Why do people like complicated basses?

[fourstringbliss]

My bass has treble, high mids, low mids, and bass on the EQ. Very versatile, but I'd trade it in a heartbeat for a Musicman Sterling. There's just something about the sound of that bass completely flat that is amazing - at least the one I played at GC. I just can't foot the $1400.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

To make newbs ask ridiculous questions like this.

This post gets my nomination for this thread's "best sarcastic response" award.

 

[rockstarbassist]

This post gets my nomination for this thread's "best sarcastic response" award.

I mean your amp (usually) has more than one knob. It usually has more than 3. Sometimes has more than 5! I guess though somewhere in the course of running a cable from your bass to amp though, that sort of common sense gets lost and you're SOL.

 

[tdub0199]

3 band with variable mids is ok with me. Allows me to leave the head alone and tweak from the bass, while playing live.

I agree here: I have an Ibanez SR706 which has five knobs and 1 toggle switch and all have a purpose and it's easy to remember where I need which knob and when.... Tonal Variety's golore....

 

[fourstringbliss]

I find that I usually leave the EQ on my bass flat. I mostly use it to adjust the tone to the room or to the amp I'm using.

 

[xxfaux_punkxx]

My bass has 5 nobs. I prefer more nobs that way I can leave my amp as is and if something doesn't sound right I can tweak the nobs to fix the sound without changing the amp settings. Not to mention the variety really helps find that sound that I love.

 

[GlennW]

Always a treat to see that old H-22 again.

Thanks, it's good for a chuckle. It worked surprisingly well like that.

Those holes in it reminded me of a thread in the Pickups forum. Somone must have been looking for the sweet spot.

 

[MatticusMania]

I want a distortion knob on my bass.

 

[cosmicevan]

i used to like complicated basses for the same reason i used to like complicated women...the thrill of trying to figure them out.

i later learned that the good part about the less complicated basses and women is that you spend less time figuring them out and more time making sweet music with them.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

Most times in small club gigs theres a backline setup...so bass players use the house amp. Without explaining myself...im sure you can see why some of us need controls on our bass instead. Not to mention...if a quick tweak during a song is needed to fill out the mix better...your hand (and maybe feet even) have to travel a lot farther to get to your amp rather than your bass in between notes. also....turning away from the crowd? In some gigs...thats just not ok.

And no...i dont bring my own because those small backline gigs dont usually pay enough. =P

That is a very good point, but that's why I bought a Sansamp RPM...I just bypass the pre-amp of the backline if I'm unsatisfied with the tone. With my Sansamp, I can just dial in a tone that I know or I'm comfortable with and go from there.

Don't get me wrong, I do see the value in an onboard EQ (heck, one of my main basses has 3 bands on it) but I prefer a simple bass with a good preamp any day, IMO. I can see where the the OP is coming from, many times I get tired of all the dang knobs on my bass lol

 

[The_Owl]

Yawn... I believe this discussion has been done to death already

 

[vinxbass]

I bought a brand new Carvin LB75AP Anniversary back in early 2008 and it took me almost 7 mths to figure out what kind of sound I wanted to get out of that bass. In the store, (Carvin Sacramento), I had no problem getting it to sound good, but when it came to playing with it in my band it drove me literally nuts trying to figure out a sound that would work for live. I finally figured it out and that was to run the bass in passive mode.

 

[Yango]

No idea.

I love my Stingray. Just one volume, one treble, one mid and one bass control. One pickup—and some awesome sound.

Simplicity at its best.

 

[spade2you]

i used to like complicated basses for the same reason i used to like complicated women...the thrill of trying to figure them out.

i later learned that the good part about the less complicated basses and women is that you spend less time figuring them out and more time making sweet music with them.

There is no guitar, bass, amp, or recording software as complicated as a woman.

 

[MKoby]

Compensation?

 

[mittens89]

i used to like complicated basses for the same reason i used to like complicated women...the thrill of trying to figure them out.

i later learned that the good part about the less complicated basses and women is that you spend less time figuring them out and more time making sweet music with them.

What a coincidence, I also like my women simple, never really noticed the similarities between a bass a woman before, interesting...

 

[lowfreq33]

I generally get "my tone" from my amp and pedalboard, and I use the eq on my bass to adjust for different songs.

Also , if you're using multiple basses the eq helps to match the tone.

 

[Simo98]

Im a fiddler, if I had more than two knobs id spend all my time twisting them to see what it sounds like and no time playing the bass.

Although I have to admit it, if I could afford one id buy/build one with as many little built in electronics as possible just to play around with.

7 band EQ, 3 pickups, volume and tone for each, and maybe a couple of built in basic effects... and a keyboard attatched for playing synth riffs.

Now I have GAS

 

[lupini]

all the EQ stuff belongs to my amp

 

[TortillaChip520]

i used to like complicated basses for the same reason i used to like complicated women...the thrill of trying to figure them out.

i later learned that the good part about the less complicated basses and women is that you spend less time figuring them out and more time making sweet music with them.

I like my women how I like my coffe; ground up and in the freezer.

Anyways, if I bump one of my knobs, that's only 20% of my knobs, whereas, if you bump one on a passive P, that's half your knobs getting messed up, my friend.