How good are your ears? Soundclips inside...

[Ryan Mohr]

This thread is a follow up to this: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=535628&page=2 except this thread is focused on which bass is which, not tonal preference.

However, in this thread there are five clips. The basses you will be hearing are a Fender Classic ‘60s Jazz Bass, a Squier Affinity Precision Bass, and a SX SJB-62CT 3TS. There will one clip of the Fender J (rounds), two of the SX J (flats and rounds), and two of the Squier P (flats and rounds).

Fender: CS '60s pickups, 1-month-old DR nickel lo-riders (45-105), everything else stock

Squier: dead Ernie Ball slinkys (50-105), everything else stock

Squier: dead GHS precision flats (45-105), everything else stock

SX: Bayou Audio harness, dead Fender 7150s (40-100), everything else stock

SX: Bayou Audio harness, dead GHS precision flats (45-105), everything else stock

In the clips, both pickups and tone are on full on both basses. The recording signal path was bass->direct out (pre eq) on Fender Bassman 150->Behringer mixer->Behringer interface->Dell. I used a Bayou Audio canare instrument cable and a Gepco mic cable. I didn't use any compression or EQ on Audacity. So the tone may be a little bright, harsh, and clacky but I want to represent the entire voice of each instrument. Pardon my sucky playing, try to focus on the tone. The song is Be Yourself by Audioslave.

I recorded the clips in no particular order, and numbered them one through five.

1: http://www.zshare.net/audio/58695139a8132b0d/
2: http://www.zshare.net/audio/58695063433cab0f/
3: http://www.zshare.net/audio/58695000aa5c629e/
4: http://www.zshare.net/audio/586949246bc9895c/
5: http://www.zshare.net/audio/58694632caddb8c8/

When you respond, you can just put the numbers vertically in the order you think the way I listed the basses below. Choose which soundclip you think corresponds to the basses as listed below.

Order:

Fender w/ rounds
Squier w/ rounds
Squier w/ flats
SX w/ rounds
SX w/ flats

Good luck and thanks for participating!

PS: I am adding a poll because I am curious which tone you guys prefer the most.

Sorry if this is confusing, the goal is this thread is to guess which bass is which, and NOT which tone you like. I just figured that would be interesting to see.

 

[Disappear]

3
5
2
4
1

I liked the flats the best. The other tones needed more bottom end and less mids in my opinion.

 

[Stickk]

3
5
2
4
1

I liked the flats the best. The other tones needed more bottom end and less mids in my opinion.

+1.

 

[UncleBalsamic]

2
4
5
1
3

 

[Ryan Mohr]

You guys are close but no cigar.

 

[msiner]

4 Fender w/ rounds
2 Squier w/ rounds
1 Squier w/ flats
3 SX w/ rounds
5 SX w/ flats

 

[flipper_gv]

3
5
4
2
1

 

[Stee Flo]

4
2
5
3
1

My favorite was #3 Jazz with rounds.

 

[smogg]

In a band with 2 guitars I would use tone 2. In a band with 1 guitar I would use tone 3 or 5 depending on the type of music. IMHO bass tone is determined in "where" you need to sit in the mix to help your band sound its' best.

 

[cosmicevan]

3 & 4 were the most pleasant to my ears (i voted for 3), but none of these tones are my ideal...they were all too raw sounding to my ears. i prefer a smoother tone and for jazz basses, a bit more aggressive than these options.

 

[barbe-et-hache]

I voted for 3 but 2 is also interesting.

 

[JazzMarius]

i voted 1....but now i am not sure

 

[Mike151]

3 has a nice throat sound and also trebel punch that I prefer.

 

[Ryan Mohr]

So far nobody has got it, keep trying!

3 & 4 were the most pleasant to my ears (i voted for 3), but none of these tones are my ideal...they were all too raw sounding to my ears. i prefer a smoother tone and for jazz basses, a bit more aggressive than these options.

What do you mean by smoother but more aggressive?

 

[Ryan Mohr]

3 has a nice throat sound and also trebel punch that I prefer.

Which bass do you think 3 is?

 

[capnsandwich]

I liked 2 the best with 3 in coming in second but 3 sounded a little too scooped for my taste. Number 5 sounded a lot like a P bass to me. 1 and 4 sounded very dead and would probably get lost in a loud rock mix so when you turned up it would sound muddy. #2 is my choice.

 

[Ryan Mohr]

I liked 2 the best with 3 in coming in second but 3 sounded a little too scooped for my taste. Number 5 sounded a lot like a P bass to me. 1 and 4 sounded very dead and would probably get lost in a loud rock mix so when you turned up it would sound muddy. #2 is my choice.

Thanks for the opinions, any guess as to which bass is which?

 

[Ryan Mohr]

By the way, the main goal is this thread is too guess which is which. Thanks for the opinions on which tone you guys like, but also try to guess which is which if you take the time to listen! Thanks

 

[capnsandwich]

By the way, the main goal is this thread is too guess which is which. Thanks for the opinions on which tone you guys like, but also try to guess which is which if you take the time to listen! Thanks

I would say that #3 is the Fender with rounds due to the clacking I'm hearing, #2 is the Squier with rounds. Everything else is up in the air. #5 and #1 are definitely flats......I think. It also sounds like you were soling the neck pickups on some of them.

 

[Ryan Mohr]

I would say that #3 is the Fender with rounds due to the clacking I'm hearing, #2 is the Squier with rounds. Everything else is up in the air. #5 and #1 are definitely flats......I think. It also sounds like you were soling the neck pickups on some of them.

You're on the right path. There are three J basses, with both pickups on full played in between the pickups, and two P basses with the pickup on full. You think the J basses sound like the neck pup is soloed?