Best expensive sound

[JIO]

I was present in the thread when that comment was made by someone. The poster's reasoning was that most bottom-end budget basses are a Volume/ Tone single split pickup P-Bass facsimile. I can understand how a person reasons this as Ive seen P-Bass copies myself brand new on eBay for `~$70 or so with free shipping.........Depending how a person was exposed to the bass guitar instrument, there is a type of logic at work here although its logic based on supposition and innuendo....its also a crock-o'-poo

Maybe realizing this is part of why one either moves on to another thread of joins a playful extrapolation. I mostly pass over the obvious black-holes on tb and don't take much of what goes on here seriously either. Lightness of being is a much healthier path in life and a whole lot more fun.

 

[micque]

Expensive bass sound ? If you pay me $2000 to play bass for 30 minutes I can show what an expensive bass sound is ! and thats with any bass, any amp !

 

[distortion81]

Expensive bass sound ? If you pay me $2000 to play bass for 30 minutes I can show what an expensive bass sound is ! and thats with any bass, any amp !

Then thats not an expensive sound, that an expensive player

2 grand for 30 minutes, i will do it with or without a bass.

 

[bucephylus]

This week I found that for some TB members a P bass sound cheap, this makes me think, what bass delivers an expensive sound? The value of the bass has nothing to do with my question, I want to know what is an expensive sound. Lets say that I want to sound expensive, fancy, sophisticated, a sound that only the higher economic class can appreciate, what bass should I play?

IMO, you seem to have gotten impressions from some TB'ers which are pretty much just uninformed. Anyone criticizing the sound of a P bass as somehow being associated with "cheap" is just unaware.

First of all, there are way too many recorded bass parts performed on the P, which form the foundation of pop bass playing in many genres, and which stand as testament to the misconception of the basis of your question. I don't personally play a P nor prefer that sound as an exclusive for my gigs. But, calling the P's sound cheap just seems foolish to me. Maybe, I am not understanding your question.

Second, excellent P's are, in fact, not "cheap." The better pre-CBS instruments have become almost unaffordable for working cats. The better Custom Shop instruments are high end. The boutique Fender clone build examples are high end.

You want to "sound expensive?" Go wood shed for 12 hours a day or so on Charlie Parker parts, James Jamerson parts, Jaco parts, Marcus Miller parts, Stevie Wonder parts etc; learn to play roots Blues really well; get a quality amplification chain nailed down; do several hundred gigs in a variety of genres; and then, you may start sounding "expensive." IMO/E

Now, if your question was more oriented at asking which basses have dramatic detail in the upper frequency spectrum, then you might want to look at basses like Alembic, Fodera, Tobias (MTD), and Zon etc; which have a more complex and varied tonal palette than the P; and that means you can get a larger variety of tones out of them. But, no one of any of the tones is "expensive." There are good bass tones and not as good bass tones, depending on the mix. That's all there is to it. IME

 

[chadds]

I purchased a used Japanese Fender '51P decades ago. Because of the US/Canadian exchange rate it ended up costing me $340. When I saw that I said, "I had to buy it!" Little did I know how wonderful it would be. With its original albeit cheap pickup it could sound just like an upright. Without eq. it fooled an expert string player who walked in the studio. I did put a Muy Grande in it.

There are great instruments among all the basses at any price point. I played an MTD that was made from the most beautiful woods which sounded bad, wasn't responsive and was very heavy. It was very expensive. After I couldn't get what I heard out of a $3500 Smith I downgraded $1K to what delivers all that I want.

This thread is us being Talkbass. It's not about Ps vs Foderas. If you can't make it on a P you won't on a Fodera. However for my uses I prefer girth in the signal chain at the bass not at the amp. For me if I get that girth at the amp the rest of the tones may be colored. Ken Smith said he wanted a bass that sounded live like a Fender sounded recorded. Okay this has nothing to do with price. I've played some '60s Fender basses that at the time were four years old that were resonant vibrating monsters. They weren't boutique. Ashborys new were $249. They kick &$$.

Classical players would laugh at this conversation. My friends son while in high school had two $25,000. clarinets. He was a gifted player and that was what was required when he went to study in Europe. Priced a concert level Contrabass bow?

Enjoy it all. I sat next to a player trying an all maple maple fretboard 5 expensive booteekee with stainless on it. He was sounding like heaven. Made me want to buy it. He hands it to me. By golly not my thing. I certainly didn't sound like him. So what is right for him and right for me are two different things when it comes to putting that sound out into the room. So what could price have to do with it?

 

[AngelCrusher]

See post #33.

Sometimes being pwned happens in plain sight.

You have a strange definition of that term. Especially when the OP clarified that by expensive, he meant active.

 

[okcrum]

You have a strange definition of that term. Especially when the OP clarified that by expensive, he meant active.

I guess he changed his mind from post #34.

Either way, "cheap" and "expensive" make no sense describing bass tone in my book.

