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Too picky?

#21
Skygoneblue said:
A Warwick SSII has been the only thing that *appears* to come close, but I'm not about to shell out $2,000 on a bass that I can't even try first. Iowa doesn't have much in the way of nice music stores... :\

Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions based on all that ^^, I'm all ears. Thanks again for all the replies everyone!

Luke
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Totally understand... I think I'd love a Streamer SII... but not until I tried one for sure and KNEW I loved it... and yeah, 2k is bit much for sight unseen... Road trip to the closest 'big city' music store to try out basses maybe?

Maybe you can find a used EDC705 somewhere, eBay, Craigslist, whatever... never know... if you can find one cheap, it may be worth it just to have a decent banger bass you mostly like, until you find your perfect axe.
 
#22
Get a G&L SB -2.
P bass body but slimmer and way sexy!!
P bass, bass balls galore, typical P on steroids!!
J pickup too (provided you find you need it)!
P bass neck!

Totally awesome bass. Sometimes I don't really like the sound of it much when playing by myself but when played with the band it is incredible.
 
#24
Pullman? said:
The only way I overcame my pickyness about buying a bass was realizing that it doesn't matter how the bass sounds but how it feels. Give me an amp with any half decent EQ and I can make a squier sound like a musicman. Try basses for feel only and worry, or don't, about its inherent tone later.
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I absolutely totally disagree with this. I'll pick based on sound every time, and get used to the feel. No amp is going to make a Stingray sound like a P bass either!
 
#27
Vlad5 said:
Totally understand... I think I'd love a Streamer SII... but not until I tried one for sure and KNEW I loved it... and yeah, 2k is bit much for sight unseen... Road trip to the closest 'big city' music store to try out basses maybe?

Maybe you can find a used EDC705 somewhere, eBay, Craigslist, whatever... never know... if you can find one cheap, it may be worth it just to have a decent banger bass you mostly like, until you find your perfect axe.
Click to expand...

Sure it's already been said, but that's why you buy used. If you don't like it, sell it for a nominal loss (or gain if you play it right :)). I was in the same boat, but buying used saved me a lot of wallet-ache.
 
#28
I see you're in Des Moines, IA. I'm in Pella. There is a great custom luthier who specializes in building basses right in your back yard. Andrew Drake of Drake Custom Bass in Nevada, IA. Check out his website at Invalid Link Removed .

I own four of Andrew's basses and every one is a knockout in terms of appearance, quality of workmanship, playability and tone, punch, bigness, balance (no neck dive), etc.

Another thought for you is to examine the quality of your amp set up if you have basses that please you with appearance, playability and balance. Even mediocre basses sound pretty good through quality amplification. If you've got a killer bass and play it through killer amplification, it's usually a winning combination. Over the years I've formed the strong opinion that an amp is just as much an instrument as the bass you strap on and work with your hands.

PM me if you want more contact. I'm close geographically and maybe we can help each other from time to time.

Good luck!

Koog
 
#29
Skygoneblue said:
Fender Jazz - Hate the lack of balls with two J pickups, and the exposed poles

Stingray 4H - Neck width

Stingray 4HH - Neck width, and pickups hissing

Stingray 5H - Neck dive

Stingray 5HH - Can't get a tone I like at all

Sterling 4H - Feels like a toy, and has no bass/balls
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I always try out basses for playability and feel then I plug them in.Sometimes I go thru every bass in a store and they all play like crap.
As far as your assesment of the various musicman basses, not sure what you want here. The last thing I would criticize a Stingray 5 for is neck dive. My last 5-ray sat very well on my shoulder. Perhaps if you rig the strap very short it woudl be neck divey? The sterling as well I don't get how you coudl have a problem with not enough bass/balls. With the switch in the up position (towards neck, I think is series?)it is very ballsy! In the middle position it gets kinda Jazz bassish. With the mid and bass knobs I can dail in a nasally jazz tone or thunderous P type tone. The body is a lot smaller, but I find it to be one of the most comfortable basses ever.
I havent had an issue with the neck width on any sterling or stingray. But I do run into an ocassional one with a badly cut nut. I use a lot of vibrato in my left hand, so an E or G string that is too close to the edge sucks. Not sure if thats EBMM QC or aftermarket modding by homebrew luthiers.
Also, have you checked out a SLO special? Stingray with Sterling neck!
 
