Why Do You Stick To The Same Type Of Basses?

[PWRL]

I tried a lot of different stuff, but as I matured as a player and a listener, I came to realize that a P bass was the easiest tool to make the most things work.

I've gone through a lot of basses, and I miss a few of them. Some you would expect, like my old 77 4001, and some you wouldn't expect, like my cheap old Dean Rhapsody fretless. I still own a Warwick Streamer and an MIM Jazz, and they're both great. I love a nice Jazz bass. But my 2011 American Special P bass with Fender 7150s I can make work in just about any situation.

 

[Charlzm]

Why do I stick to the same kind of basses?

I didn't for my whole bass-playing life for 35 years.

I was always chasing that elusive best sound/ergonomics intersection.

Then, I played a Dingwall Afterburner and a Combustion.

The search was over. Exactly what I had been looking for all along.

Well, after I swapped pickups...

I guess the search continues, though I'm certain I am in the right vicinity now.

 

[Gaolee]

Thunderbirds have the perfect ergos for me. They sound like they should, too. They don't work for a whole lot of people, but they work perfectly when I play one. I like them enough that I built a P-Bird that's essentially a Precision in all but shape. That way the P sound is there if I want it, with the shape that works best. My fretless is even a Thunderbird.

For whatever reason, upper horns and I don't play well together. Too much time playing the doghouse? I dunno. But there you have it. I have a Fender Precision, and it's a keeper, but it doesn't get played all that much for ergonomic reasons.

 

[grimjim]

I'm predominantly a p-bass guy. I have a couple others that come out occasionally for jam sessions or when messing around with friends. But for anything serious, it's the p-bass.

Familiarity: I'm very comfortable playing it. I almost bought a Zon once, played it and wasn't impressed. Asked to check out a '78 p-bass hanging on the wall and it was like visiting an old friend.

Tone: Not only does the Fender give me the tone I want, but all my amp settings are set for it. I'm not gonna tweak my amp every time I want to change basses at a show.

Tone #2: I recorded at a big name studio, gold records on the wall, Neve board, tuned rooms....I tracked a Thunderbird, a Guild b301 and my '79 p-bass. Hands down it was the p-bass. The owner of the studio, who didn't touch anything for less than $10,000 a song was walking by, stuck his head in and listened to the track I just did and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get me to sell it to him. I did not.

 

[grimjim]

Top left

Tone #2: I recorded at a big name studio, gold records on the wall, Neve board, tuned rooms....I tracked a Thunderbird, a Guild b301 and my '79 p-bass. Hands down it was the p-bass. The owner of the studio, who didn't touch anything for less than $10,000 a song was walking by, stuck his head in and listened to the track I just did and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get me to sell it to him. I did not.

 

[SteveC]

I was down to 1 bass - my Roscoe fretted 5. I could be a one bass guy for sure, but it's fun to have a couple choices I think. I added the fretless as I just like that for some types of gigs - church, jazz. The Roscoe P bass was a gift from my wife, as was a G&L JB-2 a couple years ago. The P bass could find it's way into the cover band for sure. I don't like to switch basses much at a gig, but there are a couple tunes where I really like to have a B string. We'll see.

 

[maeda]

I am definitely a Warwick guy. Started out on a 1975 Fender Musicmaster that my cousin loaned me when I was 12 (and I later purchased for a very good price of $300, and I still own it and will never sell it) and then got a bass for basically gas money that was a Series 10 Professional from a friend. I was super into punk and hardcore and a lot of the bassists I liked all played Stingrays so after a summer job I bought an Ernie Ball Musicman SUB. It did the job for about a year or two, and then as I faded out of the punk scene and started getting into jazz and world music I bought an Ibanez Soundgear fretless for like $300, and then I started to really find my sound. That's when it started. I walked into my local music store looking for something versatile and modern and clean (I was super into Victor Wooten then) and there was an '02 Warwick Corvette Proline 5 on consignment. Funny enough I picked it up, played it (without plugging in)... and hated the neck! I liked the build style and construction of it tho and a lot of bassists I liked had Warwicks so I looked into them some more. Decided I would maybe save up for one more to my specs, so went back into the shop to hear that one plugged in and it blew my 17 year old mind and I put my savings down to hold it and came back with every penny I could scrounge from part time job and owned it. That started my love affair with Warwicks. I quickly adapted to the neck, really loved the 5th string, and that bass carried me to New York City for music school and by conservative estimates I logged at least 3000 hours on that bass. I ended up changing the preamp for a bartolini, and also installed a ramp. I now have a passive fretless Corvette Standard (bubinga), and a Streamer CV that I got in a trade for a Corvette $$ that I just didn't like.

