There is only one best bass. And some notable players have used it.
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Best Bass
- Thread starter mark61
- Start date
I question the premise, including that guitarists have settled on "elite guitars" like Taylor or Gibson. Even among Fender guys, it's not settled between the Tele and the Strat. (but Tele, obviously).
If you ever believe you have settled that debate because everyone around you is confirming the same thing, you have found yourself in a bubble, or an echo chamber.
If you ever believe you have settled that debate because everyone around you is confirming the same thing, you have found yourself in a bubble, or an echo chamber.
Deep sea bass.
Tastes good too!
Oh, yeah...the food thread is over there.
Reminds me of a practical joke I played on an angler friend of mine many years ago. At the the time I was using GHS Bass Boomer when they had the the stick of dynamite on the package. I cut the reference of stings off of the card insert, handed him the plastic sheath and the card a said, “Hey Charlie, have you used these yet? They really do the job.” About a week later he comes up to me and says, “ Man I’ve been in every bait in tackle shop in this county, and nobody is carrying them. where in the !@##$#@!! Did you get these??”
- May 16, 2009
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- Former Manager, Bass San Diego
I'm going to go ahead and cut through to what I THINK you're getting at (even though I couldn't improve on @Gorn 's reply for accuracy and brevity) and interpret your question to more or less be asking about the standards of working professionals across the history of popular music. Because in that sense, largely what matters is that a brand build the best widely-available instruments that are broadly recognized for quality and reliability in a gigging/recording situation. I'm taking that liberty in response to your examples of Taylor and Gibson.
These instruments have a long, ubiquitous reputation as artists' choices in countless live bands and on records such that they become seen as the standard; the bar to which anything else in the category is compared by the largest swath of the educated appreciating audience. That means it has to be both good and nearly ubiquitous--which means it has to be a production instrument (rather than a more niche, elite instrument built by a "boutique" master and known mostly by the bass cognoscenti).
I'm your examples, I'd even go so far as to say that Taylor is only "the bar" for ELECTRIFIED acoustic guitars, and that Martin more closely fits the bill for the pure acoustic spot. And that Fender has as much claim to the solidbody crown as Gibson. And in that breath I'd say that Fender is the obvious brand of note for heritage/reputation to hold the standard as "the bar" for electric bass.
That said, there are such options at this point in time that this is much less important. I too have several recommendations of brands/people that I personally think make the best bass for certain situations, but that'd make my post more rambling and interminable than it's already become.
Long story short: if you're an unknown walking into a Nashville gig, and you don't want people to think twice about your bass, bring a Fender. If you need to know the single most Supreme bass there is, I've gotta agree with Gorn.
All those stupid p-bass fanboys will tell you it's the Fender Precision.
And they're damn right.
And they're damn right.
Sounds like you’re new to bass and just want to get pointed in the right direction brand wise, to start seeing what to look at. And of course you can go on from there, but you need a starting point that many players have recognized for many years, even if they individually chose something different. So:
Acoustic guitar:
Martin
Gibson
Taylor (the modern newcomer to the higher end "big guys" party)
Electric guitar:
Gibson
Fender
PRS (the modern newcomer to the higher end "big guys" party)
Bass:
Fender
Other
Fender is really the 800 lb. gorilla of the bass world. Next up would probably be Rickenbacker and Gibson for traditional passive basses, and Music Man for a more modern take. And then there’s endless others depending on style of music, needs, wants, budgets — lots of good stuff out there.
Despite the dominance of Fender, there’s probably a wider acceptance of the desirability of instruments from non-major makers in the bass world as compared to the guitar world — lots of more boutique stuff that is "beyond" Fender. But to point you in the widely accepted direction, take a look at Fender, especially Jazzes and Precisions, and then give the other brands mentioned a look too and see what catches your eye and ear, and go from there
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Who are all you people and what did you do to talkbass?
I don't know why these people are jerking you around today OP but I assure you that the answer a P-bass with a tort guard and flatwound strings is the best. Bonus points if you hang a carrot from the headstock to control the deadspot.
We've talked about this guys...
I don't know why these people are jerking you around today OP but I assure you that the answer a P-bass with a tort guard and flatwound strings is the best. Bonus points if you hang a carrot from the headstock to control the deadspot.
We've talked about this guys...
First of all, the best acoustic guitar is NOT Taylor, it's Martin. The best electric is Not Gibson, it's Fender. The best BASS?????
C'mon, it's obvious!*
*this post fully meant to be funny, and not a serious post at all
- Jun 6, 2012
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- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
Look at that terrible neck-dive.
The best bass is the one all strung up and closest to you at any given moment.
