Simple basses

[mmmmmmmmm]

So, when I started playing bass, having tons of pickups and controls and things seemed like the best thing in the world. Tons of tonal variety, active preamps or pickups, what-have-you...but now, as I've become a performing musician and done more semi-pro work, even a simple J-bass setup stresses me out! Having more than one pickup and knob (well, maybe two if you include tone but that isn't like necessary) seems superfluous and too busy now. I guess I'm becoming an old geezer...ha ha. Maybe eventually I'll ditch electronics entirely and go back to upright Have you guys had similar experiences? Or am I just weird?

 

[Samatza]

When we are first learning we kind of look up to our heroes and what they are playing and dream of the day we'll have a bass with all these fancy controls and that we'll sound like those we admire.

Fast forward a few decades and you still sound basically the same on any bass you pick up so you figure out that you don't need any of that stuff, just a decent, well set up bass and a good amp and you're there.

So I know where you're coming from, simplicity is it's own reward.

 

[mmmmmmmmm]

When we are first learning we kind of look up to our heroes and what they are playing and dream of the day we'll have a bass with all these fancy controls and that we'll sound like those we admire.

Fast forward a few decades and you still sound basically the same on any bass you pick up so you figure out that you don't need any of that stuff, just a decent, well set up bass and a good amp and you're there.

So I know where you're coming from, simplicity is it's own reward.

Yeah it's nice! It lets me focus more on my playing and not flipping switches or whatnot mid song...I've found I can get the same sounds just out of my fingers or by grabbing a pick or whatever anyway.

 

[Matthew_84]

So, when I started playing bass, having tons of pickups and controls and things seemed like the best thing in the world. Tons of tonal variety, active preamps or pickups, what-have-you...but now, as I've become a performing musician and done more semi-pro work, even a simple J-bass setup stresses me out! Having more than one pickup and knob (well, maybe two if you include tone but that isn't like necessary) seems superfluous and too busy now. I guess I'm becoming an old geezer...ha ha. Maybe eventually I'll ditch electronics entirely and go back to upright Have you guys had similar experiences? Or am I just weird?

I’m similar in theory, in that I don't like fiddling with my controls a lot.

I have an active PJ bass, and just bypassed the preamp and keep the blend at full P. I also have an Ibanez Portamento with three pickup knobs and three tone knobs, but I just found one setting I like and keep it there.

Once I start fiddling with stuff, I can never seem to be satisfied and it distracts me from the music. However, I can be fully content with just changing my technique/playing location and accepting it for what it is.

No one pays as much attention to our tone as we do anyway.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

To me; having a complicated (especially active) bass means having additional components which make the bass heavier and which aren't easy to change.

So I lean towards having simple basses and make my pedalboard as complicated as necessary - behold EQ's, preamps, noise gates, etc... If my sound requirement changes, I can simply change a pedal or something.

I enjoy the raw woody sound of passive basses anyway.

 

[Tazziedevil]

I have an Ibanez Portamento, active with three pickup blending modes, coil tapping... so many permutations possible.

And I use 2. Basically all neck pickup, bass tone just rolled off, mids halfway and highs off.
Also use the Piezo pickup blended with the neck pickup, active tone the same as above.

I Much prefer my P Bass: One volume, one tone.

 

[A9X]

even a simple J-bass setup stresses me out!

If your wife ever wants to send you mad, let her buy you an Alembic Series bass, and lock you into a room until you've learnt all the tonal variations possible.

When I practice, mainly on my SR706 these days, I keep all the settings flat and pan between the pickups to hear the tonal variations, *I* can make and to hear technique errors clearly. My little Laney combo is similarly flat.

Stage tone is overrated, especially for non bass players in the audience. I played in a band with my girl for a decade using only my XL2, doing 60-90's covers and nobody told me it didn't sit into the mix well. Many here will tell you because it's active and carbon fibre it will be bright and twangy. Not if you learn how to set it and the (rack) preamp properly. It was always DI'd into the stack.

having a complicated (especially active) bass means having additional components which make the bass heavier

Maybe a couple of hundred grams unless you have many heavy metal knobs.

 

[Maxdusty]

I still like variety but I find that I'm fiddling less with the knobs trying to get the perfect sound. Part of it is when you're doing less of trying to emulate other players' style and sound and you find the one sound that you identify with and tend to stick with that setting. Also as some have mentioned, with more playing experience, you are able to adjust the tone to some extent by touch and where you pluck the strings eg. closer to the neck or the bridge.

 

[Bassaga]

I want so much to be onboard with this way of thinking. The idea of a simple, useful P bass with one pickup and two knobs that I can just play without a thought is so appealing to me. But having prioritized simplifying my bass collection, I can't bring myself to pass up anything that would maximize the versatility of whatever instruments are left, so I end up drooling over stacked knobs and rows of switches.

