While I understand that being "GAS Free" is a myth, I've done pretty well over the past couple of years keeping my purchases and my collection pretty much in check. A while back, I settled on three as a good number of basses to have and that's worked for me.
With that in mind, I spent the holiday season doing some tweaking, buying and selling and I've come up with the 2010 lineup that I think is going to get the job done. Keep in mind that my sole gig is the ubiquitous "Urban Gospel" genre and my basses must work there.
These are the three that are going to get the job done this year:
1) Yamaha BBNE2 - Nathan East Signature: The "Smooth SuperJazz"
Another TB'er described this bass better than me. He put it like this: "Hugely flexible with a perfect range of voices for many jazz and R&B contexts, particularly if zeroing on a refined, compressed sort of sound. All in all, a very uptown package which is really hard to beat if you're looking for a more sophisticated, less flashy vibe."
That's perfect. I think this is one of the truly great basses in the marketplace today but it often gets overlooked.
2) EBMM Stealth Bongo HH: The "Nuclear Cruise Missile of Tone"
This bass floors me almost every time I play it. Between the double humbucker pickup configuration and the 18V 4-band preamp, there are a wealth of tones available here. The key however is, true to it's EBMM roots, there is underlying aggressiveness about the bass that cuts through anything you throw at it. Powerful and flexible, with curvy and unorthodox looks -- this is my kind of bass.
3) The Bass Company JT500-JJ: The "Scrappy Lightweight"
This is my second-tier bass. Something that I take when I don't want to bring out the more expensive, heavy stuff. With it's chambered body and more delicate hardware, the bass only weighs 7.75 lbs. On the other hand, it sounds like a "Jazz Bass" is supposed to sound. Not as compressed & refined as the Nathan East, not as as powerful and ballsy as the Bongo but a nice J-Bass tone that can go anywhere and get the job done. This is the one bass I own that I might do some tinkering on -- perhaps a different preamp or maybe some name-brand pickups. Even If I don't do any of that, this is a very nice bass that fits my gig perfectly.
So -- that's the lineup. I'm pleased with these and I'm hoping they'll work out in the long run.
Enjoy!
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With that in mind, I spent the holiday season doing some tweaking, buying and selling and I've come up with the 2010 lineup that I think is going to get the job done. Keep in mind that my sole gig is the ubiquitous "Urban Gospel" genre and my basses must work there.
These are the three that are going to get the job done this year:
1) Yamaha BBNE2 - Nathan East Signature: The "Smooth SuperJazz"
Another TB'er described this bass better than me. He put it like this: "Hugely flexible with a perfect range of voices for many jazz and R&B contexts, particularly if zeroing on a refined, compressed sort of sound. All in all, a very uptown package which is really hard to beat if you're looking for a more sophisticated, less flashy vibe."
That's perfect. I think this is one of the truly great basses in the marketplace today but it often gets overlooked.
2) EBMM Stealth Bongo HH: The "Nuclear Cruise Missile of Tone"
This bass floors me almost every time I play it. Between the double humbucker pickup configuration and the 18V 4-band preamp, there are a wealth of tones available here. The key however is, true to it's EBMM roots, there is underlying aggressiveness about the bass that cuts through anything you throw at it. Powerful and flexible, with curvy and unorthodox looks -- this is my kind of bass.
3) The Bass Company JT500-JJ: The "Scrappy Lightweight"
This is my second-tier bass. Something that I take when I don't want to bring out the more expensive, heavy stuff. With it's chambered body and more delicate hardware, the bass only weighs 7.75 lbs. On the other hand, it sounds like a "Jazz Bass" is supposed to sound. Not as compressed & refined as the Nathan East, not as as powerful and ballsy as the Bongo but a nice J-Bass tone that can go anywhere and get the job done. This is the one bass I own that I might do some tinkering on -- perhaps a different preamp or maybe some name-brand pickups. Even If I don't do any of that, this is a very nice bass that fits my gig perfectly.
So -- that's the lineup. I'm pleased with these and I'm hoping they'll work out in the long run.
Enjoy!
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