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Different Basses for Different Things

B

BooshBass

Sep 2, 2013
669
236
Chicago, IL
#1
Pretty weird thing to post about but I'm just curious and have been thinking, feel free to disregard this if you would like lol. What is your perception of different brands/models of basses? I'm always trying to have as little things as possible that cover the most ground. I have 1 humbucker guitar, 1 P90 guitar, and 1 Fender guitar strat. I have 1 p-bass, 1 j-bass, and 1 Ibanez active humbuckers bass.

To me, the P is best for when I want to play some classic tones, old R&B/Motown, dub, stuff that requires a lot of tubby thump. The J is best for that smooth funky jazz or jam music and also digging into some hard rock. The Ibanez is actually the most versatile in tone, but I have it set up with pretty high action where I can just go nuts on the strings for some distorted metal riffs or beat on it super hard with some hard slapping.

I've never played more than briefly at a store a PJ, Rickenbacker, Mustang, Stingray, Jaguar, Modulus, Lakland, Sadowsky, Gibson, Dingwall, Danelectro, Hollow, Semi-Hollow. Sometimes I think I have all bases covered just with my 3 basses, sometimes I'm like, I want another bass that does something totally different.

What's your perception of different brands/models of basses and where do they fill holes in your jamming? Whether it's rockin out, smooth jazz, heavy dub, articulate fusion jamming, whatever it doesn't matter. This is interesting to me, YMMV lol.
 
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#3
yea i kinda run a similar principle, 4 string and 6 string that sound like classic hyper fender, then a different 4 and 6 for 'different' tones building from a different foundation, a short scale for short scale things

ive wanted to add a stock P bass and something like a hofner, along with piccolo bass or baritone tenor guitar

deep down i think every gear nerd fantasises about having a 'heres my studio basses' video interview and getting to talk through all of the specific use cases along with how frivolously they spent all the bands money on it cuz it sounded just that good - when in actuality, they're lucky if their S/O listens to them at all about their basses unless they're being grilled on how frivolously they spent all the joint accounts money cuz it sounded just that good




maybe i need a rick too...
 
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#4
I have a pretty diverse collection.
P
Fretless J
Ibanez active
Short scale Jag P/J
Humbucker equipped Ray clone
8-string double course

Each of them are very different from the others. They each have their own distinctive sound and vibe. In saying that, with the exception of the 8-string I could do just about any gig with pretty much any one of them if I had to.
 
#5
I like to think that different basses are best for different things. I’m down to a Jazz-style bass and a Stingray.

I have only one person I work with that prefers the Jazz over the Stingray. Everyone else is fine with whichever I play.
 
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#6
BAG said:
I have a pretty diverse collection.
P
Fretless J
Ibanez active
Short scale Jag P/J
Humbucker equipped Ray clone
8-string double course

Each of them are very different from the others. They each have their own distinctive sound and vibe. In saying that, with the exception of the 8-string I could do just about any gig with pretty much any one of them if I had to.
Click to expand...

Sounds dumb like hippy sh!t but vibes are huge for me. When I pick up my jazz bass I feel way differently about what I'm about the play than when I pick up my P. They feel wildly different. Same with my 3 guitars. I do a lot of just jamming out, and the different vibes can result in wildly different jams.
 
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#7
In my opinion, all basses work for all applications, especially with a good preamp.

I own a MM Bongo, a MM Stingray, a 5-string Jazz, a 4-string Jazz, am building a P-Bass from parts, and have bought and sold maybe a dozen others.

I feel like each bass has a different "personality." My Bongo is such a powerful bass compared to my '60s jazz, I find that they just inspire me in different ways on the same song. They have different characteristics, and they make me feel differently about the song I'm playing based on those characteristics.

Tonally though, I don't think they've ever really been out of place. I've used both on everything from Rock to Jazz to Metal.

I used to think that I needed each type of bass for each genre, and then somewhere over the years, I decided I just needed my tone that I could use for everything. Still trying to figure out what that is. 😅
 
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#8
I’ve always thought that having a couple of different style of basses was good. I tried to like a jazz, not for me, bought and sold several nice p basses. Just not my sound. In 2019 I bought a Sterling Ray4 to see what all the talk was about. Started playing it every gig, during this time I bought and sold another jazz, another fender p bass, a p/j bass but kept the Ray4. I finally decided that the ray sound is what I like. So from the $ from the fender p bass, tips I saved up, I bought a USA EBMM SUB bass. So I am down to 1 sound and love it.
 
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#9
The four on the left each have specific tones for specific types of music. The one on the far right is capable of replicating anything and everything the four on the left cover and a bit more. Still, I keep them all because there are still bandleaders out there that hear with their eyes.
20170831_085616.jpg
 
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#10
I'm pretty sure that in order to post on TalkBass owning, a minimum of (3) basses is a requisite; 5 gives you "Preferred Poster" status, 10+ makes you a "Senior GAS-man" and I do believe you get a patch and or a green jacket with the number of basses you own embroidered on it.

There is absolutely NO CREDITS! given for things such as sight-reading, compositional and arranging skills, and theory. You see, its not about that. It's about posting NBD, because your wife doesn't really care about your toys. (yes yes, I know-YOURS does...so does mine for that matter. She actually listened to me talk about why I dig tube amps for example. That's true love.

