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Help me not buy a bass

#42
Nebula24 said:
You will just sound like you. It's all in the fingers/your pick.

<buy it! Buy it! Buy it!>

I only have 2 but so tempted for more. 3rd maybe. But see so many more. Ugggggggggg. Even as mod experiments AKA still sounds like me. Ugggggggg
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This is true, unless you have a specific need for a p-bass or pj-bass, you'll just sound like you only with a p-bass etc. tone. On the other hand, I have 7 basses and I play all of them a little differently because of their tone and feel.
 
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#47
i've been playing bass for close to 45 years. i never had a p bass until about a year and a half ago. as soon as i put it on, i asked myself what took me so damn long. it's the bass i'd grab if the house was on fire.
 
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#50
To me..... a P-bass and a L2000 are too far apart. Meaning you need a 2nd bass (or more). Now I'll say a few things "I find" to be true - at least with my setup.
- An L2000 doesn't quite get the P-bass tone - it sounds good and it gets close, but "no".
- An L1000 (which you'd think is only half of a L2000) will do a better P sound than a P-bass ...what? really?.... oh yeah, if you haven't heard it, you need to. Its amazing. So if you love G&Ls, then you need to find one and try before you buy.
- A "PJ" can easily sound like a P-bass - depends upon the string / pickups combination to see "how good" it gets
- A "PJ" cannot do a J-bass very well (especially if it has flats on it)
- A "PJ" cannot do a Stingray - at all
- A "PJ" w the two pickups blended to your choice is amazing
- A G&L L2500 and a L2000 might look similar, but are quite different (an L2500 doesn't do a great p-bass sound very well either).
- Many Short Scales, esp Mustangs and G&L Fallout do great P-bass sounds
- The strings (flats) play a lot into making that sound (Ti, La Bella, Ernie Ball, GHS) all make great P-bass flats
 
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#51
I would not get on the P bass train, for the sole reason of taking a stand against the producers who demand it because it's all they know how to get right. I'm an artist and I play with a sound I like. It's like asking a singer to change his voice instead of making the best of that particular voice. It's time people stop treating bass players like some kind of second grade musicians. But if your sound of choice is the P bass, by all means get it :)
 
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#52
RitterSport said:
I have a G&L L2000 that I adore. I've never owned a Precision or PJ. Everyone talks about how great the Precision sounds.

The L2000 has tons of flexibility, and all the buttons and knobs don't bother me.

I'm starting the think maybe I should get a Precision or a PJ (or a non-Fender version) so I can see what the fuss is about. Or, maybe you all can help.

Can someone who owns both help be dial in a P-Bass sound with the G&L? Say, a P-Bass with the tone knob all the way open, halfway, and all the way down? Is that possible?
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You can try to sound like everyone else or you can be yourself and spare some money.
 
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#55
RitterSport said:
...if I were to open the wallet, wouldn't I be better with a PJ? All of the P and some of the J if I want it?

I'm a reformed keyboard player, so I love knobs and switches.
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If you want to avoid the £1500 or so a Fender P-bass will cost, consider a Westone Thunder 1-A. Avoid the 2-A or later variants. Thunder 1-A was in 1983, made in Japan, on the same production line as some very expensive guitars.

You can switch between series or parallel pickups and you also get to choose passive or active electronics, or both.

Fender sued the firm that made them for being too close to their precision bass patents, so regardless of those who say it's not the same, FENDER thought it was..

Construction quality is awesome, they're heavy though.. They can be cheap, a good clean one might cost about £240 and it's not too hard to find one on Ebay at times. Lots of nice solid brass fittings, ash body, rock maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. They can growl. It might be impossible to get a better bass for the money. You could spend 6 times the cost trying to get a better bass. If you sold it on, I doubt you'd lose any money at all.
 
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#56
This is definitely the best thread I've started here. Hilarious and helpful all at once!

For those who missed it, I do have three basses -- Yamaha TRBX-604, Peavey Foundation, and the L2000.

If nothing else, I found a great new sound on the L2000 using advice here -- cutting the bass and treble quite a bit, series pickup.
 
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#58
RitterSport said:
I have a G&L L2000 that I adore. I've never owned a Precision or PJ. Everyone talks about how great the Precision sounds.

The L2000 has tons of flexibility, and all the buttons and knobs don't bother me.

I'm starting the think maybe I should get a Precision or a PJ (or a non-Fender version) so I can see what the fuss is about. Or, maybe you all can help.

Can someone who owns both help be dial in a P-Bass sound with the G&L? Say, a P-Bass with the tone knob all the way open, halfway, and all the way down? Is that possible?
Click to expand...

I believe you still has gas on P bass even you can dial out P-ish sound from L2000.
 

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