EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Aug 21, 2013
- 6,649
- 2
- 16,417
- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Finally Arrived at a Simple Question: Which Bass?
- Thread starter Count Bassie
- Start date
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
- 16,793
- Disclosures
- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
Put a Dingwall in your hands and see what’s what. Mine has completely rewritten everything I thought I knew about feel and ergonomics.
All good points to make, yep. And yep again, on the music time stemming the G.A.S.ing time.
I"ve been playing many years as well and due to health had to switch primarily to short scale and knew my Hofner wasn't going to check all the boxes and bought a solid body short scale that has helped both my sound and health. You gave no indication of a health decline and my Fenders have always served me well so I would encourage a neck swap and leave the original neck off. There are plenty of good necks and I see the Player necks for sale all the time - try a Jazz and Precision at GC first if you can. If you've got a phillips screwdriver you can change it yourself. The seller "Stratosphere" always has Pbass and Jbass necks for sale on Reverb and eBay and necks for sale here all the time as well. It seemed you like the knock off Fender and if it had a neck you loved perhaps that would be more fun to play and enjoy the sound. Keep us posted and good luck!
Everyone has good points. I like the idea of having enough basses to keep from getting too locked in and/or bored with any particular one. Since I picked up playing again 2.5 years ago after long hiatus, cycling through my basses daily was my rule, only to be broken 8 months ago when I decided to learn to play fretless. That required concentrating exclusively on the fretless. Now that I have 2 fretless, I can cycle those, and play them well enough to slip in the occasional fretted bass. Soon I will restart the daily rotation cycle again, left to right, from my closet stash.
Attachments
When I was young any bass would do. Over the years I noticed more and developed preferences. Weight, balance, neck profile, body shape, pickup types, tuner smoothness, color.
Sometimes I envy younger me.
Sometimes I envy younger me.
Only "sometimes?" I yearn for the days when I thought I knew everything, but of course everything I knew was wrong. Now I know that I know nothing. I guess that's progress? Or is it just senility?
The Tobias is the closest to a Grail bass that's within reach at this point. I've been at it for 47 years and played almost everything except a few high end things like Jaydee and Status... I know what works mostly. So I've got that going for such a goal.
But my Thunderbird is always a go-to, given a choice. And the sound of the Stingray is a favorite... I may even end up building something.
There is no perfect, everything is a compromise, that's why I'm trying to have 4 basses that do everything ne thing well and decent at others.
The G&L 2500 is probably the best sounding bass I've ever owned, mimicking a Wal, but has a average B string.
The LTD B1005 Bumbinga has a Good B string for a 34” and does the P-bass thing, but only the P-bass thing.
The Sire M2 has an incredible B string and punchy bucker tone, but it's Dark and not zingy.
The Ibby EHB1505MS sounds like a Dingwall, but it's very modern sounding, very bright.
I plan on buying an MTD Super 5 for a Warwick Like aggressiveness.
These are the best I've played, and I've played a LOT, I hit up my local GC weekly.
Above all, play what is comfortable to you, If you fight the bass, it's not your friend.
If I was forced to own only one, the G&L gets my vote, but that B string sucks
The G&L 2500 is probably the best sounding bass I've ever owned, mimicking a Wal, but has a average B string.
The LTD B1005 Bumbinga has a Good B string for a 34” and does the P-bass thing, but only the P-bass thing.
The Sire M2 has an incredible B string and punchy bucker tone, but it's Dark and not zingy.
The Ibby EHB1505MS sounds like a Dingwall, but it's very modern sounding, very bright.
I plan on buying an MTD Super 5 for a Warwick Like aggressiveness.
These are the best I've played, and I've played a LOT, I hit up my local GC weekly.
Above all, play what is comfortable to you, If you fight the bass, it's not your friend.
If I was forced to own only one, the G&L gets my vote, but that B string sucks
Last edited:
After dozens of really good basses, I've come to the conclusion that there is no 1-bass to rule them all. Different basses are good for different things. My Dingwall will never function as my MTD Fretless, different tools for different jobs.
It's kind of like asking - whats the best car? Well where do you live, does it snow, do you need to deal with extreme rain, is it really hot there... Could I drive a Ferrari 458 in a snow storm? Well, yeah, I could limp it through, but it's far from the right thing to use. you get the idea.
If I was you, I'd be thinking about swapping necks on the P and seeing what comes out.
It's kind of like asking - whats the best car? Well where do you live, does it snow, do you need to deal with extreme rain, is it really hot there... Could I drive a Ferrari 458 in a snow storm? Well, yeah, I could limp it through, but it's far from the right thing to use. you get the idea.
