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Do you think the scale will ever tip back towards hi-fi/active basses?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
Almost all of my basses are active, but with generally with a passive tone control, and I periodically go through phases in which I'm playing them passively...well, playing them actively in the sense of musical engagement! Seriously, some time with a Fender Roscoe Beck V bit me hard, and the Nordstrand single coil blades sound great in passive mode on my Lakland/Pedigo with a John East variable/mids pre.
The music genre I listen to is dominated by Modulus
i'm not sure i can embrace the premise: IMO, bass/brand diversity is the 'growth variable', i.e., passive vs. active is gone, irrelevant.
yeah, and "TB perception" doesn't track the real world accurately, e.g., no one in the real world cares about anything but the money (or cost) and the notes that have to be played to get the money (or justify the cost).per the discussion: IMO, IME, and FWIW, producers who used to insist on "gotta have a P-bass" are mostly dead. most modern producers (the real ones) are looking for a "vibe" instead of a specific, literal sound = because the specific, literal sound in the final production will be cast to 'fit in' long after the talent has gone...they want a sound that can be manipulated for their purpose(s). playing the right notes/vibe trumps everything else.
I didn't know who Sean Hurley is, so I looked him up. Said he predominantly played a Jazz Bass before switching to a P for session work...
we just recorded a song I wrote. my main bass was not the bass. "my sound" did not vibe at all. i had to play a P and I've been exclusively an MTD guy for the last 20 years. go with what works guys!!!! Jimmy always knows
D
As a retired pro engineer I have to say a lot of what people think about p-bass in the studio is not all that true. At least in my experience in some famous rooms and top bands.
The bass player and bass tracks are not some red headed step child. They get all the attention and time needed. I spent as much time on bass as drums at times. Recording is a mixed bag. Sometimes every minute is counted and there are predetermined recipes and other times the clock is not considered and there is plenty of time to futz.
As far as passive vs hi-fi active? It depends. Too many variables involved. I like whatever makes you play well, have a good vibe, and no technical issues. That is in the studio.
As a trend, I figure everything that goes around will come back around. Usually does.
EDIT - Forgot the OP was talking session player. Session players are typically hired with a sound and vibe in mind for a particular style, genre etc. That sound and style is usually associated with the players preferred instrument. I do agree it would be hard to land in LA without a P and J bass and expect work.
The bass player and bass tracks are not some red headed step child. They get all the attention and time needed. I spent as much time on bass as drums at times. Recording is a mixed bag. Sometimes every minute is counted and there are predetermined recipes and other times the clock is not considered and there is plenty of time to futz.
As far as passive vs hi-fi active? It depends. Too many variables involved. I like whatever makes you play well, have a good vibe, and no technical issues. That is in the studio.
As a trend, I figure everything that goes around will come back around. Usually does.
EDIT - Forgot the OP was talking session player. Session players are typically hired with a sound and vibe in mind for a particular style, genre etc. That sound and style is usually associated with the players preferred instrument. I do agree it would be hard to land in LA without a P and J bass and expect work.
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It does still sound like a bass. Players are just exploring the limits of the instrument and finding that it is capable of being very versatile.
YMMV. I'm a jack of all trades in a small scene and I do plenty of material that utilizes the "modern" bass guitar sound: smooth jazz, Grateful Dead, original funk, contemporary country, broadway musicals, etc.
Doing a 230-year-old Mozart symphony with low Cs - on a 5-string double bass made in East Germany - makes me start to wonder if EADG is actually the blip? (Not hating - over half my collection is 4-string.)
Doing a 230-year-old Mozart symphony with low Cs - on a 5-string double bass made in East Germany - makes me start to wonder if EADG is actually the blip? (Not hating - over half my collection is 4-string.)
The vintage one looks pretty cool!( 2023 ACTIVE BASS)
( vintage PBASS)
The Duke of Ellington stated it best when he said, ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’.
A tool is mostly a tool.
A tool is mostly a tool.
- Jun 30, 2010
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- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
There were other basses sold/played in the '60s - hollow-bodies of a few different brands were very popular. (as in, players did have a choice) But a Fender bass was the bass of choice by the industry at large, and put an indelible stamp on a decade of some of the best music ever made/recorded. Paul McCartney is "known" by his Hofner bass even though he also played a Fender J and a Ric to name two. So yes, I know she kept playing and played basses other than a P but all I was inferring was that the iconic Carol Kaye is known by her Fender P.
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