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Basses that are indeed, one trick ponies

#81
I felt my Precision was a one trick pony and it was my favorite bass. It's a darn good trick and I used it for everything.

I felt my Stingrays were one trick ponies too. No matter what I did they sounded like Stingrays, and I loved that too. Used those for a lot of music.

Any one pickup bass is going to be a bit of a one-trick pony, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

My only one-trick pony that didn't get much use: Hofner Beatle Bass... but I think it was more the short scale than the tone that kept me from using it.
 
#82
Well, addressing the OPs original premise this time, I have to say there is no such thing, as many musical styles share the same typical bass tones.

Regarding the ongoing argument about Ps having one TONE, I still insist this is rubbish. Granted, the range of tones available on a P by altering RH position and attack, playing with a pick, fingers or thumb, etc, and by playing with the tone knob, are limited compared to most basses with multiple PUPs, the huge difference afforded by a simple string change and a slight tweak of the tone knob is massive.

I have a Fullerton P with Jamerson flats on it, and a Tokai Hard Puncher (essentially a perfect copy of a '70s P) with Roto Swingbass rounds. Both sound unmistakably like a Precision (because we know what Ps sound like with those strings from countless recordings), but I can't believe anyone could claim the two sound alike. If you think JJ Burnel sounds like Duck Dunn, maybe, but then I'd say it was a semantics issue, i.e. to what degree are any two things alike, or different?
 
#85
The problem is that many newer bassists are spoiled by the dizzying amount of choices they have in basses and electronics, so they mistakenly assume there's a correlation between the amount of pickups and knobs and the amount of tones and styles available to it. So rather than learn how to coax many sounds out of a 1-pickup bass by using their fingers, they'd rather twist a knob or add a pickup. It's all very silly to me. Two and three pickup basses and active electronics are cool, but if you can't take any bass that works properly and figure out a way to make it work for what you need, then you can't be helped.
 
#87
JimmyM said:
The problem is that many newer bassists are spoiled by the dizzying amount of choices they have in basses and electronics, so they mistakenly assume there's a correlation between the amount of pickups and knobs and the amount of tones and styles available to it. So rather than learn how to coax many sounds out of a 1-pickup bass by using their fingers, they'd rather twist a knob or add a pickup. It's all very silly to me. Two and three pickup basses and active electronics are cool, but if you can't take any bass that works properly and figure out a way to make it work for what you need, then you can't be helped.
Click to expand...

I agree. I can get all kinds of tones out of my single H ray. Just a slight tweak on a knob, select a different spot to play, change the PU switch, adjust my playing. It is endless.
 
#94
Mongo Slade said:
You people all need to turn the computers off and go and do something else. Practice, spend time with your families, anything.
I have never read such an inane thread in my life.
That's 5 pages of this and 7 minutes of my life I'm never going to get back.

Peace
Click to expand...
HAHA!! I think I said the same basic thing, but in a surprise development, I actually said it in a nicer way. Sometimes you have to take the blunt approach.
 
#96
Mongo Slade said:
You people all need to turn the computers off and go and do something else. Practice, spend time with your families, anything.
I have never read such an inane thread in my life.
That's 5 pages of this and 7 minutes of my life I'm never going to get back.

Peace
Click to expand...

While I agree with your premise....it is, indeed, inane....I noticed that you READ all 5 pages....:D

Let's go get a beer........
 
#99
Tone changes depending on how much nail/flesh you use to pluck. Depending on where you pluck - close to neck, or near the bridge. Depending on your attack onto the strings.

Even with a single pickup bass, you can get a whole variety of tones depending on the way you play the instrument.

Therefore, I agree.... it's not the bass that's a one-trick-pony. It's the player who only knows how to play one method and rely on turning knobs for tone. The player then, is the one-trick pony.
 

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