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One Bass to do it all?

#141
I swapped basses for decades. Sooner or later, I never felt really happy with the tone, or it was just GAS. However, realizing that the desired tone I was striving for comes only from my playing skills and not from other, or more expensive basses, I simplified my life and am down today to two basses - a Fender Flea Jazz and a Blacktop Precision. Each covers anything I do, each feels well in my hands, looks nice and I love both. My interest is now more to “experiment” with different strings (brands, gauges, tuning, etc.) on my two basses. My GAS has moved to amps and cabs.
 
#142
Dr. Cheese said:
Recently, I found that I had a hard time getting my Pedulla to sound the way I wanted it to when rehearsing for a church concert at the end of the month. My Sire really sounds great for the music, but it is bothering me that my main bass is not working out. Now that I know the songs better, I am going to practice them at home on the Pedulla and use my Pentabuzz at the next rehearsal. I think of how many great players have had careers on one bass, and I feel that I should be able to carry out my humble take on one bass too. In fact, I really want to let some basses go. Probably just keeping my Sire, Peavey Fury, and Pedulla. I do have another bass on an extended layaway and selling off my Carvin may take care of that. Four basses is still a lot of basses, but I want to use the Pedulla at least 75% of the time. If my Peavey had not only cost me $65, I would probably sell it too.
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@Dr. Cheese One bass to do it all really isn't a proposition, especially as you are becoming a bona fide fretless player. I think one of each fretted and fretless plus a backup for the one you play most is reasonable compromise. So for 75% fretless, which is about what I do, I would keep the Pedulla and one fretted, then trade the rest for a backup fretless. I've 3 fretless and one fretted, but I only really play 2 of the fretless. The 3rd is pretty worn out but I keep it for reasons of emotional attachment.
 
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#144
I haven't found a situation yet that my EBMM Stingray didn't handle well. Mine has the 3 band EQ and I can dial in most any tone required from a low smooth bass to a bright high end. Plus you can add as much mid as you want. Add to that the power and clarity of the active electronics and it's a monster. Played through a tube amp and EV 15's it's been perfect for me.
 
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#145
I'm capping myself at 3. 5 string with rounds, 4 with flats, and a 5 fretless. Also seriously considering a bass vi, but that's serving a very particular purpose that the others cannot fill.

I certainly dont think one bass can do it all though, simply because theres no way to quickly obtain or approximate a fretless tone on a fretted. If one doesnt play fretless though...well then yeah, one bass could probably do everything well enough to not raise any issues.
 
#146
I have five basses and honestly don't need them all. I just like having the variety they give me (sound and even style) and I also like them for their differences - and I do play them all. But could I live with one and be happy with it because it can do it all, at least for me? Absolutely. My Stingray 5HH has fit perfectly in every playing situation I've been in and it's also my favorite sounding, best feeling, and best playing bass. Definitely not saying that it should be the same be-all-and-end-all for everyone, but it is for me. If I don't consciously decide to take one of my other basses with me, I will always grab my Stingray.

That doesn't mean I'm planning to give up any of the others, though. I do like them a lot and, well, this *IS* Talkbass. ;)
 
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#147
I think other folks must have more discerning ears than I do. I have a Fender Jazz (MIM) with dead rounds and Squier CV P with flats, both with upgraded pickups and electronics. For what I play, classic rock, blues, R&B, I can get all I need from either, but the Jazz would be the one bass. It can get the top end or with a sponge mute can give me Motown thump.

I played a fretless recently and was surprised how I could play most everything that I do currently. However, I could still see limits. Less than I thought I would, but still limits. I suppose those limits are mostly my own not the bass.
 
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#148
I don't have a "do it all" BUT I have do it most...Like 80-85%

My Mike Lull TP5
Here is Mike with it...

343orwx.jpg
 
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#149
pappabass said:
Cool, I don't use a pedal, bass is set up nice, emg's. Just not a clean sound on lower notes. My active eq bass solves the issue. My amp is a prretty good one too.
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Interesting that you need the preamp to clean up the p pickup. I have an active EMG on my Spector Euro 4LX, and even with the preamp turned all the way down, that pickup is not muddy. It is, however a reverse p pickup. But I just don't find P basses in general to be "muddy." Different strokes. Cheers!
 
#151
Trying to make a fretless bass your one bass to do it all is a tough go. Fretless basses have a certain sound that does not work as well for all songs. I play church music and my fretless probably gets used for about 5% of the time. It sounds great for some tunes but if I need more punch and bite on other tunes (Fretted is used). You might not be happy with your fretless sound because it is not the best sound for the tune. You may be wanting it to sound more like your sire for that tune. Think of your basses as 2 different flavors (regardless of cost).
 
