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Best bass for $3k-$5k?

#41
Alex000 said:
why did you switch to alembic/lakland if Fender was perfectly fine? I've considered laklands too :)
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One because I needed a 5 string. Everyone kept asking and i've yet to find a fender with an amazing low b. On the other hand BOTH Alembic and Lakland have fabulous Low B strings. I've gone down to Ab and had Noooo probably with tone, playability or general floppiness.

Two because I kept hearing that with a Lakland you can get a plethora of tones and I coudln't get a convincing P bass out of my Jazz

Im in agreement with most of the people here: sit on your wallet. You've got great gear and unless you need something Specific I don't think you'll get complaints or upturned noses at the gear

...the playing is another story :ninja:
 
#42
Alex000 said:
Hey all,

I'm looking for a bass that's in the 3k-5k price range, to get my foot in the door doing studio work. Do I go for vintage?? Or something new like Sadowsky/Alembic/Lakland?? I'm not sure what producers in general desire more on a regular basis. I know everyone's different. Sorry I know this is a vague and random question, but I would LOVE to be pointed in the right direction. If I don't need to spend that much, wonderful :) . I have a custom shop fender jazz bass (made to 2009 specs, but with an all natural/ash body), a fender american 57 and 62 reissue p basses.

Thanks :)
alex
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If your main purpose is to be equipped for studio work, then you're pretty well equipped now. Good-sounding, well-made P-basses and J-basses are what recording engineers are most prepared to accommodate. And the ones you own are very nice examples. The only thing I can think to add would be a Rickenbacker and a Music Man Stingray, as these are the other classic bass tones that aren't in your arsenal. Even then, it's hard to guess whether you'd ever be called on to use either of those.

Or for max versatility in one bass, you could get a 3-pickup Music Man Big Al, maybe a Big Al 5. That should cover about anything you could imagine.
 
#44
I visited an all bass store, stayed open to close except for a lunch break, playing every bass in this approx price range, maybe not quite up to 5K....
I played different basses back to back to back for 6-7 hrs.......I can name several nice basses in the mix.....I left the store with a Ken Smith...
deep, focused, even, smooth...............
would I choose something different, given a few other options? maybe.......but the Smith won out on this venture in this price range............more or less..................
for less money......you might try a US made Peavey Cirrus.......
 
#47
Studio work does not mean what it once did because there are very few paid sessions any more and the ones that do happen are dominated by the same group of guys in each city. With the advent of computer based home recording however, there is more recording going on than ever before so..... get a good vintage sounding Fenderish bass and get a modern 5 stringer and you are set. Depending on what you get, you may have enough to get a fretless as well.
 
#48
You already have excellent basses for recording. The best way to expand your arsenal would probably be a modern active five string, and a StingRay 5 might do the trick, but obviously the options abound. If you have money left over from your $3-5k range, you could get a nice fretless too. I haven't played many, but my favorite was a Pedulla Buzz fretless 5.
 
#49
I heard that fender P and fender J bass are good ones. Not sure about this but guess in studio they use the software to put the bass part in song instead of using a bass guitar. Don't know much about expensive guitar as i just have a starsun bass and got an guitar amp after 2 years struggling for it. Why I wrote over here is to say that the instrument dont make any music , it's you who make it, so no matter which bass you have, you can do it
- Shishir
 
#53
I would try to talk to the bands you are working with and ask them what tones they are looking for, then touch base with any engineers they may have worked for in the past...maybe instead of a bass, you should be looking at Preamps, or a combination of pass and preamps, if you touch the 5k mark, i think you should be walking away with a lot more than just one item. I would only spend that much on an extremely versatile live bass, so that i didn't have to switch back and forth to get various studio tones live... honestly one of the best recordings i have ever gotten was with a roscoe beck 4. And those new are around 2k still i think.
 
#57
narud said:
so no one is going to address this premise?

"I'm looking for a bass that's in the 3k-5k price range, to get my foot in the door doing studio work."
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Definitely a good call.

I've dealt with various musicians and producers. Some will say that you can't use anything but a Fender, some let me do my thing. Since music isn't my main source of income, I only work with projects and musicians I enjoy. I already have a demanding boss. I don't need two.

With that being said, I think the P and J basses should be fine. If you have 5k burning a hole in your pocket, there are plenty of luthiers who could build you a nice bass or two for the $. Since you have the typical studio basses, why not get one or two that YOU enjoy?
 

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