant tones that it is hard to ruing the basic tone, even if the playing is weak.

Opinions?

spade2you · #2 11-14-2010, 01:50 PM

Cheap or the wrong amps.

Dr. Cheese · #3 11-14-2010, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spade2you

Cheap or the wrong amps.

That makes sense. Most of the guys were young and they probably spent their summer money on the bass but still had 1x10, 50w combos.

Archaeobass · #4 11-14-2010, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I was just on Youtube, and I was struck by the number of clips of really bad sounding slapping on Warwick Thumbs. Others sounded great. My guess is that the pickups so close to the bridge can easily get clanky on a Thumb. Others basses, like Jazzes and Stingrays or Ken Smiths have such dominant tones that it is hard to ruing the basic tone, even if the playing is weak.

Opinions?

My first choice (after any fretless played poorly) is definitely the Thumb. Its funny - played well, with a good setup and amp, the Thumb has a really characteristic punchy sound that is hard to beat. Take away those qualifiers and gawdamn, its all-aboard the honk-train to clank-town.

Totally off-topic, Doc, I spent a day and a half in your fair city on my way back west after the Rally to Restore Sanity. I gotta say, I was charmed by the place. The various campuses were lovely and it really is as far west as you can go and still see classic north-eastern architecture. I dubbed it "Fresnodelphia."

Dr. Cheese · #5 11-14-2010, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archaeobass

My first choice (after any fretless played poorly) is definitely the Thumb. Its funny - played well, with a good setup and amp, the Thumb has a really characteristic punchy sound that is hard to beat. Take away those qualifiers and gawdamn, its all-aboard the honk-train to clank-town.

Totally off-topic, Doc, I spent a day and a half in your fair city on my way back west after the Rally to Restore Sanity. I gotta say, I was charmed by the place. The various campuses were lovely and it really is as far west as you can go and still see classic north-eastern architecture. I dubbed it "Fresnodelphia."

Thumbs aparently really need to be ideally set up to get the sound that they do so well.

I also agree about St. Louis, it is as far west as you can go and still get some of the Northeast feel to the architecture and lifestyle. Go four hours to Kansas City, and things really change, IMO.

spade2you · #6 11-14-2010, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

That makes sense. Most of the guys were young and they probably spent their summer money on the bass but still had 1x10, 50w combos.

There's that, but the wrong amp or settings can be pretty frustrating and detrimental to overall goals. I've seen more than a tread or two with a guy totally unhappy with his bass because the amp was working against the goal.

darkstorm · #7 11-14-2010, 02:18 PM

Most of those on utube mic a cheap qaulity combo amp with cheap qaulity mic. At least thats what they sound like. This makes anything sound bad.

kcole4001 · #8 11-14-2010, 02:21 PM

Incompatible EQ can make any bass sound bad. IE: a scooped EQ on a scooped bass, too much mids on a very mid-forward bass, etc.
Also a poor player can make anything sound horrible.

Rockingbird · #9 11-14-2010, 02:29 PM

Anything with more knobs than good sense.

KramerBassFan · #10 11-14-2010, 02:34 PM

Bad playing.

Plain and simple....

Followed closely by dead strings, then bad amp settings.

Gearhead17 · #11 11-14-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Bad playing.

Plain and simple....

Boom +10! Any bass can sound like crap with a terrible player. Bad recording techniques don't help either.

ugly_bassplayer · #12 11-14-2010, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Bad playing.

Plain and simple....

I think we can close this thread after this.

Sartori · #13 11-14-2010, 02:42 PM

Bad playing. Being out of tune.

Crappy EQ. Being careless about either clipping the amp (if solid state), or playing through speakers that can't handle the power. Farting speakers sound bad no matter what's being played through them.

Kwesi · #14 11-14-2010, 02:48 PM

Ash/Maple anything, lol. It's not hard to sound awful on a bass with those woods, ime. They tend to have a really prominent top end which brings out the worst of string noise, fret buzz and poor technique.

knucklehead G · #15 11-14-2010, 02:49 PM

I'm confident that you could give me a Sadowsky, one of those $99 Deans with the soapbar routed off-center and crooked, and a Hellborg stack, then blindfold yourself and not be able to figure out which I'm playing.

Poor skills trumps bad basses.

fenderhutz · #16 11-14-2010, 02:49 PM

Anything with hi fi Bartolinis with preamp EQ'd improperly. Most of those people on YouTube don't understand that all the knobs don't need to go to 11.

Kwesi · #17 11-14-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Bad playing.

Plain and simple....

Wrong. Why? Because you failed to answer the question. Yes, bad playing will create a bad sound but that doesn't had much to do with what Dr. Cheese asked originally.

Let's say you have a beginner bass player, 6 months to a year in. Let's say you hand him two basses both setup nicely with the same strings, similar action, and neck bow. Let's say those two basses are an Ibanez SR500 and a Sadowsky UV70. Which one will he sound worse on? Without a doubt, I'd say the UV70. In the hands of a skilled player they sound incredible but in the hands of someone who is still developing proper techniques I bet it would sound like trash. The SR500 or the other hand in a VERY forgiving instrument. It really is difficult to get a flat out awful tone with them. I think that's why they seem to be so popular with people just starting out. However, to me, the tones achievable with a UV70 sound so much better if you know what you're doing.

This is matter of degrees not absolutes. Doc isn't saying that a good bass can be a substitute for good technique he's asserting that certain basses challenge you more than others to sound good on them.

This is an interesting topic. I'm looking forward to see what people have to say on it.

Rockmusician · #18 11-14-2010, 03:05 PM

Any good bass can sound bad in the wrong hands. Personally, I think slapping sounds like crap on any bass.

Sartori · #19 11-14-2010, 03:13 PM

I think any fretless can sound awful in the wrong hands.

Dr. Cheese · #20 11-14-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knucklehead G

I'm confident that you could give me a Sadowsky, one of those $99 Deans with the soapbar routed off-center and crooked, and a Hellborg stack, then blindfold yourself and not be able to figure out which I'm playing.

Poor skills trumps bad basses.

Are you saying you'll sound bad either way?