Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
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New bass checklist
- Thread starter joeaba
- Start date
-Will this bass realistically fit my musical goals?
-Is this an emotional purchase?
-Why am I looking a another 5 when I NEVER bond with nor keep 'em?
-Is this price negotiable?
-Is my child support caught up?
FF
-Is this an emotional purchase?
-Why am I looking a another 5 when I NEVER bond with nor keep 'em?
-Is this price negotiable?
-Is my child support caught up?
FF
New bass checklist :-
First I envision a bass that would appeal to me.....then I go looking for a bass that fits that description.
As I tour around playing/looking at basses I notice that in general there isn't one that TOTALLY matches my vision...there are caveats and trade-offs involved....
So it ends up being what "trade-off" I'm prepared to sacrifice.
I've never bought a bass because anybody else says it is great. I have to wear it and play it.
And often playing it for half an hour in a shop doesn't give you the whole story.....
Many of the basses that people raved about were, to me, unacceptable.
I don't go by price when I go into a store to play/look at basses.
I deliberately avoid looking at the price tag initially and concentrate on whether that bass really really works for me.
I have discovered that price point is not much of a factor in determining whether the bass was made for me or not. Higher end basses can be just as non-functional/unacceptable for my needs as certain low end basses. I've put just as many high-end basses back up on the rack as I have low-enders.
If you are meant for a shortscale then buy a shortscale...ditto for medium and longscale.
For me one of the first considerations is weight......I don't care how good the bass is supposed to be...if it's a boat anchor I'm not buying it.
Second is balance.....if it neck dives:- no sale, regardless of what it is....
Third is tone......some basses just sound bad no matter how you tweak them.
Next is scale length...........
Next is :- how hard is it to get strings for that bass? Local shops where I live carry very little usually except for a minimal smattering of regular longscale strings.
The bridge :- every bass I look at, the bridge is of major importance to me.......I don't like junk bridges......
Color:- I don't really care all that much about color.......there's a couple of colors I will avoid but I'm not too picky.......I don't buy a bass to look at it...I buy it to play it.
Tort and pickguards........I could care less whether the pickguard is Tort..in fact I could care less whether it even has a pickguard....
Active or passive.........for me I'll take an "active" anyday over a passive if available in the choice........I just like the extra EQ'ing and tone variation......
When I look at a new bass, I always look down the neck to check for warps, twists and/or horrendous bowing or backbow. My luthier assures me that just about ANY neck problem can be fixed...and maybe he's right, but why go to all the added expense if you buy a lemon to start with?
First I envision a bass that would appeal to me.....then I go looking for a bass that fits that description.
As I tour around playing/looking at basses I notice that in general there isn't one that TOTALLY matches my vision...there are caveats and trade-offs involved....
So it ends up being what "trade-off" I'm prepared to sacrifice.
I've never bought a bass because anybody else says it is great. I have to wear it and play it.
And often playing it for half an hour in a shop doesn't give you the whole story.....
Many of the basses that people raved about were, to me, unacceptable.
I don't go by price when I go into a store to play/look at basses.
I deliberately avoid looking at the price tag initially and concentrate on whether that bass really really works for me.
I have discovered that price point is not much of a factor in determining whether the bass was made for me or not. Higher end basses can be just as non-functional/unacceptable for my needs as certain low end basses. I've put just as many high-end basses back up on the rack as I have low-enders.
If you are meant for a shortscale then buy a shortscale...ditto for medium and longscale.
For me one of the first considerations is weight......I don't care how good the bass is supposed to be...if it's a boat anchor I'm not buying it.
Second is balance.....if it neck dives:- no sale, regardless of what it is....
Third is tone......some basses just sound bad no matter how you tweak them.
Next is scale length...........
Next is :- how hard is it to get strings for that bass? Local shops where I live carry very little usually except for a minimal smattering of regular longscale strings.
The bridge :- every bass I look at, the bridge is of major importance to me.......I don't like junk bridges......
Color:- I don't really care all that much about color.......there's a couple of colors I will avoid but I'm not too picky.......I don't buy a bass to look at it...I buy it to play it.
Tort and pickguards........I could care less whether the pickguard is Tort..in fact I could care less whether it even has a pickguard....
