General sound differences in bass types?

[Severinsteel]

Hey guys, so I am new to the whole bass gear world. Can you guys explain to me the differences in sound and feel/ playability/ scale in these types of basses. Of course, there are differences between everyone's take on a P Bass or J bass, but I am looking for just generalized sound and feel differences:

P Bass style

Jazz bass style

Warwick bolt on (I mention this because I have a Corvette standard 5 and people talk about the Warwick growl?)

I am also interested at how the low B sounds in each as well.

Thanks guys!

[whoapower]

Search youtube clips. That's the only way to get it sticking in your head.

[ghoulbug]

Originally Posted by whoapower

Search youtube clips. That's the only way to get it sticking in your head.

I highly recommend this method.
Having the differences explained to you in words will only help once you have the basic idea in your head.

[5string5fingers]

I've got a better idea,goto a music store and play them. Hands on is the best way to learn.

[ghoulbug]

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

I've got a better idea,goto a music store and play them. Hands on is the best way to learn.

As long as you know how to make a bass sing right, then I agree that this is indeed the best way.

He's "new to the whole bass gear world," though. (a former guitarist, perhaps?)
I've seen more than my fair share of fools at guitar center trying to rip (strumming on top of the fretboard no less) across a Sadowsky, only to say alout something stupid like, "Dude, my Fender could kick this thing's ass."
Of COURSE I'm not assuming the OP's that type of guy, but it's always easy to get the wrong impression from an instrument if you don't know what to look for.

Besides, there's plenty of different styles of players properly demoing a broad spectrum of basses, all conveniently a click away on youtube. (eg. Gary Willis playing his own signature bass) All of these are recorded on all sorts of different amps and mics, too.

Once you have the basic idea in your head, OP, you can confirm your favorite tone first-hand later, if you want to. For now, it will be difficult to learn the specific tonal characteristics at your local guitar center, of a slapped heavy ash, maple board late 70's-style jazz, a picked Warwick $$, a foam-muted 60's P-bass with flats, a bridge-only 60's jazz, the list goes on and on.

[wittynamehere]

This is pretty much the classic P Bass tone, other people get different tones, but i'd say if you were to ask most players what they think of when they think of P tone it would be something like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqtELR5GyfI

This is pretty "extreme" J Bass, and I wouldn't say as many people think of this as "the" J tone (I prefer John Paul Jone's by quite a bit) but it's the signature tone of one of the signature J Bass players

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25DXcFg1TFo

Here's a J bass tone I like better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N7gW66PB-c

[Severinsteel]

Hey guys, yeah I really just need to play a bunch of basses in person. As some of you guys figured out, I am a guitarist/ drummer. I know guitar gear backwards and forwards but I have just never really spent time thinking about bass gear that way. Ill hit up my local music store and play a bunch of basses. What I am really just curious about though are very general adjectives about say the differences between a Jazz and a P bass. I could tell you the differences between a Tele and a Les Paul. In general a Telecaster is brighter and twangy while a Les Paul is fat and warm. The Tele is used traditionally in a country/ western style and a Les Paul is commonly known for its rock usage. These are total generalizations, but they help you see where each instrument kinda fits in. You would benefit more from playing both yourself, but just getting a basic understanding of the tonal spectrum they occupy and the most common applications of the instruments can help a lot too.

[darkstorm]

Also check out some humbucker/soapbar equipted basses. As a guitarist you can relate jazz pups to single coil guitar pups, humbucker bass pups to guitar humbuckers, and P pups as somewhat between the two. For comparitive sound char. Ibanez, Schecter, ESP Ltd, BC Rich, Spector, and many others offering basses with these type of pups. If you like useing overdrive or distortion with bass, you'd prob rather like humbucker equipted basses.

[ImMoreBetter]

I'll play...

P-Bass
-Fatter
-Thicker
-Darker
-Thumpier

Widely used in rock type music. Pop, punk, funk... Wherever a thump is needed.


Jazz Bass
-Tonal diversity
-More mids
-Brighter
-"Cleaner" sound
-Thinner neck

For just about anything else. Often times the bass tends to play more forward in the mix.

[powellmacaque]

MusicMan Style (one humbucker):
- More "snarl", aggressive
- Bright, active electronics
- Clean
- Punchy
- Defined
In my experience, the MusicMan basses only become more defined, versatile, and clear with the addition of more pickups. Sure the difference is noticeable, but not as different as say a jazz versus a p versus a MM

Warwick
- Clear
- Smooth
- Woody
- Big sounding

Ric
- Trebly
- Grind
- Snap
- Warmth (but not like a p-bass)

Those are some tones associated with those basses, at least to me.

[ghoulbug]

Originally Posted by Severinsteel

Hey guys, yeah I really just need to play a bunch of basses in person. As some of you guys figured out, I am a guitarist/ drummer. I know guitar gear backwards and forwards but I have just never really spent time thinking about bass gear that way. Ill hit up my local music store and play a bunch of basses. What I am really just curious about though are very general adjectives about say the differences between a Jazz and a P bass. I could tell you the differences between a Tele and a Les Paul. In general a Telecaster is brighter and twangy while a Les Paul is fat and warm. The Tele is used traditionally in a country/ western style and a Les Paul is commonly known for its rock usage. These are total generalizations, but they help you see where each instrument kinda fits in. You would benefit more from playing both yourself, but just getting a basic understanding of the tonal spectrum they occupy and the most common applications of the instruments can help a lot too.

