Less Is More

[4Slater]

After looking at many basses in the past few months I've come to one conclusion. I like stripped down basses. I don't seem to be enamored by active EQ's or pickups. And the thought of having a lot of switches and knobs just adds to the BS in my eyes.

When I pick up a bass and it's simply a bass. I'm most at home. I'm not knocking active stuff. If you like the control you get out of active basses that's great. I think I'm just a simple working man who likes to rely on my hand placement and pickup position.

Do you feel the way I do? Or am I a dinosaur?

 

[PilbaraBass]

less is NEVER more...

but "more" is often not "better"

And to answer your question, I think you should change your ID to "Pteradactyl"

 

[moomoocajoo]

"Less is a bore"
- Venturi



Actually I agree, I do enjoy simple things

Nothing I hate more than basses with a hundred switches on. Just total overkill. I love P basses for their ultimate in simplicity.

 

[PilbaraBass]

"Less is a bore"
- Venturi



Actually I agree, I do enjoy simple things

Nothing I hate more than basses with a hundred switches on. Just total overkill. I love P basses for their ultimate in simplicity.

I love P-basses cause no other bass alive sounds better with a pick

 

[moomoocajoo]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[4Slater]

I love P-basses cause no other bass alive sounds better with a pick

If you play with a pick, use a Rick.

 

[jinithith2]

I have a Bongo and a highly modded Cort with an audere... and also a Fernandes passive I got for 275. I find myself gravitating towards the Fernandes when I want a simple no bs great sound right off the bat

 

[fretlessguy]

I agree. I do have active basses, and enjoy them tremedously, but I still feel more at home with my Jazz and Precisions.
Maybe we should have a thread for people who use passive basses. We could call it:

"Passsive Bassists: Which dinosaur are you?"

I'm a compsagnathus (SP?) myself .

 

[jinithith2]

warwick passives sound killer too i might add

 

[fullrangebass]

I do not fall head over heels for active preamps (although I have preamps on most of my basses), but having maximum flexibility over pickups is a must for me

 

[Lowbrow]

After looking at many basses in the past few months I've come to one conclusion. I like stripped down basses... Do you feel the way I do?

Yes.

 

[bassmanrocke]

Early Stingrays with a two band eq sounded great. That is about the most knobs I want on a bass. Having volume control and one passive tone control makes things so much simpler to dial in. Three band active eq's are nice when your noodling around at home or in a studio, but I always find them to be trouble when I'm playing out. Just give me a P-Bass or a P-Bass Special(or my Guild B301, talk about simple).

 

[thehangingmist]

i am with you 4slater

 

[spade2you]

Sometimes less is more. Sometimes less is less. More is more sometimes as is more is less.

Regardless, similicity or complexity of a bass doesn't make a bassist.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Another minimalist here. Having had Carvin, Ibanez, Tribute and Fender Jazz basses, I have settled on a Fender '51 P RI and a fretless split-coil P.

More is less because the more knobs and switches and pickups a bass has, the less I like it.

 

[BullHorn]

My previous bass was active and I hated it. It also made me hate active electronics. Now I have a Fender J-Bass and love it. Usually, my amp's EQ is flat (All set to middle, that is '5') and I'm always with both pick-ups open and tone open to full. I sometimes close the neck pickup if I want the Jaco-ish growly tone, but that's about it.

 

[GianGian]

I agree wholeheartedly. All I play are passive jazzes.

 

[Visirale]

Excellent, the conspiracy is working out. More active basses for me .

 

[Honk'n_down-low]

I think this one slices both ways.

Active Basses have a large variety of tonal possibilities and that adds to the pallet of sounds you can create. We are somewhat conditioned to the traditional Fender sounds.

But listen to 10 different people playing a P-Bass or a Jazz and you would hear a common element - but a wide variety of tones.

Same could be said for 10 people playing the same Active Bass (pick your flavor).

The sound is a combination or how and where you are playing the instrument - all items in the signal chain play a factor, other variables are string choices, wood types, pickups etc... you get the idea.

Keeping it simple has its place as does - some fantastically hooked up rigs - with basses that can create a huge pallet of sounds.

P-Basses and Jazzes are the staples - meat and potatos, and the Active and Custom Basses are adding a bunch of other flavor - IMO it is all good!!!! Your Low End is Served either way!!!! BOOM - you like that?

 

[ponticat]

I assembled this bass a couple of nights ago.

Homemade P-Bass body, Duncan single-coil 1/4 Pounder and no controls. I have enough controls on my amp to confuse me; why add more to the instrument? That being said I certainly wouldn't disparage any bass that has a multitude of controls. Simplicity is my choice.