Gah I can't remember where I've heard those lines before.
1: Warwick
2: Lakland
3: Squier
Don't think I'm close though
1: Warwick
2: Lakland
3: Squier
Don't think I'm close though
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Soundclips: My Lakland vs. Squire vs. Warwick - which is which?
- Thread starter GassieBall
- Start date
Like most others:
Lakland
Squier
Warwick
Lakland has the most open sound. I would buy lakland pickups for the squier. I did that to mine along with the lakland eq and some mods, sounds killer now.
Lakland
Squier
Warwick
Lakland has the most open sound. I would buy lakland pickups for the squier. I did that to mine along with the lakland eq and some mods, sounds killer now.
I think that these things are very hard to tell when someone else is playing. When you are playing, you become aware of how a slight different in touch can effect the sound coming out. When you are listening to someone else playing, you can't tell these things.
When I hear someone playing on rounds, I usually like the sound of it. If I listen back to something I've played on rounds, I like it. But when I make the physical connection between my hands and the sound coming out, my opinion changes. When I play on rounds, all I hear is irritating, zinging, ear stabbing brightness.
I recreated one of these done with amps. I set up my B15 and a SansAmp dialed to sound as similar as possible. When I reamped a direct line, I guessed right about 50%. When I played live, I guessed right over 90% of the time. It was a blind test, I had help.
When I hear someone playing on rounds, I usually like the sound of it. If I listen back to something I've played on rounds, I like it. But when I make the physical connection between my hands and the sound coming out, my opinion changes. When I play on rounds, all I hear is irritating, zinging, ear stabbing brightness.
I recreated one of these done with amps. I set up my B15 and a SansAmp dialed to sound as similar as possible. When I reamped a direct line, I guessed right about 50%. When I played live, I guessed right over 90% of the time. It was a blind test, I had help.
Frank, that's a really good point. In addition, think I sound "different" when I'm playing versus listening to a recording of me playing, even if it's a pretty hi-fi recording. I think the added sensory perception (touch, vibration, etc) colors one's experience of "listening". Sort of like how one perceives one's voice differently when speaking vs listening to a recording. OK - enough psycho acoustic babble.
Even though the Squier may sound good, the playability is nowhere close to the Lakland. The frets are different. I can't tweak the action as low. Is that worth the cost? To me, yes. To someone who needs to save some cash or buy an amp - not so much. Gotta remember it's not a stock Squier. The original pickups were undesirable IMHO.
Even though the Squier may sound good, the playability is nowhere close to the Lakland. The frets are different. I can't tweak the action as low. Is that worth the cost? To me, yes. To someone who needs to save some cash or buy an amp - not so much. Gotta remember it's not a stock Squier. The original pickups were undesirable IMHO.
Have you had a top notch luthier level, crown and polish the frets on the Squier?
That might go quite a ways toward narrowing the gap in playability (required IMO)
In addition to Savits question I'll add this. What is your current relief, and what is your string height at the first fret?
I brought it to Phil Jacoby at Invalid Link Removed. He's a great guy. Laid back, friendly, and informative. He worked on the frets and nut. I have since dropped in a Gotoh 201 bridge and had to do a little adjusting myself which is not as good as Phil 
He used a couple of words to describe the feel of the Lakland. Both the Lakland and the Squier had fresh DR Sunbeams. He said the Lakland felt "soft" in a good way. I took it to mean easy on the hands. It's so hard to describe these subjective attributes of a bass.
It's like dropping nitrous into a Honda Civic. It's fast, but it's still not a Porsche.
He used a couple of words to describe the feel of the Lakland. Both the Lakland and the Squier had fresh DR Sunbeams. He said the Lakland felt "soft" in a good way. I took it to mean easy on the hands. It's so hard to describe these subjective attributes of a bass.
It's like dropping nitrous into a Honda Civic. It's fast, but it's still not a Porsche.
Measure the two basses for relief, and the height at the first fret for nut slot depths. Post the #'s
The differences in feel, (soft) for the lakland is probably due, in large part to fret wire size.
If both basses have good level frets then you should be able to set them up very close to the same specs. However, nut height is going to come into play. The differences in nut height can have an effect on how little relief can be dialed in.
Action, as a stand alone number can be set the same on both basses, but it may require that relief be set differently to accomodate how low the nut is cut on one, or the other bass.
The differences in feel, (soft) for the lakland is probably due, in large part to fret wire size.
If both basses have good level frets then you should be able to set them up very close to the same specs. However, nut height is going to come into play. The differences in nut height can have an effect on how little relief can be dialed in.
Action, as a stand alone number can be set the same on both basses, but it may require that relief be set differently to accomodate how low the nut is cut on one, or the other bass.
Clip 1 = Lakland
Clip 2 = Squier
Clip 3 = Warwick.
I'd love to hear some discussion on this. Thanks for "participating".
Clip 2 = Squier
Clip 3 = Warwick.
I'd love to hear some discussion on this. Thanks for "participating".
id be interested in hearing another a/b with the squier wired up passive. almost all preamps ive tried with a jazz bass suck out at least a little bit of the single coil grind.
Okay. I got the Lakland right and mixed up the other two. As I said before, I haven't really heard any of the three basses in question. What's that mean about games like this?
Hmm. I think the gain might have been set different on the Warwick when I was recording. Also, it's passive (as I indicated in the OP).
