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Identify the SX vs. Fender in the mix thread

S

savit260

Mar 6, 2006
6,033
101
Boston
www.myspace.com
#1
As some of you may have seen in the past, in some of the SX threads I've thrown out a challenge to "definitively identify the SX and the Fender in the tracks on my sig links". Usually this is recieved by the sounds of crickets chirping. :D

I've decided to make this an actual thread, and see who has the "golden ears" to correctly pick which tracks are which.

Now for the players.

A lightly modded SX SPB 62 w/ a Jason Lollar pickup
IMG_0686.jpg


A 1964 Fender Precision
IMG_0546-1-1-1.jpg


Here are the links to the tracks.

Link Removed Link Removed

Disregard the last track on the first link, as it's clearly a solo accoustic thing with no bass track.

Now... let's just say for fun to make it interesting that it could be all the Fender or all the SX on the tracks.
It could be one bass on one track and the others on the rest... or not... or some combination of the two.

There could be a "spoiler" in there that's a totally different (non p bass) bass. :) (or not)

Just trying to keep it interesting here. LOL!!

All the tracks but one were recorded at The Outpost in Stoughton Ma. (the real golden ears should be able to pick out which track was recorded at a different studio :) )

Bass is plugged into a Brent Averill pre to boost the signal, and then into a Trident 80B board. To the best of my knowledge , no extra effects were added, beyond basic tone shaping e/q. (pretty much the same sound I get live plugged right into the amp)

Haven't decided on a time frame yet to disclose which is which, but I will when I feel the time is right.

Thinkin for now maybe I'll pm people who chose to play to tell them if they are correct or not.

... and if you hate the music , the playing and bands... that's cool by me too... we all have different tastes, and I have very thick skin. :) I never claimed to be a virtuoso LOL!! Just a hack havin' fun. :)

Anyone up to the challenge? :)
 
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#2
Well, I think that the fact that you changed the pickup in the SX throws the test away. Its not the SX we're listening for, its the Jason Lollar pickup. If I threw some Quarter-Pounds in my little Ibanez started box bass I bet I'd sound alot nicer too.

Music is pretty cool though...
 
#3
MrGotBass said:
Well, I think that the fact that you changed the pickup in the SX throws the test away. Its not the SX we're listening for, its the Jason Lollar pickup. If I threw some Quarter-Pounds in my little Ibanez started box bass I bet I'd sound alot nicer too.

Music is pretty cool though...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the music compliment. :)

Well, we have the stock SX vs. 79 Fender thread that Jimmy M did.

It's still a very inexpensive bass vs. a very pricey bass.

Oh for the record both basses are strung with fresh Fender 7150's.
 
#7
Savit, I can't tell the difference. People in my soundclip challenges can't either. They can't even tell the difference between a P and a J sometimes. You and I both know the reason the crickets are chirping is because Lucas et al. know their ears can't discern the difference. :)

Consider it a no contest victory.
 
#9
I don't understand why it's not "honest" when people commonly upgrade SXs and omg it now costs $250 with new pups vs a $2-4K bass. It proves that a hot rodded SX is able to sound good. Not saying it plays as nice or has the same fit and finish. I wouldn't be able to say that unless I held the Fender. But in terms of sound, I think it is a reasonable challenge.
 
#13
Craig_S said:
Like MrGotBass said, in so many words: It's not an honest comparison.
Click to expand...

If anything it is a better comparison in my opinion.

If you consider that the Wood, age, construction, bridge, nitro vs poly finish, nut, tuners and pickup covers all adversly effect the tone, which we all know it does. ( :eyebrow: ) Then its a better comparison of these actual factors themselves as you have removed a couple of variables (electronics to an extent, strings, "fingers" of the player ect.)

I think that nobody can tell the difference, so they have all wussed out :p That being said i'd have trouble telling the difference between a P and J, so this is way out of my league ;)

I'll go listen to the music though :D
 
#14
I'll say it. I can't tell. Of course I can't really hear what the bass sounds like in most of these tunes, with the crunchy guitars over everything. Also it sounds like you are playing hard with a pick, to me that would tend to even out the differences.

I think in this kind of music it doesn't matter that much. If the bass were more melodic and the music had more dynamic range it might be easier tell. Or not.

I normally play my nyc Sadowsky, but this week I have a performance with a stage musical, and I'm going to take my just-acquired-from-CL $200 Yamaha BB414 instead. I'm sure it will sound great.

