• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The Naked Truth about diffrent types of Basses

O

oldprussians

Jan 7, 2008
475
6
United Republic of Europe
Disclosures
IT Professional!
#1
I feel compelled to re iterate my boring spiel!

I've read on this forum all about how does a p bass do all that with one pick up, which bass is best for this technique or that.

or recently which sounds better this bass with that string or that with that....ect yawn sleep!

Which wood is better through neck or bolt on ect ect........

but the reality is this:

the only small discernible differences are these:

Rickenbacker/Gretch picups
Single coils
Humbuckers stacked or soapbar
single pick up
Dual Pick up....
and maybe active passive!
string type
Fingers or Pick

and all this only side by side with just the bass being played!

now I defy anyone on this board professional or amateur, to tell me on a piece of music that they have no clue who it is played by, or what it is, to tell me with any accuracy what type of bass was being played!

I remember hearing the Dire Straits concert Alchemy before I saw the album cover or video, and swearing blind that John Illsey was playing a P bass. This was cause I saw footage of very early stuff playing one. And surprise surprise when I saw him play a jazz bass on a later tour I swore blind it was a jazz bass on the Alchemy tour!

And guess what it was Wal, all the time.... completely different config bass.

I extend this challenge to anyone!

The truth is if you feel physically comfortable playing a certain bass, and it is not so cheap as to sound manifestly bad... that is the bass for you!

I await the outrage to my comments! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: VWbug
#3
The reality is a band's sound is only as good as the PA system and the person running it.

----

Basses sound different when slotted around other bands and instruments.

-----------

I'm with you... I've been hired to do studio work.. they see a decades old fender on my gear list --- I'll show up with a garage sale bass they heard on the demo---
 
#4
Everybody's hearing is different. The average person has a normal hearing range that falls between 20Hz on the low side and approximately 20,000 Hz on the high side. Although there is considerable variation between individuals. As we age, the overall perceivable range of sound decreases especially in the higher frequencies. Hearing loss begins at around the age of 8 years old. It continues relative to the amount of abuse we put ourselves through. Our capability to hear sounds in the upper portion of the range of hearing are for most people the first to go, as far as hearing loss is concerned.

I have a good friend who has been in bands with me for over 30 years. He now suffers from constant tinnitus yet my hearing is fine. There are many biological reasons why we hear the way we do and effect our susceptibility to hearing loss. Some people just hear subtle differences better than others.

I can notice a huge difference between different basses and pickup configurations. My Spector sounds very different than my Alembics which sound different than my vntage Fenders. I also notice a difference when playing through different amps and cabs. I know some great musicians who can't hear the difference at all.
 
#5
Yes and no. I concur that I would rarely be able to pick out the exact type of bass on any recording, but disagree that the sound of a bass doesn't matter to the player. There are huge differences in output and tonal capabilities, sometimes as a result of even identical pickups being spaced differently. This doesn't mean that certain basses will always sound radically different or that you can't eq to approximate the sound of another, but I think it makes a huge difference to me what the 'basic' sound of my bass is before I start tweaking.

My L2500 will sound almost like any other bass if I adjust it right and use the right technique, but I always struggle to make it cut through in my rock band, where my L1500 sits perfectly from the minute I turn on the amp. I can set the L2500 to only use the bridge pickup and make all other settings similar, but alas, there is a difference of about 2cm in the distance from bridge to pickup, and it has an impact that I feel. Not sure if the audience ever will, though.
 
#6
the fact that it is difficult to tell one bass from another, does not mean necessarily that there are no differences at all! I can surely tell about my own basses and in addition I am the one that must be comfortable playing the instrument (that I think now best suited for the evening jam at the pub, just to say) or maybe because there is a particular specific need: jazz combo or a church session etc.

Then, when I am well set up and the sound is under my fingers, I bet you won't distinguish my Smith Burner from a Warwick 5; just because they are doing now what it is best for the song under my control.

Flexibility and versatility are the key words, I suppose...

Did I understand what I just wrote? Uhmmmmm....

BTW: I did not catch exactly the point of the thread, either..... Uhmmmmm......

