Yeah....there's a lot of variation to be had with different strings, amps and eq settings...it sounds like the OP has already made up his mind about getting a P-Bass and there's nothing wrong with that. I love my P and my J. My P has flat wounds for that softer warmer tone, my J has some nice bright round wounds when the music calls for that. They'll both do just fine in any environment I need them too though.
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Choosing a new bass - help?
- Thread starter jchan75
- Start date
I'd look at a G&L l2000 Or l2500. Even the tributes sound good for a lower budget, and I feel like you can dial in the tone of a p, j, or mm with a little work. You maybe would have to lighten up your technique because of the exposed poles on the pickups, though. otherwise you can get a lot of tone control with a outboard preamp like a tone hammer or bassbone.
I usually just go to any local store that a nice collection of basses and tryout the most expensive basses they have. This way you can kinda see what you are missing as you try out the lower end models.Who knows maybe fine attention to detail on the $1k+ isn't that noticeable or worth it to you. Thought non sharp level frets, good solid hardware and amazing quality wood is worth it to me.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Figure a budget, and start playing basses. Sounds to me like you would like a regular P bass, but there are so many options out there.
If you want to buy a bass, then from the sound of things a P is the way to go here. And I'm not a P-aholic, don't even own one currently. But +1 to the suggestions that you can work with the amp and technique to try getting the tone you want.
slobake
resident ... something
My playing style is similiar to the OP's
I have a MIM 50's Precision. It has a nice fat maple neck and vintage style frets. The pickups are not as hot as the American Standard pickup but they have a nice fat, sweet tone.
I have used flats but now I use half rounds to get a little more punch. I have a new model Rumble amp that works well with this bass. I use vintage and bright settings on the amp. I put the gain at about 9pm, the bass and treble are at 12 and the low and high mids are at about 2 p.m.
I also use a Zoom B3 set to emulate a Bassman. I set the controls for the Bassman about the same as my amp. I also use a limiter on the pedal.
With these settings I can also turn up the treble on my bass without getting too much clank and string noise.
I know this is a lot of info. Maybe you can try out a vintage style P Bass and a Rumble at a store somewhere to see if you like it. The bass will have rounds in the store you won't really hear how it would sound with flats.
Have fun looking, good luck.
My playing style is similar to yours. I tend todig in quite a but with my right hand and like to roll off the tone pot on my bass.
I have a MIM 50's Precision. It has a nice fat maple neck and vintage style frets. The pickups are not as hot as the American Standard pickup but they have a nice fat, sweet tone.
I have used flats but now I use half rounds to get a little more punch. I have a new model Rumble amp that works well with this bass. I use vintage and bright settings on the amp. I put the gain at about 9pm, the bass and treble are at 12 and the low and high mids are at about 2 p.m.
I also use a Zoom B3 set to emulate a Bassman. I set the controls for the Bassman about the same as my amp. I also use a limiter on the pedal.
With these settings I can also turn up the treble on my bass without getting too much clank and string noise.
I know this is a lot of info. Maybe you can try out a vintage style P Bass and a Rumble at a store somewhere to see if you like it. The bass will have rounds in the store you won't really hear how it would sound with flats.
Have fun looking, good luck.
A couple thoughts. Since your sound comes from more than just your pickup configuration, maybe there's another solution (but, if you are going to buy a new bass, try one with a split P pickup.)
Get piece of foam, cut it slightly thicker than the space between your strings and your bass' body at the bridge, and stuff it in. Does that sound like more of what you want?
Try some flat wound strings on your current bass (and maybe lower the pups a tad too). Then dial in more tone. Does that sound like more of what you want?
Check your amp settings. Try some adjustments in the EQ section. Try less gain in the preamp as well.
Get piece of foam, cut it slightly thicker than the space between your strings and your bass' body at the bridge, and stuff it in. Does that sound like more of what you want?
Try some flat wound strings on your current bass (and maybe lower the pups a tad too). Then dial in more tone. Does that sound like more of what you want?
Check your amp settings. Try some adjustments in the EQ section. Try less gain in the preamp as well.
Man, thanks for all of the suggestions! To be clear, I'm not necessarily replacing my Blacktop bass, but I do need to have a sturdy back up ( I'm thinking $500-$900 - or less). Right now my only backups are a mint 1985 Aria Pro II ZZB and a Yamaha RBX 460. What I'm looking for in a new bass is something similar to what I already have but just a bit less "aggressive" sounding. With my current setup, I have tight punchy lows and "round" but clear highs. Mids are sweet and lay pretty well in the mix. I guess I feel like I should be able to get more bell-like highs without too much growl on the low end.
It sounds like you have a pretty versatile bunch of basses there, the RBX probably has the P sound covered if you solo the neck. Try a standard jazz bass maybe and experiment with hand placement (play near and far from the bridge) as well as the pickup balance. Jazz basses have a drastic shift in how they sound when you roll off the volume in one or the other pickup, with both full on you get a slight volume drop and a mid-scoop. I like that scooped sound but if you don't rolling off the neck or bridge pickup a bit brings it back each in a slightly different way. If you want more control try out an active Jazz bass--the MIM deluxe active jazz bass is in that price range/
Jazz basses have single coil pickups, and those usually have some extra highs vs. humbucking pickups. I wouldn't describe P basses as "bell like" at all, so if that's what you're looking for I'd say check out some other kinds of basses. A Jazz bass won't be as aggressive as your modern player, and it won't be as thumpy as a P bass.
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