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When someone says workhorse...

T

TheMightyQuinn

Dec 26, 2005
145
1
Minnesota
#1
...what bass pops into your head?

What bass do you think is the ideal piece of gear for the hard working, hard gigging player? What bass can take a hit, be dropped, or otherwise go through hell and back and come out of the fire still ready to rock? In other words, what does everyone think the ultimate workhorse bass is?

(BESIDES the tried and true P and J :D)

This is not a "what-bass-should-I-buy" thread. I'm just curious! :hyper:
 
#6
If by "workhorse" you mean tough -- able to take punishment -- then I'd say the Steinberger L-series basses or other graphite-necked basses. You can inflict a pretty major amount of abuse on some of them with few ill effects other than cosmetic damage.

The Peavey T-40 is pretty solid, too. Heavy, but solid.

But if by "workhorse" you mean produces a classic tone that other musicians love, then (aside from the P and J basses) the one that pops into my head is Stingray, which is pretty tough, too.
 
#8
I'd say that nowadays... with the playing field leveled out by inexpensive overseas luthiery... anything under about $800 can be considered a "workhorse" when it comes to durability (note: not playability).

And no matter what the brand name on the headstock is, it'll probably be loaded with a P pickup, a couple of J pickups... or a combination of those (even disguised as soapbars!), so choice of tonality is actually a luxury option nowadays, best left up to the player!
 
#12
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=254954

Here's some pictures of this fantastic, always reliable instrument:

FenderPowerJazz002.jpg


FenderPowerJazz003.jpg


FenderPowerJazz004.jpg
 
#14
G&L (mine doing fine ), my squier, stingrays, don't own one, but seen olp's and rays that have been through hell and everything worked fine, just wanted pup replaced, so I did it. hmmm. all of the sabre's i've seen apear to be in pretty good condition electronics, neck condition wise, finish beaten to hell though.

basically any passive bass should be a solid work horse with a good setup.
 
#17
believe it or not, the higher production model schecters play pretty well as workhorses for cheap. I played a Sterling for a 5 day a week gig for a few months and it did fine except for the one time a battery went out in the middle of a song.

However, for a workhorse, I'll take a good J anytime for the record.
 
#20
TheMightyQuinn said:
...what bass pops into your head?

What bass do you think is the ideal piece of gear for the hard working, hard gigging player? What bass can take a hit, be dropped, or otherwise go through hell and back and come out of the fire still ready to rock? In other words, what does everyone think the ultimate workhorse bass is?

(BESIDES the tried and true P and J :D)

This is not a "what-bass-should-I-buy" thread. I'm just curious! :hyper:
Click to expand...

Modulus!! had mine since 1991 other than putting strings on it.. you could leave it out all night in a snow bank and bring it in and play it..
 

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