What is your main bass and why?

[Smith357]

A MIM P Standard with Tapes, why? Why not?

 

[cxcxcx]

Fender P-Bass. This isn’t universal for everyone, but it’s what most people that hire me want to see and hear. Also, a P-Bass is not boring. Quite a few bassists are, though.

I’d play my Dingwalls all the time if I could, but that’s not the world I live in.

 

[seang15]

Drake Mk7. It fits perfect, plays easily, no deck dive at all and the EMG P/J pickups just make great sound. The BL lives the way it does what it does.View attachment 5288658

I dig the Countour combo! I have a Contour 2x10, with the attachment speaker (also 2x10). It's quite road worn at this point, and I love that. It's definitely taken a lickin' (flipped over thrice at a recent gig, when I was wheeling it away on a flat concrete surface, and I hit a rock and it went flying! It didn't even complain a bit.) Not something I would recommend lol, but it's built like a brick shyte house.

Great bass, too! Cheers.

 

[DirtDog]

My current No 1 is dictated by the music I'm making with my band. It's a SBMM Stingray 5. Solid machine in every way, easy to play, fits my body and hands and has the 5 string for the heavier stuff in our repertoire.

It replaces my main gigging No 1 when I retired from gigging in 2018. That bass was a 90's MIJ Fender '62 reissue Precision. Fantastic instrument that served me on hundreds of gigs - never needed a 5er for that music (trad and modern country). I was always partial to the white/red tort livery on Fender basses. So this was mine (one of three I've owned in that livery). Havily modded (P+J, updated preamp, BadAss bridge). Bought it on a whim from a friend but it was a great deal at the time and quickly became my main player.

I have few others in the stable (Fretless conversion MIM P, Epi Thunderbird, Squier Bass VI) and have owned dozens of others over the years.

If I had to narrow it down to two, it would be the SBMM Stingray 5 and the MIJ P. If I had to narrow it down to one - it would be the Stingray 5.

 

[mobeme23]

My main squeeze is my Serek Midwestern 2.
Custom made and exactly what I want/need my bass to be:

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Hello

At first i thought i needed other basses now i'm asking myself what should my main bass be and why?

I currently have:

1. Fender P (MIM) with roundwounds (sounds and feels pretty good and does that thing)

2. Fender Telecaster (humbucker 2012) with flatwounds - modified this taking the second humbucker out and replacing it with a Musicman style 90's SD)

3. Epiphone Jack Casady with flatwounds

All of them ok in their own way, but each with it's own little problem/quirks.. I want to get something else not to have a bigger collection but to have a better n1.

What is your number 1 and why?

Thanks in advance

D

Can you please upload some sound clip or video of that telebass?! My #1 has been a Squier VM telebass (see avatar) for about a decade, but I’ve always wondered what it would look and sound like with a MM pickup at the bridge.

As to your OG question, my #1 is the aforementioned Squier VM precision bass TB. Why? Well, I guess because I’ve modded it so much, and for a while it was my only bass, to the point that it feels like home. It’s the standard all other basses are compared against.

That’s not to say it started out perfect, or even is now.

I’ve converted it to fretless, had the pickup rewound, replaced the tuners with ultralites, replaced the pots & tone cap, replaced the nut with a bone one, and added a thumb rest. It plays amazingly, but I wholeheartedly admit that its tones are limited. It won’t do bright and sparkling, or clangy/gritty, and that’s ok with me. The sound I get out of it is what I consider my sound. It’s thick and woody, and it just makes me smile.


….still, sometimes I do wonder about what further mods I could make, like the MM pickup mentioned at the top hahaha

 

[burgerdj]

My main bass for rehearsal and respectable establishments is a 93 Warwick Streamer 5 strung with Pressurewounds. For dicier locations and for gigs that require a more aggressive tone, I’ll go with my 98 Streamer ProM strung up with broken-in SS rounds. The ergonomics are essentially identical, with the ProM coming in about a pound lighter.

 

[jnuts1]

Suzy is my main bass, she is a Czech made MTD Beast. She is hands down the best playing bass I have ever touched. I have played almost everything over the last 22 or so years and nothing is her equal. Every single person that has played her cannot believe how easy it is to play. I once found a Ken smith that was pretty great but the intonation wasnt as good as the fienten system and it just didnt play nearly as well.

 

[ravlin]

#1 in the middle

 

[HelpImaRock]

Squier CV Mustang with a Nordstrand pickup and LaBella LTFs. It's got the feel and the sound. Don't need more than that.