Not sure what these kinds of threads are intended to prove, other than that you can pull a lot of tricks in recordings. I have fooled drummers into thinking my $150 drum machine was a live drummer on some tracks. My old clunky Seagull acoustic guitar can sound like high-end instrument when I mic it up right. I would still like to have the real high-end stuff. Some guitarists have confounded people with similar listening tests between a Roland SS amp and hand-crafted tube rigs. Nobody could tell which was which.

Also, let's be honest, almost any electric bass sounds good enough in almost any mix. It's the playing experience that is different from one instrument to the next, and that's what we are all looking to optimize.
 
#15
Simo98 said:
If anything it is a better comparison in my opinion.

If you consider that the Wood, age, construction, bridge, nitro vs poly finish, nut, tuners and pickup covers all adversly effect the tone, which we all know it does. ( :eyebrow: ) Then its a better comparison of these actual factors themselves as you have removed a couple of variables (electronics to an extent, strings, "fingers" of the player ect.)

I think that nobody can tell the difference, so they have all wussed out :p That being said i'd have trouble telling the difference between a P and J, so this is way out of my league ;)

I'll go listen to the music though :D
Click to expand...

Also add to that list, that they were recorded in the same proffessional studio (except one track) , with the same gear and board , with the same engineer at the controls. Same person mixed and mastered all (except the one noted before) the tracks as well.
 
#16
smeet said:
I'll say it. I can't tell. Of course I can't really hear what the bass sounds like in most of these tunes, with the crunchy guitars over everything. Also it sounds like you are playing hard with a pick, to me that would tend to even out the differences.

I think in this kind of music it doesn't matter that much. If the bass were more melodic and the music had more dynamic range it might be easier tell. Or not.

I normally play my nyc Sadowsky, but this week I have a performance with a stage musical, and I'm going to take my just-acquired-from-CL $200 Yamaha BB414 instead. I'm sure it will sound great.

Not sure what these kinds of threads are intended to prove, other than that you can pull a lot of tricks in recordings. I have fooled drummers into thinking my $150 drum machine was a live drummer on some tracks. My old clunky Seagull acoustic guitar can sound like high-end instrument when I mic it up right. I would still like to have the real high-end stuff. Some guitarists have confounded people with similar listening tests between a Roland SS amp and hand-crafted tube rigs. Nobody could tell which was which.

Also, let's be honest, almost any electric bass sounds good enough in almost any mix. It's the playing experience that is different from one instrument to the next, and that's what we are all looking to optimize.
Click to expand...

The point of the comparison and challenge is simply this.

I've asserted MANY times on TB that my lightly modded SX sounds VERY much like my Vintage 1964 Precision.... to which I've been called MANY unflattering things, from tone deaf to just plain nuts.

In those threads I've asked the same question I've asked here in this one, but I decided to make a thread on it to see if I'm nuts or not. ;)

Many have claimed its "EASY" to tell the differece between a modded SX and a Pre CBS Fender.

If it's as "Easy" as they say, then I figure this test would be a no brainer for them. :)

Yes, these clips are heavy pick style playing. These are the most "apples to apples" recordings I have, and also BY FAR the highest quality ones, as they were recorded in a very well respected Boston area studio.

I've used both basses playing finger style stuff from "out" avante garde stuff to straight up "dad blues". The basses IMO sound pretty much the same IMO, but I don't have high quality recordings of that stuff.

There are no "studio tricks" in these recordings.

EDIT TO ADD: Keep in mind these are both my own personal instruments... both of which I have gigged the hell out of. :)
 
#20
While I love these listening tests, I have to admit that I lost interest part way through because of the number of tracks. That said, here are my comments:

These are your instruments. If you can't tell the difference between them, there's a good chance that the difference is negligible at best. They're also both P basses. I may get pooped on for this, but, to me, it's a pretty generic tone. Most P basses sound fairly similar to me. Add to that tone shaping, compression, more compression during mastering, more compression when turned into mp3s, and then more compression from the myspace player, and it'd be pretty hard to tell the difference between any two basses. The same track off a CD and off of myspace don't even sound tonally similar.

That said, FWIW, from listening to the Death & Taxes tracks and the first two Mark Lind tracks, the only one that sticks out as being a different bass to me is the second D&T track. I'd guess that that one is the Fender. It's probably worth noting that, if I happen to be right, that the tone isn't necessarily any better.

I'll be curious to hear the results.
 

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