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Fender Mustang Club

#2,883
Cran said:
Hey guys, if you're interested I demoed my American Performer Mustang on YT! I know the reverb is too loud, but it takes so long to edit these videos together that I could not be arsed to reamp it and re-release it. Hopefully you like it still!


(And I compare it to my other basses here)


Let me know what you think!
Click to expand...

Nice work, and interesting, too.

For the bass comparison one, I thought the Jazz and the Warwick (though the Warwick’s sound wouldn’t be one I’d ever choose for myself) suited that kind of light fusiony style the best, with the Mustang and the Hohner my second favorites (though the Hohner’s looks wouldn’t be one I’d ever choose for myself). The Ibanez was by far my least favorite here, and my normal favorite, the P, wasn’t bad but wasn’t a standout here for me.

For the first video, yeah, that was a lot of reverb, man. Probably shouldn’t have used any reverb at all if the intent was to just demonstrate the sound of the bass. Nevertheless, I really liked it! Sounded very mid-60s surf/spy baritone guitary. Could be very cool on a song.

I will say that it took me a little while to figure out what was going on with you playing the same lick using different settings. I’d suggest, instead of just instantly transitioning from one setting to the next (and in time at that), that there be a brief pause between new settings and a more prominent visual display of the new settings. Or just an intro "card" saying that’ll you’ll be demonstrating the bass by playing the same lick going through the different settings (or whatever).

What kind of reverb was that? (Was it a plug in? The amp? A pedal?)
 
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#2,884
dmt said:
Nice work, and interesting, too.

For the bass comparison one, I thought the Jazz and the Warwick (though the Warwick’s sound wouldn’t be one I’d ever choose for myself) suited that kind of light fusiony style the best, with the Mustang and the Hohner my second favorites (though the Hohner’s looks wouldn’t be one I’d ever choose for myself). The Ibanez was by far my least favorite here, and my normal favorite, the P, wasn’t bad but wasn’t a standout here for me.

For the first video, yeah, that was a lot of reverb, man. Probably shouldn’t have used any reverb at all if the intent was to just demonstrate the sound of the bass. Nevertheless, I really liked it! Sounded very mid-60s surf/spy baritone guitary. Could be very cool on a song.

I will say that it took me a little while to figure out what was going on with you playing the same lick using different settings. I’d suggest, instead of just instantly transitioning from one setting to the next (and in time at that), that there be a brief pause between new settings and a more prominent visual display of the new settings. Or just an intro "card" saying that’ll you’ll be demonstrating the bass by playing the same lick going through the different settings (or whatever).

What kind of reverb was that? (Was it a plug in? The amp? A pedal?)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments!
Yeah, the Jazz and the Corvette cut the most, but honestly it's the first time I did a comparison like this so some of the results really surprised me! I have to use the Hohner a bit more. It's an acquired taste but it would definitely be an interesting look to have on stage. And it doesn't sound that bad!

As for your comments on the demo, thanks! I have another one (for the Hohner) scheduled for Wednesday, but I'm gonna pull it out and re-edit it with no reverb, and now, an intro card explaining what I'm doing, haha. The original idea was to have the videos be no-nonsense, simple, and quick demos but clearly they need a little bit more explanation. Thanks for letting me know, I haven't had a huge amount of "beta testers" so I couldn't really tell if they had any glaring flaws.

On the reverb: It's a plugin, I got my dad to reamp the clips with a GK model, mainly because he'd already done it on my Precision demo and I wanted to keep them all consistent (I worry that using my helix might change it). He proposed using a *small* amount of reverb to make the audio sound less empty, and it worked out on the first demo, so I thought nothing of it. While editing, I didn't think it was that bad (Maybe I was too eager to publish), but yeah. It's bad. I'll see if I re-edit the Mustang demo like I will the Hohner.

Thanks though! The criticism is much appreciated.
 
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#2,885
Cran said:
Thanks for the comments!
Yeah, the Jazz and the Corvette cut the most, but honestly it's the first time I did a comparison like this so some of the results really surprised me! I have to use the Hohner a bit more. It's an acquired taste but it would definitely be an interesting look to have on stage. And it doesn't sound that bad!

