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My bass playing paradigm and it's change

Jonix300

Jonix300

Guest
Mar 23, 2012
7
0
30
Sintra
#1
Hi,

I'm a portuguese bassist from my Hard Rock band Reckless Society (https://www.facebook.com/recklesssociety). :bassist:
I've been playing bass guitar for 3 years and I feel it's time for a change. My current gear is: Yamaha RBX 170, Orange Crush PiX CR50BXT and Zoom B2.1u.

My band is growing, we are now recording an album, and I think, personally, I need to invest more on gear.

I see 2 options:

- Buy new pickups, get my bass a setup, new strings (bassically invest on my 200€ bass guitar)
And about the pickups, since my bass has passive electronics, which ones do you recommend? I had thought on EMG PJHZ (PJ Passive Set) and Seymour Duncan SPB-3 and SJB-3...

- Buy a new bass guitar, in the range 500-800€. In this case, maybe a Fender Mexican Standard Precision or a Fender Blacktop (Precision or Jazz). Are there any others do you recommend?

I really need to improve my sound, at this time of my playing :)
 
#3
Your band looks rad, can I find some tracks on sound cloud?

Love Portugal, a beautiful country, and I although I didn't have a chance to investigate the club scene there, I was intrigued, as it seemed to have a lot of gritty/edgy credibility.

An affordable P bass sounds like a great way to go -- depending on your sound, of course. But hey, a P works for Geezer… And with the right strings, I find I can get an edgy zingy and clangy Guns and Roses-type Jazz bass sound out of a P bass as well.

Good luck to you guys!
 
#5
what don't you like about your sound?

there are tons of great options out there. your current bass isn't a fender, but it's pretty darned fender-y. if you like your current bass, but want something that plays better and sounds a bit nicer, then fender could be a good option.

for a more aggressive sound, a musicman (or sterling by musicman) is great. I LOVE MY G&Ls. they rock they house. like a p-bass on steroids.

hollow bodies can be cool, if you want a 'thumpier' sound. check out hohner, or the jack cassidy.

really there are tons of options. tbirds are cool, some people swear by t40s, etc etc

any way you go, i will always suggest buying used. the tb classifieds are a veritable goldmine. and if at all possible, try a style of bass before buying.
 
#6
StuartV said:
The RBX710 is a nice bass. I'd say to spend your money on a better amp and cabinet.
Click to expand...

Yep, Yamaha and Peavy both make great basses for a great price. And yep, a big cab or high-powered head is arguably the wiser allocation for your money.

However, having the right gear can mean a LOT more in certain countries than it does here domestically. I saw an interesting profile on a rock band in Afghanistan and those kids
left the retail stickers on their guitars because they thought the "California Series" demarcation was so cool and exotic.

Image does matter in rock! But then Peavy has a big "MADE IN USA" on the headstock, does it not?
 
#8
If you can come up for the money for a used MIM P, then how about shaking down the extended family to raise the difference and by a used USA P? I have MIM Fenders (P basses and Strats) and I love them -- but I feel the USA models with the graphite-reinforced rosewood-fingerboard necks have the right amount of attack and bloom for hard rock. You can always get an aftermarket pickup to suit your exact taste. I mentioned Geezer earlier, and there are demos of his new custom pickup you can check out online.. Steve Harris has a more aggressive signature pickup as well. All depends on what best fits your band.
 
#9
Jah Wobble Fan said:
Your band looks rad, can I find some tracks on sound cloud?

Love Portugal, a beautiful country, and I although I didn't have a chance to investigate the club scene there, I was intrigued, as it seemed to have a lot of gritty/edgy credibility.

An affordable P bass sounds like a great way to go -- depending on your sound, of course. But hey, a P works for Geezer… And with the right strings, I find I can get an edgy zingy and clangy Guns and Roses-type Jazz bass sound out of a P bass as well.

Good luck to you guys!
Click to expand...

Sure, check https://soundcloud.com/recklesssociety

Ah, BTW, can you vote for us on Hard Rock Rising? It's a internation contest by Hard Rock Café and we need a lot of votes to play here in Lisbon... Link: https://www.facebook.com/hardrockcafelisboa?sk=app_205164529573076
Just search for "Reckless Society" and click on "Download"...

Thank you very much

Yeah, what a beautiful country... You need to return and stay a few days on my region... Sintra! Check it on the web!

Yeah, I was looking for that sound too, Black Sabbath type, where basslines can pop out from mixing...
 
#10
Great, thanks for the link… spinning "Elects Icky Roses" right now -- good recording, you guys got a fat bottom going on!
Great guitar solo. Nice mix job on getting the bass to cut through here and there on my tiny macbook speakers.

If this song is representative of your overall sound, then I would definitely vote for a P bass and not a J -- a P just has the massive bottom to drive that big sound you guys are making.
 
#13
StuartV said:
The RBX710 is a nice bass. I'd say to spend your money on a better amp and cabinet.
Click to expand...

This +1000

You definitely need a bigger (as in louder) amp; the Yamaha (and in truth, a lot of other 'budget' basses) is capable of a really solid sound pumping out of a proper amplifier. The Orange Crush is nice for what it is, but it's not really what I'd consider a gigging/recording amp.
 
#15
Personally I'd look at a bigger amp, unless you really aren't happy with your bass's current sound or playability.
You'll likely need more wattage and more SPL if you're going to do any amount of gigging I expect.

On a side note, I'm looking around at small combo amps for my church youth choir, and was intrigued by the small Orange units.
I'm getting tired of schlepping around my Bass 350 and a 2X10 cabinet.
It's a low volume gig, so I was curious about the tone and whether the speaker can handle it's available power well enough.

I won't get to try one out in person soon, as the closest chain has no stock at all in the country, so I was curious about your experience with it.
 
#16
Be warned, the Blacktop Jazz is a serious beast of a bass! It's capable of being mellow when you solo the neck pickup and bring down the tone. However, when you start adding in the bridge pickup things get all kinds of snarly/growly/boomy.

Fellow TB'er "audiomitch" posted this sound test. He's using a pick, so there's a bit more bite to the attack, but dig that sustain!

https://app.box.com/s/0giiip2y1612vfjh9dix
 

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