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That one bass...

BearCave

BearCave

May 13, 2005
801
1,808
SE Wisconsin
www.madunicmusic.com
#1
Have you ever come across that one bass that just simply inspires you to play? That you just can't seem to put down? That all you think about is when you can pick it up again and start playing and when you do, it's for hours?

After years and years of playing and owning many basses (past and present), it's finally happened for me.

I recently aquired a Fender Custom Shop Pino Palladino Precision Relic, and I can't put the thing down. While I'm at work, I can't stop thinking about getting home and 'sheding on it. I can't wait until my next gig and all of the upcoming gigs with it. The bass just fits me....like an old pair of comfortable jeans.

What bass has been "the one" for you? :)
 
#2
Congrats on the bass! I wanted to pick up a P with a classic tone and that bass was recommended to me as the "holy grail" of P tone. I wanted a 5 and got the Am. Std. instead which I can't put down. I put flats on it and it's totally different tonally from what I've been playing for the last 20 years or so. Nostalgic in that is the same tone I used in the early 70s when I originally picked up bass. I've got a RBV, Warwick 6 NT Thumb, Godin A5 fretless that I would classify as OCDers that I have trouble putting down as well as my new P. 3 others - not so much.
 
#5
I was sorta boutique/custom guy for quite a while - then friend said: hey i have this old no name fretless bass that is screwed up royally (read: true reliced road worn tossed around places bass), wanna take a look? It was this cheap plywood yellowed white p-copy fretless with neck like banana, skratches everywhere and screws that hold the bridge together.
Bought it for 50$ from him. Changed nothing but clean the gunk a bit and put new flatwounds on. More then 15years later is still my favorite bass. Changed the strings again about 13years ago.
Each time I pick it up, I play something meaningful - its almost like doublebass where every note counts sound- and note-wise.
 
#10
Congrats BearCave!

"My bass" was sort of under my nose the whole time. The problem was that until last year, the bass was actually two basses.

My main bass the past few years was an '09 Sunburst MIA Fender Precision. Main thing for me was the neck. Rosewood fingerboard. Perfect. I always wanted a little more top end out of the tone than I was getting though. So it was my fave bass out of what I owned, but not total perfection - I was still always searching.

Along the way I took a '10 MIA Sunburst Fender Precision in a trade. A bit redundant given my '09 but it has a maple fretboard and I like to have separate basses that I keep strung with flats and rounds.

Anyway, I decided to convert the '10 P-bass into a P/J so I could dial in some extra bite when I wanted it. It was a bit of an experiment so I sacrificed the '10 instead of carving up my '09. There is a local pickup maker that spent a couple of hours with me, bass in hand, going over what I was searching for, and he made me custom pickups that deliver righteously.

So for about two years I was always torn between my standard '09 P-Bass that had my favourite neck, and the '10 P-Bass that had the custom P/J pickups with the tone I preferred. I wasn't quite ready to spend the extra $ for another set of custom pickups for the '09 as great as they were.

See where this is going? Not sure why it took me so long to figure this one out, but once I attached the '09 neck to the '10 body ... bingo ... that was it. God bless bolt-on necks! I string it with DR Hi-Beams, and it's game over as to what my #1 bass is.

I have other basses that I do use at times for the sake of change (P-bass with flats, a Gretsch 5440 Long Scale Hollowbody, a fretless PJ Bass, and a "banger" Squier P/J), but I am most comfortable with my #1 and if I could only keep one bass, I wouldn't even have to think about it for a second. The fact that it is fairly customized only makes it that more special.

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#11
Mine is my new Fender Tony Franklin fretless P/J, it is like the bass is made of Gas-X. I feel like it is the "Reese's Peanut Butter Cup" of basses. It mixes fretless with a Precision and Jazz bass sound "Three great sounds that sound great together" which is exactly the sound I want. I have a Kawai FIIB that is another "hard to put down bass" but as of right now the TF is my #1
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#14
I have my special bass that I can't stop thinking about, play at all my gigs, rehearse with, record with, and coveted for years before I figured out how to get my hands on one. 1956 Fender P-bass, all original, nice pantina, never abused.
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#15
BearCave said:
Have you ever come across that one bass that just simply inspires you to play? That you just can't seem to put down? That all you think about is when you can pick it up again and start playing and when you do, it's for hours?

After years and years of playing and owning many basses (past and present), it's finally happened for me.

I recently aquired a Fender Custom Shop Pino Palladino Precision Relic, and I can't put the thing down. While I'm at work, I can't stop thinking about getting home and 'sheding on it. I can't wait until my next gig and all of the upcoming gigs with it. The bass just fits me....like an old pair of comfortable jeans.

What bass has been "the one" for you? :)
Click to expand...

Yes.. it's my Fender Precision Bass. I use it since the first time I play Bass in my teen. Many other basses came and go, but that one still is my favorite.

Pino P-Bass...Great!!..Aside from the high price and (sorry) color,...I love it....If I have money, I'll buy it and I'm sure I'd love it like you.
 

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