Hello there guys,
I have been a member of the TB community for a while, but I don't post much, yet I always follow the many interesting discussions.
Currently, I am facing a decision making problem. I will describe my situation in detail, so that you can maybe provide a recommendation for me.
I am a proud owner of a Jackson CMG bass with EMG passive HZ pickups and an active preamp. It plays very well, and it delivers a good tone (I down tune it two steps to achieve a very dark / heavy tone). It serves as a main bass for me. I also have a BC Rich Neck Through 5 string bass with stock pickups (2 sets of precision pups), which I use as a back-up and which has a standard tuning. Both basses serve a certain purpose in my arsenal. I play through a Warwick Blue Cab 60W amp at home for practice, and during a gig I rent an amp and a 4x10 cab (often it's a Kustom Groove Bass 600 HD head with a random 4x10, and sometimes something more powerful, but I am looking to buy my own in about a year).
I play mainly metal - ranging from Iron Maiden and Savatage to Arch Enemy and Iced Earth. Sometimes I find myself jamming to some old school rock (like Deep Purple, Sabbath or Rainbow).
About half a year ago I started saving up for an upgrade - because I started to realize that the two basses that I have can either be improved or that I simply deserve something better. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jackson bass and it serves its purpose, but I just think that I can go further. The BC Rich is ok though, I guess...
Buying a new rig is out of the question for me, because I travel a lot (I am an MBA student currently) and I have 6 months in Paris and 6 months in NYC coming up next year (and I am not French, and I am not American...) So, I choose to rent the rig when it comes to playing live.
So, I was thinking of either getting a new bass or upgrading my existing ones. If I would upgrade my existing ones - I figure that I would want to get new pickups on both basses, actives on the Jackson and passives on the rich, an aguilar preamp on the Jackson, change the bridges on both, and maybe get a custom finish on the Jackson. Now, that would cost me over 1200 US Dollars.
At the same time, I can keep my Jackson (do some minor repairs) and I can sell my BC Rich. And then I can buy a new bass for about 1600 US Dollars, maybe 1800.
So my questions are the following:
[1] I am leaning towards getting a higher end bass guitar in comparison to my current arsenal - is this a right choice or should I just upgrade my current ones?
[2] I play mainly metal - with a lot of gallops - but I play both with my fingers and with a plectrum (plectrum for death metal, fingers for heavy metal or classic rock). What would be a top choice for me in my price range? I was thinking maybe going the "used" road - a used Spector or a used Modulus maybe? Or maybe a new Music Man? Maybe you have some good ideas regarding the bass?
[3] I play in different configurations - sometimes with two lead guitarists and one keyboard, vocalist and drummer, and sometimes with one lead guitarist, vocalist and drummer. My bass and my tone have to be beefy and versatile. I am not happy with staying in the background and I enjoy having a good presence in the sound spectrum (I highlight the mids a lot). And since I used both my fingers and a plectrum, I need pickups that can get the job done. So once again, what should I do?
In a year or so, I will invest in my own rig for concerts and loud jamming sessions, but as I pointed out, at this point it is not something that could be useful to me, so I want to either get a new bass or improve what I have.
I have been a member of the TB community for a while, but I don't post much, yet I always follow the many interesting discussions.
Currently, I am facing a decision making problem. I will describe my situation in detail, so that you can maybe provide a recommendation for me.
I am a proud owner of a Jackson CMG bass with EMG passive HZ pickups and an active preamp. It plays very well, and it delivers a good tone (I down tune it two steps to achieve a very dark / heavy tone). It serves as a main bass for me. I also have a BC Rich Neck Through 5 string bass with stock pickups (2 sets of precision pups), which I use as a back-up and which has a standard tuning. Both basses serve a certain purpose in my arsenal. I play through a Warwick Blue Cab 60W amp at home for practice, and during a gig I rent an amp and a 4x10 cab (often it's a Kustom Groove Bass 600 HD head with a random 4x10, and sometimes something more powerful, but I am looking to buy my own in about a year).
I play mainly metal - ranging from Iron Maiden and Savatage to Arch Enemy and Iced Earth. Sometimes I find myself jamming to some old school rock (like Deep Purple, Sabbath or Rainbow).
About half a year ago I started saving up for an upgrade - because I started to realize that the two basses that I have can either be improved or that I simply deserve something better. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jackson bass and it serves its purpose, but I just think that I can go further. The BC Rich is ok though, I guess...
Buying a new rig is out of the question for me, because I travel a lot (I am an MBA student currently) and I have 6 months in Paris and 6 months in NYC coming up next year (and I am not French, and I am not American...) So, I choose to rent the rig when it comes to playing live.
So, I was thinking of either getting a new bass or upgrading my existing ones. If I would upgrade my existing ones - I figure that I would want to get new pickups on both basses, actives on the Jackson and passives on the rich, an aguilar preamp on the Jackson, change the bridges on both, and maybe get a custom finish on the Jackson. Now, that would cost me over 1200 US Dollars.
At the same time, I can keep my Jackson (do some minor repairs) and I can sell my BC Rich. And then I can buy a new bass for about 1600 US Dollars, maybe 1800.
So my questions are the following:
[1] I am leaning towards getting a higher end bass guitar in comparison to my current arsenal - is this a right choice or should I just upgrade my current ones?
[2] I play mainly metal - with a lot of gallops - but I play both with my fingers and with a plectrum (plectrum for death metal, fingers for heavy metal or classic rock). What would be a top choice for me in my price range? I was thinking maybe going the "used" road - a used Spector or a used Modulus maybe? Or maybe a new Music Man? Maybe you have some good ideas regarding the bass?
[3] I play in different configurations - sometimes with two lead guitarists and one keyboard, vocalist and drummer, and sometimes with one lead guitarist, vocalist and drummer. My bass and my tone have to be beefy and versatile. I am not happy with staying in the background and I enjoy having a good presence in the sound spectrum (I highlight the mids a lot). And since I used both my fingers and a plectrum, I need pickups that can get the job done. So once again, what should I do?
In a year or so, I will invest in my own rig for concerts and loud jamming sessions, but as I pointed out, at this point it is not something that could be useful to me, so I want to either get a new bass or improve what I have.
.
