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What do I look for in an electric "unlplugged" tone?

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by jerryjg, Apr 22, 2012.

  1. Apr 22, 2012 #1
    jerryjg

    jerryjg

    Aug 20, 2006
    Just comparing two of my basses unplugged. I would like to sell one, so looking for the best one.
    Juts what do I look for in an unplugged electric bass sound/
    Both guitars are quite difefrent. One is heavier, and has a stronger bass fundamental, but dies out quicker, and has a less bright treble.
    The other is lighter, has a less strong bass attack, but the top notes ring out and sustain a lot longer than the other. They are both P-bass copies, older made in Japan. One is Senn looks like, maybe both.
     
  2. Apr 22, 2012 #2
    spade2you

    spade2you

    Jan 11, 2007
    somewhere in middle America
    Unless you plan on holding a microphone up to your bass for amplification, I don't find that unplugged tone has much value.
     
  3. Apr 22, 2012 #3
    SurferJoe46

    SurferJoe46

    Feb 22, 2010
    The Bitterroot Mounts, Montana
    Unplugged sound is so overestimated. It is sound that isn't going to go to the amplifier. As such it has no place in evaluating the quality of the final output of a bass. You don't play unplugged - why test a bass that way?

    If the body vibrates, you cannot begin to believe that it will reanimate the strings - do you? The energy of the string isn't infinite. It's simply absorbed.

    Any sound the body radiates or harmonizes with is wasted and won't be part of the voice of the guitar unless it's in a subtractive sense.

    Once it is in the wood - it's gone.
     
  4. Apr 22, 2012 #4
    superblues

    superblues

    Oct 5, 2006
    You should be looking for the output jack.
     
  5. Apr 22, 2012 #5
    MycooLeeyun

    MycooLeeyun

    Sep 26, 2009
    Sedona, AZ
    What bass feels better in your hands?
     
  6. Apr 22, 2012 #6
    spade2you

    spade2you

    Jan 11, 2007
    somewhere in middle America
    Yes, play the bass and put your ear up to the output jack.
     
  7. Apr 23, 2012 #7
    wolfmancharlie

    wolfmancharlie

    Nov 28, 2009
    Unpluged Electric Bass tone is meaningless.Period. If you have 2 basses, which one do you like to play more? If you have to sell one of them it should be the one you do not like to play as much. We here at Talkbass forget that 99.9% of the people that listen to music couldn't tell the difference between 2 different basses to save their butts or our ego's. Plug the one you like the most into a great bass amp and just Play Music. IMHO.