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Why did you choose YOUR bass?

#61
Back in '96 I had two '94 Stingrays, both natural ash, one fretted birds-eye neck and the other fretless with Pao Ferro fb. I purchased both brand new about a year apart from Sam Ash on Queens Blvd in NYC.
Around that time, I wanted a 5-string badly because we wrote a song where I actually detune drop B (wasn't that bad actually) and didn't have the scratch for a 3rd bass.
So I was searching the classifieds in the local music papers and found a couple prospects for trade of the fretless....then I happened upon an ad for these brand new G&L L2500 basses.
I drove out to Long Island to check one out (they had only one in trans-green) and I really dug it, but green wasn't my colour. So I ordered the blueburst and it showed up within a week. Traded the fretless plus about $150 and I was a happy camper. I still have it....but I feel like I should have traded the fretted 'Ray rather than the fretless....that was the sweetest fretless I ever played to date...I guess I felt that the fretted was my #1 and the first "real" bass I ever purchased, and kept it for sentimentality.
Fast forward 18 years later, I had to sell the fretted 'Ray to help pay bills...
 
#62
I'd saved up for 12 months for a top bass and had tried a couple of things before going to London Bass Guitar Show. I didn't go down there with the intention of buying something, was open minded and maybe looking to try a few new basses.
I was one of the first few people through the door on the day, nosed at a couple of stalls... then I saw it. A Musicman Stingray 4HH in natural finish with great grain. It was tucked away in the corner on a bottom row of basses, but to me it stood out clear as day. Picked it up and played it, and loved it. By nature I'm an over-thinker so was debating while I was playing it. What made my mind up was when another guy came up and checked the price tag on the bass while I was playing it. I didn't want him to have it! And the rest is history.
 
#64
Albert Vickers said:
I sold it to a good friend who was starting to do well in 1960 then waited for the first Fender Jazz bass I could afford. However I am today fixated on single coil and split Fender P's. I have 14 right now but gotta sell them before the reaper gets me :) Not fair on my family! I have parts goiing back to the 60's. Last year sent Frank Allen, Bass of 'The Searchers' a white pick guard for his 54 P bass. it was still in 40 year old packing :)
Click to expand...

Fourteen basses?

I wish I had 14 of anything. LOL
 
#65
1. Hwy One Jazz: I'd been playing Precisions and found the neck width didn't work for me. I played a bunch of Jazzes, couldn't quite justify the cost of an American Standard, found this particular Hwy One and fell in love. It was my number one for years and I will never sell it.

2. Fretless Squier VM Jazz: I wanted a cheap fretless, simple as that. It sounded great for the money, and I've since modded it to the point that the only original part left is the body. It's my current number one.

3. Palatino upright: I wanted an upright, couldn't afford anything but the cheapest of the cheap, and for my sins I found one.

4. Rob Allen Mouse 30: Very simple ~ that tone. And they're stunningly beautiful. I also wanted a short scale fretless because I thought it would be easier to chord on. We shall see, it won't arrive until August 1st, or thereabouts.
 
#66
All of my basses have been a "right place at the right time" kinda deal. The only one I went shopping for was my first, a Vantage PJ bass. Trans red, 24 frets, matching headstock, that thing was killer. My first real bass, a German Warwick Corvette Proline '01, was given to me by a friend in high school. After that every one of my basses (and guitars now) were a killer deal I found and could not refuse. 11 basses and 3 guitars later I still can't pass up a deal. My most recent was a $20 P bass I bought off of a friend.
 
#67
1994 G&L SB1
I had cycled through a string of sub par basses and concluded that I wanted a P Bass, but was pretty let down by the Fender P's that I saw, including their price tag. I was talked into the G&L, since it was a local brand. I lived in Fullerton, CA at the time. I still play it. Looking back now, I wished I had been more hip on G&L and purchased an L1000 instead. I now have an '81 fretless L1000 and an '81/'82 fretted mahogany L1000.
Still though, the SB1 is a solid performer, and it's still my go-to bass.
 
#71
I choose my basses for their looks.
Namely,natural dark wood satin finished bodies.
No pickguards.With gold hardware.
If not,I will change out the hardare to gold.
Neck through is prefered.But not necessary.
They can be active or passive.I don't care.

