Bergantino and Mike Lull are the main ones that get my cash, but I also think anything Agehorse developed is killer and Lakland too.
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What brand has all your loyalty?
- Thread starter Sam Dingle
- Start date
I don’t know that I’m brand loyal in terms of basses. I primarily use EBMM and Ibanez. My least favorite is actually my Fender.
With amps though I will only play through GK.
With amps though I will only play through GK.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
How can a man like me have only one love? I have enough love to go around and I will love all of the basses...and amps.
I'm a Peavey fan but I love my Ibanez and really want a Lakland. I'd have a Rick and, and, and...
I'm a Peavey fan but I love my Ibanez and really want a Lakland. I'd have a Rick and, and, and...
Fender is my brand. I never set out with that in mind and it was purely by chance that I was gifted my first Musicmaster. It was rough and needed a ton of work but it was my first encounter with short scales.
They're just what I need. Had Hofner, Epiphone, and Ibanez. Nothing really wrong with them but all came and went.
The year and type are in my sig.
They're just what I need. Had Hofner, Epiphone, and Ibanez. Nothing really wrong with them but all came and went.
The year and type are in my sig.
This is not loyalty. Loyalty is exclusive, this one and no other. People are loyal to a wife, to a country, to an idea at the exclusion of potential competition.
So many good basses, so many varieties. Why be loyal? You need one of each.
I was loyal to the old SWR, until MarkBass showed up.
Strings: Rotosound, DR, TI jazz flats are preferred.
I was loyal to the old SWR, until MarkBass showed up.
Strings: Rotosound, DR, TI jazz flats are preferred.
I was so very, very fortunate to get to know the Wickersham family in my Alembic days. Their wonderful hospitality and love of their instruments and the people who play them (whether you bought a used one or a new one, they treat you exactly the same) was one of the high points of my life around music and music business. I learned a lot and was honored by their friendship, still am.
There are so many great companies out there, and though they have frustrated the hell out of me from time to time, I admit I'm a huge Yamaha fan. It's quite fascinating that I can buy an electronic piano that's world-class that uses samples from world-class grand pianos like their CFX or their Bosendorfer grands, recorded thru their own gear with their own software. Then I can jump on the R1 and go home. A stunning breadth of capabilities and I shudder to think of the wood they own for production. Make pretty good basses too.
I'd also be quite remiss by leaving out how much of a fan I've become of guys here on talkbass like @agedhorse (Andy, WHEN the hell is there going to be a Mesa dealer in Nashville ? ? ? ), my favorite Canadian bass tech Richard, Wasnex, and so many other professionals that deem to try and educate us mere mortals ! Thanks to you all, and thanks to TB !
There are so many great companies out there, and though they have frustrated the hell out of me from time to time, I admit I'm a huge Yamaha fan. It's quite fascinating that I can buy an electronic piano that's world-class that uses samples from world-class grand pianos like their CFX or their Bosendorfer grands, recorded thru their own gear with their own software. Then I can jump on the R1 and go home. A stunning breadth of capabilities and I shudder to think of the wood they own for production. Make pretty good basses too.
I'd also be quite remiss by leaving out how much of a fan I've become of guys here on talkbass like @agedhorse (Andy, WHEN the hell is there going to be a Mesa dealer in Nashville ? ? ? ), my favorite Canadian bass tech Richard, Wasnex, and so many other professionals that deem to try and educate us mere mortals ! Thanks to you all, and thanks to TB !
For a bass, I would have to say Made in the USA Fender Jazz Bass.
I've only had three 4-string basses since I started playing bass in 1965. The first one was a piece of
green Japanese bass. Within a year, in 1966, I bought a 1965 Fender Jazz Bass. I played that bass through high school and some college; toured with it for 3 years in a nightclub group playing 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year; then played it on weekend gigs until it was stolen in 1976 (house was burglarized). Here's a shot of it when I was touring with "The Young Century's".I bought another Jazz Bass in 1985. Took me almost 10-years to find another MIA Jazz bass that had the same 60's shallow C-shape neck with 7.25" radius. It has a maple neck and the pickup spacing is different than it was on my '65 Jazz, but it feels the same when playing it. It has a little more growl than my '65 did and significantly more sustain. Bought it in '85 but didn't get a chance to gig with it until 1997. It's a late1982/early 1983 Olympic White bass with white pickguard, white pickups, white binding on the neck, white strat-type controls, and semi-opaque white LaBella Tape-wound strings. I also put a white strap on it for good measure.
