• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Why did you choose YOUR bass?

#21
Early 2004 I came into some money as a way of helping my credit situation. I ended up spending this money on a guitar rig. While I was at the store though, I looked at the bass section. There was where I saw her.

To my unenlightened mind, she was a Thumb with the wood choices of a streamer. "This is the thumb I want if I stick to bass" I told my friend. The cream colored wood stood out among the browns and reddish oranges of the rest of the Warwicks on their wall. She cost as much as my entire guitar rig that they were currently packing up... Well, everything has its time I thought.

Flash forward about 10 months to December 2004. I had already made a choice to stick with bass. Then I saw her again. This amazing angelic looking thumb bass was on Warwick's page, and it was a limited edition from 2003! Crap, I knew I had messed up.

Well, I don't trust Ebay. I didn't know Talkbass yet. I looked for a year for her around my area. I looked in a few states adjacent to me while on several vacations. I finally found one. I was coaxed into trying it out by a Talkbass member, I found the site specifically to ask buying advice. I tried her out, and with my new skills, she sang more beautifully than I remembered the year before. I took one last shot at trying all the basses the store had in my price range, and decided to bring her home.
 
#23
Common Traits of My basses:

1. Call me vain but my basses have to look great...preferably with a nice maple top. A great looking bass makes we want to play more.

2. I have always been particular to a neck-through but it seems that many high-end builders are dealing only in bolt-on these days so I am trying to change since I can't afford most of the neck through brands I like anymore. There is something about the feel of an instrument that blends seamlessly. I also think it shows a higher level of skill in the luthier.

3. A thin neck profile since I play a 6

4. Moderately spaced strings
 
#24
The short story: Almost 8-9 years ago I saw a Zon Sonus hanging on the wall of a small guitar store. Asked the sales guy if I could try it out. He said sure, and so I did. There was nothing about it I didn't like. It was everything I wanted in a bass and after playing it, playing the basses that I had (Fender Jazz, Warwick Corvette Pro 5) seemed all "wrong". But I couldn't afford a Zon at the time and over the years I tried to find a bass that came close to it. Last year I finally stopped fooling around and got one. It won't be my last Zon, thats for sure!
 
#25
Chris2112 said:
My Kubicki? I spotted it for sale on Bassworld.co.uk. I didn't expect to be able to meet the price being asked for it, but since the thread didn't state a price I emailed the seller asking him what he wanted for it. When he said £700 I was stunned! I managed to talk him down to £600 and just over a year later, it's still my #1 bass!
Click to expand...

Geez Chris, you drive a hard bargain !!
 
#26
i started out on a loaner black Japanese P Bass which was fine then I saw a Jazz Bass and demoed one.
I fell in love with the shape but also the neck was manna from heaven
it fit my hands like a glove
so it became my dream bass and when the opportunity came in a used guitar store i bought it

now im kinda gasing for a P Bass again tho LOL
 
#27
after realizing that the grass is always greener on the other side... i put an end to the cycle:

i looked for a simple, beaten up bass...

what i found was a Lyle Jazz Bass-- looked like it got kicked every time it's owner came home from work-- it still worked though

so i bought it for $50 and put some Bartolini pick-ups on it and have been happy ever since.. good intonation.. good sustain.. not the greatest range of tone and not the best action but it works and that's all that matters
 
#28
because I'm a lefty, and us lefty's have a horrid selection. It comes down to Fender Jazz basses, or Yamaha entry level basses. Maybe 1 out of 10 of the basses out there at guitar stores; aren't either of the two. I have a Peavy BXP Millenium series 4 string that I fell in love with (which is not hard considering what else there is available) then I started doing LOTS of research, and found out there was this company called "Conklin" that makes awesome lefty basses, in 4,5 and 7 string.

I was saving up and saving up, then when I was about to buy it: it was discountinued. So I tracked down a used one on ebay, and that was that.
 
#29
Well, I wanted a Stingray, but I was only 14 and couldn't afford one so my mom bought me an OLP for christmas. Then I realized all my favorite bass players were using P-basses or just fenders in general. So for my 16th birthday I went to GC and looked for a Fender I could afford. All they had in MIM were jazzes and since they are $50 more than a P, I thought I was out of luck. Then I saw a black MIM P hiding in the corner and I was able to talk the price down a bit, it was mine!!! I've had it for 3 years now, its had a few mods, namely Quarter Pounders and a tort guard, but I love it!!!

4
 
#30
I've bought quite a few basses in the last couple years, but my favorite bass right now is (of course) my newest toy, an Ibanez BTB06. It was hanging on the wall at the local store, and it reminded me of a Modulus Quantum or something :D I was sure it cost a couple thousand at least, so I grabbed it down and checked out the price tag - $410 (heh heh all right!)

So it was love at first sight, combined with the fact it's a limited edition. And plus... just look at it!

Link Removed
Link Removed
 
#31
I used to choose a bass mainly by its looks. If it happened to sound good too, that was a bonus. As I got better I became more attuned to the subtleties (and faults) of an instrument and accordingly, the feel became increasingly important to me. My expectations rose higher and higher until eventually, aesthetics took a back seat to sound and feel. Now I choose an instrument based on a lot of things including quality and evenness of sound, resonance and articulation, neck profile, finish, weight, electronics and a whole slew of other things. When all those things come together in harmony the instrument tends to stick out and "speak" to you.