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#154
diegom said:
While the Pedulla is an excellent instrument, it does have its own sound. Fretless, on top of that!
I'm sure the Pedulla can do a more-than-adequate job on any genres, but it will not give you a Chris Squire growl and snarl. Musicians who use a single instrument for their whole career have a basic (bassic??) voice and they don't stray too far from that. If you seem to like the Sire for these particular selections, it is not about the bass or the songs. It is about what you hear in your head as the 'perfect' sound for those songs...

We have such a huge availability of instruments, that we now have more points of reference, instead of just saying "That's the sound I have, that's the sound I like, and that's how the song will sound with this tone"...

Of course, YMMV. You're probably holding yourself to a very high standard...

Good luck!

Diego
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This is what I was thinking when I read the OP. A lot of the bass players who use one bass only play (or are only famous for playing) one style. Steve Harris, Geddy, Chris Squire come to mind.

Then there are players like the great Palladino who play different basses for different sounds. A P bass with the Who, a stingray with NIN, etc.

Then there are guys like Jaco, John Entwistle, Les Claypool whose playing is so refined, you can put any bass in their hand and it sounds like them.
 
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#155
^ I used to think that I could play any style with a P for the rest of my life, but last Saturday was really old school funk oriented, and it just wasn't cutting it. I played with the treble and upper mids all night trying to get it to pop just right.
 
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#157
8 pages later :whistle:

I'd say that plenty of basses can do it all. The only thing I've noticed with "modern" sounding basses is that when you want the grunt and mud of a vintage P-bass or Gibson EB-whatever with ancient strings, they are too clean and defined to really nail that.

I used a Steinberger with roundwounds in blues bands for a while, just stuffed foam under the strings, turned the tone all the way down, shut off the bridge pickup and played closer to the fingerboard. It sounded fine although it looked funny to the average blues crowd. A few moves I might do on my P like swooping slides I'd avoid, that was about it.

My choice would always be the bass with the most open, clear tone because you can always muddy it up. A muffled, undefined tone can't be cleared up.
 
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#158
I don't know if anyone has already suggested this as I haven't read the entire thread, so..... Have you played an EB MM Special 5 HH? I have a 4 HH and you can really get a lot of sounds out of them with the PU selector and 18 volt preamp. Lots of headroom there. Having said that, it is a MM and sounds like one, so if that isn't your thing.....
 
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#159
I've never been one to play multiple basses. I may own more than one (although right now I only own one that is functional), but I tend to gig with just one bass. It's almost always been a fretless except for a few years in Nashville when the artist I played for kinda insisted on a fretted P. Those are my favorites anyway, so playing a fretted version was ok.

I play originals though, other than the time I spent as a side-woman in Nashville, and I only get involved in projects where I can have a strong role in defining the sound. I don't think I would take a gig now where I had to emulate someone else's sounds or play a fretted bass, unless it was some ultra high-profile / high-pay situation, which is almost certainly not going to happen.

Main bass right now is an Ibanez fretless 5. It's the only bass I play, and its predecessor was another Ibanez fretless 5. I'm in the process of evaluating a switch to short scale basses (currently playing my bass with a capo at the second "fret"), and once things are settled, I think I'll be saving for a Birdsong short scale fretless 5 which I believe will probably last me the rest of my playing life.
 
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#160
Inara said:
I've never been one to play multiple basses. I may own more than one (although right now I only own one that is functional), but I tend to gig with just one bass. It's almost always been a fretless except for a few years in Nashville when the artist I played for kinda insisted on a fretted P. Those are my favorites anyway, so playing a fretted version was ok.

I play originals though, other than the time I spent as a side-woman in Nashville, and I only get involved in projects where I can have a strong role in defining the sound. I don't think I would take a gig now where I had to emulate someone else's sounds or play a fretted bass, unless it was some ultra high-profile / high-pay situation, which is almost certainly not going to happen.

Main bass right now is an Ibanez fretless 5. It's the only bass I play, and its predecessor was another Ibanez fretless 5. I'm in the process of evaluating a switch to short scale basses (currently playing my bass with a capo at the second "fret"), and once things are settled, I think I'll be saving for a Birdsong short scale fretless 5 which I believe will probably last me the rest of my playing life.
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What happened to the Pedulla?
 
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