What does your bass sound like unplugged?

[Watchootognbout]

My seven string and my four stringer sound much the same unplugged.They are both neck-thru.
Except that I can hear the C and F strings on my seven quite well.
Of course.
Those higher strings are in the guitar range.

But I can also hear my unplugged six string fretless very well because of the fretless "Mwah"
For that reason I play it unplugged on occasion.

 

[Fabio_MIJ]

I have my doubt on that as the magnet of a pickup create a magnetic field around the strings and the strings while vibrating disrupt the magnetic field which is translated into the tone we hear. the spot where the pickup is is the importat part as the strings will disrupt the field differently at the bridge than at the heel

That's exactly the spot I am talking about, you can experiment it by doing what I suggested.

 

[flam]

My Ric sounds rather chime-y or piano like. It fits the stock description of the tone rather well. The plugged in tone is a little different. Not quite as bright on the very top end

My Peavey grind on the hand sound like muddy garbage. It's hard to hear. Plugged in it fits its own name, and is pretty grindy.

 

[superheavyfunk]

80% of my reasons for choosing a bass off a shelf is how it plays and sounds unplugged. Pickups and wiring can always be changed, the wood and how it all matches, feels and resonates together cannot.

 

[mustBmtd]

Amazingly my Lakland 55-01 and my KSD Design sound as if their plugged in. To the point that when I'm practicing. I don't even need to plug into my right. Sometimes I just play for hours.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Amazingly my Lakland 55-01 and my KSD Design sound as if their plugged in. To the point that when I'm practicing. I don't even need to plug into my right. Sometimes I just play for hours.

I'm the same with my Wal and my P, if I'm practicing at home the acoustic sound is all I need.

 

[climber]

both my fretless basses, Pedula Pentabuzz and Ristola 5, sound amazing unplugged. my 4 string that I made in the mid-70's has a bit of a rattle ion the E, but the other strings sound great. a good bass should sound good plugged in or unplugged.

 

[CryingBass]

I agree with others above that believe the pre-pickup "quality of tone" is important. Play a cardboard bass with good pups/pre to prove that

And IMHO some, but not all, pickups and pre's have been designed to brute-force-bend the sound of even crap-sounding pre-pup sonics into something that sounds "good".

You want both! ( sound good on and off the juice )

 

[JaredBT]

First thing I do when checking out a new bass. Basses live or die here.

 

[Ron Johnson]

What I hate is how I can get chords and flamenco style strumming to sound great unplugged, but as soon as I plug in at rehearsal, it all gets muddy.

 

[BassOnTheSide]

I've always been in the camp of playing an (electric) guitar/bass acoustically to determine if it's "good". This generally holds true, but I've found it's not always definitive. When plugged in, my best sounding guitar, and my best sounding bass are not the ones that sound best to me acoustically, or resonate the most. I also saw some article recently that said more resonance will diminish the "plugged in" sound but I don't believe that either. Very interesting topic/post.

 

[Pierre Audy]

Got a Sire V7 Rosewood with round and a Fender Dimension Maple with flats and i love playing them unplugged.

At night or watching my kids playing outside the house sitting on the porch.
Just loving it

 

[castlev]

I have a bunch of basses from all different manufacturers, the one that speaks the most and fun to play accoustically is the peavey millennium. For reference I have a gibson lp bass, a warwick thumb, an esp vintage 4, and bunch of other stuff that i can't think of off the top of my head, but good gear.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

I'm genuinely interested in this... unplugged my Wal fretless still sounds exactly like you expect a Wal fretless to sound, no amplifier needed. The same for my '63 Precision, acoustically it is unmistakably a Fender Precision with the same tone you're going to hear when you plug it in. My Guild fretless, great bass though it is, doesn't have that pronounced acoustic character.

I wonder if with the classic basses it is all in the wood and build of the basic instrument, and only superficially in the electronics?

I havent bought a bass in years that I've actually plugged in until I fell in love with it unplugged. Then I only plugged them in to see if they made noise. I've left the store more often than not without even plugging in. Plugged in is easy fixing...unplugged, not so much.

 

[Jay2U]

From time to time I hit the strings of an unplugged bass. The purpose is to listen if the strings need to be replaced. I never really play my basses unplugged.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

What I hate is how I can get chords and flamenco style strumming to sound great unplugged, but as soon as I plug in at rehearsal, it all gets muddy.

Rasgueados on bass are well cool at the end of a number

 

[M.R. Ogle]

80% of my reasons for choosing a bass off a shelf is how it plays and sounds unplugged. Pickups and wiring can always be changed, the wood and how it all matches, feels and resonates together cannot.

Amen to that!

 

[Dallaspezz]

Very loud, clanky and a lot of buzz.... Damn roundwounds

 

[4001]

My Rics sound like Rics unplugged. That tone comes right through the body loud and clear. If I were to play that bass in a room without an amp and nobody could see, anyone that knows what Rics sound like would know what kind of bass I'm playing.

 

[kcandme]

My present G&L L2500 purrs when it's unplugged. One evening, me and the lady were sitting on the couch chatting while I was doodling unplugged, just doing repetitive patterns, and at some point she just stopped and started listening with eyes closed. None of my previous basses had a clear and pleasant enough tone to do this unplugged.
On a more subjective level, I'm addicted to how its body vibrates against my belly. It's a whole new experience for me, compared to my previous Ibanez.

I had an L2500 fretless. And man did that thing resonate unplugged. It was Alive! I wish I had kept it. It was enjoyable to play unplugged as well as amped, as far as the raw sound.

Additionally, I have generally played all the basses I have owned un-amped regularly. I have found my Fenders to have a kind of 'clunky' sound from string on fretboard slap. It seems that way on the better ones I've had. And I've seen it in vids of 'real' players playing non amplified.

Then I have a cheaper Fender that I have set up fretless. I enjoy the sound of it non amplified as much as amplified. It's certainly a different sound not amped. But it seems I can get a lot of tonal variation acoustically. It's just, quieter...
I wonder if part of the allure is when I get the sound from the nut side of the string when I am playing as I sometimes find gets produced.
This isn't noticed when playing amplified for obvious reasons.