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Rank your basses in an arbitrary manner

S

Scott549

Oct 26, 2009
427
11
Madison, Wisconsin
www.willsband.net
#1
Just for fun. Rank and discuss your basses.

1. Sunburst Fender '51 Precision Reissue - CIJ. I love the sound of the single coil pickup and the feel of the neck. The slab shape makes it heavy but also makes it cool. The only real negative is the bridge (intonation issues), which I am going to replace.

2. Butterscotch Squier '50s Precision. I played a bunch of basses at music stores in Toronto last summer and this was my favorite one. Wife and son were nice enough to get me one as a holiday gift. Kind of like taking on an animal from the shelter, this one survived the sales floor of a Guitar Center. It's now in good hands, set up nicely, and will have a good life.

3. Black MIM Jazz. Got this one out last night as I was doing some bass maintenance work, and I'm really glad I have it. I use the neck pickup almost exclusively for a more Precision-like sound. Got it cheap on eBay. Was claimed to have been used for some sort of goofy recording played on the Rush Limbaugh show, so I considered this one somewhat of a "rescue" also. It needed some work but it's now in great shape and ready to rock.

4. Red MIM Precision. This one really got me back into playing bass. Nothing at all wrong with it, but I determined that I like the sound of the single coil '51 variety better. The '51 is a little more full, while the MIM has a bit more of an edge. Although I generally prefer a brighter sound, I just put a set of flats on the MIM to add some variety to the stable.

5. Green Squier P Bass Special. $100 on Craigslist. It works, and it sounds good. Great spare bass, and loaner for my son's band.

6. Side comment -- I am not a good enough bass player to justify having all these basses. But it's a fun hobby, and you only live once.
 
#3
1 - Geddy: Feels great, plays great. Fast neck. I love the looks. My "Go to"
2 - Jag: Just look at her! Yeah, she's noisy and whiny, but just look at her!
3 - PB551: Gotta have a P, and this one was the right price at the right time
4 - Firefly: A good beater
5 - Hoppus: Kinda funny lookin'
 
#4
1) SX Sunburst / rosewood J (SJB not ursa) - sold, my 1st bass. nice beginner bass.
2) SX LPB / maple J (SJB not ursa) - sold, my 2nd bass. beautiful color, nice beginner bass again, pretty solid quality and tone FOR THE PRICE (never tried a Squier, so maybe I just don't know better...).
3) Empty stall in the barn here
4) Peavey Millenium BXP sunburst passive J layout - VERY nice for the price ($140 with really nice semi-hardshell case... less than the SXen actually yet better) #4 because it's 4 strings, versus...
5) Peavey USA Cirrus neck thru maple & purpleheart, flame maple over alder body-wings & pau ferro (I think) fretboard - current number 1. #5 because it has 5 strings. Killer neck. Love it. Definite keeper.

Hmmm... my ranking isn't really arbitrary... crud.
 
#5
1. Fender Am. Series Jazz four, 2003, alder/maple, with noiseless Lindy Fralin pickups and a drop tuner. Sounds amazing, covers everything, and feels like home. When in doubt, I grab this.

2. G&L U.S.A. SB-2, 2007, alder/rosewood, with drop tuner and tone knob added. If anything, this plays even better than #1, and it produces the most bada$$ split-coil tone I've ever heard. It kicked two basses out of the herd when I bought it in 2007. This is so close to the Jazz that I view them as "co-number ones." If I didn't want a five string, I could easily get by with these two.

3. G&L U.S.A. JB, 2010, alder/rosewood, with noiseless DiMarzio Area J pickups. I love G&L and Jazz basses, and I wanted to try a rosewood 'board on a J, so I caved in to the GAS. This is better in some ways than the 2003 Fender, with impeccable finish and construction, great tone, and excellent playability. I like the lighter tuners, which give it slightly better balance than the Fender. The more I play it, the more I like it.