:D
 
#7
I agree completely. I have 5 distinct basses, Fender P, Fender 75 RI Jazz, G&L Jazz, MMSR5, & Warwick Thumb BO 4. While all 5 have different "timbers", they all all sound like a bass.

Just like regular guitars you have a Strat and a Les Paul. Every other guitar made is taking from that mold.

You have a P bass, a Jazz bass, and a Rickenbacker. Every other bass is taking from that mold. Even the most boutique of all boutique basses uses a fender as its starting platform.
 
#8
I did say that there were small differences.....

But look at it this way:

A lot of people here have Double basses.... Now as a trained luthier I can tell you all DBs are different.. It's organic.

But you don't say I must have a pollmann 'cause JP has one!

You just say I like a DB sound and you buy a DB.

These differences in Electric basses are inevitably made irrelevant by the sound engineer having to make the mix work in the venue you are playing or the track that is being recorded!

Eg I saw U2 Play... and The edge and Adam Clayton were constantly changing instruments, and the sound change was negligible at the best of times and non existent the rest of time!
 
#9
Avezzano said:
the fact that it is difficult to tell one bass from another, does not mean necessarily that there are no differences at all! I can surely tell about my own basses and in addition I am the one that must be comfortable playing the instrument (that I think now best suited for the evening jam at the pub, just to say) or maybe because there is a particular specific need: jazz combo or a church session etc.

Then, when I am well set up and the sound is under my fingers, I bet you won't distinguish my Smith Burner from a Warwick 5; just because they are doing now what it is best for the song under my control.

Flexibility and versatility are the key words, I suppose...

Did I understand what I just wrote? Uhmmmmm....

BTW: I did not catch exactly the point of the thread, either..... Uhmmmmm......

:D
Click to expand...

Wey hey!

L'Aquila si e salvata, e la Rugby Roma scompare... Dove la giustizia?!
 
#10
oldprussians said:
I feel compelled to re iterate my boring spiel!

I've read on this forum all about how does a p bass do all that with one pick up, which bass is best for this technique or that.

or recently which sounds better this bass with that string or that with that....ect yawn sleep!

Which wood is better through neck or bolt on ect ect........

but the reality is this:

the only small discernible differences are these:

Rickenbacker/Gretch picups
Single coils
Humbuckers stacked or soapbar
single pick up
Dual Pick up....
and maybe active passive!
string type
Fingers or Pick

and all this only side by side with just the bass being played!

now I defy anyone on this board professional or amateur, to tell me on a piece of music that they have no clue who it is played by, or what it is, to tell me with any accuracy what type of bass was being played!

I remember hearing the Dire Straits concert Alchemy before I saw the album cover or video, and swearing blind that John Illsey was playing a P bass. This was cause I saw footage of very early stuff playing one. And surprise surprise when I saw him play a jazz bass on a later tour I swore blind it was a jazz bass on the Alchemy tour!

And guess what it was Wal, all the time.... completely different config bass.

I extend this challenge to anyone!

The truth is if you feel physically comfortable playing a certain bass, and it is not so cheap as to sound manifestly bad... that is the bass for you!

I await the outrage to my comments! :)
Click to expand...

You're not going to make many friends like this!! LOL!!!

But the truth be told there are a LOT of us here who can tell the difference on a recording.
I know I can most of the time with pretty good accuracy.
Because you were wrong one a recording doesn't make everyone else wrong as well.
Because you may lack the capibility to accurately discern small differences on a recording doesn't mean someone else can't.


Instead of opening up flood gates like you have, post a few random clips and let people have a shot a figuring it out.


-edit-...my bad, i mis-understood your post.
If you're asking someone to tell on a recording, accurately tell the difference between a Jazz with single-coils or humcancelling, well, yeah, pretty damn impossible really.
Case in point- Peter Muller. Uses EMG's in his old Jazz. Sounds REAL REAL close to Marcus Miller who uses single coils.

Now, from a P-Bass to a Jazz to a Music Man, yeah, really not to hard at times.
But a sound man can easily destroy any sound he wants.

But there IS a difference and at times it's very obvious. And yes between a P-Bass to a Jazz to a Music Man you can hear differences.
 
#11
MikeBass said:
You're not going to make many friends like this!! LOL!!!

