Honeyburst precision with any type string. I've tried tapewounds,rounds,flats so far and I'm very happy and never bored!
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Good basses that arent fender?
- Thread starter GuyMcee
- Start date
While I love my Fenders....
EBMM Stingrays have been great
Spector NS2/NS4 amazing
Alembic Series I/II out of this world
and a dozen others I could probably name... Fender, while the original doesn't have a monopoly on "greatness"
- Sep 14, 2012
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He beat me to it. FWIW the new AVRI 63 Ps are the nicest recent production basses I have ever laid my hands on.
Before we try to award "greatness," shouldn't we first establish our evaluation criteria? The most recent (and had better be the LAST) bass I bought is a Mexi-P. But I didn't buy it because it is the best -- I have basses that are far better by almost any measurable -- I bought it because I wanted a sunburst Precision. There are intangible, almost visceral, reasons why certain of us gravitate toward a particular type of bass.
OP did not say he wanted something better or more expensive than his Jazz . . . just different.
OP did not say he wanted something better or more expensive than his Jazz . . . just different.
The question's almost an oxymoron! These days there are of course nearly endless great sounding basses out there, so it depends on what style(s) you play as well as your personal preferences, as you've said.
It speaks volumes that a number of the alternatives mentioned are basically high end Fender copies...
Everything else I gravitate to ends up having that bridge pickup. I might be a jazz bass guy but I'm not afraid to be "crazy". One example, I can't say enough how much I love the Gibson EB 2014. Not EB-0 or 1, 2, 3 whatever. Just "EB" 34" scale with the 120 year anniversary inlay. It's an inverted jazz body, with dual-coil humbuckers in the typical neck/bridge config. It feels great, plays great, and sounds incredible!
Edit: I don't actually have a Gibson, but man-oh-man how I GAS for the one described.
Double-edit: I still get to see my old Ibanez from time to time and it's freakin' sweet.
Edit: I don't actually have a Gibson, but man-oh-man how I GAS for the one described.
Double-edit: I still get to see my old Ibanez from time to time and it's freakin' sweet.
Don't worry about what your playing.
Worry about "what" your playing.
Worry about "what" your playing.
I don't own a Fender, but to my eyes the Fender headstock silhouette and the P and J body shapes are among the best looking designs for bass guitar ever produced. Simple but effective.
M. M.
M. M.
Keep your Jazz that blows everything else out of the water and adjust the EQ on your amp or get a pedal.
Built a Warmoth (Warmoth body with All parts neck) JBass 5 string with 3 J pups and a 5 way switch and blend pot! I get 9 different variations of tone with this set up. The body is a typical Fender clone but the neck gives it a different look vs a Fender neck! But Im also looking at Music Man or G&L for a future purchase.
Three options...
1) Like a Fender, but different...and possibly better. The best "P-Bass" I've ever played is my Yamaha Attitude Limited. One of the better "Jazz Basses" I've played was a '90s Hamer Cruise with 2Tek bridge.
2) Something with a classic/unique voice. Warwicks have the whole "growly" low-mids thing. Steinbergers have their characteristic "piano-like" tone. Gibson Rippers and Thunderbirds have their whole deal. Hofners and semi-hollow basses have that "thunky" attack thing going on. The Stingray is another classic tone. Same for Ricks.
3) Something very different...maybe even a little off-the-wall. Have you considered a short-scale Gibson, like an EB-O? I recently bought a '69 Les Paul Bass and I adore it. Totally different from my other basses. How about a fretless? Or a 12-string Hamer (or 8-string Hagstrom)?
1) Like a Fender, but different...and possibly better. The best "P-Bass" I've ever played is my Yamaha Attitude Limited. One of the better "Jazz Basses" I've played was a '90s Hamer Cruise with 2Tek bridge.
2) Something with a classic/unique voice. Warwicks have the whole "growly" low-mids thing. Steinbergers have their characteristic "piano-like" tone. Gibson Rippers and Thunderbirds have their whole deal. Hofners and semi-hollow basses have that "thunky" attack thing going on. The Stingray is another classic tone. Same for Ricks.
3) Something very different...maybe even a little off-the-wall. Have you considered a short-scale Gibson, like an EB-O? I recently bought a '69 Les Paul Bass and I adore it. Totally different from my other basses. How about a fretless? Or a 12-string Hamer (or 8-string Hagstrom)?
I can't make up my mind on sounds either which is why I've covered Almost Every p/u configuration, I have a Sadowsky Jazz, I custom built a P bass, I just bought a new Ric 4003, I have Dual Coils, Soap bars, etc.
You might want to look into the higher end Ibanez's starting at the SR 500 with Bartolini Soap Bars a mid Boost/Cut switch, the 1200, 1400 and 1600 have Nordstrand Big Singles....Both of these p/u configs you can easily dial in a very adequet Jazz sound, Roll off the bridge pup and you can get a P bass sound and then there's everything in between, The necks on the Ibanez 4 strings are the same 1 1/2 at the nut Jazz bass neck I just sold 2 basses got 3 on ebay including an Ibanez SR 500 and most likely tomorrow I'm going to list 3-5 basses here in the classifieds, but look at the Ibanez line, they play and sound great and they're reasonably priced
