Hi bud, how can u make the cheap bass sounds good, not to be amazing like musicman, fender, or something else, but i just want to make my bass sounds better or okay. For example fender copy bass with very cheap price, or the random brands u can find at ur local store, thank u in advance bud.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Cheap Bass
- Thread starter newguydito
- Start date
Good set up and decent strings, assuming it's structurally OK. Maybe a PU change if they're really dire, but most are serviceable.
It's not hard to make a decently made bass sound good.
It's not hard to make a decently made bass sound good.
define "good".
I own an Harley Benton JB75 since 2016, it's a great bass, sounds like a Jazz Bass, with two single coils and V-V-T.
years ago I made a "blind test" with three Precision basses, a Fender, a "parts" and a Peavey Zodiac. same strings, it was impossible to distinguish them by a recorded track.
obviously, setup, cleaning and strings are the most important part.
the only pickup change I made was on a Yamaha RBX200, because the pickup was really crappy. switched to a Dimarzio Model P and that bass became one of my most gigged bass for 2 years straight, until I gave it to a friend of mine, a piano teacher, who needed a bass to play with some students in a school band.
so, define "sound good".
I own an Harley Benton JB75 since 2016, it's a great bass, sounds like a Jazz Bass, with two single coils and V-V-T.
years ago I made a "blind test" with three Precision basses, a Fender, a "parts" and a Peavey Zodiac. same strings, it was impossible to distinguish them by a recorded track.
obviously, setup, cleaning and strings are the most important part.
the only pickup change I made was on a Yamaha RBX200, because the pickup was really crappy. switched to a Dimarzio Model P and that bass became one of my most gigged bass for 2 years straight, until I gave it to a friend of mine, a piano teacher, who needed a bass to play with some students in a school band.
so, define "sound good".
Practice. Study. Spend a lot of time with your metronome. Learn how to use every knob and control on your instrument, amplifier, and anything else in your signal chain. Read up on what they actually do and how they change the sound.
Examine every element of your technique. How each finger touches the string, the angle of your wrists, your fingers, and the alignment of your joints all the way up your spine. Explore every possible way to make a string vibrate and note every sound you can create, from smacking it as hard as possible to touching it just lightly enough to produce a sound.
That's what the great players do, and they can pick up any instrument off the shelf and sound great. Sure, they'll be more comfortable with a well set up bass they are familiar with, but Victor Wooten can make anything groove whether it cost $100 or $10,000.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
There is no magic pedal. It's no different than a $5000 bass. A good set up (intonation, string height, pickup height, etc.). New strings, based on the sound you want (stainless steel is brightest, nickel less bright, flats for a vintage 60s tone. Don't turn your amp past where it should go. Practice.
Honestly the biggest bang for your buck is a proper setup and a fresh set of strings. Lower the action, set the intonation, get the pickup heights right and a cheap bass can sound way better than people expect.
A cheap bass that plays well can sound surprisingly good.
A cheap bass that plays well can sound surprisingly good.
Obviously the only way to achieve this is getting a custom Fodera.
I own a bass with Jazz configuration that costs more than a Fender Custom Shop model.
A good friend has a Sire (the Jazz one with the passive electronics) that cost around 450 , and another has the Harley Benton Jazz bass that's sold for €169.
I've played and recorded all three at different times.
With a fresh set of strings, some compression and tasteful EQ,
they all sound great when a good player plays them and they all sound like a turd when an imbecile tortures the fretboard.
A good friend has a Sire (the Jazz one with the passive electronics) that cost around 450 , and another has the Harley Benton Jazz bass that's sold for €169.
I've played and recorded all three at different times.
With a fresh set of strings, some compression and tasteful EQ,
they all sound great when a good player plays them and they all sound like a turd when an imbecile tortures the fretboard.
There has been ALOT of great advice given already. I will just state that there is no magic bullet. The trick is to understand the tone you hear in your head then take a logical course toward achieving that tone. I own a number of really good precision basses but my fave is a stock Squier. Cheap bass does not automatically mean bad and expensive does not automatically mean good. If you have a deficiency you have to figure out what is needed to solve that deficiency.
A good amp, or even more precisely, a good speaker cab, is much more important than the bass.
There's no magic tone dust in an expensive bass. Any bass with decent pickups can sound great if well set up and, more importantly, played well. People (including me) sometimes spend more on pricey basses due to factors unrelated to tone, such as weight, aesthetics, build quality, exclusivity, collectability, etc. Others may spend more believing there's a major sonic advantage, but when recorded & listened to blindly/ evaluated objectively without bias, that disappears in a heartbeat/ drumbeat. Note the classic vintage Fender basses that now fetch hefty collectors prices were specifically originally designed to be cheap to manufacture with easy to find materials.....Leo didn't obsess over "tone wood".
Last edited:
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
I guess it depends on how bad it is. There are plenty of good enough quality inexpensive instruments out there though... Squier, Sire, Ibanez, Yamaha, and plenty of others produce instruments that cost relatively little and still sound good. I tried a used Ibanez Mikro that was listed for about $150 at a shop and thought it played and sounded wonderful. I probably should've bought it for my stepdaughter at that price!
It'd help to know what you're trying to play, what kinds of tones you're chasing, and where you think your current tone is falling short. Personally, taking lessons and practicing did more for my tone than any piece of gear ever did. It's always a work in progress!
It'd help to know what you're trying to play, what kinds of tones you're chasing, and where you think your current tone is falling short. Personally, taking lessons and practicing did more for my tone than any piece of gear ever did. It's always a work in progress!
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
It depends on what you're starting with in terms of the 'cheap bass'. You can't polish a turd. Compression would be the last thing I'd suggest, as it will only bring out the worst parts of a bad sounding bass, and EQ might help cover up some 'problem areas', but it won't 'improve' anything. As others have stated, the setup and playability of the instrument matters the most. If you can get the string height low, and there are no major buzzes and/or uneven frets across the full length of the fingerboard, and it is in tune/intonated properly, then you stand a much better chance at getting a 'bass-like-tone' out of a cheap instrument. Pickup height matters a lot too. If it's hard to play, your technique will have to overcome the deficiencies of the instrument, and that's not a recipe for long term happiness with it.
There is no magic to this. Setup, "TIME SPENT" and technic. If your bass hasn't been properly setup, (as said a bunch) and you don't practice, that's an issue. If you are new to bass and you only practice once a week for 15 minutes, well.