I'm not really concerned with searching for a certain tone or sound.
I let each bass have it's own sound and tone.
If it's bright,it's bright.
If it's dark,it's dark.
But most are a little of both.
 
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#72
Which one?
EB-2 was one of those things that happens and turns out to be the right thing to have happened.
Fender P is a RW, which I thought was stupid until I played it and it followed me home.
Fretless Thunberbird was a losing bid on eBay that ended up being a modification platform.
Bolt-on Thunderbird was the second of its kind because I liked the first one so much and missed it.
'91 Gibson Thunderbird is proof I'm shallow, because I wanted a Gibson and then chromed it out. It's also a fantastic bass.
'01 Gibson Thunderbird is another losing eBay bid I'm glad won. It's a toss-up between this one and the '91 for which one I like best.
'15 Gibson Thunderbird has EB pickups in a Thunderbird body. What's not to like?
Gibson EB was sold but then bought back. It weighs nothing and sounds great.
Weird '60s Japanese porno-burst hollowbody should go to somebody else, but it sounds too good for me to quite let go.

Way too many. The '15 Thunderbird and '60s Japanese hollowbody are the two most likely to leave the herd. It's a small likelihood, though.
 
#73
I picked the American P-bass because I'm a huge fan of simplicity and I really think Leo nailed it right the first time -- or more specifically in 1957 when they moved over to the split-coil pickup, but the core design was there. I love all the innovations from all the different manufacturers that have come along since and I'm a fan of pretty much all bass guitars, but the old P is all I need, personally.

I picked the American version because I only need one bass guitar in my life and thusly I want my favorite version of my favorite instrument.
 
#74
when I started playing in 84, I shortly after bought my first bass; a vantage avenger MIJ P copy-32ish scale. still have it and its a great bass that's easy to play.
in fact, for 25 years that bass was my only bass (I had a short scale fretless too but that didn't see much daylight).

wasn't until 5 years ago that I acquired my first standard scale bass (34). I was clueless about basses in general and I had knowledgeable friends help me choose a 5 stringer.
I went through a ton of basses over the next few years because I needed to try different ones to find out what I liked/disliked. I have come a long way and have definite perimeters of what I like. I actively researched the differences between basses and trained my ear to hear the nuances of a P a J and everything else in between. I know a good B when I play it.

i'm not really a gear hound; I like simplicity and would rather work on my craft then fart around wheeling and dealing. I have what I like and that relieves me. guitars are tools to play music-for some people, they are a means to an end; for me, the end is making music.

my hands are not what they used to be and anything to make playing easier, I am all for it.

I realized that I am a P bass guy at heart and all of my basses are a P to some degree.

having said that, G&L are making basses that seem to ring my bell-for little money too.
 
#75
My LTD B204, I wanted a big sound natural finish 5 string, saw it, played it then had another person play it while I listened to it, had to bring it home
Squier Jaguar VM, I refused to own a Squier, then I saw the classic shape, black in color, the active bass boost made the P sound really great, straight neck, decent fit & finish, I swallowed my pride & bought it for $150
 
#76
I cut my teeth as a young player on a Kalamazoo and a Gibson EB-0 short scale. All too soon - I found myself in the US Army in Germany. I met my future band members, and I realized that I really should try and adapt to the full scale thing.

So, in late 1972 I ordered a Fender jazz with a natural ash body. I got around on it alright but I noticed that it had a number of dead spots on the D and G string between and including frets 4-7. I took some music theory classes and it got me through a couple of concerts and I also subbed as bass player for Arthur Conley's band (Sweet Soul Music).

When I got back to the states and we started rehearsing on a regular basis - the band and the virtuosity of the players was beyond my expectations. With the dead spots - the band eventually held an intervention and forced me to put the jazz bass up for sale. My singer at the time had a fireglow 4001 Rick and loaned it to me until I could figure out what to do. I was delighted and amazed that I got on much better with the Rick, not realizing that it was 33.25" scale as opposed to 34". I eventually selected my mapleglo Rick amongst over a dozen at Chuck Levin's on the Maryland side of DC. We signed our record deal and headed off to A&M Studios to record with legendary producer Ken Scott. During the recording, everything went really well until we hit the last tune called "Knee Bitten Nymphs in Limbo". The song has some pretty incredibly fast "chops" passages down in the area of the first three frets and my hand was cramping up trying to get through it.

