Playabilty or Sound Quality

[mcnach]

Hi, if you're going to consider owning a bass guitar, would you rather have a bass that plays well? or a bass guitar that sounds great? thanks
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It's got to be both, or it goes.

However, if a bass sounds great you can sometimes make it play great too even if at first it's not that nice, as long as it's just a set up issue... obviously if it doesn't balance right or it's too heavy or the neck has an uncomfortable profile... then there's nothing you can do.

Similarly, if a bass feels perfect but the sound is not great, you can sometimes make it sound great by changing pickups/preamp. However you don't know until you try, so it may not work out at all.

For that reason, when you find THE one... grab it and run away with it!

 

[FantasticFour]

Has to be tone. That's what instruments are for, plus, I'm not a serial modder.

 

[gln1955]

Playability for sure. Playability goes way beyond how its set up. Sure, I can play a bass with a neck that's wider or thicker than I like, has neck dive or some other bad ergonomic problems, but I won't like it and I'll ultimately get rid of it.

Of course the OP misses the issue more important than either of these - whether or not it has TORT.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

for me, it is hard. i used to be able to play anything; the first bass i played was an extra long scale 5. but then i injured both shoulders in a way that won't heal all the way, restricting extension and angle of extension, and at 5' 3", that means short scale or super short scale only - one one of the very few basses with a lower bout that doesn't protrude in a certain way, usually needs an offset waist (although mikros don't need one) and can't be too heavy (shoulders again). and then i don't like D or U necks profiles and the neck has to feel right for me - luckily i'm not that picky about that part.

My AVRI 63 feels light as heck and covers all the basses, have you ever tried one? I can't stop singing its praises. I want to try some higher end basses out of curiosity only because i can't imagine a better bass. Can you not do full 34" scale? You may want to try a Hofner if not. They are 30" i believe.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Has to be tone. That's what instruments are for, plus, I'm not a serial modder.

Instruments are made for playing though, if you can't play them you will have no tone.

And as I argued earlier, most basses that plays well can be made to sound better by various mods, not least a pickup change.

Basses that sounds good but are hard to play are not that easy to mod to be made more playable.

Also music should not be a beauty competition in my opinion, but rather a form of communication where your instrument(s) of choice is the media through which you communicate.

Of course it is always nicer with a beautiful voice too, but really not that crucial for being understood.

I'd rather play well and have a crappy tone, than play like crap and have a killer tone.

 

[lfmn16]

We are living in the golden age of basses right now. There are so many good instruments being made at every price point, there really is little reason to compromise. There should be something that bone-stock is close, and either a minor setup or swap can make it ideal.

+1

I guess I don't get the point of these false dichotomies. With tens of millions of new and used instruments on the market, why would anyone settle for one or the other? Also, although I do believe it's possible to change the sound of a bass (maybe even significantly), I don't think that it's possible to make every bass sound good, so why take a chance on buying a bass that doesn't sound good to start with? Finally, contrary to what some people have posted, it's not possible to make every bass play to your liking. I've played basses that were well set up, but I just didn't like the way the neck felt.

 

[Nunovsky]

Both. You need to fell good playing it, good action with tension, confortable neck, not too heavy or too light, good ergonomics in the scale and body.
But if it plays well but the sound is "mew", then the playability means nothing because in the end, it just has to sound right.

 

[NoiseNinja]

+1

I guess I don't get the point of these false dichotomies. With tens of millions of new and used instruments on the market, why would anyone settle for one or the other? Also, although I do believe it's possible to change the sound of a bass (maybe even significantly), I don't think that it's possible to make every bass sound good, so why take a chance on buying a bass that doesn't sound good to start with? Finally, contrary to what some people have posted, it's not possible to make every bass play to your liking. I've played basses that were well set up, but I just didn't like the way the neck felt.

Now, I know my angle is a little unique.

And you are probably right, when talking regular full scaled basses.

But for me personally that is easy to answer.

I'll answer by a question:

How many 28,6" scale basses are on the market for under 200$ beside the Ibanez Mikro, and if any how many of those are as well build and have as comfortable neck?

 

[FantasticFour]

Instruments are made for playing though, if you can't play them you will have no tone.