4. Fender Am. Standard Jazz V, 2008, alder/maple with noiseless Nordstrand NJ5FS pickups. The has the strongest acoustic resonance of all, and sounds absolutely huge. It's light too. But I'm mostly a four string guy, so I don't use it much.

5. Fender Am. Series Precision, 2004, alder/maple with Lindy Fralin pickup and drop tuner. This is one of the best playing Precisions I've tried, and the Fralin pickup rules. It's down here because I usually prefer the J-basses or SB-2 for tone, and I generally prefer Jazz necks for playability. But sometimes you gotta have a straight-up P-bass, and this one is awesome. Until I got the SB-2, it was my #2 behind the #1 Jazz, and I've played it on some of my favorite gigs.
 
#6
1958 Egmond hollow body w. flats. (high action / flats -> sounds like a double bass)
1966 Fender Candy apple Jazz -> FANTASTIC ! ! Main studio bass
1970´s Parts Precision, Sonic blue (Flats)
1970 Epiphone ET-280, red (owned since ´79)
1975 Fender Jazz Bass, sunb / mable
1978 Fender Precision, Natrual
1982 Fender Japan JV Jazz, sunb. (earliest known production bass!)
1982 Fender Fullerton 60 reissue Jazz, sunb.
1982 Fender Fullerton 62 reissue P, White
1982 Fender US Standard Jazz, Black
1993 Fender Jpn 62 ri Jazz, sunb.
1999 Fender CS Relic ´64 Jazz, White
2000 Fender Mustang "competition" ri, Red
2002 Fender deluxe Jazz FMT, Tobacco
2003 Fender Custom Classic J, Sunburst
2004 Fender Custom Classic J, Black -> MAIN LIVE BASS
2007 Sadowsky RS4, sunb.
2009 Sadowsky MV4, sunb.
2011 Build project Jazz Bass, natural
Double Bass (unknown make and age) w. pizo and LR Bags pre.

Scary to actually se them all in a list :-)
 
#7
'09 Nash Jazz/Lollars. Surf Green/Maple. Tone monster
'08 Nash Jazz/Lollars. CAR/Rosewood. Tone monster
'02 G&L SB-2/MFDs. Electric blue/Ebony. Tone monster
'96 G&L L1K/MFD. Black/Ebony. Tone monster
'10 Parts P/Basslines. White/Ebonol. Tone monster
 
#8
1. Ken Smith 6 - Plays like butter for a 6. Great B string.
2. 2008 MusicMan Sterling 5 HS - Great slap tone, comfortable neck.
3. 35" scale 6 (built from Carruthers neck and body) - Left hand with
P-bass spacing, right hand was specified for P-bass spacing but
came out with narrow spacing. Wonderful low B tone but incomfortable
to play for long periods of time. Very heavy.
4. Warmoth 5 string jazz style fretless with single Bartolini and active
Bart preamp. I should have gotten a fretted model, my fretless playing
sucks.
5. LTD 8 string - Intonation has been a constant problem.
6. Waterstone TP-12 long scale. Great sound, sticky neck, my left hand
needs a lot more strength. Lousy set up out of the box.
 
#9
My scale is determined by adding up the string gauges. How's that for arbitrary? :)

1. JC Roya Custom 8-string (tuned: F#BEADGCF; combined string gauge of: 0.701")
2. Schecter Studio 6-string (tuned: ADADGC; combined string gauge of 0.509")
3. Spector Legend 6-string (tuned: BEADGC; combined string gauge of 0.481")
4. Squier P-bass (tuned: BEAD; combined string gauge of 0.390")
5. Fretless Fender MIM Jazz (tuned: EADG; combined string gauge of 0.300")
7. Fretless Squier P-bass (no tuning; combined string gauge of 0.000")
7. Fretless Brice HXB-406 (no tuning; combined string gauge of 0.000")
 
#11
1. Peavey Cirrus 5 Fretless - Professional defret and epoxy job, plays well, sounds great. Almost mint, except for a little smear of epoxy on the upper horn and some superficial marks from rounds on the fingerboard.
2. Peavey Cirrus 5 Fretted - Also a great bass, but fretless is just so much fun to practice on (even though my intonation is so-so :) ). Obviously it has been a "player's bass" but it's still in good shape.
 