As for your comments on the demo, thanks! I have another one (for the Hohner) scheduled for Wednesday, but I'm gonna pull it out and re-edit it with no reverb, and now, an intro card explaining what I'm doing, haha. The original idea was to have the videos be no-nonsense, simple, and quick demos but clearly they need a little bit more explanation. Thanks for letting me know, I haven't had a huge amount of "beta testers" so I couldn't really tell if they had any glaring flaws.

On the reverb: It's a plugin, I got my dad to reamp the clips with a GK model, mainly because he'd already done it on my Precision demo and I wanted to keep them all consistent (I worry that using my helix might change it). He proposed using a *small* amount of reverb to make the audio sound less empty, and it worked out on the first demo, so I thought nothing of it. While editing, I didn't think it was that bad (Maybe I was too eager to publish), but yeah. It's bad. I'll see if I re-edit the Mustang demo like I will the Hohner.

Thanks though! The criticism is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Live and learn, nothing wrong with that! Is your dad a guitarist? Guitar without reverb can sound unnatural to some people so it’s an always on thing. Bassists rarely uses reverb in my finding.
 
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#2,886
PotsdamBass8 said:
Live and learn, nothing wrong with that! Is your dad a guitarist? Guitar without reverb can sound unnatural to some people so it’s an always on thing. Bassists rarely uses reverb in my finding.
Click to expand...
Yes, he is! Good catch :P and definitely, live and learn. Each video gets better the more I make. Hopefully people start liking them! haha
 
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#2,887
Cran said:
Yes, he is! Good catch :p and definitely, live and learn. Each video gets better the more I make. Hopefully people start liking them! haha
Click to expand...
I like it, I think you did a respectable job. The most valuable videos compare basses back to back with the same licks and you did that.
The helix is great btw. I use either native or my stomp and it’s really an awesome tool.
 
#2,888
Cran said:
Thanks for the comments!
Yeah, the Jazz and the Corvette cut the most, but honestly it's the first time I did a comparison like this so some of the results really surprised me! I have to use the Hohner a bit more. It's an acquired taste but it would definitely be an interesting look to have on stage. And it doesn't sound that bad!

As for your comments on the demo, thanks! I have another one (for the Hohner) scheduled for Wednesday, but I'm gonna pull it out and re-edit it with no reverb, and now, an intro card explaining what I'm doing, haha. The original idea was to have the videos be no-nonsense, simple, and quick demos but clearly they need a little bit more explanation. Thanks for letting me know, I haven't had a huge amount of "beta testers" so I couldn't really tell if they had any glaring flaws.

On the reverb: It's a plugin, I got my dad to reamp the clips with a GK model, mainly because he'd already done it on my Precision demo and I wanted to keep them all consistent (I worry that using my helix might change it). He proposed using a *small* amount of reverb to make the audio sound less empty, and it worked out on the first demo, so I thought nothing of it. While editing, I didn't think it was that bad (Maybe I was too eager to publish), but yeah. It's bad. I'll see if I re-edit the Mustang demo like I will the Hohner.

Thanks though! The criticism is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
As PotsdamBass8 pointed out, reverb isn’t so common on bass. However, like I mentioned above, though it was very unusual for a bass demo and not really appropriate, the resulting sound was attractive. Not really "bassy", but cool in and of itself. It made me want to get an American Performer, crank the reverb and make a song using a sound like that :cool:
 
#2,890
Well I took the plunge and now I'm riding the range with you all....
IMG_20200406_133641964.jpg


Neck is awesome - super comfy and getting used to the short scale. P sounds great, J alone a bit weak - but love the blended tone. Stock strings are "meh"... Using flats now on all my basses, so got some Labella LTFs on order!
 
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#2,892
bhendrix said:
Well I took the plunge and now I'm riding the range with you all....
View attachment 3776458

Neck is awesome - super comfy and getting used to the short scale. P sounds great, J alone a bit weak - but love the blended tone. Stock strings are "meh"... Using flats now on all my basses, so got some Labella LTFs on order!
Click to expand...
I have LTFs on mine, I like them. If you find they’re too loose, I have barely used deep talking and chromes I can sell you.
 
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#2,893
PotsdamBass8 said:
I have LTFs on mine, I like them. If you find they’re too loose, I have barely used deep talking and chromes I can sell you.
Click to expand...
I prefer loose as I tend to be a "bender"! But thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I love Labella strings and almost ordered the 760's specifically for the Mustang Bass - until I learned they are made for the string through body models. I've used LTFs before - really like them - can't wait to get em on this bass!
 
#2,899
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