Basses that sound great plugged straight in

[Drop1]

Just about any Wenge-fretboard Warwick will be pretty bright, the Thumbs especially.

Single H EBMM StingRays are pretty bright. I haven’t experienced an EBMM Sterling, but they’re probably similarly bright.

Sadowsky Js, less obscenely bright as the other two but still very rare to find one with any lack of clarity.

I haven’t played one, but every Dingwall Darkglass demo is silly bright.

—————

I’ll echo that strings are often a part of it… though I had Chomes on my Warwick Corvette 5 and it was still brighter than my P with D’A Nickel Rounds. When I put D’A NR’s on the Vette without messing with the EQ it was sizzling & snarling enough that it sounded like there was an extra guitarist hiding somewhere with a Tele & a cranked little Marshall combo.

Not the brightest, but my favorite tone-wide-open sound came from Rotosound 66 Stainless Rounds on my old J- before the strings get ~40hrs of play time- they’re entirely different strings after they break-in.

I actually ordered harely benton j and single H mm clones recently. Both have maple board I believe. (I know the j does).Their sound clips (while not actually sounding like their clones) sound decent and pretty darn bright. I'm hopeful for the mm copy. I just got them cause they were so cheap. If that mm copy fits me, I may go looking for an actual MM. One of the YouTube bass teachers plays one (Dan) and I adore his sound on one. But I also know a lot of that is his playing cause he doesn't own a single bass that sounds "bad".. Even his cheap basses sound awesome in his hands.

I figure I have 3 real choices that aren't crazy out of my price range that may fit the sound I want.
A good bright Jazz,
A music man or maybe a Spector. I don't think I've ever seen anyone call a Spector "dark" ever.
I have heard dark j's and maybe just a very few post about MM's being dark.

I love the sound of a good J , but they seem to be a lot more hit or miss than the other 2 I mentioned. At least in the research I've done so far. I think I've read every thread on "bright" or "dark" basses ever written on this forum trying to find a way to "fix" mine. It just ain't happening.
I'm almost tempted to route the back of my bass and replace a good chunk if the wood with a different type. I would if I thought it would work, but I think the neck may be just as responsible for it sounding so dead. I don't know enough to know for sure. I've even considered having the fret board replaced. I love everything about this bass but it's sound. If I knew what I was doing, I'd build another body just to see if it would wake it up.

 

[Dark Horse]

A good p bass. Flats or well broken in roundwounds . Subtract 3db at 240hz . Hit record.

That’s for straight rock, blues, old school r&b, country…. Etc

For metal and more aggressive music it’s hard to beat a good stingray

YMMV

 

[CryingBass]

A good p bass. Flats or well broken in roundwounds . Subtract 3db at 240hz . Hit record.

That’s for straight rock, blues, old school r&b, country…. Etc

For metal and more aggressive music it’s hard to beat a good stingray

YMMV

Then what am I going to do with my 100 pedals???

 

[Dark Horse]

Then what am I going to do with my 100 pedals???

Set them all up on the floor, chained together…. It’ll baffle the engineer…. And then don’t use a single one of them, claiming that them “just being in line with your bass” is integral to the nuances of your tone !

 

[sethlow3]

I think what you’re talking about is actually a perfect example of how musical instruments are like car models. Sure there are going to be similarities with the exact same year and/or model, but ultimately every bass is different.

Case in point… I recently owned two red, empress G&L LB-100 basses. The only difference between the two were the year and the neck finish. The ruby red one ended up being a much brighter and alive bass than the other. So that’s the one I kept. It’s not that the other one was bad, it’s that this one was super bright and that’s what I was going for on that bass.

So try try try try things out that you can easily sell later if that’s the kind of route you wanna go. It’s like renting basses until you find the right one. People buy FSO’s way more than coffee table custom stuff. Otherwise, start visiting a lot of stores and be patient. Good luck!

 

[DaveParker39]

My Spector NS-1 does. It's a passive circuit. Direct it is a perfectly lovely old school P-Bass tone. It's not my *preferred* tone for playing rock but it works.

 

[Bass Ape]

Any bass with Multi-Coil pickups.

 

[VeryTallBassist]

I'd argue my Spectors. Although they are active so I can dial in a multitude of tones just using the bass.

I came to say the same thing. My Spectors sound pretty awesome direct and I can go from face melting metal to smooth dub reggae by changing the pickup blend and eq settings, and changing my right hand technique.

 

[Lowbrow]

I’d go for a P Bass, but avoid one with a Pure Vintage pickup because they sound rather dark. You might check out the G&L Kiloton.