If I was you, I'd be thinking about swapping necks on the P and seeing what comes out.
Last edited:
You said:
"I've made some choices thatimpeded my pursuit of happiness, I'm finding my way and will always be a bass player.
I'm looking at being 65 in a month or so,"
I can relate to that paragraph
Also understand when busy playing Music less Gas BUT at 68 yrs old in 2023 was less busy gigging and bought a Stingray Special: most by a good margin I ever spent on Bass with absolutely no remorse and play it everyday minimum 1 hour up to 3
Maybe a excellent used one would lessen some of 'Buyers Remorse' you mentioned
PS: When someone ask me what I do: always answer "I am a Bass Player" no matter what my career/Job was at the time
"I've made some choices thatimpeded my pursuit of happiness, I'm finding my way and will always be a bass player.
I'm looking at being 65 in a month or so,"
I can relate to that paragraph
Also understand when busy playing Music less Gas BUT at 68 yrs old in 2023 was less busy gigging and bought a Stingray Special: most by a good margin I ever spent on Bass with absolutely no remorse and play it everyday minimum 1 hour up to 3
Maybe a excellent used one would lessen some of 'Buyers Remorse' you mentioned
PS: When someone ask me what I do: always answer "I am a Bass Player" no matter what my career/Job was at the time
Last edited:
A Thunderay! I bet Brooks could build a killer one.
BROOKS BASS GUITARS
Brooks Bass Guitars are handbuilt by Rob van den Broek. Rob is also the author of The Gibson Bass Book
www.brooksbassguitars.com
Interesting idea. I think this guy got mentioned in the Thunderbird Club awhile back.A Thunderay! I bet Brooks could build a killer one.
BROOKS BASS GUITARS
Brooks Bass Guitars are handbuilt by Rob van den Broek. Rob is also the author of The Gibson Bass Bookwww.brooksbassguitars.com
I know the feeling! My thoughts:
1) I have personally found that being able to switch between basses keeps things fresh. When I try to stick to one bass for a while, on the idea that I should commit to having a main player, I am always re-energized when I pick up another one. The different characters of the different basses aren't better or worse necessarily, they just bring out different things in your playing, different ideas. Having one excalibur works for some people, and it's a romantic and appealing idea to me, but it doesn't work for everyone.
2) If you are determined to get one best bass, (or even just a new bass), I personally don't recommend putting together all your requirements, selling everything, and getting one perfect custom bass. Because, you may pick it up and—just not like it. IME, the feel of an instrument doesn't come down to specs. Two theoretically identical basses can feel (to you) completely different. And beautiful $$$ custom basses can be great, but they don't have any special magic just based on being custom and $$$. Moreover, sometimes I pick up a bass that really is magical, and it doesn't fit my specs at all, but it doesn't matter once it's in my hands. If you want a new bass, try out a lot of basses. To push the analogy: excalibur chooses you.
3) As others said, maybe its just fun to muse on this stuff, and the music is the point. But still fun to muse.
1) I have personally found that being able to switch between basses keeps things fresh. When I try to stick to one bass for a while, on the idea that I should commit to having a main player, I am always re-energized when I pick up another one. The different characters of the different basses aren't better or worse necessarily, they just bring out different things in your playing, different ideas. Having one excalibur works for some people, and it's a romantic and appealing idea to me, but it doesn't work for everyone.
2) If you are determined to get one best bass, (or even just a new bass), I personally don't recommend putting together all your requirements, selling everything, and getting one perfect custom bass. Because, you may pick it up and—just not like it. IME, the feel of an instrument doesn't come down to specs. Two theoretically identical basses can feel (to you) completely different. And beautiful $$$ custom basses can be great, but they don't have any special magic just based on being custom and $$$. Moreover, sometimes I pick up a bass that really is magical, and it doesn't fit my specs at all, but it doesn't matter once it's in my hands. If you want a new bass, try out a lot of basses. To push the analogy: excalibur chooses you.
3) As others said, maybe its just fun to muse on this stuff, and the music is the point. But still fun to muse.
Or would it be a Stingbird?A Thunderay! I bet Brooks could build a killer one.
BROOKS BASS GUITARS
Brooks Bass Guitars are handbuilt by Rob van den Broek. Rob is also the author of The Gibson Bass Bookwww.brooksbassguitars.com
Sell them all and get a Mustang JMJ Road Worn. It’s light, comfortable, easy to play and it sounds great.
Are you shooting for a bass that has a partial fretless neck or you want a fretted and fretless of a bass
