Which would you upgrade first? An amp or a bass?

[Baryonyx]

Amp. Even if you had a Status Kingbass or a Fodera Yin Yang, it would still sound like trash though a poor amp.

 

[gold_member_321]

Sure you can buy a bass with fancy 18v active electronics with 20 knobs and switches, but what could would all of that be with an amp that cant handle it, or sounds horrible.


Think of it like this, you go on a shopping spree for both bass and amp, you could either buy a Wal, Stamy, Fodera, etc., and a little 40 watt Behringer amp. OR an Ampeg 810 or a couple Accugroove El Whappos and a Squier bass.


The decision is obvious for me, even the crappiest of basses can sound good with a nicely set up amp, hands down I would upgrade my amp ( although I dont need too, but if I had to)

But this is about opinions and thats just mine.

 

[fendsboy417]

i upgraded from a small neck bass that i started out with up all the way to a fenda jazz, and in a few years im goin 4 ampeg, so i say bass, but if u play a lotta gigs go amp for better sound. definetly.

 

[Fishbrain]

i voted amp, i know this because i upgraded my bass first. what a mistake!

I had a peavey tnt 115 (or 150 i cant remember) either way it was old an crappy. then it broke and i had no money to buy a new amp cuz I'd just forked out for a warwick. so i spent 18 months of giggin about twice a week, turning up with a warwick and either getting DI'd straight to the desk, no amp, or having to lend other peoples amps. neither of which are a situation i'd like to find my self in again.

 

[FunkyFlashFive]

i say carrots cause it depends on your style, your current gear and exactly how much your willing to spend

 

[Mystic Michael]

Almost always the amp. Because more often than not, that's where most of the bottleneck lies - hence the most opportunity for improvement.

There's only so much you can upgrade an instrument, other than just putting it aside and getting a better instrument...

MM

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Ive been playing bass since 1972, and ive found ,if you keep settling for mediocre amps, you lose money,and or,are stuck with a bunch of low end furnture.i wish i hadnt bought my Fender Rumble when I got back into playing. the only thing i like about it is the RCA inputs on front, so i can play along with my CDS If the bass guitar has a good neck,and no loose wires,the amp can cover most shortcomings

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Ive been playing bass since 1972, and ive found ,if you keep settling for mediocre amps, you lose money,and or,are stuck with a bunch of low end furnture.i wish i hadnt bought my Fender Rumble when I got back into playing. the only thing i like about it is the RCA inputs on front, so i can play along with my CDS If the bass guitar has a good neck,and no loose wires,the amp can cover most shortcomings

Once you start a movement,its hard to take back a turd.

 

[Asa Samuel]

new amp, you can get whatever sound you want from a good amp, doesnt amtter if you have a crap bass (OK something like the difference from a passive to active with active EQ would be different) but you can almost always EQ the sound you want into a new amp, plus if you have a reasonable amp and bass that isnt quite as loud as you need you need a new amp not bass

 

[Hoyt]

I said Carrots. If you play alot of places where you are using the PA or a backline, a good onboard EQ can compensate for alot and is very flexible, as well as for recording. An great amp can do just as many good things for a crap bass EQ-wise, but all you are doing is making a bad bass louder. Then again, sometimes thats how people find thier sound. Dimebag Darrel played Randalls because he won them at guitar playing contests, and he found HIS sound on those (along with his own style) Alot of the greats didn't always play great gear, but now we shell out thousands of dollars to emulate our heroes, who rose to fame on the sounds of thier affordable gear. Its kinda funny. The quest for sonic glory is often mired in the depths of G.A.S. Just my two cents.

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I said bass. This is mainly because thats what I upgraded first with my gear. I had to. The string nut broke on my Fender jazz bass. My nephew ended up doing full-on upgrade of pups, preamp, string nut, and strap locks.

I think of upgrading to mean changing a part (or parts) on an existing piece of gear, not replacing the equipment entirely.

I've done both though!

 

[ao'connor17]

i regret getting a warwick befor getting a decent amp. but look for good deals. i got my ampeg b-25 from 69 and a 15 inch speaker cabinet for 75 bucks! so now im not complaining

 

[Uncle Ernie]

It's hard to play with others if you can't hear yourself, and it is hard to improve if you don't play with others. Thus, I voted Amp.

 

[mlowe]

Wow, this puzzles me a lot. Bass for me. You don't play an amp. If the bass has bad traits, you play bad traits.

OK in a gig situation amp is important but then you can mike a combo or DI.

 

[BandcaveMan]

Carrots first, dude! They're so cheap and they travel real well. Once you got some new carrots, then get a new Bass. You can always borrow someones amp, but try prying their bass out of their hands. :scowl:

________
BandcaveMan
http://www.bandcave.com

 

[SERPENT865]

I voted amp because i already have great basses , on the other hand if one has a not so nice sounding bass and a pretty good amp setup then yes a better sounding bass might be needed or just more practice time.

 

[Thor2]

A good amp can make a cheap bass sound good. But a cheap amp makes a good bass sound cheap.

+1.

that being said - you can, for a small ammount of money, do some mods to an inexpensive bass to really make it better. Not so much for a cheap amp.

Cheers,

Edward

 

[AHbassist]

when i was starting out, I had my eye set on a very expensive bass. W/no job(13 at the time) I had to do work for my parents to make any money. The band I was in at the time pushed everyone to purchase bigger amps so we could play a show(ignorance is bliss.) So I bought a loud beginner's amp. If I could do it all again, I would have waited and got the nice bass, then when it came time to play a show, use direct-in

 

[Stroppy Guts]

With a new set of strings and a decent amplifier (i.e. GK 1001RB & 412Neo Cab) I can get a squire califorian Jazz Bass to sound as good as anything you care to name.

I have many very nice basses but they all need a decent amp to cut the mustard on stage. The whole DI argument in specious because thats got nothing to do with how you sound onstage with your band, in fact the DI/FOH arguement supports the contention that a good amp makes an ordinary bass sound better because the PA is in effect being used as a big fat bass amp.

QED : we win, you lose, nuff said.

 

[Mingus]

My li'l amp stays at home, so I'd prolly upgrade the bass first - which I am in the process of doing.