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Purchasing bass for punk music

B

Bass Boss 101

Nov 11, 2010
7
0
#1
I'm getting into a punk band and i need to choose the best bass for a grungy punk sound. I have a Gallien-Krueger Bacline 410 4x10 cab with a 300 watt amp head. I was going with either an American Standard Fender P-Bass or a Music Man StingRay.
Help me out.
:D
 
#8
fenderhutz said:
Hit a pawn shop, find a cheap ugly bass with potential (good neck, hardware, etc). My local pawn shop has USA Peavey Fury p-style basses for around 100 bucks all of the time.
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Yep. What he said. And the uglier the bass is the better. I envy anyone playing bass in a punk band. I always wanted to do that and I never did. Too old now.
 
#11
The P-bass has always been the go-to bass for any kind of punk (oldschool, pop-punk, oi, skramz, emo, hardcore, metalcore, orgcore, folk-punk, etc...)

The newer pop-punk/mallcore scene tends to favour Quarter Pounders as replacements for the stock P pickups. Personally, I'd prefer a PJ just for the extra versatility. The Stingray is pretty cool though, so go with what you like best.
 
#14
Why does everyone think that you have to own "sh-tty" cheap gear because you're in a punk band?:eyebrow:

I'm in a punk band, and can tell you that the majority of bass players I've seen play Stingrays, Jazz basses, followed by P basses. Most are Fenders...not Squiers. Stingrays and Fender Jazz basses have been the dominant two. As far as amps, I've seen it all...Ampeg, Acoustic, GK....and Markbass & Peavey (thanks to yours truly). I mainly gig a 99 MIA Fender Jazz bass, or a 2008 MIA Fender P bass. My rigs consist of a Markbass cmd 102P with a 115HR extension, or my cheaper rig, which is a Peavey Tour TNT 115 over a GK Neo 115.

I'd try all the aforementioned basses with your rig, and see what you think will work best.

My band...The Snallygasters!

 
#15
I'm in the P-Bass camp. I'm not in the cheap camp. Maybe the affordable camp. Then I say put the spurs to it with vintage pups. "Why?" you ask. Go read the Bass Player interview with Matt Freeman from Rancid. That's why. I would also say buy used if at all possible. Something that's been heavily played for like 8 years or more. Used basses just sound better than new. IMO
 
#16
Winnb said:
Yep. What he said. And the uglier the bass is the better. I envy anyone playing bass in a punk band. I always wanted to do that and I never did. Too old now.
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You're never too old Winn!!

I've been in Modern rock, 80's rock/metal, and gigging classic/pop rock bands and finally at the age of 39, I'm in a gigging punk band. We are influenced by 70's and 80's rock as well as the 70's British punk, and oi bands. It's a lot of fun. The only thing I'm not a fan of is having 3-5 bands gear all thrown together in one room...you have to be more attentive. When I was in the "only" band playing, I never had to worry about it so much. I do love playing with more bands on the bill because it seems like there's a good crowd all the time. Last gig we played, there was definitely over a 100 people in the room, and all I was doing before was maybe 40-50 people at bar & grills playing old songs from the 70's and 80's. Plus, we're actually getting the opportunity to open for bands on major labels, which is something I've never done.

As cliche as it may sound, punk is "part" attitude.
 

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