Up until last year, my unanimous choice was a Fodera 6 string. It has awesome resonance and a huge, beautiful sound. Other Foderas I've owned/played have had great upper registers but the mids and lows always left something to be desired. That made them great for taking solos but not so hot when I just wanted to play 'bass'. I look for these traits in the instrument first rather simply just boosting the lows/mids at the amp to try and compensate. At the store, I hadn't even plugged it in yet and as soon as I plucked one note I knew there was something special about it. There's a certain depth to the notes that I look for and this bass has got it in droves! Only thing is, it weighs a ton. Literally. It's a shame I don't play it more often because it nearly realizes my ideal tone.

Earlier this year I visited the Sadowsky shop and instantly fell in love with an NYC 5-24 with P/J pickups. I've never been much of a fan of P/J's but the way this bass sounded and played, I didn't care what color it was, what it looked like, what pickups were in it, nuthin! :D
It has all the evenness and authority of the Fodera but with half the weight plus a more managable neck. It performs equally well while soloing or just layin' it down and I now realize that's what I've been looking for all along. As long as it articulates well and isn't too heavy, I'm happy. :cool:
 
#34
Went in, looking for a Geddy, played the Geddy, loved it, almost bought it, but at that moment they pulled a beautiful Jazz 24 out of a box, and I just HAD to try it out.

So I take the Geddy back to the rack, and plus the Jazz 24 Deluxe in, and WOW. Love right there from the first time I even touched it.

Played right, sounded right, and it just looked soo awesome, so I had to have it. Plus ot cost about 50$ less than the Geddy.

Makes me happy that I went to the store later than I had originally inteded, or else I would have never even seen that Jazz, and bought it.

Picture039.jpg
 
#35
I presently have three basses...two Karl Hoyt basses and a MIM P Bass.

I'll start with the P Bass... I was at GC with a friend of mine at lunch one day and while walking around the store he saw a used Red MIM P on the wall and pointed to it.

I tried it out and found that the neck had way too much relief in it, but liked the way the profile felt. I figured that with GC's 30 day return policy, I could mess with it at home and see how well it would play when set up. 1/4 twist of the truss rod later and it's wonderful! Other than installing a DiMarzio Will Power Middle pickup, adding knurled knobs and putting DR Hi-Beams on it, nothing else has changed.

I saw that Karl Hoyt (who I knew of when I subscribed to The Bottom Line) was selling a mongrel Hoyt neck-Warmoth J5 on eBay. It closed with no bids. Sometime later I was asking Karl about something else and asked what ever happened to that bass. He had parted it out, but still had the body. We worked out a deal for a complete bass (neck to my specs.) but without electronics. I ended up getting EMGs from Dude at Vintage Bass Trading Co which, as it turns out, he got from Karl in a trade...they were the same pups and pre that Karl had in it when it was his gig bass.

My 4 string Hoyt was another eBay bass. It too is a non-traditional Hoyt although Karl made this entire instrument. It has an amazing punch to it and plays like butter. At the Chicago GTG, Lonnybass commented that it felt like the Fodera Monarch Wooten bass that was hanging on the wall. The similarities are quite amazing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrummerwStrings
#37
My two year long search for a new bass ended recently with the purchase of a Jerzy Drozd fretless Legend 6-string. I played a friend's Jerzy and liked what I heard (also tried MTD, Fodera, Smith, and Ritter, to name a few) so I took a chance and had Luthier's Access Group ship the Legend to me for a tryout: Bingo!

Among other things, I play in a fairly traditional R&B band where I need something big, round, and punchy-sounding for deep-in-the-pocket Jamerson-type grooves, but I'm also working with a few like-minded players on a progressive rock/fusion project that requires a distinctive, complex, modern sound that really holds its own in a busy, fast-paced mix. It also has to sing like a human voice when played legato, have the ability to sound almost fretted when played staccato if the situation requires, and sustain all night long.

Unlike a lot of players, I prefer to cozy up to one particularly fine sounding, articulate, versatile bass and make its voice my own, rather than constantly switching and adapting to a huge variety of less flexible instruments.

This bass really nails the sonic attributes I'm after, the thin, asymmetrical neck and low action make it ridiculously easy to play, and the ergonomics and balance are spot-on. It's the lightest bass I've ever owned (well, there was a Hofner Beatle bass in my stable long, long ago, but it was anything but versatile, and it had all the sustain of a tuba), and unless your tastes are rooted in the 50's it's easy on the eyes too.

I bought and sold my last mass-produced bass over 25 years ago and never looked back. They definitely have their place, but for me, the only way to get the unique sound(s), playability, versatility, ergonomics, and quality of materials and construction I need all in one instrument was to look to the top luthiers who continue to redefine the state-of-the-art.

IMG_0033exsm.jpg
 
#38
I didn't choose most of my basses. They chose me. For years the only bass I played was this highly modified 76 Precision. Had a couple others at times, but I got rid of them or broke them. Then I had a couple basses made for me, and I had no choice but to buy them. Sweet basses, though, and I kind of knew what I was getting, so I did good with them. Next I built a Fender P clone out of cheap parts I bought off Ebay. Turned out surprisingly good. The next three basses I bought off Ebay, and two of them are now my main basses.

So I have a lot of basses that I had no clue what I was getting, but in all cases I got really good basses that I love using, so most of my basses did, in fact, choose me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: malthumb

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back