Here's a shot of me playing it at a Wings and Wheels Fundraiser Festival for the Special Olympics in 2018:
The only non-Fender bass I have is my 5-string. It's an older Rogue LX405-Pro, when they were made in Korea. I needed a 5-string because the group I was playing in back then did a few songs that needed one. It's actually a very nice bass. Looks great, build quality and finish is superb, it's lightweight, and it cost me all of about $200 when I bought it. It is switchable from active to passive using a push-pull volume knob. It sounds decent in both passive and active, but it just doesn't have the sound my Jazz Bass does.
So, for basses for me, it's not just Fender but MIA Fender Jazz Bass with a 60's shallow-C neck and 7.25" radius.
Rotosound, cuz when you find what you like you stick with it. And spirocores on the DB.
Kay because that's what I've got, and it's served be well for an 82-year-old instrument.
Bass guitar brands, eh, Leo designs, but no particular brand. I like a jazz, a Ray and a L2K in the stable.
Amp, anything that doesn't color the tone of my bass.
Kay because that's what I've got, and it's served be well for an 82-year-old instrument.
Bass guitar brands, eh, Leo designs, but no particular brand. I like a jazz, a Ray and a L2K in the stable.
Amp, anything that doesn't color the tone of my bass.
devnulljp
Supporting Member
All my bass guitars are vintage Fenders -- 62, 64, 72 P, 65 and 77 J -- Just kinda worked out that way.
Used to have a bunch of others but sold em all and those are the ones that stuck.
As far as amps, I like Aguilar and Acoustic Image.
Used to have a bunch of others but sold em all and those are the ones that stuck.
As far as amps, I like Aguilar and Acoustic Image.
I purchased a Dingwall bass in 1995...not direct but from a dealer. It’s undergone some retrofits and what not over the years and I’ve always received amazing customer service...seriously above and beyond like you wouldn’t believe.
If/when I’m ever in a position to afford another I would have zero hesitation to show my loyalty.
If/when I’m ever in a position to afford another I would have zero hesitation to show my loyalty.
I hear ya...
I've always loved Fender basses, and my CS '59 precision is my pride and joy, but in January this year my long-time quest to acquire a Yamaha BB2000 came to fruition when I was able to buy a mint condition 1982 model for roughly the same price as a new Fender Player series jazz.
The BB rendered my 2012 American Standard Jazz bass {with the CS 60 pickups} and 2004 MM 3 band Stingray obsolete in one fell swoop.
It is so objectively superior in all aspects, especially tone, that I'm left wondering *why* I played jazz basses for so long { i.e. nearly three decades}. I should've been playing a BB.
Anyway, I can't see the need for another P/J or J style bass - especially a Fender - while I have the BB 2000, and I'll never sell the BB because it's just too good.
I think my days of acquiring Fender basses are a thing of the past.
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Just realized you didn't specify which Brand of Bass, just which Brand. Already said my Bass needed to be an MIA Fender Jazz (passive) with a 60's shallow-C shape neck with a 7.25" radius...so now how about amps?
I have had more than a few amps since I started playing in 1965. My First amp was a 1966 Fender Bassman and it was the "killer amp" until I started touring in 1971 and the rest of the group was using Vox Super Beatle amps - just buried my poor 50-watt Bassman. Then I upgraded to a Standel piggyback amp that has a 215 powered speaker cab. Blew the Fender away and I preferred it over the acoustic 360/361 and the Ampeg 810SVT (still made in the US at the time). Only had that amp for about 4 or 5-years before our house was burglarized (in 1976) and it was stolen along with my 1965 Jazz Bass and two Shure mics. I still miss that amp.