 

[jeffb28451]

As one reply already referenced, I have a few that work straight into a power amp, but they are active basses. Perhaps some passives work well, but I am not aware of them and I've had a lot of basses over the years.

 

[Mike Vee]

P bass. API 560

 

[Aussie Player]

Every bass player who doesn't use pedals and effects.
I use Fender, Gibson, Warwick and Alembic and never use effects. Every bass is plugged straight in.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

What basses out there have the best record for sounding amazing straight di or just plugged into an amp without a bunch of eq?

I've recorded several, but even basses of the same type can sound so different.

My current bass needs a hefty cut at 250hz to not be pure mud no matter what amp or monitors I use. Even with brand new steel strings , it's dark.

I can eq it to sound very good, but as an example, I have to use the bright switch on my amp to make it even sound even, plus additional low mid reduction ans upper mid boost.

If I use it di, I have to cut the lows with a low shelf, cut 250hz then boost everything from 1k and up by at least 5 db just to get an even sound.

I dont mind eq, my problem with darker instruments though is when you have to cut a bunch of lows and boost highs, you wind up boosting noise. Hiss, fret and finger noise.

I much prefer working with a naturally balanced bass or even one that is naturally too bright.

At least if it's too bright, you wind up reducing noise when you tame the highs.

I'm not talking about basses that are bright due to the electronics. I mean the ones that are just naturally acoustically bright. Bright due to electronics has the same noise boosing issues as using a bunch of eq to bring up the brightness.

So I'm wondering about basses that are bright in nature and naturally ringy with lots of harmonic content.

I've recorded some jazz basses that had this quality, but just as many didn't. Same with p basses.

So I'm wondering which brand /type of bass "usually" are naturally bright and even sounding across the frequency spectrum. I know every manufacturer puts out the occasional dud. But I'd think some companies would have better track recordeds for putting out basses with similar sound from one instrument to the next.

I'm tired of HAVING to use the bright swtich. I'm tried of the extra noise that comes with that.
I expect to need some eq di, but again, I'd rather be taming highs that having to apply heavy high end boost
Ideally I think I'd like a j or MM style though I'm not against dual soap bars. But what brands ?

I know all basses are a little different, but surely some have some consistency and I'm not asking which bass I should buy, but rather what brands to start looking at. Which brands seem to have the most consistent sound from bass ro bass?

All of my basses are very flat sounding. Cut at 500hz, and they're pretty perfect for everything. I play Pj and Jazz basses. I also like nordstrand pickups for this quality. If you want to boost your high end, don't use the bright switch, up 4k. Anything over that is just string noise on bass. 2.5k is your attack. 4k is your treble.

 

[perfektspace6]

I'd argue my Spectors. Although they are active so I can dial in a multitude of tones just using the bass.

Agree on Spector. They come with a certain built in tone. At least the variants with the HAZ preamp.

I also find that a good filter based preamp doesn't need much outside help. That is, assuming the preamp is adjusted in such a way to get you a desired tone which takes a little work.

 

[alembicbones]

Back in 2005, I recorded a CD with my originals band at the time with my Alembic Europa 5 string w/ Series I electronics. I went direct from the DR-5R power supply to the board. The engineer loved my signal and he was able to make the bass sound great with each of the 10 songs. Can't go wrong with Alembic. My other thought would be a Fodera.

Bones

 

[GreyBeard]

Common everyday p-bass with the tone rolled down 50% is by far the easiest bass to record.

 

[tvbop]

Way too many active choices today, its all way too complicated and highs are not ur friend when recording. Back in the day most basses were passive so had a strong simple mid focused fundamental. Very few recordings around with real good highs, Duran Duran figured it but it probably took at lot of studio know how. Anyway my insurance against just about anything Im asked to play is.. P bass, dead chromes and a light touch = gnarly mids, heft, cut.

 

[chris_b]

My #1 basses for the last 30 years have been an MM SR5, Wal Mk3, Lakland 55-94, Mike Lull PJ5 and a Sadowsky RV5.

No pedals required for these guys, for live or recording.

 

[dougjwray]

Here's another vote for the P-Bass. As long as it's passive and the split pickup is in its traditional spot, it can be a $50 pawn shop no-name specimen, or a very expensive version.
Flatwound strings.
If you really want to go a little crazy, a foam mute plus a pick!

 

[Stylee Mousse]

Bad news is it sounds like you have a dud bass. Stop trying to mod it! Sell it on. Someone who likes dark basses will be happy to have an Ibanez that isn’t mid focussed.

Lots of basses, played well, sound great with minimal EQ but it is vastly SUBJECTIVE.