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Why do people like complicated basses?
- Thread starter mittens89
- Start date
Depends on what you consider complicated. Guitar players don't think the Strat is complicated but if you transfer those types of controls to a bass (a la the Godin Shifter, let's say) then we get all freaked out. Simple is good but I don't often see a bass player switching axes in mid song so he/she can get the sound they want. Ergo, it helps somewhat to be able to change your sound on the fly (up to a point, of course). I once owned a Fender CIJ Jaguar guitar and it has a bunch of weird switching options that were kind of daunting at first...I say "at first" because once I knew what they all did and how to apply them, it was pretty easy.
On my Conklin, the controls are master vol, mag blend, piezo mag blend, passive tone, bass, mid treb. The switch is a mid frequency selector.
On my CB Rami 6, the controls are master vol, blend, passive tone, bass, high mid, low mid, and treb. One switch is for Audere's Z modes. Hi-z, Mid-z (off), and Lo-z. The other two switches are wiring selectors for each pickup in parallel, series, and split.
I have an active bass, Highs, lows, vol and blend, I find this is not enough for what I do. To answer the OP's question for why one needs lots of knobs, I have a synth pedal and I need to change the lows, highs and mids to make it sound half decent.
I like being able to adjust my sound right on the bass, rather than messing with the amp. I sometimes play through my amp and other times play through an MFX processor, and would much rather adjust my sound on the bass than either of those - especially when rehearsing or playing live.
I have a bass with Nordstrand Big Split soapbars and an Audere 4-band preamp. I plan on installing a Nordstrand MM pickup between the Big Splits and working out the wiring so that I can chose either of the Big Splits, the MM in parallel/single coil/series modes, and blend the two pickup systems. That's a lot of options but I like to have my options open.
It should look something like this when I'm finished:
To clarify, I was just commenting on your statement "I don't get why people want to broadcast that they can't handle a bunch of options. " I was making a remark about the "Can't", and your implication that those who don't care for the more complicated instruments are somehow "technically inferior" (your words).
On my Conklin, the controls are master vol, mag blend, piezo mag blend, passive tone, bass, mid treb. The switch is a mid frequency selector.
On my CB Rami 6, the controls are master vol, blend, passive tone, bass, high mid, low mid, and treb. One switch is for Audere's Z modes. Hi-z, Mid-z (off), and Lo-z. The other two switches are wiring selectors for each pickup in parallel, series, and split.
What is "mag blend?" Sorry if these are stupid questions.
Magnetic pickup. In the boutique/ERB realm, basses can have either magnetics, piezos, or both. Often, there will be blend knobs and a master volume, but sometimes guys will opt for a volume knob for each.
I know. But your initial post and title calls all basses with a certain number of knobs 'complicated'. Im coming from the same angle you are, just the opposite direction. Think about how that feels.
No, you're attaching a "superior/inferior" thing to it. The opposite of complicated isn't "superior" or "inferior," it's "simple," which is neither good nor bad, objectively.
So.... the mag blend knob is for the two magnetic pickups (bridge/neck mix), and the piezo mag blend knob is for the magnetic pickups together and the piezo (mag/piezo mix)?
Anything more than 3 strings and 5 frets is more complicated than it has to be. The only exception to this is that no frets at all is far too complicated to even look at.
It is very real. Basically what they've done is install all the controls of an Alembic SF-1 Superfilter in a Series I bass.
I think if you need fancy electronics to make it sound the way you want, then it's just a crappy sounding instrument. I've found that when you try to get the sound you want from electronics, it's never quite right anyways because one bass simply can't do it all no matter how many more pickups, knobs, flux capacitors or whatever it has. You want growly? Ricky. Fat? P bass. Smooth and solid? Jazz. Punchy? Music Man. Thin and transparent? Warwick (haha kidding Warwick guys... but not really). That's my opinion, all those tone options are better left to the amp (like mentioned earlier) and I say choose the right guitar for the sound you want, not gizmos.