And as I argued earlier, most basses that plays well can be made to sound better by various mods, not least a pickup change.

Basses that sounds good but are hard to play are not that easy to mod to be made more playable.

Also I'd rather prefer to play well and have a crappy tone, than play like crap and have a killer tone.

Well, it's not like I consider playability irrelevant, but experience has proved I could adapt to different necks, bodies, action, etc. a lot more easily than I would have thought at first. Within reasonable limits obviously.
Plus, as I said, I know it's possible to mod a bass, I'm just not that interested in it. I don't want to have to spend time or money on that if it can be avoided. To each their own, I can see people having a lot of fun with it and that's great.

If you're playing on a not-so-comfortable bass (can happen), I think you can always simplify your lines. Your musicianship will definitely shine if you can do it appropriately and with taste. Playing well doesn't equal playing a bazillion notes.
I do get the point of playability, though, totally. Thing is, in the real world there's no reason for that or/or. It's quite easy to get instruments that are both, even at an affordable price.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Well, it's not like I consider playability irrelevant, but experience has proved I could adapt to different necks, bodies, action, etc. a lot more easily than I would have thought at first. Within reasonable limits obviously.
Plus, as I said, I know it's possible to mod a bass, I'm just not that interested in it. I don't want to have to spend time or money on that if it can be avoided. To each their own, I can see people having a lot of fun with it and that's great.

If you're playing on a not-so-comfortable bass (can happen), I think you can always simplify your lines. Your craftmanship will definitely shine if you can do it appropriately and with taste. Playing well doesn't equal playing a bazillion notes.
I do get the point of playability, though, totally. Thing is, in the real world there's no reason for that or/or. It's quite easy to get instruments that are both, even at an affordable price.

To each their own....

I agree.

But take a look above and see my example and you would figure out why not everyone can buy an afortable instrument that fulfill all their needs.

I'll have to add though that the Mikro's stock tone is far from crappy, actually it's pretty decent, except for the J pickup being a little weak and is rather bland and lifeless sounding, still tolerable though, the P pickup of the Mikro has a fairly nice tone, if lacking some clarity and definition.

But why would I have to settle for decent when a simple pickup change could change that to great?

 

[FantasticFour]

But why would I have to settle for decent when a simple pickup change could change that to great?

Absolutely! It'd be a pity for you not to.
For me it's a hassle, but I have no doubt whatsoever that it works!

 

[Bassworship1]

Finding both can be hard but I've finally done it with my New Warrior basses. Best sounding, playing, and built basses my hands have ever had.

 

[pbassnut]

If it has to be one or the other ... DEFINITELY playability for me. I'm in my 60's now and am arthritic and am becoming more and more decrepit as time passes so if it doesn't play well, it's a total non starter. No band leader has ever said to me "Steve, you had such a great tone, we're going to hire you back even though your playing sucked". When looking over my bass stable for which one to take to a gig, if I can't put forth my "A" game with it, it's just not gonna get the call. For the most part it's all about the neck and strings when it comes to playability and I've gotten good mileage out of experimenting with swapping out necks between Fender compatible basses and trying different strings. I'm no luthier by any means, but if the fundamentals are there, I can usually get it to play the way I like. Good pickups can help improve the sound. Sometimes you can compensate for a body that doesn't have all that good of a tone with a super high mass bridge like a Badass or Hipshot Type A where a larger percentage of the tone will come from the (presumably high quality) bridge compared to, say, a "bent plate" type bridge that comes stock on many Fender bass models.

 

[pcake]

My AVRI 63 feels light as heck and covers all the basses, have you ever tried one? I can't stop singing its praises. I want to try some higher end basses out of curiosity only because i can't imagine a better bass. Can you not do full 34" scale? You may want to try a Hofner if not. They are 30" i believe.

i think it's awesome that you have a bass you're so happy with - i'm unfamiliar with AVRI, and haven't seen one in the used stuff at our local GCs. i can do a rare long scale, but there are a variety of caveats, so i've rarely found one. since i play sitting down for now, the waist location and how high and where the high point of the lower bout come dictate whether i can play it, along with some other things. i have owned a hofner violin bass, but my arm kept getting caught in the waist *lol* and i tried a hofner club bass and may try another one.

i have 3 ibanez mikros (28.6z" scale, 1 is a 5 string), a squier short scale jag (30" scale), a hofner shorty (30" scale), and an SR500 (34" scale with a great neck) which it turns out hurts after a few minutes. today i have a fender modern player dimension coming - i've tried several and had no pain, so since i REALLY miss 34" scale, i'm hoping it will work out as well at home as it has at GC and sam ash.

the quest continues (as does shoulder rehab)!

there are a fair amount of people on this board with shoulder, neck and back issues, so for many of us, playability first.

