What's your most versatile bass? (Include Pics!)

[Manticore]

Word.

And quite rare to boot. Cary noted there were fewer than 10 of the sixes made...

 

[Antisyzygy]

The rollers are passive tone controls for each pickup that feed into a 3 way toggle switch, then to a master volume in the lower control plate.
The tone controls only interact when switch is in the center (both on) position. The one rolled off the most controls the center tone setting.

I usually pick the P or the J for my bright tone and roll off the other one for a dark tone. Either pickup solo sounds well defined in the low end with the treble rolled off. Combining them gives less definition but a very sweet midrange bump. The J pickup is wound to be a bit warmer than the typical J bridge, so it's not too harsh or too honky solo'd.

The neck is graphite and has fanned frets (it's subtle, 35" scale on the E and 34" on the G. 12th fret is the straight one.)

Lots of mods. Bart pickups, Hiphot D-tuner, badass bridge, strat jackplate, etc... It's kinda ridiculous, but the resulting tone, playability and stability are superb.

That's pretty practical and minimalist. I like it.

Where did you get the neck? I've never heard of one subtle like that.

So you can preset your tones, then switch around. The tones are out of "getting bumped" range. The only thing you have easy access to is the volume. Encourages less fiddling. I can dig it.

Have you thought about isolating the tones? There's a thread I'll have to find where a guy proposed an alternate wiring scheme that doesn't lose the output or highs like those original 1960s jazz bass circuits.

I added stacked VT VT to my SB-2 with the capability of isolating tones and in practice it didn't produce many different and distinguishable tones except for one or two. However I was thinking with that pickup switch it might be interesting since you'd have the potential to have a bright middle sound and a dark neck sound.

 

[BassHappy]

Very difficult question for me to pick the "most" versatile.

PRS #11 is very versatile and was the only bass I owned and played for over 20 years. There is 9-position rotary switch on the custom Hi-A Beast pickup. The other pickup is the treble pickup out of my 1974 Rick 4001, rewound by Paul. The bass has 19 completely musical sounds:

My custom Viola Bass has a Line 6 Variax transplant and features 24 different basses modeled within the scheme of the electronics. Each has it's own comprehensive tone palette which duplicates the tonal configuration of the original modeled basses:

My Roscoe twins both have RMC Midi systems with 13 pin outputs to drive a variety of gear, such as the Roland bass and guitar synths, and the Roland V-Bass which opens up a world of versatility - including being able to trigger a variety of "modeled" amps - plus orchestral, or really any instrument sound you have on hand:

 

[Nev375]

That's pretty practical and minimalist. I like it.

Where did you get the neck? I've never heard of one subtle like that.

So you can preset your tones, then switch around. The tones are out of "getting bumped" range. The only thing you have easy access to is the volume. Encourages less fiddling. I can dig it.

Have you thought about isolating the tones? There's a thread I'll have to find where a guy proposed an alternate wiring scheme that doesn't lose the output or highs like those original 1960s jazz bass circuits.

I added stacked VT VT to my SB-2 with the capability of isolating tones and in practice it didn't produce many different and distinguishable tones except for one or two. However I was thinking with that pickup switch it might be interesting since you'd have the potential to have a bright middle sound and a dark neck sound.

The neck came from Moses graphite. At the time, they were just getting started with fan-fretting. They have a lot more options now. The badass was added so that the saddles could have plenty of travel to accommodate. It was the bridge they recommended.

As for elecronics, I'm all about simplicity. Before this bass I'd gravitate to one pickup, V,T and done. (My jazz bass was a Mark Hoppus modified to having a J instead of P pickup at the neck and no bridge pickup) But since I kinda wanted a Jag (To me it's just not a jaguar without that upper plate) I had 2 pickups to deal with and I wanted that upper control plate to do something. So this was my compromise and I really like how it turned out.

I originally tried the usual switchcraft slider switch as a pickup selector and was going to be an either-or, never both pickups. IME up to then I never played a PJ bass with pickups that combined well and I expected this one to be no different. But the switch was intermittent after a short time, so I changed it and the replacement was also intermittent, so I gave up on them and reluctantly went with a 3-way Gibson toggle. Best decision ever! I discovered that these 2 pups DO in-fact play nice together! As for the middle position interacting, I just never felt it was an issue worth trying to solve. I was only going for a bass where I could dial in 2 useable tones and switch between them (to fatten up during solos or go from bright to dark as needed) And I ended up with 3 useable tones. With the exception of my acoustic bass, my 12-string and my fretless which I hardly ever play, this bass retired my whole stable of basses.