But the truth be told there are a LOT of us here who can tell the difference on a recording.
I know I can most of the time with pretty good accuracy.
Because you were wrong one a recording doesn't make everyone else wrong as well.
Because you may lack the capibility to accurately discern small differences on a recording doesn't mean someone else can't.


Instead of opening up flood gates like you have, post a few random clips and let people have a shot a figuring it out.
Click to expand...

Very good Idea I must get round to it... Technically at work now... but by the week end I will, I promise.

But I bet my arse no one will guess!
 
#12
oldprussians said:
Very good Idea I must get round to it... Technically at work now... but by the week end I will, I promise.

But I bet my arse no one will guess!
Click to expand...

You want a good laugh if you think there is little or no differences in basses, venture into the thread about how some can hear the difference in a POWER CABLE.....you'll have a blast in that thread!
 
#13
There are some differences and I do agree that we talk about the smallest things. Here are some differences that seem to affect me.

5 string (more range and flexibility in fingering and easier transpositions)

Scale: My 30" Musicmaster is different from my P and definatly the Modulus Q5 at 35"

Fretless vs. Fretted

I have also noted that a pickup upgrade can greatly improve the tone of the cheapest basses.

A good setup or lack can make or break any bass.

Peace
 
#14
I once (about 25 years ago) much to the amazment of my friend a guitarist, correctly identified a WAL whilst walking past a pub in london, in which a live cover band was playing. My mate went in to check, I won a 10er. Which ment free beer for me that night. I was, still am a big Mick Karn fan
 
#15
MikeBass said:
You want a good laugh if you think there is little or no differences in basses, venture into the thread about how some can hear the difference in a POWER CABLE.....you'll have a blast in that thread!
Click to expand...

Thats Mad

Actually on the subject of guitar cables, the unny thing is that any physicist, or electronic engineer, who is not attached to musicians will tell you that is the cable is well shielded, that is all you need.

All these Monster cable claims are rubbish!
 
#16
My P Basses sound different from one another. My J Basses sound different from one another. Even my Longhorns sound "slightly" different from each other. I won't even go into the vast difference in tone regarding the 57 Premier hollowbody and EVERYTHING else.

There's a vast difference between "sounding different" and "sounding different within a dense mix".

Also, the playback system you listen on matters. Most people listen on car speakers or cheap computer monitors, so differences become less perceptible. "Time of day" that you listen also matters...hearing changes throughout the day. Processing on the instruments, mix, instrumentation around the bass, etc...all those things can minimize differences in tonality.

Point being that there differences in every bass, but there are far more things affecting the sound of a bass in a mix than just "the pickups".

Re: Monster cables. Actually, some of their claims are true, at least as far as there being a difference in sound. I won't say that they sound "better" or "worse", because that is all subjective (like the rest of this thread), but the conductivity of the material that electrons are flowing down can definitely affect the frequencies of sound being reproduced. In fact, "gold" is a notoriously poor conductor compared to silver, copper, etc... however, manufacturers use "gold plated ends" simply because gold doesn't tarnish like other metals, thereby being a good "long term" option.

Anyway, have a great day. These are just my thoughts on the subjects at hand...I'm sure that some of you won't agree, and honestly, it isn't my job to sit here and try to change your mind. I know what I know as it relates to me personally, and that's good enough.

:)
 
#18
Great Post...

I always wonder if The Beatles or Yes or Led Zepp would have created ANY music if they got their undies in a bunch over..."which bass should I play..ooo what strings?"

Picked up the best tools for the job and got on with it...found the musical voice within the instrument.

Yes..the choices were limited right? But then..they just got on with it.

While I've certainly bought into and bought a ton of 'essential basses'..I have a lot more fun these days just grabbing a case and going to a gig..not really knowing what's in there...the Ric, the DJ Laky, the 72 Jazz, the P5...the Musicman RAY 5...not matter what..they all seem to work and work well. The audience doesn't seem to mind..they just care about the songs, and the beer.

I use them all on our albums..and god I can't even tell after the producer slams the compression on and re-amps the damn thing what the bass was...I have to check the recording log.

SO ya..and you see posts on this forum, for example someone guessing tone from ears alone: Geddy Lee used THIS bass on THAT album, and someone will catch the error and say..Noooo, he used THIS one...Etc.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back