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Modern-Punk Basses

#41
Din Of Win said:
Okay... i hate these threads and their blind subjectivity and semantic bee ess...

But i'll cime in because i'm on my lunch break...

I've played 'punk' music as long as i've played bass. I've played a P bass, Ibanez ATK, Peavey T20, Jazz, P/J, and a few HH.

THEY ALL WORK, for **** sake!!


I've done write ups for the last 2 years of the same 3-day punk fest i've played a few times. Check out the list of basses being played:

2009: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=557446&highlight=mosrite+ritter

2010: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=670231&highlight=insubordination


P basses reign. But there was a WIDE array of basses being played. Much more bass diversity than guitar diversity, and there are almost twice as many guitarists as bassits at these things.


THEY ALL WORK. Just get one that feels good for you.


On another note, seriously, the tired notion of "u gotta play w/a pick for punkrawk, derp derp" should seriously never be brought up ever again... ever. Listen to The Ergs! or the Descendents if you think finger-style has no place in punk. You can totally get pick-like tones with knowledgable EQing just as you can get finger-like tones with a pick. Or hey... here's an idea... stop trying to sound LIKE someone else, and find your OWN ******* sound :mad:


up the punx... or whatever...
Click to expand...
+1 million

As far as I'm concerned, punk isn't really around much anymore. It's become overshadowed by its child genres, e.g. Post Hardcore.
 
#42
If you want to stray from the Fender line, which I do and I always have (old school punk since 1978) Danelectro/Silvertone/Coral (vintage and/or new), Mosrite, Peavey T-40 along with just about every bass other then Hamer 12 string and most of the BC Rich collection.

Key to punk sound is more in your signal chain. Get a good pre-amp/pedal and then a decent stack. My Hartke gear is perfect, but you can also try chasing down some Marshall stuff or even old Ampeg SVT stuff.

Slightly overdriven is where the tone comes from. Wanna laugh? Get yourself any old bass and buy a Line6 amp and use the modern tone preset. Sorta like the Avril Lavigne bass tone. Frighteningly accurate no matter what four strings you are playing on.

Most modern "punk" tones have slightly increased bass, flat mid and slightly increased treble. If you are using a pre-amp a setting just barely overdriving.

my 2 pennies...
 
#45
About the atk being a musicman knockoff, thats what they were kinda marketed as, but in my experience have a lot more too em than that. Try one out if you get the chance, they feel a lot nice than musicmans in my opinion as well. Thats what really convinced me to get mine, great sound and the feel was just perfect for me.
Granted i think a 50's reissue p would be cool, i think the single coil on them sounds more cutting and growly and perfect for punk than a normal P
 
#46
MiniMoose234 said:
About the atk being a musicman knockoff, thats what they were kinda marketed as, but in my experience have a lot more too em than that. Try one out if you get the chance, they feel a lot nice than musicmans in my opinion as well. Thats what really convinced me to get mine, great sound and the feel was just perfect for me.
Granted i think a 50's reissue p would be cool, i think the single coil on them sounds more cutting and growly and perfect for punk than a normal P
Click to expand...

You mean the 51 reissue. The 50's P reissues have the split coil
 
#47
DeivoxCarnal said:
... I think it was Flea who said that the punk mentality when he was growing up was: downstrokes are for pussies :bassist:...
Click to expand...

Actually I believe he said that following a downstroke with an upstroke was for pussies... because a REAL punk bassist isn't concerned with 'conservation of motion'... machine-gun fast downstrokes was the way to play... at least that was the crap I heard said at that time on the east coast. :rolleyes:;):D
 
#48
billiam5billion said:
So getting spit on makes a band punk? That's ridiculous.
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Not that into punk huh? Believe it or not, there was a time when punk was not a genre, it was just punks making music and yes, the fans liked to spit on the members as a show of appreciation, and yes, they liked it and spit back at them.

This is one of the many reasons that they need to call what's being called "punk" today, something else. The differences between punk from the 70s and 80s is so far removed from anything that's been sold as punk for the last 20 years, it's not even funny.
 
#49
Bass_Thumper said:
Not that into punk huh? Believe it or not, there was a time when punk was not a genre, it was just punks making music and yes, the fans liked to spit on the members as a show of appreciation, and yes, they liked it and spit back at them.

This is one of the many reasons that they need to call what's being called "punk" today, something else. The differences between punk from the 70s and 80s is so far removed from anything that's been sold as punk for the last 20 years, it's not even funny.
Click to expand...

Oh no, I love punk. My favorite band all time is Bad Religion. My first band was a punk band. I grew up on skating and Toy Dolls, The Business, all that stuff. I just think that gobbing is stupid. Even punks of that day thought it was disgusting. The Minutemen complain about gobbing in "We Jam Econo." I was just saying that being spit on is a ridiculous requisite for being called a punk band.
 
#50
billiam5billion said:
Oh no, I love punk. My favorite band all time is Bad Religion. My first band was a punk band. I grew up on skating and Toy Dolls, The Business, all that stuff. I just think that gobbing is stupid. Even punks of that day thought it was disgusting. The Minutemen complain about gobbing in "We Jam Econo." I was just saying that being spit on is a ridiculous requisite for being called a punk band.
Click to expand...

I guess the point that I was trying to make is that modern "punk" is not quite the same as when it was new on the scene. I'm sure there are a lot of legit punk groups out there that actually have something to say, I'm just so far removed from the scene that I wouldn't know where to look. It was certainly an extreme example. GG Allen, now that's PUNK! :)

It's been a long time since I've heard a band that had as much to say as say, the Minutemen, Black Flag, Minor Threat et al.
 