 

[Deleted member 132197]

Knobs and buttons scare me!

My Ibanez Roadster PJ has four knobs, three of which are turned off all the time.

 

[EmuBass]

Same problem from a different angle: when you have more than one pickup, there SHOULD be more knobs. At least a panorama would be nice. The EQ seems to be necessary when you have to compensate for the tone you wish unless the bass produces the right tone by itself. Another aspect (a friend of mine who is an electronics genius told me): active EQ will provide a signal that is less influenced by the length of your cable.

 

[JW56789]

Simplicity is elegance.

I often wonder when I read these threads about 'I can't get the tone I'm after' and then the guy explains he's got active 3-band EQ on the bass, a box full of pedals, and an amp with who-knows-how-much-EQ. Duuhhh ? ? ? ?

 

[iagtrplyr]

Though the panel on the violin bass looks complicated, it’s not when ya don’t move anything around! My woodiest tone is from this combo and I love the simplicity of it all. Couldn’t agree more with you folks.

 

[Oobly]

Yes. I like keeping it simple. My P bass with flats does most of what I want, the tone knob is usable and results predictable.

But I do want more. Sometimes I want to play something with more grind and growl than I can get with that bass, so I'm putting together a Jaguar with roundwounds, reverse P and humbucker. Will probably take me some time to find my favourite combination of pickup levels, but then I'll probably leave it on that setting.

Most of my variation in sound comes from technique (both left and right hand, damping, position, attack, etc).

I tend to adjust my preamp to the venue, keep my bass the same. Don't want or need an EQ on the bass itself. The less things in the chain that affect the sound, the better, IMHO, less chasing your tail trying to iron out issues or getting your signal "perfect". So I'm also a minimalist when it comes to pedals, Tuner -> Compressor / HPF -> preamp.

 

[biguglyman]

Have you guys had similar experiences? Or am I just weird?

You and Timothy B. Schmit are of the same opinion. He once had a Carvin bass model named for him and it had one knob for volume. That's it. I believe he still plays it on tour. While I like my "simple basses":

I also like and use my more complex ones. It's all about choice:

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

same way. love pbass.

 

[jetgraphics]

Tonal flexibility has its merits, especially if one is a professional studio musician asked to make something sound "different" yet the same, day in day out. Most cover bands are just trying to 'sound like the record.'

Back in the day when I was playing, I found that I needed only 3 particular vol. settings / tones : 1 for supporting a mellow ballad, 2 for rockin' the house, and 3 for an occasional lead riff / solo / crescendo. I once had a dual channel Acoustic that was perfect - foot switch could change pre-amps and punch in/ out the graphic EQ. I was a happy camper. Never touched the controls on my bass... (Everything was left on "10" -- didn't like the vol control effect on tone, so didn't mess with it).
Keep it simple, stupid. (K.I.S.S.)
(Later, had a Digitech RP-5, and only used one bank of four patches, that incrementally got more intense. Very subtle...And there was always [bypass].)

Chet Atkins also followed a similar logic when he allegedly recommended the tone controls on his Gretsch guitar to be a 3 position switch : bypass (high), middle, low.
When playing live, it's impractical to adjust a potentiometer back and forth, to recreate "the tone" you had discovered while playing in the studio.
That may have contributed to the dislike for the Peavey T-40 dual/single coil tone control. Too fussy to deal with live.

If I were to design the "next great bass", I would use an XLR connector (balanced, phantom powered) to the mixer, with a USB output to a computer, where I could edit / customize the active electronics, and pre-load a bank of tones to access via a simple +/- switch.
Add a simple volume control and pickup selector (if more than one).

 

[jamro217]

Never really gave it much thought. I look at each instrument in terms of what it offers in the way of inspiration. By using EQ properly you can make most gear cover a wide variety of sounds. Unless you're searching for a certain tone (like a clanky Ric or an EB-O), which bass you choose may not be for purely sonic reasons. Some prefer to bring three or four basses to a gig and only use one. That may be a different bass on any given night, even though the set list is identical.

 

[nnnnnn]

Have you guys had similar experiences?

Nope. My three basses all have two pickups, though only three or four knobs and/or switches per bass.

I like having options, but I don't fiddle with controls while playing, I know what settings I like for certain styles and just quickly change to the setting I want between songs. (While playing I vary the tone via hand position.)

 

[Ghook]

I like the idea of one pup, one Volume and a low-mid-high toggle. I have two six stringers that are Volume knob only. One does have a pick up selector ( tele) . I think, with bass, simple is a serious consideration for buying. That said, I do love fiddling around with my SRF700. Serious toneage on that one