Cool. That is absolutely the best attitude yet.
What I was simply afraid of was a potentially great bassist getting ideas of bass tones in a completely pigeonholed fashion.

Take Jamiroquai, for example. Going against what 99% of Talkbass will tell you, a slapped P-bass can still sound gorgeously snappy (as Stuart Zender has shown us), while a J-bass can still be as thick as you want it to be (Paul Turner with his ultra-warm Gas Cooker, REDDI, and DB750 rig.)

I guess this goes against what I've said regarding youtube, but there's a user there by that goes by the name "universalrenote," and he demos close to 500 different basses, all by sitting down at a music store and strumming away. Although I appreciate his intentions, it's immediately obvious he has no idea how to play bass, and listening to him violently plucking away at all the unusual spots and making a mess, it would be easy to come away with all the wrong impressions about the basses.

What I'm basically saying is that you should actively search around the internet before trying anything at a music store yourself. There have been plenty of threads on this very forum regarding P vs. J bass, as well as which company makes a good B string.


I could sit here and tell you that a 60s jazz sounds "horribly nasally and twangy, with less low mids" when slapped compared to a late 70s jazz. But all those descriptions would be useless if you took a quick listen on youtube and actually preferred the sound of a 60s jazz and felt that it was more "articulate and percussive."

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck with your first bass. It'll be all worth it!

[Severinsteel]

Hey guys, thanks for playing the game for me. It helps a lot just to know the traditional differences between the basses. I'll definitely hit up the music store this weekend where my friend works. I was thinking about replacing my Warwick, but it may end up sticking around. if anything, I might just add to the arsenal! Thank god I haven't gotten into bass pedals yet!

[whoapower]

Tip: don't go into the effects forum. It is a bottomless pit of doom.

The corvettes have a distinct sound to them, but a jazz or p bass will work fine for some rock gig. I've always been a jazz bass player, but on recordings - a passive p does the best trick.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by ghoulbug

I've seen more than my fair share of fools at guitar center trying to rip (strumming on top of the fretboard no less) across a Sadowsky, only to say alout something stupid like, "Dude, my Fender could kick this thing's ass."

I hope that you're not implying that a Sadowsky is a "better" bass than a Fender.

"Better" is subjective, and quite honestly, I've never heard a Sadowsky that I liked better than my Fenders.

Of course there are plenty of Sadowsky owners that feel the exact opposite of what I do.

[ghoulbug]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I hope that you're not implying that a Sadowsky is a "better" bass than a Fender.

"Better" is subjective, and quite honestly, I've never heard a Sadowsky that I liked better than my Fenders.

Of course there are plenty of Sadowsky owners that feel the exact opposite of what I do.

I'm not implying anything of that sort. Check my post history, and you'd know that I'm anything BUT a sadowsky fanboy.

The whole point of that little anecdote was basically to just rant about clueless "artists" at local music stores trying to judge instruments that they have no idea even how to play.
Sorry... I guess if I lied about that part and fudged in a Stingray instead of Fender, I might have gotten my point across a bit better.

[powellmacaque]

Originally Posted by Severinsteel

Hey guys, thanks for playing the game for me. It helps a lot just to know the traditional differences between the basses. I'll definitely hit up the music store this weekend where my friend works. I was thinking about replacing my Warwick, but it may end up sticking around. if anything, I might just add to the arsenal! Thank god I haven't gotten into bass pedals yet!

Dude, if you have a Warwick and plan on getting more into bass playing, don't get rid of it. I wish I had a 'wick when I first got into bass! I would keep it for now, add something like a Jazz or Precision to your stable, and if you feel like one isn't getting played enough, then flip it. The other thing about Warwicks: they don't get the same resale value that a Fender does, so just consider that too.

This is all in my opinion of course. You can do whatever you want. But whatever you end up doing, be sure to post pics to prove it!

[Severinsteel]

Originally Posted by powellmacaque

Dude, if you have a Warwick and plan on getting more into bass playing, don't get rid of it. I wish I had a 'wick when I first got into bass! I would keep it for now, add something like a Jazz or Precision to your stable, and if you feel like one isn't getting played enough, then flip it. The other thing about Warwicks: they don't get the same resale value that a Fender does, so just consider that too.

This is all in my opinion of course. You can do whatever you want. But whatever you end up doing, be sure to post pics to prove it!

Thanks for the advice! I guess when I say I am just now getting into bass, I mean like actually really looking to learn a lot more (reading, practicing daily). I am technically proficient coming from guitar, but I am still halfway in guitar land as far as how I think. Most of the time I use my 14 or so years of guitar experience to sound good, but I would sound bad if next to an actual good bass player. But yeah, I think I will keep the Wick around. I used to have a Ibanez SR 505 that worked well for recording, but once I got the Wick the difference in quality was very obvious.