#12
1. Fender Hwy One Jazz: sunburst, rosewood. My jack of all trades, the 'modern' one, the go-to bass.

2. Squire '51 Precision: Blond, aftermarket neck, pick-up, and bridge. 'El Cheapo', the alt-country bass, the growly one, the boom stick for unruly concert goers.

3. Palatino 3/4 upright: 'The Blond', big brother to El Cheapo. The beater, the guinea pig, the disreputable.
 
#13
Gretsch 5123-B, orange: Nice hollowbody. Great tone from the Thundertrons, GHS 3060 Tapewounds.

Hagstrom Futurama, 1964, light blue: Excellent condition for age. GHS Brite Flats.

Rogue short scale, dark blue: Put in a DiMarzio DP127. Never play it, leave it in a friend's music room. His 8yr old is learning to play on it. GHS 3060s.

Applause AE-40: Rarely play. GHS Precision Flats. I really NEED a good ABG, trying to find an affordable Guild NT.

Squier Jaguar SS, sliver: Still stock. Excellent bass for the money. D'Addario Tapewounds.

Guild JSII, mediocre brown refinish: More thump than any other bass I own. Great neck, just feels right in the hands. Still thinking about how I want to have it redone. Previous owner put on a black BadAss II, doesn't fit guitar looks at all. Maybe teal green for a refinish. D'Addario Tapewounds.

Epiphone Flying V, refinished in pellham blue: Complete rework. TV Jones Thundertrons, Stellartones, custom pickguard, Hipshot bridge, sidemount jack, more. D'Addario tapewounds. Should be getting it back in a couple of weeks.

Squier Jaguar SS, red, in shop for a complete mod: Mods include; burgandy mist paint, custom made tort pickguard, strat style jack, Alumitones, Stellartones, Bourns pots, thru body bridge, Hipshot Ultralites, more. Either GHS or D'Addario tapewounds, or GHS flats.

All shorties except the Gretsch which is a medium scale.
 
#14
1)Name:Cherry 00's DB 7/8 Fully carved beautiful Cherry color. This bass is physically giant and has one of the biggest and deepest tones of any bass I've ever played......and on a side note its worth about 3x as much as my 4runner haha.

Electrics
1)Name:Fenrir, 04'(probably) Ibanez SRX 505. First bass I ever bought with my own money. I love this thing. Great neck, Great growly sound and pretty badass looks. I don't believe I could ever part with it.

2)Name: Dead Babies(I got this when I was in my death metal phase), 00' Defretted Warlock 4 banger. I love this beast. This is my first bass and it will always stay in my colection. I plan on refinishing with some sweet designs on the body going up the neck eventually.

3)Name:Baby Blue, 95' MIM Precision. This is my classic thumper. Strung with DR flat beams this P really pumps out the jams. Its in perfect condition and its going to stay that way. I only bring this one out for my once in a blue moon classic rock sub gigs.

4)Name: Chaos(old death metal guitarist name er'), 09' ESP F-104. Badass white bass. Even in white this bass has the perfect looks for metal. For being a lower end bass I gotta say it is one of the best playing and most comfortable to play that I own. Plus the stock pups don't sound half bad either.

5)Name:Ashley, Schecter C-4 XXX. Even though I love the looks of this bass with the beautiful girls on the neck inlays and the black body with white outline I really don't enjoy playing this one. The neck is just way too thin at the nut for me. Being 6'5 I have quite large hands, and this bass just makes it difficult to play. I have lent this bass to my friend right now cause he needed to borrow one. I'm probably just gonna let him keep it.

Some pics
 
#15
OK, I know alphabetical isn't arbitrary but...

