Poll:Which is most important in a bass?

[Bassdude15]

*I am assuming in this poll that durability of an instrument is important to everyone.

 

[zortation]

Playability
Tone
Aesthetics

 

[Bassdude15]

Playability
Tone
Aesthetics

Not trying to be rude, but if a bass sound like crap (really thin/muddy, cheap wood, cheap pickups, etc.), but it played like butter, you're saying you'd buy it?

 

[Spent]

Tone, playability, aesthetics.

 

[smcd]

Not trying to be rude, but if a bass sound like crap (really thin/muddy, cheap wood, cheap pickups, etc.), but it played like butter, you're saying you'd buy it?

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

 

[dudelove]

It works

 

[mark beem]

Tone, Playability, Aesthetics

 

[zortation]

Not trying to be rude, but if a bass sound like crap (really thin/muddy, cheap wood, cheap pickups, etc.), but it played like butter, you're saying you'd buy it?

I'm saying that if I used your criteria, one great player, one great sounding, and one great looking, that I would buy the one that played the best.

 

[David Jayne]

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

Agree. It's a bit like motorcycles. It's easier to make a slow bike faster than it is to make a pig handle better.

 

[groooooove]

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

depends on the basses.

most instrument (unless theres a severely warped neck..) can be setup to play like a fodera or whatever you like. it just may need a $300 fret grind/polish and full setup. even an SX can play perfectly if the proper amount of work is put into it.

as far as sound, all you can change is pickups- which, of course can make a huge improvement- but if it's a junk bass, it can only sound so good.

so, to me, there's more room for improvement on playability than there is on tone. but ideally you'd have an instrument that's okay with both- considering one more important than the other is crazy to me.

 

[tangentmusic]

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

+1. Playability / feel trumps tone for me too for this exact reason.

 

[Matthew_84]

I didn't know if you meant for purchasing a new bass or in general... I assumed buying a new bass, so I went with playability, aesthetics, tone.

Tone is normally number 2 for me, but I can swap strings, pickups, and caps easier than I can swap wood grain.

 

[Shanebo]

+1. Playability / feel trumps tone for me too for this exact reason.

Agree,

Playability
Tone
Aesthetics

That said, I have only recently warmed to a P-bass, because the necks and right hand placement options always felt strange to me. After a couple of months, the feel is much better, and the tone was worth the wait/work.

All the best,

Shane

 

[Gorn]

Chicks gotta dig it.

 

[bassbully]

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

I disagree. I have put money into basses that played like butter but sounded like poo only to get a ho- hum bass that still played great and money lost to boot.

To me its tone. That's what the boys want to hear from me.

 

[Ironbar]

Playability
Tone
Aesthetics

You can improve the sound of any bass easily. Improving the playability isn't always possible.

Exactly.

 

[bass4worship]

Tone, playability, aesthetic. Not going to buy a bass that I have to spend another $300 to get it to sound right nor play. They all work together to make a fine bass.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I won't buy a bass I genuinely don't like the look of. Overall, playability is more important, then tone (or how much I'd need to spend to get the tone to where I want it), but if I don't like looking at the bass, it's never going to be one I grab to play.

 

[smcd]

depends on the basses.

most instrument (unless theres a severely warped neck..) can be setup to play like a fodera or whatever you like. it just may need a $300 fret grind/polish and full setup. even an SX can play perfectly if the proper amount of work is put into it.

as far as sound, all you can change is pickups- which, of course can make a huge improvement- but if it's a junk bass, it can only sound so good.

so, to me, there's more room for improvement on playability than there is on tone. but ideally you'd have an instrument that's okay with both- considering one more important than the other is crazy to me.

"Playability" isn't just low action. It's the overall feel of the bass. If you don't like balance/neck profile/body shape of a bass, there really isn't anything practical you can do to improve that. Especially if the bass is neck-thru design.

Improving the tone is a lot more than changing pickups. You can change the electronics, bridge, strings in an almost infinite number of combinations. Almost any "junk" bass can be made to sound good. But that same "junk" bass can't always be made playable.

 

[smcd]

I disagree. I have put money into basses that played like butter but sounded like poo only to get a ho- hum bass that still played great and money lost to boot.

To me its tone. That's what the boys want to hear from me.

Everyone loses money modding a bass, so that's not the issue. I've you couldn't make a great playing bass sound good, you should have brought it to someone who could. I'm very curious what bass you had that was like that.