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how has your taste in basses changed?
- Thread starter pcake
- Start date
Over time , I favor less tonal bells and whistles. I removed the batteries from my active circuit. I want an Instrument with a reliably useful tone that responds to my fingers. I take my bells and whistles in the form of easy to adjust hardware: slotted saddles, accessible truss rods and bridge screws. My Lull MV4 fits bill , when played passive.
Aside from Steven Wilson, I'm pretty burnt out on rock and contemporary pop. I'm listening to older music and music from other cultures. Lots of Latin and early European music.
Hah, definitely no more upturned reverse headstocks. In high school I heard that was phallic.
Always been reliant on active electronics like John East, Kubicki, Audere. But now I am absolutely Jonesing for a '68 P. So I guess my taste has "changed" to acknowledge what I have always liked.
One thing I can say for sure is if I have a bass I like the feel of; if there is any component I don't like I will not spend a second before replacing it (bridge, PUP, machines, wiring). Unless it is actually a vintage that might increase in value.
Always been reliant on active electronics like John East, Kubicki, Audere. But now I am absolutely Jonesing for a '68 P. So I guess my taste has "changed" to acknowledge what I have always liked.
One thing I can say for sure is if I have a bass I like the feel of; if there is any component I don't like I will not spend a second before replacing it (bridge, PUP, machines, wiring). Unless it is actually a vintage that might increase in value.
My only change has gone from anything but a maple fretboard to everything with a maple fretboard. I used to love the look of rosewood, but now I perfer maple over anything.
Well guys - bearing in mind that I started playing electric bass (having been a DB player at school) in 1968, the answer is quite a lot..
When I was an impoverished 16 year old I had a slab-bodied Hofner bass (serial #279, believe it or not) and, alongside a Hofner Semi-acoustic, a Framus solid body, a Hofner Violin bass (which I hated and robbed the p’ups off for old 279) I used that bass until maybe 1972, sometimes gigging four or five nights a week in summer....
Then, I could just about afford to buy a new Precision (from Norberry Music Centre, by mail order...). Sunburst, rosewood fingerboard. Actually, I was underwhelmed, to be honest, and didn’t keep it that long before selling it to a friend. Then, I had an EB-0 and after that an EB-3 which, if I’m honest, suited me more than any basses that I’ve owned since, bearing in mind that guys like Jack Bruce, Andy Frazer and Felix Pappalardi were some of my greatest influences at that time.
And I was in bands that played loads of Free, Cream and Mountain covers.
Selling them was one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve ever made.....
Then, from there, to a Gibson L9-S Ripper and a Wilkes fretless (seriously nice but brutally heavy...) and then a Peavey Foundation (which, much modified, I still have) and then a MM Sterling fretless.
The Foundation and the Sterling, along with a ‘91 Palaedium and an ‘86 Dynabass are what I still use now, apart from the Yamaha BB404 that I use when I’m in Greece. For a cheap bass, it’s actually not bad - just a bit lacking in “character”...
And what I have now kind of suits what I play now....if I went back to the old Free/Cream/Mountain stuff then I’d have to find another EB-3 I guess.
When I was an impoverished 16 year old I had a slab-bodied Hofner bass (serial #279, believe it or not) and, alongside a Hofner Semi-acoustic, a Framus solid body, a Hofner Violin bass (which I hated and robbed the p’ups off for old 279) I used that bass until maybe 1972, sometimes gigging four or five nights a week in summer....
Then, I could just about afford to buy a new Precision (from Norberry Music Centre, by mail order...). Sunburst, rosewood fingerboard. Actually, I was underwhelmed, to be honest, and didn’t keep it that long before selling it to a friend. Then, I had an EB-0 and after that an EB-3 which, if I’m honest, suited me more than any basses that I’ve owned since, bearing in mind that guys like Jack Bruce, Andy Frazer and Felix Pappalardi were some of my greatest influences at that time.
And I was in bands that played loads of Free, Cream and Mountain covers.
Selling them was one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve ever made.....
Then, from there, to a Gibson L9-S Ripper and a Wilkes fretless (seriously nice but brutally heavy...) and then a Peavey Foundation (which, much modified, I still have) and then a MM Sterling fretless.
The Foundation and the Sterling, along with a ‘91 Palaedium and an ‘86 Dynabass are what I still use now, apart from the Yamaha BB404 that I use when I’m in Greece. For a cheap bass, it’s actually not bad - just a bit lacking in “character”...
And what I have now kind of suits what I play now....if I went back to the old Free/Cream/Mountain stuff then I’d have to find another EB-3 I guess.
I used to lust after a P bass with a J neck. Hated black basses. Really hated sunburst with tort and rosewoods necks. They look so ... 60s. Saw no purpose in flat wound strings. Loved coffee table (exposed wood grain) basses. Liked only MOP pickguards. Had to have low notes. Detuned or better yet 5 strings. 34 or 35" scale only, thank you.