We finished the track with a few punches, which I simply don't believe in doing. OK, punch guitar, punch keyboards, punch vocals but you can't punch "feel". Bass is pure feel if you are doing it right. There is something about the continuity of the "feel" that gets lost to me when the bass gets punched in, and I still feel that way. I haven't punched in on a track since.

So, Paul Reed Smith and I began working on the design of a custom bass together starting in 1976, which would be the 7th instrument Paul had ever built. Paul was working in batches of 7 instruments at the time and it took a little over a year to finish a batch. Since I was already having the ergonomic issues, we decided to keep it 24 frets, but make it 32.5" medium scale. I figured taking another 3/4" off the scale length might be just the ticket.

So after my bad experience with my hand cramping on "Knee Bitten Nymphs in Limbo" - surprisingly - the PRS bass arrived at A&M the very next day. I looked at that as a sign. While we were admiring it, Ken looked at me and I looked at him and he motioned me into the control room and said - bring the bass. I tuned it up and as soon as we hit the signal chain - he grinned ear to ear. He dialed through the 9 position rotary switch with obvious delight - and christened it the "Dial-A-Brew" system. I will never forget the look on his face. He said - "This bass sounds incredible - this guy Paul is going to be a very successful man". Of course, when it came to the PRS there was never any need to mention that it was medium scale. It simply doesn't matter. As Paul would say - "When an instrument is barkin' - it's barkin'."

We hit record and I nailed the tune end to end in one take. It is an obvious cliche and perhaps a vast understatement to say this bass changed my life, but it most certainly did. Passages that I wrote which were just beyond my technical grasp were suddenly a breeze to play on the PRS. It simply fit me. It felt right. It allowed me to play relaxed and stress free.

Later on, I swapped PRS #7 for PRS #11, its highly figured, more beautiful twin. It's the only bass I owned and I played it exclusively from 1978 - 1999. When my band got signed to a new record deal in 1999 I had it appraised and realized that it could never leave the house again. It was a very sad day - but only in some ways.....

:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

Please forgive the long backstory - but that is how I chose MY bass....


PRS #11 small.jpg


Although in a way, I suppose you might say it chose me....
 
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#77
BassHappy said:
So, Paul Reed Smith and I began working on the design of a custom bass together starting in 1976, which would be the 7th instrument Paul had ever built. Paul was working in batches of 7 instruments at the time and it took a little over a year to finish a batch. Since I was already having the ergonomic issues, we decided to keep it 24 frets, but make it 32.5" medium scale. I figured taking another 3/4" off the scale length might be just the ticket.
Click to expand...

The early Paul Reed Smith basses are among my favorites. I feel very lucky to have been able to see one up close at an exhibit of Paul Reed Smith instruments at a museum on the Eastern Shore years ago. I really like the new Grainger basses, too, and someday hope to own one.
 
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#78
Do I even need to say anything? :D

This was my first bass, a 1992 Fender Jazz Bass Plus V. It was my main bass for 20 years, shown here being played on stage in Atlantic City, NJ, supporting the Psychedelic Furs at the House of Blues, through my Trace Elliot V-Type head and 1248H cabinet.

On stage, Atlantic City, 2009

On stage, Atlantic City, 2009

Closeup of me playing my 1992 Fender Jazz Bass Plus V Natural Ash.

This is my 2003 Warwick Custom Shop Corvette Proline 30" scale unlined fretless cellobass (strung with D'Addario 4/4 Prelude medium tension strings, tuned in fifths CGDA). I commissioned her specifically to experiment with cello tuning.

1795403_10202608286361568_1227728854_o.jpg




And this is my 2000 Ernie Ball/Music Man StingRay unlined fretless 3-band EQ plus piezo, 玉子 (Tamako). She is now my main bass. She is my third fretless StingRay. The first was a 1995(?) Sunburst finish. The second was a 2002 Transparent Gold with matching headstock, and then I found Tamako, indentical to my second, but with piezo. I will never buy another instrument without piezo, but sadly EB/MM has discontinued the option. She is strung with Rotosound Jazz Bass RS77LD Monel flatwound strings, and I play her through a Mesa/Boogie Walkabout Scout 1x12 combo.

13522845_10208658979545116_8117458088039954617_o.jpg
 
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