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Best Bass Brand

#21
Over the years I’ve owned 60’s Jazz’s and Precision’s, a couple of Gibson’s,
5 Warwick’s, a Status, a Tune Bass Maniac, 4 or 5 80’s - 90’s Fender’s and 4
Stingrays, plus a few more not worth mentioning. In all honesty I must agree with Rick Rice. After playing my Stingray’s I just don’t want use anything else for live work. They seem to cut through the mix and not only can I hear every note I’m playing, I can feel them too. Not something that I get with Fenders at the same volume. Second best for me is Warwick, then the Status, which is an old series 2 (No. 130.) These also cut through very well.
I’ve had more Fenders’ than any other make and most of them have been good, but not the best. Until about 10 years ago nobody could persuade me that Fender was not the best but you live and learn.
I’m sure that there are other makes out there that I haven’t tried that are also great and this is why this site is so good. I would love to try a G & L 2000 and a Carvin but I haven’t seen any here in the UK yet.


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#22
Yeah, some finns around?!

I love my Fenders (MIM JB and ´79 JB) - they are the best I have ever owned or played. Also they fit really nicely to what I play.

I am althought playing with an idea switching my MM Sterling to Neuser 5str. or Modulus Quantum 4 or Excalibur - all in the same price category - any suggestions?

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Don't panic
- Jerry -
(this is supposed to be written with friendly fonts)
 
#25
I must agree with anonymous. Gibsons make good basses, but it would be better if they have had bolt on necks because I love to slap and the gibson doesn't allow slapping to occur as well as I feel they should make a five string. Other than that they have good basses. I own an Ernie Ball Music Man. I have a stingray 5. The ernies have great tone.


[This message has been edited by Rippnbassist (edited April 13, 2000).]
 
#26
I'm gonna have to go with Fodera...granted, I will never own one for a long time...but they sing, listen to Vic...man! However, for everybody other than the big boys, I'm gonna have to say Warwick. I'm currently looking for a Streamer Stage I, because they sound so unique...very funky. Yeah, Warwick, definitely Warwick.
-Justin
 
#27

>What are your all time favourite bass brand and why?

At the moment, Warwicks do it for me
tongue.gif

Though I haven't tried those more expensive Yamahas, I really liked their cheap models.

 
#28
Curbow basses are the best basses on the planet.
biggrin.gif
The materials and technology that goes into one of these instruments is not
available from any other company.The neck is made out of a material called Rockwood.Its a super strong material made from laminating birch veneers under high heat and pressure.
This creates a super strong material that approaches the strength of graphite but it can still be adjusted.It also has tonal characteristics of both wood graphite.Its super bright and responsive yet still very warm.Its also got a brass "tone block" that is embedded into the body and bolted to the bridge.Its actually "sandwiched" between the wood top and the bridge I believe.This causes the bass to resonate very nicely.Played acoustically you can really feel that notes in your chest.Also the bridge
is angled to create a better "witness point" for the strings.If I had to describe the tone I would say "modern jazz bass".Hope nobody slaps me for saying that
biggrin.gif

Bass player has reviewed these basses twice and they got incredible reviews.Probably one of the best ever in this price range next to the new F bass review.The only thing they complained about was the wide neck.Mine has a custom neck which is much thinner.Greg Curbow is very cool and will do anything you want.He is carving me a "ramp" made out of rock wood.This fits between the pickup and is adjusted close to the string to keep your
plucking hand from "diggin in".Check out the
website.Curbow.com
 
#30
Never heard of Curbow.

I have a Splunk "3 mile Island" bass which is the best bass on the planet. It contains a 'groove' block with an attached potentiometer. This allows you to increase groove just by turning the knob. It is made from Martian sandwood, recovered from a meteorite that hit the west of Ireland about 2 million years ago and has been maturing in the aran bay algae since. This wood is so good that many people say that even acoustically a low B can rattle the false teeth of senior citizens more than two blocks away. It has a pre-amp so advanced it is still illegal to sell it to the Russians, though the Chinese already have them (where do you think they are made?).

This bass comes in its own lead lined carrying case (I forgot to say..the Martian sandwood is a bit radioactive).

The bass is finished in pink sparkle chemically teated with all the necessary pheromones to get the girls just fainting at your feet.


But I tend to use my '96 Fender MIA P bass a bit more....I wonder why...

Andy
 
#31
When I heard Mike Manring playing a Zon sonus I just felt in love with the sweet and clean sound; so I went to look for one, and lucky for me a friend had one, so I played it and, well it is the best bass there is.
I also like the Ric´s and the Alembics. But Zon Basses have a pefrect feeeling for slappin´ and poppin´ , also for tappin. The neck is really comfortable and their long scale fretboards(usually fretless) are really great, has a great punch and the tone is simply perfect.
Check out mike´s home page: www.manthing.com
Still I play a Washburn (or as some of you would say a cheap-bass
frown.gif
) and I like it´s feeling, though the Pickups suck.
By the way the Modulus Flea Bass Rocks!!