After everything was stolen in 1976, I didn't really start working my way up through amps again until 1997. Of course we raised a family with three kids in that almost 20-year space and there was no much $$ available for music gear. Slowly worked my way up form an old Yamaha 115 combo to a terrible GK Brat Pack (GK Backline 250 amp with a GK115bpx cab), then a Sunn Cab and then finally my first Eden amp. It was an Eden Nemesis RS400 and I still keep it as a back-up amp because it sounds so good. Was way too much power for the Sunn Cab though, so bought an acoustic B410 and stuck it on top of the GK115cab. That worked OK and I gigged with it for years.
In 2010 I bought an Eden WT500/800 (upgraded to 800-watts bridged by David Norschow) directly from David Nordschow, the founder of Eden. He had just started his new company "DNA" and had already designed a killer amp for it. He had used this amp on his test bench developing cabs for Eden before he sold Eden to USM.
Being a dual-powerblock amp I could plug onecompany's cab into each power channel and then use the balance knob to get the mix of sound I wanted out of the two of them. So the sound was even better with this amp driving it. Finally in 2015 I bought one of David Nordschow's new cabs, the DNS-410 by DNA . Best sounding and loudest cab I've ever played through or even heard for that matter.
I don't even need to consider using an 810 for Outdoor Festivals because I get told to turn down at festivals when I'm just using my DNS-410. My DNS-410 cab has a max SPL of 137db and with my 800-watt Eden amp driving it (cab will handle 1400-watts rms), I can't run my master above 9:30 indoors or even in an outdoor enclosed space. In an outdoor festival I can run it at 10 o'clock, but if I turn it up to 10:30, I get told to turn it down.
Even though that DNS-410 will handle everything perfectly, it scares the owners of small venues. So I went back to Eden and bought a couple of EX112 cabs at a very good price. I would use one for small venues, and a second one for easy load in and out at medium-sized venues. Used my RS400 originally to drive the single 112 venues and a little later bought an Eden TN226 amp (Class D, 225-watts rms) to drive it. When using both 112 cabs, I use my WT500/800 and plug one cab into each side (they are 4 ohm cabs). That amp with those two cabs sounds really good!
Then we played outside at that small venue where I usually use just a single 112 indoors, and it gave me the opportunity to bring out my DNS410. As soon as I started playing through it there, I knew I was missing the boat by not having a smaller DNA cab option. I decided the DNS-210 would be a good choice because it reputedly had the same sound characteristics that my DNS-410 had, just in a smaller size. Since I had bought my Eden WT500/800 directly from David Nordschow originally (was his test amp for developing cabs at Eden), I wrote to him to see I could be considered for his "Endorsing Artist" group. I got accepted to that and got a decent break on the price of the DNS-210, so I bought that and now only use DNA cabs at my gigs.
So my brand loyalty at this point is for anything designed by David Nordschow. That includes all the stuff from his first company, Eden, as well as for his new company DNA (David Nordschow Amplification). The DNA cabs are amazingly clear, articulate, full sounding, and LOUD with a very tight and full bottom end. They are a bit like Eden's D-series XST cabs on steroids. If you play bass chords with them, you can even distinctly hear each note of a 3-note chord.
I'm still driving my DNA cabs with my Eden WT500/800 amp because I have to save up for a bit to get the DNA-800 amp that I want. It's only 4.8-lbs instead of my 36-lb. amp with rack that I currently use, and it sounds great too. But with all my gigs cancelled for the immediate future, not sure when I'll be able to get that. I've made a point of only using gig money to buy new gear.
Here's a shot of my DNS-210 stacked on top of my DNS-410 with my Eden WT500/800 on top. It was the first gig I played with my DNS-210 and it's a large medium-sized venue. Wasn't sure my DNS-210 would fill it up and figured I could unplug the 210 and plug the speaker cord into the DNS-410 in a matter of seconds if needed.
Well, I certainly did NOT need to use the DNS-410. The 210 more than handled it. In fact, I had to move the stack farther away from where I originally set up because I'm a short guy and that 210 was almost aimed at my ears in a spot on the stage where it could only be about 3-feet behind me. Had to move it over and up to get my ears out of the 60° dispersion cone so it wouldn't kill my ears. With this impressive looking stack, the 210 provided all of the sound and the 410 ended up being nothing more than a very expensive amp stand for the gig:
