Has your taste changed over the years?

[ElectricBass72]

Yes.... but my favorite basses are inspired by or originated in the 80's decade like Spector, Fender Duff P/Js and Ibanez.

Still... I've grown to appreciate more traditional/classic basses like Precision, Jazz, Stingray, Rickenbacker and Thunderbird. I wouldn't have touched a standard P or J with a ten foot pole in the 80's and 90's.

 

[P. Aaron]

A good take is a good take whether recorded from a $150.00 Yamaha or a $3,000 Martin.

 

[Paul New]

Now, it's this.
Some might not consider it much of a change, but believe me, it's a considerable one.View attachment 7304411

You still like your mute though.

 

[bassbrad]

Mine certainly has, there have been a few constants for example my main bass has been the same for 40+ years but I have had many different #2 basses through the decades. I always needed to cover classic tones but being an iconoclast I also wanted to have my own unique choices.

 

[_Obra_]

I am constantly between Stingrays and Precisions

 

[JIO]

Evolved/developed more than changed. The biggest evolution was discovering what I want to hear from a bass/rig. When I first started as a young teen, as long as it was loud I was happy.

 

[EricOnTheBass]

I started off with a Jazz and played it for years. I didn’t have the money to try anything else.

Now that I’m older and have some money, I have tried lots of different basses. I really like my Dingwalls but ultimately I feel like I’d be just fine with a good passive Precision or Jazz. I guess there’s a reason they’re still so popular after all these years.

 

[jazzyvee]

Well in terms of the brand I stuck with alembic basses. In terms of models I have in recent years changed from using non series to mainly series basses with Europa 5 string bodies and short scale Stanley Clarke style 4 string bodies.

 

[Danny O Danny]

My taste has definitely changed over the years. I started playing when I was 14 and now I'm 63, so there's been a lot of years. Early on, in the 80's, I favored pointy basses slung down low and played with a pick, and that "boinky" 80's sound (with liberal amounts of chorus). By the 90's I was into boutique basses with active electronics, played fingerstyle (with a bit of slapping & popping and hitched up high on the strap. Then I got into fretless and for years I played only fretless basses. Throughout all those years I always tended to eschew Fender-shaped basses, probably because of my early predilection for pointy and/or boutique instruments. More recently I went through a short-scale phase and, more particularly, a short-scale hollowbody phase (had lots of fun with an old Harmony H-22, a Kay 5924, a random assortment of oddball 60's vintage Japanese basses and some Reverend Dub Kings). Most recently I've come around to good old reliable FSOs, owning a Fender P bass, a Fender Jazz bass, a Music Man Stringray and Music Man Sterling, along with a Rob Allen fretless.

 

[roffe]

Yes. Started out with a PJ, then I played a fretless J for a couple of years, then I played 8-string for a while, went back to the fretless, then went back to 8-string, and now I play Warwicks.

 

[DrBnz]

I started out loving a PJ ..... you couldn't give me one now
Same with a Rickenbacker .... they're like a dune buggy. Fun to drive, but you don't really want one.
Now I'm sticking with the bread n butter .... Precision n Jazz

 

[ravelax]

Yes. Over the years, first I started disliking bridge pickups, and lately I've started liking them again. Also, I started out as, and for a long time remained, a diehard FSO guy. After finally getting a Thunderbird a few years ago, then an EB-0, then lately inheriting my father's Jack Casady signature, I've realised I've grown to prefer Gibson shaped objects... Three point bridge and all.

 

[Jugghaid]

I wasn't a gear whore until about 2000-2001.

 

[Symphony2040]

I used to be really into basses with beautiful, natural topwoods. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Fender, primarily due to a few bad experiences with quality. Now? I greatly prefer beautiful colored finishes and bursts. That, and I’m adding a few too many Fender basses to my wishlist lol…

 

[winston]

Beautiful! Is that a Bacchus Handmade with the Tamo body and Wenge FB?
If so, HMU if you ever think of selling it.
I was really close to buying one but bought a Momose ash/rosewood '70s J-bass from the same Aska Deviser factory.

Now, it's this.
Some might not consider it much of a change, but believe me, it's a considerable one.View attachment 7304411

 

[pfschim]

nope. started out with a Jazz and while I have tried other types of basses, I've always had a Jazz and still use one (Lull M4V) as my primary player for live work and sessions. My alternative bass is a Fender Roscoe Beck IV ... so basically a souped up Jazz.

Now, that being said, I do also have 2 fretless basses that don't even vaguely resemble a Jazz .... Turner Ren 4 fretless and a silly cheap Rogue fretless acoustic.

 

[Romain909]

I started with a fake PB with a TERRIBLE setup, a mile high action and terrible sound. It made me hate fender like basses for 15 years.

In the late 2000s, I was into modern looking basses with soapbar and active preamp, like this Ibanez SR500 which was so much better to me in terms of shape, sound and feel. My first “real” bass. I also had a Cort B4 fretless and a Cort A6.

I tried a Fender shaped basses again with this Squier JB but it ended up being a terrible bass as well, which comforted me in my opinion. (Excuse the Pastorius relicing on it, I was 17). I also tried a Squier PB which looked amazing but had a terrible setup.

Then, for some reason, after 10 years of my life where playing bass was secondary, I wanted to try Fender basses again but with modern American ones.
And I TOTALLY understood why bassists value them - and I understood why my previous attempts failed. I just kept very bad ones with no setup.
In the end, my love for modern bass was just an attempt to escape poorly setup basses - and Fenders tend to have a high action quite often.

 

[Element Zero]

Yes, and no. Once I got my ATK 5 string in ‘98 it changed my understanding of the instrument. Then in ‘04 when I started working at my local GC I got to wank on all kinds of basses and REALLY opened my eyes, and ears. Since then I’ve had a few really nice basses but there’s something special about how a Music Man StingRay 5 feels in my hands. So after a Pedulla and 2 Fodera’s, owning a fretted and fretless StingRay is like a dream come true.

… but then there’s the Ken Smith tone… and the Warwick Streamer tone a la P-Nut on Soundsystem. I’d also like to have a straight up P bass like a ‘59.

 

[Old Blastard]

Grew up (15 to 26) playing the same 2 HH hollowbody MIJ Epiphone 5120e.

Then it was E-series MIJ Fender Jazz Special (26-53). With PJ

Next came MIJ Fender Jag Deluxe. (53-55) with 2J plus fun electronically gizardry.

Since then, it's been a Drake Mod 7 with PJ EMGs. (55-67)

Of course, I have a bunch of other stuff that I love and play, but the Drake is the gigger.

 

[jd56hawk]

Beautiful! Is that a Bacchus Handmade with the Tamo body and Wenge FB?
If so, HMU if you ever think of selling it.
I was really close to buying one but bought a Momose ash/rosewood '70s J-bass from the same Aska Deviser factory.

Yes,

Beautiful! Is that a Bacchus Handmade with the Tamo body and Wenge FB?
If so, HMU if you ever think of selling it.
I was really close to buying one but bought a Momose ash/rosewood '70s J-bass from the same Aska Deviser factory.

Yes, 1 of 12 made. Got lucky with the price, saved $500.
I'd be happy with Momose, too.