 

[spade2you]

I equate expensive with a nice bloom and lots of sustain.

 

[socialleper]

This week I found that for some TB members a P bass sound cheap, this makes me think, what bass delivers an expensive sound? The value of the bass has nothing to do with my question, I want to know what is an expensive sound. Lets say that I want to sound expensive, fancy, sophisticated, a sound that only the higher economic class can appreciate, what bass should I play?

I'm going to throw around some opinions like they are facts or something:
I think people might say that the classic P bass tone is "cheap" because it is pretty singular, and the P bass is the single most simple bass out there. There isn't a lot of ways to refine a P bass, and despite what some of the zealots around here say, to my ear, a precision is a precision is a precision.
A jazz can sound cheap and clanky, or have an incredible amount of character. Some will disagree with me, but a Fender jazz sounds pretty flat compared to a Mayones Jabba.
The term "expensive" may be confused with "refined" or "complex". Some basses make a tone that is very specific due to its design and that can only be achieved with just the right combination of materials. A Wal or Warwick Thumb are examples of signature sounds that take some specific engineering to get there. People like to knock Fodera as a status symbol, but I remember hearing Victor Wooten's sound with Bela Fleck and the Fleck tones before knowing what a Fodera was, and being impressed with his refined tone, that was both sharp and deep at the same time but not in just a scooped way.
Then you get into really exotic sounds like what Mike Manring gets out of his Hyper Bass. That thing is an engineering masterpiece and it comes across in crazy sounds he gets out of that thing, which are literally impossible to get out of any other bass.
So I guess people might say that common sounding, flat or honky tone basses are "cheap" sounding, while unique or robust sounding basses sound "expensive."

 

[socialleper]

Um, these basses aren't cheap and Stanley sounds good...

Love that tune.

It's so cute when keyboardists try to pretend they are cool.

 

[micque]

To me there Is an expensive bass sound, it's when lots of exotic woods babingaboababahogany are combined in the neck and body

I thought I was the only one who had a bass with a babingaboababahogany body, and you say your neck has some in it to, I'm impressed ! pictures please !

 

[BassBrass]

That was a made up word. I actually just have spalted maple or curley maple and mahogany with ebony fret boards and I'm not sure what else with the layers of woods on the Ravenwest thing. Some of my favorite basses are mostly mahogany for some reason. I mentioned baobab because of "Better Get Saul" when he requests a boabab desk at his new job-- he doesn't know what it is, but it represents success and opulence.

 

[JIO]

Love that tune.

It's so cute when keyboardists try to pretend they are cool.

I don't think George Duke needed to pretend. Now the guitarists hairstyle…

 

[micque]

That was a made up word. I actually just have spalted maple or curley maple and mahogany with ebony fret boards and I'm not sure what else with the layers of woods on the Ravenwest thing. Some of my favorite basses are mostly mahogany for some reason. I mentioned baobab because of "Better Get Saul" when he requests a boabab desk at his new job-- he doesn't know what it is, but it represents success and opulence.

Just kidding around, I like the sound of it when I say it fast, sounds real expensive indeed !!!

 

[chadds]

I'm going to throw around some opinions like they are facts or something:
I think people might say that the classic P bass tone is "cheap" because it is pretty singular, and the P bass is the single most simple bass out there. There isn't a lot of ways to refine a P bass, and despite what some of the zealots around here say, to my ear, a precision is a precision is a precision.
A jazz can sound cheap and clanky, or have an incredible amount of character. Some will disagree with me, but a Fender jazz sounds pretty flat compared to a Mayones Jabba.
The term "expensive" may be confused with "refined" or "complex". Some basses make a tone that is very specific due to its design and that can only be achieved with just the right combination of materials. A Wal or Warwick Thumb are examples of signature sounds that take some specific engineering to get there. People like to knock Fodera as a status symbol, but I remember hearing Victor Wooten's sound with Bela Fleck and the Fleck tones before knowing what a Fodera was, and being impressed with his refined tone, that was both sharp and deep at the same time but not in just a scooped way.
Then you get into really exotic sounds like what Mike Manring gets out of his Hyper Bass. That thing is an engineering masterpiece and it comes across in crazy sounds he gets out of that thing, which are literally impossible to get out of any other bass.
So I guess people might say that common sounding, flat or honky tone basses are "cheap" sounding, while unique or robust sounding basses sound "expensive."

I own Fenders. Leo kept perfecting his art. First the Musicman and them OMG G&Ls. Try a G&L and you have the stiff neck and the alnico pickups that sound active.

But go boutique and you can play every note on the 35" scale neck. The donk donk or dink dink that the Fender delivers up high has became a clear ringing note. Maybe you don't need that. That's fair. When I do I do. When I'm playing in a blues band and I'm the only one down low after the guitarist vocals and harp I need much more than a P to bring the bottom. If I'm slotted between the horns, drummer and Hammond B3 then the P is the thing. Thing is my boutique (expensive ) (you said it not me) bass does the P thing really well.