1. Brice violin bass(LH) I take this instead of the Hofner when we fly.
2. Daisy Rock Heartbreaker bass(LH) A left-handed, heart-shaped, purple bass? Had to have it.
3. Danelectro Longhorn bass-copperburst I love Longhorn basses!
4. Danelectro Longhorn bass-blueburst See #3.
5. Davison Hollowbody bass(LH) A lefty hollowbody, a rarity, had to have it!
6. Dean Pace electric upright Wanted a cheap EUB.
7. Dillion Phoenix bass(LH) A lefty T-Bird, a rarity, had to have it!
8. Douglas EB-2 bass I love hollowbodies!
9. Douglas Pisces bass(LH) A lefty 50s SCPB, a rarity, had to have it!
10. Eastwood EEB-1(LH) A lefty "Danko", a rarity, had to have it!
11. Epiphone EB-O bass Missed my "real" EB-O.
12. Epiphone Flying V bass Doesn't get any use, fun tho'.
13. Epiphone Rivoli bass See #8.
14. Fender BG-31 bass One of the basses for my Moody Blues band.
15. Fender Jazz Bass(LH)white I love white basses!
16. Fender Jazz Bass(LH)electron blue Another Moody Blues band bass.
17. Fender Jazz Bass(LH)sunburst Use it with my Beatles band.
18. Fender Jazz Bass FSR(LH)sonic blue Purty!
19. Fender P-Bass Special(LH) Had it forever, pretty beat up, but still rocks.
20. Galveston clear bass A lefty clear bass!
21. Gibson EB-2 bass(Stereo) Maybe my fave, a factory special, in great shape, paid $200 for it 20 years ago.
22. Gretsch Synchromatic BassVI(LH) 6-string bass Modded to lefty, strung w/flats.
23. Hamer B12S 12-string bass I had 2, they were my main basses during the 90s.
24. Hofner 500/1 V63 reissue Beatle Bass(LH) The bass that pays the bill$.
25. Hondo Longhorn bass My main bass during the 80s, just got it back from the guy I'd sold it to years ago.
26. Ibanez ASB140 bass See #8. Probably gonna sell it tho'.
27. Ibanez GSR200L(LH) It's red!
28. Ibanez Jazz Bass(LH) My first lefty bass, bought in the 70s.
29. Ibanez “Mikro” bass(LH) For travel.
30. Jerry Jones Longhorn Bass See #3.
31. Jerry Jones Longhorn BassVI 6-string bass See #3. Strung with rounds.
32. Kona acoustic bass guitar Too big for me, gonna sell it.
33. Peavey Millennium BXP bass(LH) Great neck, I couldn't resist.
34. Phantom "Nigel Special" bass(LH) Factory custom, had Jack make this up for me about 10 years ago. 3 pickups.
35. Phantom BW Teardrop Hollowbody Bass See #3.
36. Rickenbacker 4001CS bass(LH) I love Rics! This one's super rare.
37. Rickenbacker 4001S bass(LH) See #36. "MMT" paintjob, my other main bass in my Beatles band.
38. Rickenbacker 4003 bass(LH) See #36. A VERY early lefty 4003.
39. St. Blues King Blues Bass(LH) My main bass in my Moody Blues band. I love it!
40. Schecter Model T bass(LH) I love P/Js!! This bass rocks!!
41. Squier P-Bass Special(LH)sunburst Good cheap P/J.
42. Squier P-Bass Special(LH)ant. sunburst See #41.
43. SX Jazz Bass(LH) Bought for my Beatles band before I found a Fender. Gonna sell it.
44. SX Jazz Bass-Fretless(LH) My fretless skills don't require anything more expensive than this.
45. SX P-Bass(LH) Cheap Roger Waters bass.
46. SX P-Bass short-scale(LH) Can't find a lefty Mustang so...
47. SX P/J-Bass(LH) See #41.
48. SX Scorpion Bass(LH) Thought it looked cool but NEVER use it.
49. Steinberger L2 bass(Previously Owned by Dee Murray) Previously owned by my bass hero. When it came up for sale I HAD to have it.
50. Yamaha BB300(LH) My "go-to" P-Bass. Had it awhile.
51. Yamaha BB614L bass(LH) See #40.
 
