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Recommendations for a versatile bass

#22
My impression of this thread:

WarriorJoe:
"Hi, I need help with a bass problem, here are a lot of rules that you must strictly adhere to if you'd like the priviledge of helping me with my question"

Sir Canealot: "Get a Bongo, they match your description! They're also funny looking :)"

WarriorJoe: "This is a serious thread. Don't bother helping me if you're going to be nice and make jokes. Get lost."
 
#26
the player does have a lot to add...but the bass can help a bunch especially to new players...

i suggest the musicman sterling HS. wonderful bass, quite versatile...but if you're going the musicman route the bongo apparently is even more versatile...

just gotta play a buncha basses in different genres n see what you like best
 
#27
DaveF said:
My impression of this thread:

WarriorJoe:
"Hi, I need help with a bass problem, here are a lot of rules that you must strictly adhere to if you'd like the priviledge of helping me with my question"

Sir Canealot: "Get a Bongo, they match your description! They're also funny looking :)"

WarriorJoe: "This is a serious thread. Don't bother helping me if you're going to be nice and make jokes. Get lost."
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing myself!

PS: DaveF, NewWest is my original hometown.
 
#28
I haven't played a Bongo, so I can't really say anything about those, but it seems to me a Stingray or Sterling would fit the bill pretty nicely.

Unless you get something very extreme, I don't believe that there's a brand/model of bass that doesn't go with a music style. Even then, it's almost always the appearance and not the sound that doesn't seem right--that neon pink double-necked BC Rich Warlock might not fit in with Kenny G's onstage backing band, but I bet if it was used on a studio album no one would be able to tell.

So what the question seems to boil down to is "What's a high quality bass with a good variety of usable sounds?" Well, there's a zillion answers to that, but you really won't go wrong with a higher-end offering from just about any company. The obvious first choices that spring to my mind are EBMM and Fender, but there are a lot out there that will equally meet those needs.
 
#29
Well you guys obviously haven't seen the amount of posts that compare a bongo to a toilet seat. Go ahead and do a search for "bongo toilet" and you will see 158 threads... and thats not including crapper or whatever everyone else says. And sometimes it's starts a war. So yeah it's not funny anymore :/ And it is generally frowned upon by the mods and the community. It's been discusse to death.
 
#30
Is there anything at all about a Jazz that fails to meet your criteria? Cannot a Jazz fit any genre there is? They may not be "the best" bass for any one person's specific tastes, but they are suitable for every genre on Earth, and easily adapted (strings, new preamp) to fit a very wide range of voicings.

I haven't played a Bongo or a T40, but fer crying out loud, the most "generic" -and most widely used- bass is the very definition of versatile.
 
#31
WarriorJoe7 said:
Well you guys obviously haven't seen the amount of posts that compare a bongo to a toilet seat. Go ahead and do a search for "bongo toilet" and you will see 158 threads... and thats not including crapper or whatever everyone else says. And sometimes it's starts a war. So yeah it's not funny anymore :/ And it is generally frowned upon by the mods and the community. It's been discusse to death.
Click to expand...

I personally like Bongos, and would like to have one. And yet I still think it's funny! If that's what a lot of people think, then so be it. You sure are serious about that BMW designed musical masterpiece.
 
#32
another +1 on the bongo for me. I use mine for my jazz band, turn around and play some Yes or Boston songs with a faculty in my school and then play some heavier rock and heavy distorted bass with friends.
Most versatile I have come across yet. I have the HH model and I am saying this. Imagine what you could do with a HH Piezo!
 
#34
WarriorJoe7 said:
Well you guys obviously haven't seen the amount of posts that compare a bongo to a toilet seat. Go ahead and do a search for "bongo toilet" and you will see 158 threads... and thats not including crapper or whatever everyone else says. And sometimes it's starts a war. So yeah it's not funny anymore :/ And it is generally frowned upon by the mods and the community. It's been discusse to death.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gotta get Joe's back here...it's not a matter of Joe being cranky, it's a matter of dat $#!+ getting old already.

Like WAY old.

Who knows...it might have even been funny the first 157 times...

I suggest the G&L, Joe.

I have an L2500, and I call it my "Swiss Army Bass".

:D
 
#35
Being a Warwick fan, I'm gonna chip in and suggest an FNA Jazzman. I'm thinking about trading in my Thumb BO for one for more versatitlity and more ergonomic body shape. It has a huge musicman style humbucker for punchy rock/funk tones which can be switch series and parallel, plus it also has a jazz p/up to widen the pallete. Only thing with Warwicks is people either seem to love them or hate them.

I'd also look at Sandberg, they have some really nice stuff out right now that definitely deserves to be looked out.
 
#39
bongomania said:
Is there anything at all about a Jazz that fails to meet your criteria? Cannot a Jazz fit any genre there is? They may not be "the best" bass for any one person's specific tastes, but they are suitable for every genre on Earth, and easily adapted (strings, new preamp) to fit a very wide range of voicings.

I haven't played a Bongo or a T40, but fer crying out loud, the most "generic" -and most widely used- bass is the very definition of versatile.
Click to expand...

+1. I'm going to have to side with bongomania on this one.

The Bongo is worth a look though, just for comparison's sake.
 

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