 

[dxb]

Both are important, but I'm going with playability. Most tone issues can be fixed by replacing the electronics, and while a good setup helps the playability, it won't change things like the overall weight or the shape of the neck.

 

[Tommyc]

This is a rock and a hard place. Some are quite picky about dimensions and won't play something with a certain neck shape or thickness or nut width. I'm adaptive. It's,for me, fingertip stuff. For example, when I got a new Yamaha TRBX, it came in a sealed box and though unblemished with a very nice fingerboard, shielded cavity, level frets etc. it had received no dealer preliminary set-up. So there was no tension on the trussrod and the strings were loose. I was gratified as I like to set up myself. When I fretted at the first fret I knew that the nut files had to come out. After dialing in about .015" of relief I measured .035" at the nut from the bottom of the string to the top of the first fret which is completely unacceptable, to me. Maybe it's fine for someone else. Anyway after about an hour of file and test, I got it to .22 which is fine. The whole bass is fine now. Tonally, it's not my favorite.
Now in another lifetime, when I played classical guitar, the only guitar that I owned whose sound made me want to play it could not be brought to playable standards. If you don't know, very little is tweakable on nylon string guitars. Relief is fixed, no trussrod and action, string spacing etc. usually require permanent modification. Because I loved the voice and sustain of this thing, I built a new nut from a blank with spacing and height to my liking. Better but still a bit too much relief. i never could finally bring it to where I didn't get distracted by its setup issues so it got sold. i still think about that guitar. I kept it longer than another classical though that required the strength of a 4 year old to play it was set up so well. Why did i sell it? Its voice gave me no compelling reason to want to pick it up.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

i think it's awesome that you have a bass you're so happy with - i'm unfamiliar with AVRI, and haven't seen one in the used stuff at our local GCs. i can do a rare long scale, but there are a variety of caveats, so i've rarely found one. since i play sitting down for now, the waist location and how high and where the high point of the lower bout come dictate whether i can play it, along with some other things. i have owned a hofner violin bass, but my arm kept getting caught in the waist *lol* and i tried a hofner club bass and may try another one.

i have 3 ibanez mikros (28.6z" scale, 1 is a 5 string), a squier short scale jag (30" scale), a hofner shorty (30" scale), and an SR500 (34" scale with a great neck) which it turns out hurts after a few minutes. today i have a fender modern player dimension coming - i've tried several and had no pain, so since i REALLY miss 34" scale, i'm hoping it will work out as well at home as it has at GC and sam ash.

the quest continues (as does shoulder rehab)!

there are a fair amount of people on this board with shoulder, neck and back issues, so for many of us, playability first.

Hopefully you like your fender. AVRI just means Fender American Vintage Reissue. They are very well done from the ones I have played and from what I have heard from others here. Good luck.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

One thing I can see here: If you LIKE to work on your instrument, and are confident in your ability to change out electronics and do basic setup work, you're a LOT more likely to vote "playability" first. If you're not comfortable doing that kind of work (many fine musicians don't know which end of a screwdriver to use), you'd better vote tone.
And know a good luthier.

 

[NoiseNinja]

One thing I can see here: If you LIKE to work on your instrument, and are confident in your ability to change out electronics and do basic setup work, you're a LOT more likely to vote "playability" first. If you're not comfortable doing that kind of work (many fine musicians don't know which end of a screwdriver to use), you'd better vote tone.
And know a good luthier.

I think you hit the head of the nail.

The answers probably tells more about how willing or capable people are to make changes to their instruments, than it does really tell which of the two elements people priorities.

 

[mellowinman]

They all sound pretty good to my ears.