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Singlecut... Why?

#21
Rob Mancini said:
Ah, the amazing IMO! I prefer YMMV myself.

My point in posting what I posted wasn't to make you look foolish, although I guess it came across that way, and I apologize. My point was that there is so much voodoo involved with these different designs of basses that it really doesn't add up to a hill of beans in the long run. What counts is how it sounds, and if it sounds great and makes someone feel like playing more, that's wonderful. But there are so many claims of sonic improvement in equipment design without even a shred of concrete proof, and sometimes the hype is so great that I feel compelled to call BS on it. Sorry if that offends people, but hey...
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...that's all good.
I did not feel that it was me, that looked foolish at all.
-just had the feeling that I was dealing with a bit of a troll here.
I don't like trolls before breakfast ;)

I partly agree on the voodoo thing.
I completely agree the"as long as it makes one feel like playing more, it is doing it's job" .
I do however think that different designs accommodate different tastes and different players' styles, which makes them valid "IMO" :D
I personally am not a SC kind of guy ( I have two none the less-seriously considering the sale of one of them).
I personally do not tend to like horn tweeters.
I do appreciate their value to ohers though, regardless of any "voodoo" that may or may not be at play here.

What does YMMV mean?
:D
 
#24
Last year I bought a Sei singlecut series 2 4 string. Martin also feels that there maybe better energy transfer from a Singlecut design, but I guess it's difficult to judge given that each instrument will vary regardless.
What I will say is:

It's really light.
It's really comfortable, possibly the most comfortable bass I've ever owned.
It sounds great.
It plays amazingly.
I LOVE IT!
YMMV ;)
 
#26
JehuJava said:
Ummmm...banjo bass :cool:
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The majestic Bassjo

bo_heftone.jpg


:bassist:
 
#28
My only experience with a single cut bass was in Japan. The bass was called the Dragonfly... here are some small pics from the website: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Personally, I found it to be a very comfortable body shape and the sound was killer. I guess one could argue that the pickups and preamp influence that a lot more than the body shape, but I found Dragonfly double cut basses to not sound as good as their single cuts. Psychological? Perhaps... maybe my taste in the aesthetic makes me hear what I want to hear.
 
#30
Fuzzbass said:
Modern single-cuts are made by boutique builders, so if you like the boutique sound, then sure, singlecuts will sound good.

The question is: will a boutique single-cut sound better than its boutique sibling double-cut? My limited experience is that they don't.
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What is "better" ?
different may be a more appropriate word.
It also depends on the individual instrument and builder who made it-all do it differently.:)
 
#31
spade2you said:
The problem with trying to prove or debunk the myths of singlecut basses is that there is a lack of identical but double cutaway bass to compare it to. As with anything boutique, everything varies. Not all singlecuts are simply filling in the gap that would be left in a doublecut body style.
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Exactly. I don't think I could think of two identical basses, one DC and one SC, to compare. This somewhat more scientific approach might lend a better understanding of the differences. this would eliminate the wood, p-up, pre-amp, string variables much better.

The only true way might be to test a SC then make it a double cut. This would elimate all variables (I think).

Alan
 
#32
PS:

While the argument may or may not be frivolous, at least some standard test would allow all the speculation to be laid to rest.

Maybe some builder would actually do a test like this to show the world what the differences really are. Maybe it's none and is nothing more than an aesthetic choice.

Alan
 
#34
dblbass said:
people make single cuts for a few reasons. first to make the bass heavy. also to make adjusting the truss rod nearly impossible and to sell you a bunch of crap that it helps with sustain or tone or somethin like that.
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i don't think it's appropriate for someone who's connected with a builder (in this case, carl thompson) to bad mouth what other builders do.
 
#35
When I say that "in my experience many single cut basses have sounded good" I do not mean to say that they were in any way better than those of more traditional design.
They can however be just as good.
It's just something different.

What does "YMMV" mean??
 
#39
I have basses of both persuasions, and my ear tells me that if the single cutaway is making any audible difference I'll never be able to extract it from the effects of the pickups, preamps, woods, scale lengths, neck styles, string counts, string gauges and types and hours of use, and so on and on and on.

So the question I'm reduced to, is asking whether some particular bass makes a sound played through my system, that I find desirable enough to spend the money to buy. WHY it makes that sound really doesn't bug me that much. It's good enough to buy or it isn't.
 

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