Active or passive.........for me I'll take an "active" anyday over a passive if available in the choice........I just like the extra EQ'ing and tone variation......
When I look at a new bass, I always look down the neck to check for warps, twists and/or horrendous bowing or backbow. My luthier assures me that just about ANY neck problem can be fixed...and maybe he's right, but why go to all the added expense if you buy a lemon to start with?
Another one I'm sure its been said already, but if not:
"Should I spend money on professional lessons rather than chasing gear that might be able to hide, change, or forgive the sound of my sloppy technique?"
"Should I spend money on professional lessons rather than chasing gear that might be able to hide, change, or forgive the sound of my sloppy technique?"
Last edited:
My method doesn't take much thought--all I do is hold the bass & I know pretty much instantly if I like the feel and the neck.
I'm going on instinct actually.
When I got my fretless I held the bass and even before I played it--I knew I was buying it.
It was pretty much instant.
I felt the same thing with a couple of guitars.
Oh yah, also forgot 2 really good questions that I (and only I) ask myself now.
1- Will it sound with flats?
2- Which flats will bring out the best in this bass?
FF
1- Will it sound with flats?
2- Which flats will bring out the best in this bass?
FF
I've always liked Flatwoods and never thought much about it until recently joining TB. It seems that there's a lot of like/dislike for flats. Your obviously like em. can you explain what I missed?
Thanks to TB, TB actually got me to explore flatwounds and I'm a fan 
The idea I have in mind when Im in the market of buying a new bass is:
#1 is it comfortable to play
#2 is the neck thin
#3 is it louder than my current basses
#4 will it make my other bass guitars jealous??
The idea I have in mind when Im in the market of buying a new bass is:
#1 is it comfortable to play
#2 is the neck thin
#3 is it louder than my current basses
#4 will it make my other bass guitars jealous??
It's all personal preferences. I can only tell you why I loves 'em.
Feel and sound. The way I play, flats help me to bring out the percussive elements in my groove. I also like sliding into notes alot. The surface of some flats are sleek enough to allow my total control in my slides. Kind of like when you were a kid and you used to slide on the floor. On carpet (rounds) you can slide but the surface slightly goes against you. On linoleum or ceramics tiles (flats) they are more inviting to a nice slide so that you can crash into something and make your mom scream at you.
Sound wise, flats sound tamed to me. Rounds sound wilder. I love the sound of upright bass and how they fit musically. Even though I know they don't sound the same, the way notes come off a bass with flats is along the same lines to me. Electric bass just sounds better to ME with flats. Chords, slapped, finger styled, picked, etc., all sound better. They sound like what I percieve a bass to sound like. FF
I couldn't agree more. The sound is more even and there's no noise when sliding. I don't use compression or any mute pads but would probably consider it if I was a roundwound player. Flatwounds give more control to the player, less overtones, less of what you don't want and more of what you do want. Not sure why anyone would settle for a sound that has string noise and overtones. Depending on the music your playing, there's enough clicks, noise and metal tones coming from the cymbals and guitars, it's our duty to take full control of the lower frequencies. The flats make it easier to do so.
- Check if it is setup
- Neck dive
- Weight
- Overall fit & finish
- Smooth fret ends
- Pots smoothness
- Nut quality (seems like nuts are a weak point even for expensive basses)
- Listen carefully the sound of the bass unplugged too
- Dead spots (how many)
- Fretboard radius
- Width at the nut
- Neck shape
- Neck-thru/bolt-on/set-neck
- Active/Passive
- Number of frets
- Wood preferences
- Number and placement of pups
- Poles-strings alignment
- Adjustable saddles for string spacing
- Date of manufacture (just saying)
- Neck dive
- Weight
- Overall fit & finish
- Smooth fret ends
- Pots smoothness
- Nut quality (seems like nuts are a weak point even for expensive basses)
- Listen carefully the sound of the bass unplugged too
- Dead spots (how many
)- Fretboard radius
- Width at the nut
- Neck shape
- Neck-thru/bolt-on/set-neck
- Active/Passive
- Number of frets
- Wood preferences
- Number and placement of pups
- Poles-strings alignment
- Adjustable saddles for string spacing
- Date of manufacture (just saying)