NOTE: JK JK- I'm as susceptible as everyone else to Gear Lust- I have finally reached a state of mid where my instruments provide me with what I need stylistically and otherwise. Not that I don;t yearn for some beauts I see.
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#12
My stingray special does not work for gypsy swing. I use a fretless jazz bass with flats and a fat, sharp jazz pick for that style.

When I play hardcore punk, I am not going to use a jazz bass. I hate jazz basses for punk...especially a fretless. I guess you could overdrive it, but imo, It has got to be a P bass or Stingray for hardcore.

I am not familiar with any other brands like Ibanez, etc Music Man and Fender is all I know. YMMV.
 
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#14
chris_b said:
I use the same 2 basses for everything (an active Jazz with rounds and a passive P bass with flats).

Every song gets my sound.
Click to expand...
This was my aim as well, active/passive switching jazz and precision with flats. The Ibanez was my first bass a few decades ago and I just rewired it and got it going again after a few years of sitting there. Its a nice change of pace I must say.
Pyrrho Epoche said:
My stingray special does not work for gypsy swing. I use a fretless jazz bass with flats and a fat, sharp jazz pick for that style.

When I play hardcore punk, I am not going to use a jazz bass. I hate jazz basses for punk...especially a fretless. I guess you could overdrive it, but imo, It has got to be a P bass or Stingray for hardcore.

I am not familiar with any other brands like Ibanez, etc Music Man and Fender is all I know. YMMV.
Click to expand...
I also would generally do P for Punk, but my P has flats on it which isn't great. Pissed I sold my 1989 Peavey Fury, it was a punk machine.

The Ibanez has been surprisingly great for punk since I got it back up and running. Stingrays have been one of the basses I always think I'm missing out on, but I don't like the way the cheap ones feel or sound and the real ones are too expensive. I wish they would make one in the middle price range.
 
#15
msb said:
I have twenty something , and should probably sell a few , but most are quite different and I appreciate the differences in sound and feel. I have a number of short scale hollow bodies. Nice little thumpers.
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One of my favorite bass players plays a Hofner occasionally. I've def thought about a cheap one, it would rectify some vibe leakage in my current collection.
 
#16
Lowbassman said:
I'm pretty sure that in order to post on TalkBass owning, a minimum of (3) basses is a requisite; 5 gives you "Preferred Poster" status, 10+ makes you a "Senior GAS-man" and I do believe you get a patch and or a green jacket with the number of basses you own embroidered on it.

There is absolutely NO CREDITS! given for things such as sight-reading, compositional and arranging skills, and theory. You see, its not about that. It's about posting NBD, because your wife doesn't really care about your toys. (yes yes, I know-YOURS does...so does mine for that matter. She actually listened to me talk about why I dig tube amps for example. That's true love.

NOTE: JK JK- I'm as susceptible as everyone else to Gear Lust- I have finally reached a state of mid where my instruments provide me with what I need stylistically and otherwise. Not that I don;t yearn for some beauts I see.View attachment 6976490
Click to expand...

This is funny and true. I definitely get on that OCD gear obsession at times. I've been off TB for years, just started posting again today actually. That has helped.

But I will say that despite not playing out or being in a band I use every piece of gear that I own regularly, nearly every day. I never keep gear around. If it sits for a couple months, it's gone. This is why I have only 3 basses and a few pedals, 2 bass amps of differet sizes. Not a collector (of music gear, other things sure lol), tho there's nothing wrong with collecting awesome instruments within reason IMO.

When people who play out in bands and whatnot are like, "you don't need that," I'm like, I don't need it like you don't need a TV.
 
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#17
BooshBass said:
This was my aim as well, active/passive switching jazz and precision with flats. The Ibanez was my first bass a few decades ago and I just rewired it and got it going again after a few years of sitting there. Its a nice change of pace I must say.

I also would generally do P for Punk, but my P has flats on it which isn't great. Pissed I sold my 1989 Peavey Fury, it was a punk machine.

The Ibanez has been surprisingly great for punk since I got it back up and running. Stingrays have been one of the basses I always think I'm missing out on, but I don't like the way the cheap ones feel or sound and the real ones are too expensive. I wish they would make one in the middle price range.
Click to expand...
I got super lucky, found a brand new, 2018 Stingray Special 4HH a few months ago---They are around and the prices are doable. You just really gotta search.
 
#20
BooshBass said:
This is funny and true. I definitely get on that OCD gear obsession at times. I've been off TB for years, just started posting again today actually. That has helped.

But I will say that despite not playing out or being in a band I use every piece of gear that I own regularly, nearly every day. I never keep gear around. If it sits for a couple months, it's gone. This is why I have only 3 basses and a few pedals, 2 bass amps of differet sizes. Not a collector (of music gear, other things sure lol), tho there's nothing wrong with collecting awesome instruments within reason IMO.

When people who play out in bands and whatnot are like, "you don't need that," I'm like, I don't need it like you don't need a TV.
Click to expand...
I (think/believe) I have grown and evolved.
If I had all the basses and amps I've gone through I would need a warehouse. Some I wish I still had, others of course I wish I had NOT bought.
I have (8). That's all folks. I see so many I would rock,that I also can see there is no end, so I ended it (the need to buy I mean).

I'm proud to say I've (almost) excelled at sigh-reading, and theory is never ending, as is practice.
But I NEVER would look down on a good NBD post-er anyday! Gear is Boss!
 

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