#30
Koog said:
I see you're in Des Moines, IA. I'm in Pella. There is a great custom luthier who specializes in building basses right in your back yard. Andrew Drake of Drake Custom Bass in Nevada, IA. Check out his website at Invalid Link Removed .

I own four of Andrew's basses and every one is a knockout in terms of appearance, quality of workmanship, playability and tone, punch, bigness, balance (no neck dive), etc.

Another thought for you is to examine the quality of your amp set up if you have basses that please you with appearance, playability and balance. Even mediocre basses sound pretty good through quality amplification. If you've got a killer bass and play it through killer amplification, it's usually a winning combination. Over the years I've formed the strong opinion that an amp is just as much an instrument as the bass you strap on and work with your hands.

PM me if you want more contact. I'm close geographically and maybe we can help each other from time to time.

Good luck!

Koog
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say Iowa doesn't have any nice music stores, depending what you are looking for. Professional Music on 86th in West DSM is a good place if you are looking for a fair deal on decent gear and they service what they sell. I've bought 3 basses and my G-K rig there, they have treated me very well over the years!:hyper:
 
#32
unclejane said:
- P bass: muddy sound, neck dive.
- J bass: muddy or nasally sound, neck dive
- Stingray/Sterling: neck dive.
and not on your list:
- Rick 4003: muddy sound, neck dive
...
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I have played a lot of fender, musicman and rickenbacker basses ... never noticed neck dive in any of them. Now get a t-bird and you have neck dive.
 
#35
To the OP:

I have never had, and still don't have, a bass that I really loved the sound of. I have also never heard a bass that I love the sound of.

In order to get a bass tone that I really like (which I do have), I've had to take a step back, and try to think of tone as a combination of my playing style, strings, pickups, preamp, bass, FX, amp, cab, and room.

The key, I think, is finding a complete system in which everything works together to make a great tone. The bass itself, I find, is only a small piece of the puzzle, and therefore I, like some others who've posted ahead of me, tend to favour physical comfort and playability over the tone of the instrument.

This is totally not to say that the tone of the axe is not important; it's very important, as you know! But I think it is no more, and no less, important than any other element in the chain.

Good luck to you!
 
#39
Skygoneblue said:
Fender P Special - Hate the neck width
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Damn, you are picky. You're one of those players who nit-picks his way right out of some awesome tone and playability.

Regarding the P Special--just mount a P-Bass neck on there. Problem solved.

I subscribe to the "give me 20 minutes with this bass, I'll be fine" philosophy. EVERY bass has a flaw or limitation, all you can hope for is some personal ideal, and short of that, you do the best with what you got.
 
#40
Lots of great advice above that I will echo.

1) You thought about the bass you were most comfortable with. I assume if you think about it, it's also the one you played the most and used for the longest time. I think there's a certain amount of adapting that we do to our instruments over time. Whether you loved everything about it initially or not, it's going to cause every other instrument problems. It's like an ex-girlfriend. Even if she's not perfect, you compare the new one to her because that's your frame of reference. So you really have to work hard to be honest with yourself when evaluating new basses--do you really not like a certain aspect, or is it just different from what you are used to?

2) Agree on going custom to some degree. Either mod something, build your own from parts, or find a luthier willing to put all your features together. I've done a number of custom builds over the years and I keep getting better at it each time and really finding the features that are important to me.

3) Agree on feel and playability first, tone second. As some have said, everything interacts. You might find a bass that feels good to you, but doesn't work with your current rig. But it might sound slammin' with a different rig.

4) Agree on buying used. You can try lots of things and flip them on to the next person if they don't work for you without losing too much.

5) If you are trying things in a store, there are a couple of caveats. First, unless you're bringing your rig with you, you are not only hearing a different bass, but out of a different rig, too. So how much are you hearing the new bass and how much are you hearing the new rig? Also, in regards to feel, pay attention to the setup. There may be a bass there that is perfect for you, but it won't feel that way if the store has a setup on it that doesn't agree with you. If you like slinky low action and find a bass that seems promising with high action, get the store to tweak it for you. A good setup to something that feels good to you can make all the difference in the world.

And I don't think you're being too picky. If this is your passion, then stand up for what you want.
 

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