 

[Mastermold]

I don't think anyone should feel like they need to "make" a bass be their main bass... either they have a main bass or they don't. Some people have one bass they keep going back to, and others always end up going back and forth between multiple, and neither approach is wrong if it works for the player.

Personally my clear No. 1 bass is my Carvin LB70 with Aero pickups, which is well over 20 years old at this point and still works the best for me in most situations. In addition to the pure comfort factor of being this accustomed to playing the bass, it simply sounds and plays equally great almost anywhere, including both live and in the studio. For a little while I chased the concept of finding a more-boutique bass that might theoretically sound and/or play better, but after I realized that my fancy new custom Zon was still getting smoked by the Carvin in recording sessions I pretty much abandoned that concept. These days I use the Carvin for most stuff but have a few options to cover other situations where I might want a completely different sound, or just for an occasional change of pace.

I don't have a main pair of pants, nor a main bass. Just lots of ones I enjoy.

 

[kbarboza4]

I think the number one concern is "is it a joy to play," which points to both the neck and the pickups (since sitting in the mix with the tone you want for a situation has as much to do with how it feels than anything). If you can find a bass that can feel good in the situations you need it for, it might as well be your main. Personally, I tend toward JJ or PJ passives because they can usually give me the presence and punch I want...currently it's a Fender Jazz Flea signature because WOW that neck needs no effort, and it sounds great. Lacks a little hefty, but the tradeoff is that it's really light.

I'd say start by researching pickup profile, and go from there, since there are neck profiles in every tonal flavor that will feel great. Yamaha BB (I LOVE MINE), Warmoth PJ, Lakland, Sire, etc. etc.

 

[Old Blastard]

I dig the Countour combo! I have a Contour 2x10, with the attachment speaker (also 2x10). It's quite road worn at this point, and I love that. It's definitely taken a lickin' (flipped over thrice at a recent gig, when I was wheeling it away on a flat concrete surface, and I hit a rock and it went flying! It didn't even complain a bit.) Not something I would recommend lol, but it's built like a brick shyte house.

Great bass, too! Cheers.

Exactly on the Contour! It's been bounced about since 2014. At one point it fell off a hand cart and the band member toting it grabbed for it and every known went flying and the amp smacked down. Everything went back on and it played great. It takes a beating

 

[retslock]

Hello

At first i thought i needed other basses now i'm asking myself what should my main bass be and why?

I currently have:

1. Fender P (MIM) with roundwounds (sounds and feels pretty good and does that thing)

2. Fender Telecaster (humbucker 2012) with flatwounds - modified this taking the second humbucker out and replacing it with a Musicman style 90's SD)

3. Epiphone Jack Casady with flatwounds

All of them ok in their own way, but each with it's own little problem/quirks.. I want to get something else not to have a bigger collection but to have a better n1.

What is your number 1 and why?

Thanks in advance

D

I don’t have one. I have four that I rotate according to how I feel. They all sound good and are all capable of handling the gigs I do.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

I use whatever bass is needed to accomplish what I need to for that particular gig. For that night, that'll be my main.

 

[trothwell]

The bass I am most likely to use, most of the time, is my Rickenbacker 4003. I like the sound, I like the feel, and I have a particular nostalgic attachment to it that I personally enjoy.

 

[Discount Bassy]

My favorite was a G. Gould GGi-5 (fretted) for a long while, until I got a hold of a G. Gould GGi-6 fretless, which became my favorite. When my new G. Gould GGi-6 (fretted) arrives, I will have a difficult decision as to which is my new favorite, but likely it will be the one that I am playing at the time of asking.

 

[NMonBass]

The #1est of all my #1s!

My G.Gould GGi5. Hoping to obtain a GGi6 soon, and then we'll have to reevaluate things!

 

[sethlow3]

If it has to be one, it’s the Sandberg VS Superlight.
Great weight at 5.9lbs and has a nice warmth to it that my others just don’t have.
B String is also the best I’ve owned.

 

[WRM]

1st Bass purchased - B&M GL USA
2nd - B&M Deluxe P MIM
3rd - LE GL USA

The 3rd is my #1, but 2nd stays out and gets played the most....

(Edited to add the "why") I keep the MIM PJ out, and play it the most, because little dings/bumps don't "hurt" as much?...
1st and 2nd have D-Tuners, and 1st has push-pull series/parallel mod.