great. You made me look at Reverb and saw that AC6 priced crazy good!!
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great. You made me look at Reverb and saw that AC6 priced crazy good!!
There’s a BN6 with some wear but it still looks pretty good and the price isn’t bad.
I haven't bought a brand-new bass in 25 years, much less ordered one, but this may be the one that pushes me over the top.I'm becoming a fan pretty quickly. I can say that this "modified deluxe" has the BN foundation with a lot of frosting on top. I have been able to get super bright pinging bridge tone all the way to mid focused Motown P tones. There is a lot of space in between. I have been experimenting with the Single Coil options this week and trying to make it be the J Bass + that I feel like is BN meat and potatoes. It's an easy as a flip of a switch, but there is more there to explore as well. My only displeasure is this was the year I had planned to really dig into and explore fretless again, full time. That will be a challenge now.
Have you ordered one?
I love the Ken Smith-type of tone, but the Smith ergos don't work nearly as well for me as a BN.
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Well, the deluxe on Reverb is gone. I am looking at an Alder/Ebony BN5 but I can only find one sound clip on YT. I can clearly hear a difference in the finger board woods, but I would really like an opinion on the alder FBasses.
If anyone has, or has experience with the alder/ebony thing, I would really appreciate the input.
If anyone has, or has experience with the alder/ebony thing, I would really appreciate the input.
I hope this helps...
I have a roasted Alder BN5 with a roasted maple neck and board. It sounds amazing and I think it could be my favorite BN. The other day, I told someone that it sounded so good, I am not sure why I have bought and play anything else, but I have and I do. If I was forced to sell most of my basses, it would be in the last 2. Maybe the last one. It cuts through a mix. It has presence and great flexibility of tone.
Anyway, I would say go get it. Someone else may chime in shortly too.
Alder/rw is my favorite wood combo, so far. I've had an ebony board or two in the past, but it was usually paired with some kind of African hard wood, like bubinga. I think I'm more concerned with the ebony making things too bright.
Well, the one clip I found sounded great, so I may just roll the dice. My current BN5 is great and there are no issues. I just want something with a little more visual pop than a standard BN5. Also, if I don't take to it, I shouldn't lose on the resale.
Well, the one clip I found sounded great, so I may just roll the dice. My current BN5 is great and there are no issues. I just want something with a little more visual pop than a standard BN5. Also, if I don't take to it, I shouldn't lose on the resale.
Ebony would do the opposite. It would smooth things out and give better bass and mids. Especially the Macassar Ebony George likes to use. I’ve considered getting a fretted BN5 with an Ebony board. It would probably sound smoother than smooth jazz
I was hoping this was the case. My ash/maple is great but it's super aggressive... like, all of the time. Lol, I love it though. I know that FBass is particular about the quality of all of the wood they use and I haven't heard a bad one yet. Normally, I wouldn't be this concerned but I'm looking at a new, non returnable bass, so... yeah.Ebony would do the opposite. It would smooth things out and give better bass and mids. Especially the Macassar Ebony George likes to use. I’ve considered getting a fretted BN5 with an Ebony board. It would probably sound smoother than smooth jazz
honstly, call up Marcel. He is a wizard about this stuff. He will tell you the result of every combination of pieces together in one bass.
I would NOT hesitate to purchase alder/ebony. My experience is with Sadowsky NYC’s for this combo… @BassJuju nailed it ^^^… that combo cuts, and has presence. I’d add, you get the alder warmth, and the ebony’s definitely not too bright…just an overall smooth ‘presence’ as @bass08053 also mentioned…
Turns out, I went home on a work break and as soon as I turned on the tv, a YT video is playing and it's Marcel talking with the guy from Ish guitars and they are discussing the differences between fingerboard wood. He described ebony as being in between maple and rosewood. I guess I'll watch a few of these factory tour videos. Who knows what else I'll pick up?
You know this is your "fault" right? Remember when I sent you that video? You said the bass finally sounds right, but there was not much smoothness to the low end. It really doesn't do "polite". In fact, I'm sure it would knock down my grandma to cut through a mix. Best bass I've ever owned and you know most of the history.
I'm hesitant to post this, because I've seen so many posts by others that have such a condescending tone (pardon the pun) when it comes to woods etc.
I'm not suggesting tone woods don't make a difference, as I'm sure even the feel of the fretboard material can technically have an impact at some level. I also know that some people are capable of hearing incredibly subtle details that I cannot personally hear.
All that said, I found this video is very interesting, and it shifted my personal views on the subject. Maybe it will shift the weighting of wood-related decisions for you too.
I'm not suggesting tone woods don't make a difference, as I'm sure even the feel of the fretboard material can technically have an impact at some level. I also know that some people are capable of hearing incredibly subtle details that I cannot personally hear.
All that said, I found this video is very interesting, and it shifted my personal views on the subject. Maybe it will shift the weighting of wood-related decisions for you too.
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Been around for awhile. A keys player sent it to me a year or so ago. Some say tubes sound better… some can’t hear the difference. Personally, I doubt anything related to tone on YouTube. Basses, guitars, pipe organs, oranges.
Many seem to have a “religious” opinion about the tonewood notion. I’ve talked to dealers/sales people that say strings and pickups are 99% of the deal. I couldn’t disagree more. I have played many basses side by side, same luthier, with the same type of strings and electronics and the tones are very different. I have 4 FBass with the same pickup/strings as at least one comparison and they are quite different sounding instruments.
I know some folks like Squire PBasses and think they sound as good as any bass made. I guess the easy answer is if it sounds good to you, rock it.
Thanks for sharing this. I wonder if it's a guitar vs bass thing. The high pitch of the guitar makes it super hard for me to hear a difference. Even live, with my band, I can't tell what guitars are being used. I think a plexiglass guitar sounds fine, but a plexiglass bass doesn't. Also, all of my alder/rw basses shared a very similar tone profile, regardless of the brand. Recording practice sessions showed me this. I wonder what a spectrum analysis would show. You know, because the drunken club patrons always bring those, lol.
Either way, the tone I like while playing alone isn't what I could use on a gig anyway. I'm looking for a certain something that's just for me.
Great question, I also wonder if bass is different. He has another video on sustain (which I found less useful), and his different scenarios did affect the low E vs high E strings differently (tho not major for either).
That said... I was quite surprised how much of a difference pickup height made in the video. I feel like unless we're accurately measuring and aligning pickup to string distance on each guitar (or bass) we're comparing, there's a decent chance it might explain a good chunk of the difference. This is based on the fact I don't regularly do this measurement... Maybe others do
