I see threads here frequently saying this brand is garbage, or that brand only made a few good basses and you have to try them all to find a good one.
Put into words what a good bass is.
Do the same for a decent bass.
Now describe a bad bass.
If you can, articulate what is garbage, and what is not.
Try hard to leave out unadulterated opinion and subjectivity.
Be objective.
I submit it is in the hands and mind of the player.
Blind taste tests in the wine world have upset many apple carts and embarrassed many professional sommeliers. I lived tangentially as a chef in that world. You can’t quantify opinion.
A blindfolded test of top bass makers would be the end-all to this conversation.
Well for me, I'll start at the bottom and work up. My first bass was a green Japanese piece of
. I bought it in 1965 and I didn't have an amp yet. It was a short scale with a wide and fat neck. No neck dive but as soon as I plugged it into my new 1966 Fender Bassman amp in 1966, I knew I had to get something else. It just had a terrible sound. I mean it just sounded bad. It was sort of a muddy sound that went on forever. I did play one gig with that bass with a group that was just starting out and then was offered the bass position for a well established high school band that was playing dances at the various area high schools, as well as the option to purchase on payments the 1965 Jazz Bass from their previous bass player who was now taking over as organist. I of course jumped on that and that '65 was the cat's meow for years.
That '65 Jazz was a wonderful bass (a few steps above good). I did pull off the foam muting that was glued to the inside of the bridge pickup ashtray cover and I ended up putting on some Fender Tape Wound strings when I broke a flatwound G string (replaced entire set of course), but outside of that I just played it as-is and kept it clean and in its case. I would run that Jazz with all the controls dimed to get that nice what I call "round" sound out of it. I do the same thing now although I add a touch of low-mid boost at either 250Hz or 500Hz, depending upon which amp I'm using.
The neck was amazingly comfortable and fast. It was a 60's slim C-shape neck with 7.25" radius and it spoiled me for any other necks. That was stolen along with all my touring gear (Toured for 3-years in the early 70's) in 1976 and didn't find another MIA Jazz with that same neck shape until 1985 at which time I bought it and that's what I currently play. Like I said, this was a great bass.
In 1985, the bass I bought with the same neck shape is my "White Lady". She is Olympic white that has mellowed to a buttercream shade over the last 36-years I've played her, has white pickguard, pickups, and control knobs; has a white bound Maple neck and the 70's area pickup spacing (4" center to center). Her sound is magnificent! Again I run her with the controls dimed and my amp EQ flat with the exception of a little boost in the low-mids. I use LaBella White Tape Wound strings on her now which have the brightest sound of LaBella's Tape Wound strings. She has a little different sound than my '65 did and a lot more sustain. That's probably because of the Maple neck and the 70's era pickup spacing.
If I had my druthers, I'd druther have both my current Jazz and my '65. But not much chance of that happening and I'm just really grateful that I have my 1982 white Lady. She is also a wonderful bass. Back in the early 70's I got rid of the neck pickup cover, but kept the ashtray because it looked good to me. I didn't realize at the time that I could very significantly change the timbre of the sounds I was playing by moving my plucking hand more towards or over the bottom of the neck for a warmer sound, or back over the bridge pickup for a very bright sound. And, if I dig into the strings a bit over that bridge pickup, my White lady will growl all night long. Wasn't aware of that back in the 60's and 70's or I would have removed that ashtray cover.
So that's 1 piece of
bass to start out with and two great basses, one in 1966 and the other bought in 1985. What makes those great basses great is how they sound; how they feel to play them; and how they look. I've always taken care to keep my instruments looking as good as I can and I AM one of those folks who would never buy a "reliced" bass. If I buy a new bass or new to me bass, I want it to look as good as it can look.
Now I also have a "decent bass". That's my 5-string Rogue LX405 Pro made in Korea, not the Pro II or Pro III which where made in Indonesia and China respectively. Bought it in 2009 when I was playing enough songs that needed a 5-string to go out and buy one. Was looking at $400 basses and a friend suggested this one saying they were far better than their price suggested. Sight unseen, I bought it and was very pleasantly surprised when it arrived. The fit and finish as well as the 6-bolt neck were impressive. It's a very nice looking bass. It's very light because it's primarily made out of basswood, but it has a quilted maple top with a tobacco burst finish. It has a wider neck at 44mm at the nut and 67mm at last of its 24 frets. It also has a 12" radius, which is awfully flat for me but the neck is slim at only 21mm at the first fret and 25.3mm thick before it swells into the neck heel. I find I can play it comfortably.
The LX405 Pro has two pickups, one single-coil Jazz-type pickup in the neck position and one MM-type soapbar humbucker in the bridge position. It's an active bass, which can also be played in passive mode. You pull the volume knob out to put it into passive mode. Now when you do that, the bottom two knobs which are the cut/boost for bass and treble cease to work and only the top two knobs, which are volume and pickup blend still work. That's actually not a big deal as it sounds just fine in passive mode, in fact I prefer that. Also comes with a high-mass bridge.
So that's my "decent" bass. What keeps it from being a "good" or exceptional bass is the sound. The fit and finish on it is excellent and the sound is good, but it's just not as good as the sound I get out of my Jazz Bass. So it's relegated to the songs that require a 5-string instead of general all around use. A little caveat here on the current Rogue basses - the Chinese factory is every bit as capable of producing as fine a fit and finish as the Korean factory was, but they don't all measure up. Their Quality Control is not nearly as good as the "made in Korea" ones were. GC carries them and almost all the online music stores carry them too, and I would suggest inspecting one first hand instead of ordering blind like I did. Otherwise you may find your self sending an unsatisfactory one back and trying another one...or two.
My basses:
1965 Jazz as seen in 1972 with Standel amp behind guitarist (Steve Bivins):
1982 MIA passive Jazz and 2009
2009 Active/Passive Rogue LX405 Pro:
