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What makes it modern

HMZ

HMZ

Dec 21, 2003
3,106
787
60
USA-Mineola
#1
What makes a bass modern sounding? Is it the pickups? I play mostly Fender Jazz and precision bass which IMO have a vintage sound. I'm looking to add a modern sounding bass to my arsenal. I had a Yamaha TRB five string that I loved the sound of but could not get use to it and sold it.

Please suggest a modern sounding 4 string bass. My price range will be up too $1200.00. Thanks
 
#7
In my opinion a "modern" sounding bass is defined by a top-end glassiness and upper-mids kick that usually requires some level of active reinforcement. I think the Ken Smith/Cirrus/Yamaha TRB sound is another branch of "modern" that's more niche to certain bands or atmospheres, but doesn't necessarily cover the whole term. I would definitely think that a Sadowsky JJ or Fender Deluxe Jazz, with the bridge pickup favored, and some highs added, would be "modern" to these ears.

Also IMO, things that AREN'T modern, the absence of which thus supports a modern sound, are "woodiness" and a rounder, P-Bass like tone. When I hear tone that's obviously shooting for an upright-esque sound, I consider it "vintage," even if the performer and band are a "modern" band.

For a third time IMO, your best bet for getting "modern" would be to invest in an outboard preamp for the Jazz bass - maybe look for a Sadowsky outboard pre - and learn to favor the bridge pickup, both in the signal balancing and how you anchor your thumb.
 
#8
danroche said:
In my opinion a "modern" sounding bass is defined by a top-end glassiness and upper-mids kick that usually requires some level of active reinforcement. I think the Ken Smith/Cirrus/Yamaha TRB sound is another branch of "modern" that's more niche to certain bands or atmospheres, but doesn't necessarily cover the whole term. I would definitely think that a Sadowsky JJ or Fender Deluxe Jazz, with the bridge pickup favored, and some highs added, would be "modern" to these ears.

Also IMO, things that AREN'T modern, the absence of which thus supports a modern sound, are "woodiness" and a rounder, P-Bass like tone. When I hear tone that's obviously shooting for an upright-esque sound, I consider it "vintage," even if the performer and band are a "modern" band.

For a third time IMO, your best bet for getting "modern" would be to invest in an outboard preamp for the Jazz bass - maybe look for a Sadowsky outboard pre - and learn to favor the bridge pickup, both in the signal balancing and how you anchor your thumb.
Click to expand...

I guess you're right I'm looking for more of a Ken Smith/Cirrus/Yamaha TRB sound. I'll have to check out some Peavey's next time I'm at the store...
 
#9
I think it's strange to distinguish between "modern" and "vintage" sounding basses when the vintage ones are no less common now than they were "back in the day." I certainly see where people are coming from here, though, and I can't think of a more appropriate distinction, so...

I've found that a lot of the Ibanez basses have a pretty "modern" vibe to them (any of them with the soap bar style pickups at least). They're not really my bag, but they're solidly built, and you can get a pretty nice bass without breaking the bank. Same goes for the "modern" style Yamaha basses.

I'm a BIG Peavey fan, and I'm kind of gassing for a Cirrus myself. They're great basses, and there aren't many situations in which I'd feel out of place with one.

I personally own a Spector Euro 5, and it certainly fits the soap bar pickup, active preamp, hi-fi sound description.
 
#11
sricks3 said:
I think it's strange to distinguish between "modern" and "vintage" sounding basses when the vintage ones are no less common now than they were "back in the day." I certainly see where people are coming from here, though, and I can't think of a more appropriate distinction, so...
Click to expand...

+1

"Modern" used to mean a brighter tone with roundwounds. Now almost every bass comes with roundwounds. A vintage Jazz bass can sound very "modern"... listen to Greg Lake on the old ELP albums. Sounds like a piano. That's a vintage bass with vintage pickups and Rotosounds.

People think "vintage" is all lows and no highs, but that's not right either. But basses got clearer and brighter as the bass became a more up front instrument, and you could actually hear the bass on recordings.

But even a vintage P bass was plenty bright with roundwounds.

Back in the day the style of music was different. Basses always had flats, and were not expected to be too loud in the mix. It was a supportive background role. The P bass was supposed to emulate the role of an upright bass. But then music changed and the bass guitar took on its own role, thanks to Motown and the Beatles (and Paul was inspired by Motown).

Active basses tend to be brighter because the preamp preserves the true tone of the pickups, which is always brighter then when loaded buy the cable and controls.
 
#12
To me modern sound is a result of hotter pups with better then average low bass difinition and the tone tweak that preamp gives it for lowZ output. Back in the 70's dimarzio and seymour pups where regarded by people like msyelf as a way to upgrade a basses sound to more modern one. Then of course other mfg like Ibanez, bc rich, jackson, etc started crafting their own pups to give players that more modern type sound stock. Useing effects like chorus, overdrive, etc etc could also be regarded as giving a more modern edge to bass voice back in the 70's imo. Today modern bass tone is best exemplified(?) by any with built in 2-3 band preamp onboard and non vintage voiced pups. Lol.
 
#16
GODSBASSMAN said:
No preamp = vintage
Preamp = modern
Is this pretty much "it" ?
Click to expand...

Um no. "Vintage" has to do with a bass tone that has history. Js. Ps, etc. all fall in the category. But a preamp can be set "flat". The front end of your amp is a preamp! You can plug in a vintage bass and get a vintage tone. My Fender Deluxe is active but if you set the EQ flat the passive sound just goes right through unchanged. So it's not just a preamp that does it.

"modern" has to do with the kid of tone. Soapbars are part of it. But also it is a sound that people call "hi fi". That means that the tone has all ranges of frequencies coming through plainly from deepest lows to the highest highs where you can almost hear the rust particles on the strings! Often this sound is augmented with specialized EQ inside the bass. My Conklin is a perfect example. It's filled with EQ, peakers, filters, and the like that let you pull and stretch various frequencies until you get that "hi fi" kind of sound. I"m not saying that these circuits MUST be in the bass. An external preamp or even your amp, if it has enough knobs, could do it too. It's the tone that counts. The thing is that basses with all this built in usually ALSO have the rest of the things you need for a "modern" tone too.

So like many tone preferences, there is a lot of subjective judgment here, but it's not just the presence of a preamp that makes a "modern" tone, but more how you use it. Like everyone has said, even a passive "vintage" jazz can sound "modern" with rounds, and some EQ on a preamp or the amp. On the other hand my Conklin with flats run through an SVT probably would sound pretty "old school".
 

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