The BASS TRADEOFFS Thread

[Beav]

Soft Shell Cases are light and durable, but you can't beat the crap out of the lead singer's vehicle when packing up

 

[Marcus]

Single pickups in classical positions (MM, P) yield timeless desirable tones... but are often pigeonholed for being one-trick ponies.

 

[KayCee]

I've only played a Dingwall once, so I don't speak from much experience, but I *think* some people might say:

- Fanned frets solve the problem of even string response, but...
it feels really strange to play fanned frets, and they're tough to play blindly (as when you're singing), and a "fanned fretless" would be nearly impossible to play in tune.

No and no. You can play without looking and they feel very natural.

I don't have a fanned fretless, but I know someone here who does and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'll just have to take your word for it on this one. Dingwall definitely has it's share of supporters on TB.

 

[Marcus]

I'll chime in on the fanned frets thing... I owned a bass with the Novax fanned fret system (five string) and while it was not dramatically difficult, it will have you scratching your head if you like to do a lot of upper register work, especially tapping. Also, I found that going back to "traditional" instruments was a bit rough after spending a great deal of time on a fanned fretted instrument. It may just be me though...

 

[Aj*]

With regards to the longer scale lengths damaging higher notes, maybe it's true for very high but I actually prefer a 35 inch high C in terms of tone. I don't know but having played 34 and 35 inch 6 strings I prefer the 35 inchers across the board. What exactly are the negative tonal effects supposed to be?

 

[high mileage]

Plenty of good 34" 5-stings (low B) out there, but it seems like there are more bad 34's than bad 35's. It's probably easier to make them "good" with a 35" scale length but some builders have it figured out.

I dunno, it's rocket science I guess.

Here's one - bass amps are always heavier loading out at the end of the night than they were loading in earlier that day...

 

[KayCee]

With regards to the longer scale lengths damaging higher notes, maybe it's true for very high but I actually prefer a 35 inch high C in terms of tone. I don't know but having played 34 and 35 inch 6 strings I prefer the 35 inchers across the board. What exactly are the negative tonal effects supposed to be?

One of the reasons that I returned to all 34" scale basses was the overly bright sound that 35" scale creates on the G string.

BTW, this reminds me that, while I think that the Dingwall fanned concept is extreme, a "modified Dingwall" might be great. With a 34" G string fanning to a 35" B string, you could have the best of both worlds. You'd still have fanned frets, but it wouldn't make you dizzy to look at the fingerboard.