#51
Bass_Thumper said:
I guess the point that I was trying to make is that modern "punk" is not quite the same as when it was new on the scene. I'm sure there are a lot of legit punk groups out there that actually have something to say, I'm just so far removed from the scene that I wouldn't know where to look. It was certainly an extreme example. GG Allen, now that's PUNK! :)

It's been a long time since I've heard a band that had as much to say as say, the Minutemen, Black Flag, Minor Threat et al.
Click to expand...

Very true. I think after Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph had their mid to late 90's heyday, it was all Bad Religion and NoFX clones anyway. New punk is so split up into genres now it's impossible to really stay connected with it. However, there are still a few bands pushing the music and message enough in the right direction that keeps me interested, like Against Me and Gallows. I just wouldn't really label them as traditional punk.
 
#52
5string5fingers said:
You say you hate picks,but talk about how much you like pete wentz tone,and mention blink 182 along with brand new,and liking so many other punk bass tones when many punk bass players sport a pick. 3 out of the 4 bands you mentioned..their bassist uses a pick.
Click to expand...

I hate pete wentz playing itself to death, and yeah i realize the tone comes from a pick, so when i record i differ between fingers and pick, and even live i do too, i was kidding (partially :))
 
#54
dvh said:
Great reply!

As for tone - for god's sake, take just about any bass you like and EQ to your satisfaction... for a punk sound getting into discussions about tone - and we're really talking nuances here with just about any electric bass - seems silly.

There, I said it...
Click to expand...

No, I realize and understand how to get tone, my question was is a bass that can get a similar gritty pokey tone as a music man and P-bass without fiddling with the EQ too much, still a simple question, bet separate from what you're saying.
 
#55
Spinal Tapper said:
All those bands you mentioned in the OP use Fender basses.

All Precisions IIRC, except for Taking Back Sunday. Matt Rubano plays a Jazz - extremely well, in fact. Funny how him and Pete Wentz can get lumped into the same category, but Matt schools him in talent. Hell, he schools a lot of bassists in talent, the dude went to Berkely for bass.
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Dude, so true, Matt Rubano is by far my biggest influence as a bassist, however, when it comes to TONE i like a little more grit like Matt Freeman or Karl Alvarez (my other fav bassists)

hell when it comes to songwriting and lines rubano is my muse
 
#57
TRichardsbass said:
If you want to stray from the Fender line, which I do and I always have (old school punk since 1978) Danelectro/Silvertone/Coral (vintage and/or new), Mosrite, Peavey T-40 along with just about every bass other then Hamer 12 string and most of the BC Rich collection.

Key to punk sound is more in your signal chain. Get a good pre-amp/pedal and then a decent stack. My Hartke gear is perfect, but you can also try chasing down some Marshall stuff or even old Ampeg SVT stuff.

Slightly overdriven is where the tone comes from. Wanna laugh? Get yourself any old bass and buy a Line6 amp and use the modern tone preset. Sorta like the Avril Lavigne bass tone. Frighteningly accurate no matter what four strings you are playing on.

Most modern "punk" tones have slightly increased bass, flat mid and slightly increased treble. If you are using a pre-amp a setting just barely overdriving.

my 2 pennies...
Click to expand...

+1
 
#58
Quite honestly I think that Punk is dead. There may be styles/genres that emulate Punk but IMHO Punk finally died just after Hardcore was spawned.

This is just my take on the situation and is certainly up for debate but I think Punk evolved from garage/psychedelic rock in the late 60's. Bands like the 13th Floor Elevators and The Leaves inspired the likes of Iggy and the Stooges and the MC5... loud dirty in your face rock by the poor and/or working class types... punks. Bands on both sides of the Atlantic like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Bernie Tormé and X followed suit but were also paralleled by an aesthetic anithesis to some extent in the form of Glam with the likes of New York Dolls, Slade, Gary Glitter and Hawkwind. Not to say that there wasn't any cross-over of genres (and appearance... can we say Billy Zoom of X?) but basically punk was the dirty, mis-behaved and outspoken flatulent brother whereas Glam was the mama's boy (dare I suggest in some cases, daddy's boy?) which were part of the same family... loud and simple rock-n-roll. As Punk ran it's course it influenced a new genre before eventually dying... Hardcore. Take a little Punk, add speed (Motorhead anyone?... and yes, I often categorize them as Punk) and some anger and you've got Black Flag, The Germs, Die Kreuzen, Circle Jerks, MDC, TSOL, SSD, Minor Threat, DK, and, as with the aforementioned genres, hundreds of others.

That's my take on Punk in a nutshell. In any case I don't think that Modern-Punk has guidelines for playing a particular style of bass.
 
#59
This thread is as dysfunctional as a Midwestern family. The word "PUNK" is being abused here in a way that makes me nauseous. We're not talking about punk; we're talking about pop/emo bands who shop at Hot Topic. Tone means nothing, because the over-produced finished product will have no true tone in it anyway. Fall Out Boy is NOT punk.
So, what basses do crappy pop bands play?
 
#60
billiam5billion said:
+1. A Squier Dirnt would be worth looking into also.
Click to expand...


Amazing bass. I have one, used to have QPs, great tone, now I have vintage ppup in it, great tone. Just different.

I'd love another one TBQH jus to have another light weight beater to put the QPs in. Cause I think I'm built for Tele basses actually. I haven't played one I haven't liked. And I prefer the split ppup, so its perfect.
 

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