Severely Underwhelmed by New Bass

[trickyric]

Not really man though I do like to get things going a bit but, Ive had a couple high end basses and there's just sumthin bout that P bass heavy mid range that still does it.
Oh and just to say I was running a Rumble 200..maybe it was the amp who knows.
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I didn't mean you were aggressive. I was talking about the person who said that to you

 

[Clef_de_fa]

At last weekends outdoor gig I was told on three ocassions that my bass tone was cutting people in half and could I either turn down or do something else, I turned way down and still the complaints came.

I play a two dollar Squier P bass. Just sayin..

I never liked P or J basses. It just isn't for me. I played 6 strings exlusively for 12 years before buying my first 4 strings in nearly 20 years.

I just try to have a pleasing enough tone for me but for my band mate too. The Warwick just mush everything. Some artist make it works like wonder but not for me. It is a bummer but hey this is life.

as for how much you paid for that P ... well I don't care.

 

[dougjwray]

I'm glad that you've found a reason to love it!

I'll just add that you might appreciate its intrinsic lack of low end when you're playing in a boomy venue. Sometimes you can make an instrument's "deficiencies" work FOR you!

 

[_HunterB_]

Jaguar owner chiming in...

The Jag is (no pun intended) a different animal when it comes to jazz basses. It's a very hot and aggressive sounding bass that has a passive tone and active pre section. If a jazz bass could contend with the likes of a stingray or G&L MFD's, this would be it.

I would try a different amp and see if you get the tone you like. Change the strings and see if that helps too. It's also going to have that typical hum that jazz basses are known for.

When I got my G&L L2500, I had some serious concerns running it through a SVT II pre amp. It could not get the mid growl I liked. Then I tried it with a SVT II pro pre and got a while different feel. I whole heartedly believe the Jag is designed for modern aggressive rock and needs a rig built around it. Good luck.

This makes me very excited. As I've said, I'm planning on getting a V4 head with a 4x10, which I think would be a great aggressive rock amp. I think Ill hold off on new pickups for now and see what the amp does for me, as that does seem to be a big part of the problem. Im starting to like this bass again. I'm really looking for some Relient K/Colony House sounds out of that rig and I think Im going to get them with this instrument.

 

[James Collins]

This makes me very excited. As I've said, I'm planning on getting a V4 head with a 4x10, which I think would be a great aggressive rock amp. I think Ill hold off on new pickups for now and see what the amp does for me, as that does seem to be a big part of the problem. Im starting to like this bass again. I'm really looking for some Relient K/Colony House sounds out of that rig and I think Im going to get them with this instrument.

I like this approach. Change one thing at a time. One other piece of advice I impart is to avoid bias when trying out new tones.

For example, when I first started playing on my first electric guitar. It was an overseas version of a Hamer Stratocaster. I really thought that all guitar playing was guitar solos--which I wasn't even qualified to play. So I kept all the tone and kept the selector locked into the bridge pickup. The beauty of an instrument with a lot of options is you can get a lot of different tones in one instrument, but I would have been fine with one pickup and tone rolled all the way on or off. Hell, I probably didn't even need a tone or volume. Just set both to 10 and forget it. No in between settings. No thought.

 

[Raw N Low]

This makes me very excited. As I've said, I'm planning on getting a V4 head with a 4x10, which I think would be a great aggressive rock amp. I think Ill hold off on new pickups for now and see what the amp does for me, as that does seem to be a big part of the problem. Im starting to like this bass again. I'm really looking for some Relient K/Colony House sounds out of that rig and I think Im going to get them with this instrument.

I have a V4 (75 non-B version) and I love it. It doesn't get to boomy and has a nice low-end thump if that makes sense. I've ran that amp with a SVT 410he and I really liked it. The only downside is that that setup it didn't do so well with a low B string. If your playing in concert tuning, I think you will be very surprised by the results.

I would definitely change the strings as you don't know how long they have been on that bass. Case and point -- I just got a new G&L JB5, and I love the bass. However, it sounds really dark and undefined despite how good the strings "look". Looking to put a set of NYXL's on it as well.

 

[_HunterB_]

I have a V4 (75 non-B version) and I love it. It doesn't get to boomy and has a nice low-end thump if that makes sense. I've ran that amp with a SVT 410he and I really liked it. The only downside is that that setup it didn't do so well with a low B string. If your playing in concert tuning, I think you will be very surprised by the results.

I would definitely change the strings as you don't know how long they have been on that bass. Case and point -- I just got a new G&L JB5, and I love the bass. However, it sounds really dark and undefined despite how good the strings "look". Looking to put a set of NYXL's on it as well.

Amen to that. Will be throwing some ernie ball cobalts on next tuesday so they're fresh for thursdays gig. As for the amp, I should be ordering it relatively soon so I'll let you know as soon as it's in.