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Thinning the herd part 47.

A

-Asdfgh-

Apr 13, 2010
15,415
27,612
UK
#1
A G&L L-2000 was not the key to funding an uber bass to allow me to sell others - QC was problematic and the sounds were not impressive. Good, but not stand out. I might have been doing it wrong.

I've toyed with a Stingray and even revisited by youth with a Westone Thunder 1A with a Magnatone pickup. The sounds weren't quite there for me - probably pickup location.

So this week I recorded a simple riff on the candidate basses, ran them through an amp sim and with and without white noise to simulate the obscuration in a mix to some extent and let my wife listen.

The candidates were: Fender Player Plus Precision active, ditto passive, Harley Benton enhanced P (pickup replaced by an Artec), Jazz bass I built out of left over bits (which I actually like), 1995 Precision Lyte, 2005 Squier Standard P. All flat or tone fully open, neck pickup only.

The result: her top pick is the Squier, followed by the Player Plus and last place to the Jazz. The Squier is a dream to play. But since my candidates in terms of duplication were the Squier (I have two, identical apart from colour and they sound the same) not very helpful. The Player Plus has a wider and deeper neck than anything else, although commendably low action but I'm not sure I like it completely given that chunk.

I guess the Jazz is going to go to the shared practice space.
 
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#2
-Asdfgh- said:
A G&L L-2000 was not the key to funding an uber bass to allow me to sell others - QC was problematic and the sounds were not impressive. Good, but not stand out. I might have been doing it wrong.

I've toyed with a Stingray and even revisited by youth with a Westone Thunder 1A with a Magnatone pickup. The sounds weren't quite there for me - probably pickup location.

So this week I recorded a simple riff on the candidate basses, ran them through an amp sim and with and without white noise to simulate the obscuration in a mix to some extent and let my wife listen.

The candidates were: Fender Player Plus Precision active, ditto passive, Harley Benton enhanced P (pickup replaced by an Artec), Jazz bass I built out of left over bits (which I actually like), 1995 Precision Lyte, 2005 Squier Standard P. All flat or tone fully open, neck pickup only.

The result: her top pick is the Squier, followed by the Player Plus and last place to the Jazz. The Squier is a dream to play. But since my candidates in terms of duplication were the Squier (I have two, identical apart from colour and they sound the same) not very helpful. The Player Plus has a wider and deeper neck than anything else, although commendably low action but I'm not sure I like it completely given that chunk.

I guess the Jazz is going to go to the shared practice space.
Click to expand...
So what is your objective? To get down to one bass? Are you saying you are keeping the 2 Squiers and the Jazz ?
 
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#3
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
So what is your objective? To get down to one bass? Are you saying you are keeping the 2 Squiers and the Jazz ?
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Two fewer to match the space I have to properly store them...

Jazz I like, but seems to review badly according to my audience of one. It's made of parts so has little intrinsic value. Seems like a good candidate to go to a shared space. I'd get about $3 trying to sell it so there's no added financial incentive.

Then, one (or two, the Squiers are essentially identical) others. The one I find slightly less enjoyable to play (neck girth) is the Player Plus but it reviews well.

The review process has merely complicated things...
 
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#5
I thinned my herd down to just 1 bass about 2 years ago now. I was struggling with constantly switching basses to the point where most of my time playing at home was spent trying to decide what bass to play, followed by messing with amp settings to accommodate that bass, or so I thought. I honestly attribute this to my goldfish level attention span.

I'm happy with having only my P Bass, and I've definitely improved because I was lacking consistency within my practice routine. But I still have gas everyday, both due to my diet and also all these new basses from Ibanez.
 
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#8
-Asdfgh- said:
A G&L L-2000 was not the key to funding an uber bass to allow me to sell others - QC was problematic and the sounds were not impressive. Good, but not stand out. I might have been doing it wrong.

I've toyed with a Stingray and even revisited by youth with a Westone Thunder 1A with a Magnatone pickup. The sounds weren't quite there for me - probably pickup location.

So this week I recorded a simple riff on the candidate basses, ran them through an amp sim and with and without white noise to simulate the obscuration in a mix to some extent and let my wife listen.

The candidates were: Fender Player Plus Precision active, ditto passive, Harley Benton enhanced P (pickup replaced by an Artec), Jazz bass I built out of left over bits (which I actually like), 1995 Precision Lyte, 2005 Squier Standard P. All flat or tone fully open, neck pickup only.

The result: her top pick is the Squier, followed by the Player Plus and last place to the Jazz. The Squier is a dream to play. But since my candidates in terms of duplication were the Squier (I have two, identical apart from colour and they sound the same) not very helpful. The Player Plus has a wider and deeper neck than anything else, although commendably low action but I'm not sure I like it completely given that chunk.

I guess the Jazz is going to go to the shared practice space.
Click to expand...
You were definitely 'doing it wrong' if you couldn't get great sounds out of an L2000
 
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#15
toastw said:
All flat, fully open, neck only. You're not giving the Jazz a chance to win.
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That's the sound I prefer and use most of the time. I like it that way.
toastw said:
Play them where they shine
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To me, that is where it shines. It's how I've used Jazz basses for a couple of decades. It works recorded and live for me. So since that's how I'll be using it, it seemed the best test option. If I tried all the pick up options and presented them i would not get "engagement". But I don't see the point of her asking to assess them on how I don't use them unless the objective is rather wider. And plenty of people just solo the neck most of the time.
 
#17
I think normally a good Jazz would hold its own in that competition. Perhaps some of your parts weren't great, or just didn't play together well? Anyway, I can't fault your logic. If it doesn't sound good, and it's a parts bass of limited value, makes sense to cull it. Humanely, of course.
 
#18
BassicJazzy said:
I think normally a good Jazz would hold its own in that competition. Perhaps some of your parts weren't great, or just didn't play together well?
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Oh, it was just two notes, one short, one sustained. I was trying to keep it minimal so I'd get some listens.

BassicJazzy said:
Anyway, I can't fault your logic. If it doesn't sound good, and it's a parts bass of limited value, makes sense to cull it.
Click to expand...
I like how it sounds!
 
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