remember with all the good advice you have received that a good player makes a good bass. I know so many guys who have the funds to buy great basses and have no spirit or skill in there playing. Work on your art and almost any decent instrument played with spirit, soul and skill will blow away some moron with deep pockets sucking on a Fodera.
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What makes a good bass?
- Thread starter charic
- Start date
A good bass to me is one that is balanced. Where you can play any where on the neck with little or no pressure on your fretting hand thumb. One that is setup where you dont need to kill yourself fretting a note. Good pickups/ placement and string spacing. Toneful, Versatile..
Schecter makes a good bass
G&L makes a good bass
Stingrays are good basses
Schecter makes a good bass
G&L makes a good bass
Stingrays are good basses
I think this can be split in three.
what makes a bass sound good
what makes a bass handle good
what makes a bass look good
they are not very linked to each other IMO.
My choice would be playability and ergonomics first. Sound later. Looks even later.
what makes a bass sound good
what makes a bass handle good
what makes a bass look good
they are not very linked to each other IMO.
My choice would be playability and ergonomics first. Sound later. Looks even later.
what makes a bass sound good?
well...its opinionated, but the wood and pickups and size and design shape the tone. i am a fan of listening to it unpluged...this is what the pickups have to work with so might as well like it
Handle good?
well thats mainly about balance and neck i think
Look good?
completly opinionated.
i personally take sound first, playability at a CLOSE second and looks is a non-issue to me...but having a good looking bass is always a bonus.
as a side note...look at the people willing to deal with the neck dive on the thumb bass or the thunderbird because they like that tone. BUT some people like that tone and are unwilling to deal with neck dive
well...its opinionated, but the wood and pickups and size and design shape the tone. i am a fan of listening to it unpluged...this is what the pickups have to work with so might as well like it
Handle good?
well thats mainly about balance and neck i think
Look good?
completly opinionated.
i personally take sound first, playability at a CLOSE second and looks is a non-issue to me...but having a good looking bass is always a bonus.
as a side note...look at the people willing to deal with the neck dive on the thumb bass or the thunderbird because they like that tone. BUT some people like that tone and are unwilling to deal with neck dive
artistanbul said:
I think you are on to something my friend. I have read here that some people have even sold great sounding instruments because they didnt play or feel right. If you love the way your bass looks though, you might play and sound better because you know you look cool on stage
To me, a "good" bass is something that can compete with something which cost a lot more than it. I, like many people, still have payments on a car and junk so I put a lot of time finding the right bass for the right price. My Wasburn Force, IMO, competes with some very high priced basses, which makes for a good bass. But, get what feels best for YOU, not the people who's gonna be reading the logo on the headstock.
In the time that I've been here, I've noticed that, (and I'll be vague, since everyone's specifics are ever changing, depending on who you ask...) type of wood is a really big factor in the quality and sound of a bass. Density seems to be able to change or determine tone of a bass, somewhat, and in doing so, even determine what sound the pickups will be trying to reproduce.
This is true, also for the neck, since it is essential that it's a stable wood and able to withstand the stress of the string tension.
Then there's the hardware that has to be reliable enough to hold, and adjust the strings to the proper tension and distances without any variation after being properly set.
Then there's the pickups, that will be the sole enterpretive factor between the sound of the wood and the sound that's sent to your amp; (That's a whole 'nother book...)
THEN, if you have active electronics, there's the eq factor and looking for the best of the best to boost the sound your pickups are sending out.
After that comes the amp, and the playing ability of the bassist/bassplayer,
which can make or break a good bass, sometimes
, but that's not the question.
That's my take on it IMHO.
This is true, also for the neck, since it is essential that it's a stable wood and able to withstand the stress of the string tension.
Then there's the hardware that has to be reliable enough to hold, and adjust the strings to the proper tension and distances without any variation after being properly set.
Then there's the pickups, that will be the sole enterpretive factor between the sound of the wood and the sound that's sent to your amp; (That's a whole 'nother book...)
THEN, if you have active electronics, there's the eq factor and looking for the best of the best to boost the sound your pickups are sending out.
After that comes the amp, and the playing ability of the bassist/bassplayer,
which can make or break a good bass, sometimes , but that's not the question.That's my take on it IMHO.
playability and ergonomics also improves the sound. because you can key better, you can chord better, you can bend better and etc. the bass with the world's best potential sound that everybody agrees upon, with an unplayable build is not a good bass.. but something sad.
