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WHEN YOU BUY A BASS (% question!)

#41
My last bass purchase was a fretless Jerzy Drozd Legend six-string. I'm not a gear-churner; I graduate up to a new bass every decade or so and make its voice my own, so I'm extremely particular about every detail of its tone, form, and function.

  • Aesthetics: 25%. A good handmade bass can be a work of form-follows-function art. Hand-selected tonewoods, flowing ergonomic contours, and the highest level of fit & finish can add up to a thing of beauty, assuming that the luthier’s design acumen, aesthetic sensibilities, and workmanship are up the task. I find musical expression too important and life too short to settle for outdated designs, plastic cover-ups, spray-painted bulk lumber, and mass-production shortcuts.

  • Feel: 25%. I’m willing to give or take a millimeter or two of string spacing if everything else is in place, but I won’t accept a chunky neck profile, poor balance, poor upper-register access, arbitrarily limited range (less than five strings or 24 stops), or even slightly compromised ergos. I play fretless exclusively, so excellent fingerboard surfacing and a large (16” to 20” minimum) radius are must-haves.

  • Tone: 25%. This ties into aesthetics for me. If the wood selection and build quality aren’t up to snuff, the tone usually suffers; they both contribute as much as electronics and hardware to the tone of the instrument. For me, good tone means clear, punchy, articulate, and complex, with a nice balance between hifi and organic.

  • Weight: 25%. I won’t buy anything over nine pounds. The semi-hollow Jerzy weighs around eight pounds, and I’ve never played a more comfortable bass.
 
#42
For me, the right parameters aren't all there. I also look at cost, heritage and company reputation, collectability & potential for appreciation. I personally won't buy an instrument that I'll lose money on anymore - it just doesn't seem like there's a need to. There's a ton of good, playable instruments out there and I don't think I've played an instrument in years that actually was the limiting factor in my playing - so might as well buy ones that can also be rationalized as "fair" investments. But, they certainly need to have aesthetic appeal, and feel right too - that's probably the first test. As I think was mentioned previously, tone is such an easy thing to address, it's not a big issue (for me).
 
#44
Lately I am totally shallow and aesthetics is up to around 80% I have a plan for what basses I want and when. If I am after a P, I know what my next one will look like and who will make it. If I am after a J or a p/j, same deal. If I buy one on a whim, aesthetics is even higher because that is almost always due to the way the bass looks unless the price is ridiculously stupid low....but price is not a choice......so

Normally though, and in developing that plan it goes like this - and in this order -

tone 35% This is where I decide what bass type or brand
aesthetics 35% This is what color, neck etc the tone bearing bass will have
feel 25% As this is a no brainer once the other two are decided, all I need to do is find one that feels good to my hand.
weight 5% Only because if she is made from a heavy wood etc, I will need a wider padded strap, or if one is heavy and one is light due to woods etc, the tone takes over

I hope this makes sense.....
 
#45
aesthetics ...1%
feel ...60%
tone ...30%
weight ...9%

I don't much care what the bass looks like, as long as it plays and sounds great. As far tone, I want the bass to sound as good unplugged and well as amped. If it sounds like junk unplugged, the best pickups won't help.
 
#47
aesthetics ..50
feel ..25%
tone ..25%
weight ...0%

Every bass I have ever played has felt good in my hands. Different, yes ,but good. I 've never felt that any solid, straigt neck I've played would have kept me from buying a bass. I can play just the same on any neck. My lefthand technique is not affected by a different shape of neck, or any feel issues. Tone is not an issue. I play a lot of various types of music and as long there is a decent bass tone, they have all had a place somewhere. I can take any bass anywhere and jam with anybody. Sure, some basses sound different than others and may fit the genre better, but If you play well and have fun doing it, tone has never been an issue with me. Weight is a non issue for me as well. I've never played a bass that the weight was a turn off for me. If it's heavy, this has always in my opinion been equated with a bassier, deeper presence. Besides, my longest gigs were 4 hours long with a 15min. break between each set. At practice, I use a stool. But I can be picky about how a bass looks. I tend to like more traditional approaches in terms of body shape. I play a Warwick 'vette now, but have had Fenders, Yamahas,
Peaveys etc..But if this were about g****rs, Tone would be probably 95 percent of the equation!
 
#49
Aesthetics 50% It must look spectacular with a fantastic finish (to me)
Feel 30% The feel of the neck is crucial
Tone 20% I like passive pu's/active 2 or 3 band EQ
Weight 0% They are usually close to around 9 lbs anyway

I've always loved long horns, and FM or QM, and Burst. Narrow necks a must. There are many great basses that fit into this bracket.
 
#51
Feel 35%
Tone 30%
Aesthetics 10%
Weight 25%

To be honest at my level of playing I can't be too picky about what I choose to play, simply because I have to go with a) what I can afford and b) what I can get hold of.


I'm lucky in that both my main basses, especially my Shergold, are pretty good for tone and looks.
 
#52
Feel 25%
Tone 40%
Aesthetics 35%
Weight 0%

I could care less about weight, whether its 8 lbs or 15 lbs, if it's strapped over my shoulder that much weight isn't much. Weight is definitely the very last thing I care about. I ordered a new custom bass, didn't even ask about weights. If it really became a problem then I'd need to exercise more.

Tone for obvious reasons

And I care about how it looks. Lots of people don't, but if it sounds good I want it to look the part.

Feel: what good is that tone if it feels awkward

actually, upon further note, tone means even less than looks/feel to me since pre-amp and pickups can always be changed.
 
#53
ibanezcollector said:
aesthetics - 0
feel - 20
tone - 80
weight - 0
Click to expand...

Not a knock, but looking at your avatar, you do favor the look of Fender-style instruments. You also do relic jobs (which I find cool). Surely that merits some points for aesthetics?

Here's how my criteria would look like:

Aesthetics - 35
tone - 35
feel - 25
weight - 5
 
#54
aesthetics - 25%
feel - 30%
tone - 30%
weight - 15%

I was in a music shop a month or so ago, and was playing a wine red (sunburst kinda thing) Yamaha BB414 i think, i really liked the colour and the sound, (it felt solid, but not heavy, i liked that...) i just disliked the body shape and general look enough to put it down and walk away, it just wasn't to my taste.

Saying that... now I'm looking back on it on the net, it's definitely growing on me!
 
#57
feel 40%
tone 30%
aesthetics 1% (no florescent or pastel colors - other than that I don't care)
weight 29% (this includes balance)

After 2 car accidents (the most recent 30 days ago) weight is much more of a factor now - in fact it probably wasn't a factor at all before the first time I got hit. Price is also a factor for me, in that I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for a bass that plays better (to me).
 
#58
aesthetics 40%
feel 20%
tone 40%
weight 0%

and to add cost 0%

I dp admit I want my basses to please me visualy in a large part, but I do believe how you percieve yourself with the instrument plays a big role in all other parts of being a bassplayer.atleast it does to me.
feel is something Ive noticed I can adapt to (from owning baseball batted 30" 4 strings to thin 35" %strings) and sometimes preffer a bass to be uncomfortable in that sense to give me that extra physical edge or whatever you wanna call it.
Tone is ofcourse a huge issue, and no matter how much I may agree with the whole "tone is in your finger theory, I cant back it 100%. electronics and wood can change any set of ingers on this plannet!:D
And Im lucky to be young enough not to worry about the weight issues of my basses!cabs are another story...:D
 

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