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Why do people like complicated basses?
- Thread starter mittens89
- Start date
I personally would want to have no knobs and just put everything into place from the inside and leave it alone. But I can always see the advantage of playing with it on the bass. Get the bass to match another bass you have? Have different bass tones on 2 of the same bass without having to switch the amp every time? But there are always other ways to do it too. Stomp box EQ? Rack EQ with selector switch? Mode selector switch for your amp? It's just 1 way out of many to change your sound. I don't think anything about it is difficult either. It's only a few things on there. If you can play music, then a few knobs and switches shouldn't be the most difficult challenge for you. =P
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
bah! don't get me started...and propane - another travesty! Dagnabbit, we cooked food the old fashioned way.
And another thing...you were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t' mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.
Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at six o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of 'ot gravel, work twenty hour day at mill for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would thrash us to sleep with a broken bottle, if we were lucky!
Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to 'ave to get up out of shoebox at twelve o'clock at night and lick road clean wit' tongue. We had two bits of cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at mill for sixpence every four years, and when we got home our Dad would slice us in two wit' bread knife.
Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah.
And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you.
It's [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], somewhere on their site, there's a thread detailing what the switches do. As I recall they change various high, band, and low pass filter settings. If I find the thread, I'll post it later.
When it gets to more than two pickups, four controls and a pickup switch is when I start having problems. To this day I still have no clue what the 4th position on my old EB-3L pickup switch was for. 
It's only complicated if you don't know what they do. My two favorite basses are pretty much opposites. One's a P bass- it's got a knob that makes it quieter and another that makes it less bright. The other's a Lakland 4-94 that's got five knobs and two switches (not counting the four options with the DIP switch inside). Why do I like 'em? Because they sound good. The Lakland offers a wide range of very very useful sounds without a lot of putzing around. The P nails some very important sounds.
But moving between different settings is pretty easy on the Lakland. Knowing what the knobs do and carefully listening while you're learning the instrument allows you to know what's going to happen when you touch a knob. And I've never "bumped" a knob and lost any carefully set combinations. My hand stays on the strings unless I'm changing something on purpose. Most of the changes are nudges, not rolling anything except the pan knob.
YMMV
But moving between different settings is pretty easy on the Lakland. Knowing what the knobs do and carefully listening while you're learning the instrument allows you to know what's going to happen when you touch a knob. And I've never "bumped" a knob and lost any carefully set combinations. My hand stays on the strings unless I'm changing something on purpose. Most of the changes are nudges, not rolling anything except the pan knob.
YMMV
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
It also has an input for a power supply as well, IIRC.
This briefly tells you about some of the electronics..
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
As a computer programmer, I see technically inferior people all day every day.
I'm not saying more knobs equals technical superiority, but what I don't get is why people want to broadcast that they can't handle a bunch of options.
As for accidentally hitting a switch/knob, not sure what to say about that. Not a problem I ever had.
J-retro deluxe, all the way.
I'm not saying more knobs equals technical superiority, but what I don't get is why people want to broadcast that they can't handle a bunch of options.
As for accidentally hitting a switch/knob, not sure what to say about that. Not a problem I ever had.
J-retro deluxe, all the way.
Well, in my case it's not a case of can't (despite my previous protestations) it's more matter of why should I if I feel I don't need it, and that all those knobs and switches are, IMO, overkill.
My emphasis added. To me, that has the possibility to complicate more than on-board active controls. I'm not the best bassist, but my fine motor skills in my hand are better than with my foot.
Once you know what the switches and knobs do and how they impact your tone it's easy to tweak them. My Smith has 2 switches and 5 knobs and my new Xotic has 6 knobs and 2 p/p pots. I don't have any trouble using them at all.
Wow, a long thread.
For me, I don't care one way or the other. Does the bass sound good? Who cares how many knobs and switches it has.
I do find that over time my taste in tone changes, lately I've been running the tone wide open on my P basses while for quite a few years I set them around 50% up instead. I've also been using less bass boost on the amp...
I've owned a couple of basses with lots of knobs, I used to just dial in something I liked and pretty much leave it for months.
For me, I don't care one way or the other. Does the bass sound good? Who cares how many knobs and switches it has.
I do find that over time my taste in tone changes, lately I've been running the tone wide open on my P basses while for quite a few years I set them around 50% up instead. I've also been using less bass boost on the amp...
I've owned a couple of basses with lots of knobs, I used to just dial in something I liked and pretty much leave it for months.
I like mine straight to the jack also. No pots in the system at all. I do see the advantage of having a lot of knobs and switches. They give a poor bass player something to do during those long drum solos. 
I actually agree - but I do see the value of having on-bass EQ so you can adapt to stage situations without having to run back to the amp.
Normally, I start *every* gig with all my EQ dead flat, then tweak as the night goes on. But you are right - too many controls just distracts from playing, which is the whole point, right?
I am not sure who is telling you to or why you feel you need to. Is there somewhere that has happened?
I like apples AND I like oranges. In other words .....
I have a Precision and I love its simplicity and I also have a Stingray as well as an FNA Jazzman that I just got yesterday and I love their versatility.
Nice to have choices!
I have a Precision and I love its simplicity and I also have a Stingray as well as an FNA Jazzman that I just got yesterday and I love their versatility.
Nice to have choices!