#16
My basses pale in comparison to some of you guys but here goes...

1. Ibanez SR500, love the neck and the looks.
2. Squier P Bass, I like that's its passive and simple.
3. Ibanez SR 305, not loving the pickups, like the looks, nice neck. I don't play a 5 that often.
 
#17
Ibanez SRX something or other: Got it at a pawn shop that was clearing out all of it's basses for half off the used price. paid less than $200. I bought it because I wanted a four string to mess around with, and it serves as a great beater bass to take to the Bible camps that I work at.

SX fretless 5-string Jazz. Surprisingly decent bass considering the price. I just wanted a fretless to mess around on... the neck pup is disconnected atm because it was microphonic, but everything else is fine, and the action's great.

Warwick Streamer $$. It's a five string, and it's my main bass that I use for basically everything... The active electronics, and parallel/single coil/series switches mean that I can get basically any tone that I want with little effort, and it never loses that magical Warwick vibe in any of the settings.
 
#18
I have two basses and which one I prefer varies day to day based on which one doesn't have dead strings, which one is already plugged in or happens to have the cable lying nearest it, which one is not currently in a gig bag, etc. Here's my current order of preference:

1) 2005 Sunset Orange MIA Fender Jazz with the series/parallel button. I bought this off a TB'er. It sounds fantastic, looks fantastic and, after a setup, plays great too.

2) 2009(?) MusicMan StingRay HS SLO Special. This is my first bass and I MUCH prefer the feel of this bass to the J. Everything about it is comfy to me. Something about the J's body makes it awkward to me. I feel disloyal to the StingRay whenever I play the J. Right now she has dead strings, so she's a bit blah-sounding. After I put a new set on her, she'll be too clacky for a few days, but then she'll have all of my attention.
 
#19
:cool:

1961-Stack Knob Jazz- My go to bass, it's home.
1962-P-bass- This is really bass 1 B, I like that as much as my
Jazz. Classic P-tone.
1960 Gibson EBO- My first bass was a Gibson, this bass has the
nicest gibson pickup I've ever played. Classic
thump, but defined.
1955-P-Bass- Great bass with it's own tone. ash-maple thing in
spades. bright, up front.
2009-Ric 4003- Nothing sound like a Ric played with a pick.
1978-Fretless P-Bass- Maple fingerboard, nice even tone.
Marco Bass ABG- Big, 35 1/2" scale bass, with BIG TONE.
 
#20
In the spirit of randomness, I begin with two 'transplant' instruments purchased as platforms for specific pickups:

1) My ThunderJag started as a Squier Jaguar Special HB. I sent it and a pair of '62 Thunderbuckers to JohnK for routing, custom 'guard, fret/neck checkup. Plays like a sweet dream with BIG humbucking tone.

2) Jimmy @ Landing routed for and installed a pair of Dark Stars (60's jazz spaciing) in a previously stock Indonesian sunburst ash/maple JB-2. It is strung with Chromes. Killer.

3) The bass I haven't modded: Bronze Age Super P/J-4. Nothing for me not to like!

4) 2010 Mapleglo Ric 4003. I waited a long time to try one - me likey!

5) Squier 50's precision with Fralin split-coil. Retro thunder. Thanks to Lowendgenerator for passing it along! :bassist:

6) A beautiful Indigoburst AB-1 is my only five-string and the lightest of the bunch @ 8lbs. I installed one of Sheldon's P-tone pickups at the neck. HUGE, low precision tones. :cool:

7) Sonic Blue Abalone: I dig this color. I found a CV 60's precision on the 'bay and put a black abalone 'guard on it and installed one of Jason Lollar's pickups in it. Sweet P.
 

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