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sound vs feel
- Thread starter Zitch
- Start date
My main bass feels and sounds great.
That said, feel is more important to me. I can change the sound (different pickups and such, plus my amp tends to make any bass sound pretty good), but I can't really change the feel.
That said, feel is more important to me. I can change the sound (different pickups and such, plus my amp tends to make any bass sound pretty good), but I can't really change the feel.
In this specific case, Im going with sound. Every time. If both feel comfortable as it is yet one sounds better, Im most def going with the one that sounds better to my ears. If I didnt do this I wouldve never gotten my go-to bass I have now. It didnt feel horribly comfy when I picked it up for the first time because I was so used to my ol' P, but it sounded AWESOME. So I bought it and got used to the feel. I do have to add though that it is a little easier to change the sound than the feel. In other words its easier to swap pups than it is a neck or body IMO and IME. Thats just me.
I voted sound... Here's why.
If I'm getting a "perfect sound that's in my head" then the thing must play and feel pretty good. I wouldn't be able to get that sound on something that feels like barn wood. So, while it might take a while, eventually I would get accustomed to the feel of the better sounding instrument, but if the other bass played and felt so perfect and was not sounding as good, it would likely never get there for me...
If I'm getting a "perfect sound that's in my head" then the thing must play and feel pretty good. I wouldn't be able to get that sound on something that feels like barn wood. So, while it might take a while, eventually I would get accustomed to the feel of the better sounding instrument, but if the other bass played and felt so perfect and was not sounding as good, it would likely never get there for me...
Put two different basses next to each other and let me play each one - it will still sound like me playing bass
Put a comfortable inexpensive bass next to a difficult expensive bass and I'll be playing the cheap one all night long.
Put a comfortable inexpensive bass next to a difficult expensive bass and I'll be playing the cheap one all night long.
Sound- it's the instrument's function. If it doesn't sound right, then there's no reason for me to play it. I can much more easily adapt to different feels than to a sound that bothers me. I spent way too much time, energy, and money trying to turn poor sounding instruments into great sounding ones with pickups, electronics, bridges, strings, etc. over the years (and also took a lot of customers' money trying to do the same thing for them) to waste any more trying to "fix" an instrument that doesn't sound right.
The thing is, a lot of "playability" issues come down to a proper set up and my own experiences. I can adapt to playing a lot of different feeling instruments. Switching from my Fullterton VS '62 P with it's very wide and shallow neck to my Lakland 55-01 5-string with it's big neck, to my Guild Pilot's narrow neck, to my Fender Strat's 25.5" scale with 7.25" radius to my Guild Starfire's 24.75" scale with 10" radius, back to my Lakland 4-94, to a Guild Ashbory with an 18" scale, all with totally different neck profiles.
It's simply easier to adapt to feel than to sound for me. Of course, these polls are always fraught with people thinking extremes- my favorite neck is my Lakland 4-94 Deluxe, but the fact that my Precision feels a lot different and is in some ways "harder"to play doesn't keep me from wanting to play it.
John
The thing is, a lot of "playability" issues come down to a proper set up and my own experiences. I can adapt to playing a lot of different feeling instruments. Switching from my Fullterton VS '62 P with it's very wide and shallow neck to my Lakland 55-01 5-string with it's big neck, to my Guild Pilot's narrow neck, to my Fender Strat's 25.5" scale with 7.25" radius to my Guild Starfire's 24.75" scale with 10" radius, back to my Lakland 4-94, to a Guild Ashbory with an 18" scale, all with totally different neck profiles.
It's simply easier to adapt to feel than to sound for me. Of course, these polls are always fraught with people thinking extremes- my favorite neck is my Lakland 4-94 Deluxe, but the fact that my Precision feels a lot different and is in some ways "harder"to play doesn't keep me from wanting to play it.
John
Both. If it can't achieve the sound I want*, I don't want it. And if I don't like playing it because of feel, no amount of great tone is going to make me keep it (I'm looking at you guys, Warwick Thumb and Rickenbacker 4003!). The only thing I could sacrifice is looks, if the bass sounds and plays like a dream.
* sometimes you hear something unplugged that isn't coming through amplified, and you can tweak this by changing strings/pickups/whatever, but there's a base sound in there that has to be pleasing to me.
* sometimes you hear something unplugged that isn't coming through amplified, and you can tweak this by changing strings/pickups/whatever, but there's a base sound in there that has to be pleasing to me.
Hopkins
Commercial User
The two go hand in hand, I will never sound good on a bass that is difficult to play. I have never played a well playing bass that I couldn't make sound good.
preferably both. For me personally feel, comfort and playability come first because of the fact that I can more easily manipulate sound not only with amps but I can swap pickups, hardware, and so on. A good example of this is my Conklin Groove tools bass. When I got the bass I was not very thrilled with its sound. But when it came to feel, I felt drawn to that bass. I had an aguilar OBP3skpp setup installed including new pots and it made a drastic improvement in the sound of that bass.
SOUND. The audience doesn't give one f*** about how the bass feels, so I can't afford to compromise based on it.
No one stated that you had to LIVE with a less-than optimal sound.
That can be changed easily. Turn a knob. An uncomfortable neck? You're stuck with it.
That can be changed easily. Turn a knob. An uncomfortable neck? You're stuck with it.
Looks first.
Then sound.
Then playability/feel
Of course if the latter is completely horrible it wouldnt really matter how great it looked or sounded i guess. If you cant play it right whats the point. But i like to think you can adapt to any or most basses anyway. Usually it "doesnt feel right" cause youre used to something else. But you can't grow into a bad looking bass or even a bad sounding one. But for the sound you CAN at least try changing pickups and stuff, looks is the only thing you cant change, i mean the body shape and all, not color or pickguard...and well yes i suppose you CAN change the body shape but...good luck with that.
Then sound.
Then playability/feel
Of course if the latter is completely horrible it wouldnt really matter how great it looked or sounded i guess. If you cant play it right whats the point. But i like to think you can adapt to any or most basses anyway. Usually it "doesnt feel right" cause youre used to something else. But you can't grow into a bad looking bass or even a bad sounding one. But for the sound you CAN at least try changing pickups and stuff, looks is the only thing you cant change, i mean the body shape and all, not color or pickguard...and well yes i suppose you CAN change the body shape but...good luck with that.
Can you get a structurally sound Thunderbird to hang right on a strap? No, you cant, it'll still be uncomfortable.
Everybody could have a different opinion on this one and to tell you the truth , they are ALL correct in their thinking so here's my take on it. As far as sound goes , yeah , I can change pup's , pots and wiring and make anything sound different. I however find the cost can be prohibitive. Pots , pup's and wire changes can run into the hundreds of dollars (not saying it WILL , just that it can) so I would prefer it to sound pretty good without me adding a bunch of bucks to it. Now , if the thing feels plain awful from the git-go , I'm not going to buy it in the first place. Just about anything else I can fix myself with the help of a 3 pound hammer , a drill and some nails.
Some folks aren't as adept with a hammer and nails as I am so they will want it to feel good. So to each his own and if I can't beat it into submission , I guess there's always the wood stove.
Some folks aren't as adept with a hammer and nails as I am so they will want it to feel good. So to each his own and if I can't beat it into submission , I guess there's always the wood stove.My example would be Kramer aluminum necked basses - I LOVED the sound but it felt like I was wrestling them while playing them. Ultimately, I had to let them go.
For me, it's both, but I'd lean towards feel. Luckily, my EBMMs have both sound and feeling I love in spades, so I don't need to compromise in the least. If I had to, I'd rather it play well, as a lot of basses I pick up I can make sound reasonably well.
