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More important - bass or amp?

Which is more important?

  • The bass

    Votes: 114 33.6%

  • The amp

    Votes: 133 39.2%

  • They are equally important

    Votes: 92 27.1%
  • Total voters
    339
#22
The question is where you draw the line on both scenarios.
If we're talking about a piece of junk either way - let's say some old no name bass from the 80s with the action so high you need a guitar tech without vertigo and a crane to adjust it and the notes a bit off from the 6th fret down and a 115 combo with a slightly broken speaker that plops when you play the low G and where the 80 watts of raw transistor power do not keep up with a drummer, it does not matter which piece you pick, you're lost. With those two, the best pick would be the bad bass and throw in a distortion and a fuzz and play heavily distorted roots for the evening.

If you say a cheap, but servicable bass with a decent setup that can actually be played and a 115 combo with 150 watts that barely can make it if you cut the lows and boost the mids, i'd opt for a better amp first.

If you play live only twice a year and spend most of your time practicing at home - and on top you are a person that appreciates a high quality craftsmanship, where owning a more expensive bass would ultimately lead to much more practice time, i'd opt for the bass.

But in either case, be it $3000 bass and $200 amp or $3000 amp and $200 amp, my suggested remedy would be to sell everything, split the cash evenly and get a $1500 bass and a $1500 amp. you can have decent stuff in either department for that kind of money.
 
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#25
I wonder how many of us have been perennially disappointed by 'upgrades' to our basses when chasing this that or the other improvement only to find nothing has fundamentally changed or that the shortfall we were trying to fix is still there? But you take your stock bass to a store and try a few amps and there it is? To me, once you get to a reasonable level with the bass, it's a lot more to do with the amp and cab than the bass itself. YMMV.
 
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#29
SteveCS said:
I wonder how many of us have been perennially disappointed by 'upgrades' to our basses when chasing this that or the other improvement only to find nothing has fundamentally changed or that the shortfall we were trying to fix is still there? But you take your stock bass to a store and try a few amps and there it is? To me, once you get to a reasonable level with the bass, it's a lot more to do with the amp and cab than the bass itself. YMMV.
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Anything after a proper setup is going to be a disappointment unless the end result was for either more internet bragging rights or having super sensitive hearing like Steve Vai (read a story about how he made the tour bus driver turn around 4 hours into the drive and had everybody dig in dumpsters because a tech threw out a pickup).
 
#30
Some would say the most important organ is the brain or the heart... but missing something as insignificant as your meibomian gland will show that every piece is important. From your fingers to the sound out of the amp, everything plays a role in the outcome.
You can have a 10K bass, but with a faulty cable you will suck the same as with a 50$ bass.
 
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#31
Take the Behringer bx4500 for example. It is dirt cheap but it sounds good.
I wouldn't mind plugging a sweet vintage Precision bass into that particular amp.
I would be able to hear myself fine on stage and the sound guy would probably just get a direct signal from the bass. The audience would get a good sound and I would enjoying myself playing a nice instrument.

I vote bass, but I understand that some people would prefer it the other way round.
 
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#32
5544 said:
Anything after a proper setup is going to be a disappointment unless the end result was for either more internet bragging rights or having super sensitive hearing like Steve Vai (read a story about how he made the tour bus driver turn around 4 hours into the drive and had everybody dig in dumpsters because a tech threw out a pickup).
Click to expand...

This is a really good point. I recently tried a 1986 G&L L2000 that sounded OK but was really badly set up. after I complained a bit, the store owner brought out his tools and set it closer to what I would have been looking for - action, relief and intonation. Not only did it play really well afterwards, but it also sounded a lot better. So yeah, good point, even if only because I felt more at home with it.
 
#34
el_Bajo_Verde said:
A junk bass will give you a junk sound

A junk amp will give you a junk sound

Playing a junk bass through a nice amp will just give you a cleaner junk sound

Both are important. Price is not important at all. You can play any standard Fender/Schecter/Ibanez etc through a Fender Rumble and it will sound great.

Pretty much once you get over $250 in either category, it will sound fine.

Lastly, a junk player playing a nice bass through a nice amp will give you a junk sound :D
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+1

With the current market there is no reason you need to spend anywhere near $2000 each for a reasonable bass and amp. With a little shopping, and buying used, you should be able to get a gig-worthy bass AND amp for under $1,000.
 
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#35
I say amp. I have a few squiers that sound friggen awesome through my amps. All my amps, I feel anyway, are very nice. The cab matters too of course. But all my couple to few hundred dollar basses sound wonderful through my Electric or my GK or my Peavey (yeah I know, Peavey isnt exactly top of the line, but its a bad a$$ nonetheless) and my GK Neo 410 has never let me down. I can say that with confidence. I wouldnt be so sure though if I was sending say a Wal into a Crate amp...
 
#36
I got a sweet bass last December. It is a 63 AVRI Precision. I was taking a break from my band so I brought it to a jam session at someone's house. They had a "band room" setup and the bass combo was a peavy with a half blown 15" speaker. My bass actually sounded good through this thing. Made some new friends and had one of the best jam sessions of my life. So yeah, a good bass can sound good through almost anything, IMHO.
 
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#37
MultiScaleMale said:
Let's assume that you're in a gig where you need both a bass and an amp - no going direct or supplied backline. Which is more important? I say the amp, even though I've obsessed over basses for the longest time. I came to the realization that a $300 bass through a $2000 amp is going to sound better than a $2000 bass through a $300 amp. Now, in a perfect world where you can have the best of everything, a $2000 bass through a $2000 amp will sound the best. But when you're starting out, I think it's more important to put the money into the amp if you have a bass that isn't getting in the way of your playing. Maybe this is more of a acknowledgement that cheap basses are infinitely better than 20 years ago.
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The original, sensible response.
 
#38
Joe Nerve said:
I don't think there's any question, argument, or discussion here. A Fodera coming out of a $100 40 watt 10" amp in a big club....

I'm not even going to continue my thoughts here.
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I think this is where some of my disparity in this thread is coming in: the OP specifically says "No D.I." and, in my world, this is an unrealistic scenario. Personally, my days of playing gigs with just vocals and a little kick drum in the PA while everything else is stage volume/mix are behind me -- My amp is mostly for me to monitor myself on stage: Im not going to play a "big club" with just stage volume.............
 
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#39
In my case, the only gig I use an amp in is a very quiet, acoustic vibe, so a small amp works well there. So, the most important equipment aspect to me is....setup. I've played with ceap basses, and with nice basses, and how well it's set up is more importatnt than anything else in the chain.
 
#40
The correct response is that onstage, it is probably the speakers more than anything. With the dominance of DI, maybe that is more important than anything. A Darkglass, or LeBass preamp/DI might be your best buddy onstage.
 

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