Your pal
R E Q U I E M
 
#33
I've owned a Conklin Groove Tools seven string, a cheap Squier J-bass, A Warwick Corvette Standard six-string, an Ibanez 485 five-string, a Schecter U.S. made S-1 bass, a Yamaha TRB six-string and have played dozens of others. My current two basses top them all -- an Ernie Ball Musicman five string and a Rickenbacker 4003. To me they just sound right.
 
#35
I'll restrict my comments to basses that I have actually owned, or have played (a friend's bass).

Over the years I have owned a '70s Gibson Les Paul Recording bass, '74 Fender P-bass w/ Seymour Duncans, '83 Fender Jazz bass w/ Barts, '81 Yamaha P-J 4 string, '70s Fernandez Jazz, '70s Modulus % string, '92 Peavey TL-5, '94 Carvin 5 string, Lakland Deluxe 5 string.

I have also tried Musicmans, Fender Marcus Miller Jazz signature, Fodera, MTD 535, MTD Beast, Pre-Gibson Tobias, Gibson Tobias, Carruthers, Hofner Beatle bass, Alembic, Yamaha BB-5000 and Gibson EB-3s.

My preference bassed on my experience are the 4 string Jazz with Barts(the Fender 5 is not quite there, as far as tone and playbility); Lakland 5, Pre-Gibson Tobias, and MTD 535.

For great value for the dollar in the $1,000 range, try the new MTD Beast 5. You can find them discounted to close to $1,000. For the money, they play and sound great. The B string is tight, punchy, with alot of balls. I thought these were going to be cheaply made and sound mediocre; I was really surprised when I tried one out.
 
#36
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andy Daventry:
Never heard of Curbow.

I have a Splunk "3 mile Island" bass which is the best bass on the planet. It contains a 'groove' block with an attached potentiometer. This allows you to increase groove just by turning the knob. It is made from Martian sandwood, recovered from a meteorite that hit the west of Ireland about 2 million years ago and has been maturing in the aran bay algae since. This wood is so good that many people say that even acoustically a low B can rattle the false teeth of senior citizens more than two blocks away. It has a pre-amp so advanced it is still illegal to sell it to the Russians, though the Chinese already have them (where do you think they are made?).

This bass comes in its own lead lined carrying case (I forgot to say..the Martian sandwood is a bit radioactive).

The bass is finished in pink sparkle chemically teated with all the necessary pheromones to get the girls just fainting at your feet.


But I tend to use my '96 Fender MIA P bass a bit more....I wonder why...

Andy<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
First off to the other guy that said he didnt think curbows were all that special I have a question.Were they the Cort models that you played?Im thinking they are Cort versions since Greg only builds his high end basses to custom order and does not sell to stores.Never worked for Curbow.
Ok this is to 3 mile island funny guy.
biggrin.gif

Thats pretty damn funny I must admit but I would think it was even funnier if it wasnt at my expense.I just got off the phone with Greg Curbow and informed him that another company called "Splunk" has one upped him with the addition of a so called "Groove Block".Greg thought it sounded really cool considering he himself has had "white boy issues" for some time now.To all interested it will be available on the 2001"funky white boy" model for an additional $3000.
Anyways,no need to poke fun at me as a player and imply im some grooveless techhead when Im just sharing my thoughts on some really cool advances instrument design.Brought to by none other then Curbow.
Woops,I forgot you play Fender
biggrin.gif


[This message has been edited by theJello (edited April 17, 2000).]
 
#39
"Thats pretty damn funny I must admit but I would think it was even funnier if it wasnt at my expense.....Anyways,no need to poke fun at me as a player and imply im some grooveless techhead when Im just sharing my thoughts on some really cool advances instrument design........Woops,I forgot you play Fender
biggrin.gif
"

Jello,

It was a bit rude, I agree...sorry! The fact I play a P bass should tell you where I am coming from, and what my prejudices are...

But it wasn't intended as a personal comment. More as a comment on the Starship Enterprise approach to basses generally, which isn't to my taste. But I accept that it is quite difficult NOT to take such a gross parody personally, and I apologise for any annoyance caused.

Feel free to take the **** back at anytime (of the "Do P bassists have a central nervous system?" type, for example! Your "Whoops!" comment is appropriate, but a bit tame
biggrin.gif
). I can take it.

Cheers

Andy
 
#40
Well, it's looking like I'm the only one, but I'm partial to Spectors. Now I'll be the first to admit that I haven't played a lot of higher-end basses, but the Spectors I've owned (my now-stolen NS-2A and my current NS-94) have just been extraordinarily comfortable for me, and had the tone I want with a minumum of knob-twiddling. They just felt RIGHT. And that's what it's all about, innit?

I'm saving up for Something Better, and plan to check out a Warwick Streamer (I find Warwick's other body styles ugly), a Music Man, a Modulus and a Carvin. But my "default" choice at this point would be one of the Czech Spector NS-4s.

Of course, I'm something of a bass weirdo anyway. I have NEVER found a Fender bass that I liked, I can't play a Rick to save my life (much as I'd love to), and one of my favorite basses ever was a hybrid mongrel monstrosity based on a $300 Westone Electra body. Call me kooky, but that's just the way I am.
 

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