Those were my loves ... or so I though.
Over my 38 yrs as a player I have gone from:
I have 3 Warmoth basses which I love. I'm still in shock at my current color choices.
Those were my loves ... or so I though.
Over my 38 yrs as a player I have gone from:
- 5 string to 4 string.
- Long scale to medium scale.
- Rounds only to a mix of rounds & flats
- Coffee table basses to solid painted with pickguards.
- Any-weight-is-fine to no-more-than-8.5-lbs.
I have 3 Warmoth basses which I love. I'm still in shock at my current color choices.
- Sunburst P, tort, J neck, rosewood with pearl blocks
- Black J, tort, fretless
- Black Stingray, black pickguard, maple J neck with black blocks.
26 years young and still have lots to learn but my first bass was a cheap BC Rich p bass. It was more of an aesthetic look but the tone was ass. Had jazz Basses and felt like their tone was weak and went onto humbucker pickups since then. Fast forward to present date I now own two jazz Basses and discovering that this was the tone I actually like for all my music needs.
I took a long route through fancier and more complicated basses only to end up these days with Squiers, which I've always admired for their cost-effectiveness and simplicity. This also paralleled the conviction that whether I've strapped on an Alembic (which I did) or a Squier (which I do), I'm going to sound like me, regardless.
I'd havd to say the long experience of these years has taught me that I know what I need to sound like me, and ultimately, it's far less than I thought for most of my time. And simple is better.
I'd havd to say the long experience of these years has taught me that I know what I need to sound like me, and ultimately, it's far less than I thought for most of my time. And simple is better.
The main thing is I’ve gravitated away from single coil pickups and active pickups/electronics toward passive basses with humbuckers. I spent years gigging with my old Fender jazz with EMGs, and it served me very well. I’ve since replaced those EMGs with passive Tom Brantleys though, and generally moved away from that bass to passive Gibsons with stock humbuckers. I still break the old J out from time to time, though. Good memories. 
- Apr 20, 2009
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Passive to active to passive to both active and passive. Four-string to five-string to six-string back to five-string exclusively, now on both four-string and five-string. Fretted to fretless exclusively to both fretted and fretless.
I realized awhile ago that it is more about the player than the bass.
I spent way too much time dreaming about owning basses that I had not even played, instead of practicing.
There are still some basses that are way out of my price range that I would like to at least play, if not own, but now I just want a bass that is comfortable to play, and sounds good.
I spent way too much time dreaming about owning basses that I had not even played, instead of practicing.
There are still some basses that are way out of my price range that I would like to at least play, if not own, but now I just want a bass that is comfortable to play, and sounds good.
I started w/ a p bass copy. My 2nd was j copy. Now I play p and j basses w/ j necks. Tried the active basses but there's something I like about passive basses more.
Lets see...first bass active P,last bass Reissue 57 P
Some J's bought and sold none stayed,one musicman stayed but its an old one and sounds different.
BTW I been trying out short scales(mustangs,gibson standart) I cant stand the sound even though I love the feel and they are easy to play.
Some J's bought and sold none stayed,one musicman stayed but its an old one and sounds different.
BTW I been trying out short scales(mustangs,gibson standart) I cant stand the sound even though I love the feel and they are easy to play.
Yeah, same here. I bought an Alembic to "reward" myself when I started making actual money in my career. But I slowly drifted towards the vintage, passive sounds as I recorded more.
Biggest change for me was coming home to passive Fenders after over 22 years playing a Stingray. I started on a '66 Jazz Bass then heard the call of the Stingray bass. But over the years, I grew tired of the active tone and sought something more organic. I Hate to say it but the doggone Precision Bass has me again. Simple, organic... well,
You know the rest on P Basses but they really satisfy me. Also, make me play like a bass player.
I've never owned a 7ender, ever. I've always been into pointy basses. I've never cared about neck dive cramping my style. I've always liked bright, bold, neon finishes. When I was younger I always hated effects of any kind on a bass. But lately I find that I really like effects like reverb, delay & chorus. And I'm finding natural wood finishes to be very pleasing.
25 years (more or less) and my tastes definitely mellowed. I need 5 strings, no more and no less. I don't care about fancy tops, I GAS for but will probably never again buy an expensive boutique bass, and I don't need more than a couple of basses. I believe "less is more" when it comes to effects, and pretty much only like a little fuzz or some delay and chorus. I'll never need more than a 410 cab, and I'm looking to go even smaller soon. Also, I'm more comfortable and probably play better without frets than with.
EDIT: I forgot about weight. Used to be I didn't really care about weight, but after suffering some back issues, it's become an issue. 8, maybe 8.5lbs tops.
None of that was true probably as recently as 7 or 8 years ago.
EDIT: I forgot about weight. Used to be I didn't really care about weight, but after suffering some back issues, it's become an issue. 8, maybe 8.5lbs tops.
None of that was true probably as recently as 7 or 8 years ago.
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