Torch7 said:
I'm going to try and break this stuff all down in one post so I don't have four in a row. . . first of all - great topic, great thread, and great comments from everyone. I echo what people have said, Mario, about your comments, extremely succinct and helpful.
I think the answer to this question depends largely on what kind of ear you have to begin with, if I am understanding the question correctly. Some folks are blessed with an ear to be able to hear everything and figure it out with relative ease while others require some intense ear training and practice to be able to pick anything out of a mix. In the other thread I mentioned our worship leader... the guy has never had any formal music training but has been listening to gospel music all his life and has an amazing voice. He'll sit down with our choir, play a CD of a tune we're working on and proceed to sing each individuals part to them - sopranos, tenors, the whole nine yards, he can just pick those harmonies out.
So, putting a time on it is difficult, although I understand that you were asking for personal experience, which will vary from person to person (face to face - sorry, couldn't resist
). For me, by God's grace, I've always been able to pick things our relatively easily. And let me encourage you to learn other instrument parts other than bass. Not only will this help your ear, it will also give you ideas as to what else is going on in the song melody/harmony-wise and help you relate it to your role. One that I've got experience with is John P. Kee's "Oh How Wondrous" -- there are times where the horns and bass are doing different things, but it helps to know both parts. Additionally, it's fun to hit those unison parts with the horns from time to time
IotaNet said:
The other option - if it is an option - would be to pick up whichever of those two basses is most likely to sell for more cash and sell it along with your other basses to purchase a Smith, Cirrus, or whathaveyou. I don't know if this is something you'd be willing to do. I know many people like to have a back-up instrument and I think that's a wise choice. I sold my basses to get one high end bass and am in a lucky position because the back-up bassist at our church has a Sadowsky Metro that he lets me use if mine needs work. But the basses you mentioned, along with MTD which is some serious cabbage, are staples in the gospel realm.
groov'ster said:
Keep in mind also that if you're playing a Cirrus (I checked out your profile) I think those are generally considered to be pretty bright basses. If you've got a monitor pointed at your mug the whole time you're playing, especially if it's got a tweeter, you'll be getting a lot more high end than the subs pointed at the congregation will. I'm making a pretty broad assumption here and I might be way off. But I think you'll always hear more string noise and imperfections in your playing standing right near your cab than the congregation will.
I personally tend to favor the mid-scoop tone as well, but that isn't always the best option. There are some basses/rigs that tend to cut more than others as well. I know you're only using the bass part of that equation right now but, for example, Sadowsky's tend to sit very well in any mix in my experience. The same goes for my Epifani cabinets, although some say there's a slight mid scoop there, I can always hear them very well in the mix and they sound FAT!!!
Just my two cents, my opinion, etc. . .
) And for me a nice MTD or Fodera 6. . . actually a Nordstrand or Smith would suffice as well. 
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