 

[Nev375]

View attachment 930119 Modded CIJ Jaguar with Aguilar OBP-1 Preamp, Series/Parallel, Blend, Fralin Jazz Pickups, Hipshot D-Tuner

I like that. Another Jag with a badass! What do all your controls do?

 

[RedJag]

I like that. Another Jag with a badass! What do all your controls do?

Pretty much same as stock, except for the blend. Upper is passive/active with bass and treble controls. Lower is blend with series/parallel, then master vol/tone.

 

[mellowgerman]

I need a new camera. But in any case, this one has a Lace Alumitone Bassbar low impedance split coil in the bridge position, a 1978 Ibanez Musician single coil in the middle, and a 51 Precision Bass pickup closest to the neck. The controls are two 3-way selectors, master volume, master tone, and a high pass filter for the bridge pickup. It can get a truly remarkable range of tones.

 

[malthumb]

My Dimension Deluxe 5:

Nice! I don't remember you having this beastie. I remember the AmStd P5 and the Big Al, but not this one.

As for me....all but one of my basses are dual pickup active basses, so they are all very versatile (the exception being a '78 Ray). So my most versatile would likely be the one with the most knobs .
In all seriousness, it is my most versatile bass.

2000 Alembic Mark King Deluxe / Series II 5-string

Stroller Goat at Ford Field - Detroit

• malthumb
• Aug 17, 2014

Sound Check before playing the Monster Truck Jam pre-party

Not my bass below, but a good description of the control layout......

Alembic Series II Controls Layout

• malthumb
• Aug 17, 2014

 

[BassOnTheSide]

My '96 Hamer Cruise 5

 

[Bassa Nova]

2008 MIM Fender FSR Jazz. Does a nice warm tone with Fender 7150 pure nickel strings. Add in the bridge for some bite. My first bass.

 

[jazzyvee]

Nice! I don't remember you having this beastie. I remember the AmStd P5 and the Big Al, but not this one.

As for me....all but one of my basses are dual pickup active basses, so they are all very versatile (the exception being a '78 Ray). So my most versatile would likely be the one with the most knobs .
In all seriousness, it is my most versatile bass.

2000 Alembic Mark King Deluxe / Series II 5-string

Stroller Goat at Ford Field - Detroit

• malthumb
• Aug 17, 2014

Sound Check before playing the Monster Truck Jam pre-party

Not my bass below, but a good description of the control layout......

Alembic Series II Controls Layout

• malthumb
• Aug 17, 2014

Can I add my alembic series II 5 string to the most versatile bass thread. It covers everything I need perfectly.

The video below is of my bass being played by an alembic owner at the alembic meet I attended in 2012

 

[Ghastly]

 

[west al]

Looking REAL GOOD!

 

[Ghastly]

Looking REAL GOOD!

It's an older pic with the plastic still on everything, but I like showing it with the acoustic speaker and Bassman 500. Pretty interesting and versatile setup.

 

[west al]

It's an older pic with the plastic still on everything, but I like showing it with the acoustic speaker and Bassman 500. Pretty interesting and versatile setup.

I'd say so.

 

[felixxx]

My Lakland 55-02 is quite versatile. It's wired differently than stock. It's got serial/parallel humbucker and rear coil options. I also have a fretless neck for it, so it can become fretless if needed.

 

[west al]

Mine is the Hofner 500/1.

 

[TrevorR]

Sorry for the thread resurrection but this thread was namechecked in the Versatile Stingrays thread so I thought, "Why the heck not join in"...

For my most versatile I would name-check my Mark 1 Wal 4 String. Some folks think of Wal as just sounding like 80s Geddy or BSSM Flea or just like Justin (all of which they do) but they have so much broader a tonal palette than that. I've played so many genres (folk to pop, rock n roll to heavy rock, funk to jazz, nu-soul to reggae, worship to function bands) with this bass and it has always had a whole range of sounds which were easy to find and sat beautifully in the mix.

 

[ClassicJazz]

Without a doubt, my Fodera Monarch. I can get so many tones out of this bass due to the great Mike Pope preamp and split coil Duncan/Fodera pu’s.

 

[DirtDog]

Customized '62 reissue P (MIJ) with mods (J p/u, active electronics, concentric tone pots).

With this I have an active or passive, P or J tone (or both). Only thing it's missing is a low B, but I can live with that. I don't own the SUB anymore. Nice bass, just don't need a fiver.