After all that, Warwick's generally always feel comfy to me. I love the deep profile necks and the ability to change the nut height as well as all the different ways you can change the bridge. The Streamer CV was love/hate for a while as it's spec'd to be a jazz bass, but it's grown on me a lot and tends to cover all my straight ahead rock gigs. Not a big fan of the newer thinner profiles, but they are home to my sound and the benchmark of what I like. Played tons of other basses I would gladly take home that aren't Warwick's and I am pretty open minded, but now if I ever get a custom bass made it's gonna have J/J or P/J, an active pre, hopefully be a Warwick, and have an absolute baseball bat for a neck!

 

[Glenn Johnson]

Well, I can't say I have any one favorite bass. I am fickle though. Right now my favorites are these:


2017 Rickenbacker 4003S

2015 Fender AVRI '58 p bass

2019 Epi T-Bird Classic Pro (now modified with Hipshot bridge and tuners)

2019 Danelectro Longhorn

I also have a 2008 Stingray 5 HH (ash body, natural finish), a 2017 Spector Euro 4LX in amber and a 2014 G & L USA L-2000 in Honeyburst. At any given time any of these can become my favorites. I also have a 2014 or 2015 Epi Jack Casady in Alpine White, which will never be one of my favorites and that I will probably sell.

 

[crabbybassman]

I have quite the selection in my closet...active Warwick and a Pedulla, several USA Fender P basses and a bunch of other basses but I always go right back to my Gibson SG Basses. I started bass on an early 60's EB0 and for some strange reason the new Gibson SGs and shortscale seem to be the best fit for me. I'm on my 3rd one and each has its own tiny modification to make it just a little different. They do have the exact same strap on them though.The Warwick Fortress One (90's version) and the Pedulla Rapture come in 4th and 5th place I guess.

 

[FretlessFatty]

So many great basses out there... I've played quite a few, owned a fair number. But my go-to bass? I always come back to a j-bass style. That pickup configuration just suits me, and I love the feel of a j-neck. Doesn't have to be a Fender... It's the neck and pickup styles that call me. Sounds right, feels right.

 

[marmadaddy]

My tastes and experience run very similar to yours, Jimmy, including a stint in central FL in the 80's.

My main bass is a black '81 P. The body wood and a tuner are all that's left of what I bought 38 years ago. I've tried all kinds of basses and always come back to that P. My main backup for decades was the blue P in my avatar which I was given in payment on a debt.

Just this year I've bought two Sire basses, a four string PJ and a five string J which I've fallen in love with.

I do have a '99 Euro Spector which gets gigged occasionally, mostly because a certain band leader loves the sound.

Still, that '81 P is where my heart is. I'm seriously considering getting a tattoo of it

 

[woodyng2]

Oh wow, that's an interesting pair of photos to me. Regarding the Embassy Pro's visual design, I'd always considered it as basically a P with a runty lower horn and an overly trimmed pickguard. But seeing your white one next to your white Ric there, I now see where it's coming from - it's more kind of a combination of a Precision and a Ric. All sorts of Ric design elements there.

Still not my favorite look, but you may have just helped Epiphone sell me an Embassy Pro sometime later this year

(So much for commitment to one bass, lol! I am mainly a P guy though - Why? Because that's the sound in my head)

The thing about the Embassy Pro is the GREAT sounding pickups. They did a great job recreating the sound of the original '60s tbird pickups. And it's a full scale neck on a bass that feels like a short scale,plays really well.

 

[arbiterusa]

I have always run an unlined fretless. My Steinberger got too pricey, too irreplaceable, to take out.

Took a couple years searching, and I found Cort's B4FL model. Dirt cheap used, work great, sound just fine. So that's what I'm using. No reason to change the horse mid-river.

I am not one of these guys who flips through gear. I ran my Steinberger as my sole bass for just over 25 years.

 

[jnewmark]

For some reason or another, Fender P and J's seem to " hang " better on me than any other brand, even copies of Fenders. I have tried Gibsons, G&L, Music Man, Yamaha, and Sadowsky. I have always come back to Fenders, especially the J bass. My hands like them and so does my back.

 

[felis]

Trial and error process until you find what works for you.

Then stick with it.

 

[shadven]

I've settled on a favorite, Single Coil 1950's P-bass. But a newer split-coil P-bass is almost interchangeable for me. I play both styles of bass a lot, but for tone and aesthetics (it matters), I slightly prefer the 195x P-bass and 196x Telecaster bass.
I also own a Gibson Thunderbird (sustain for days), Rickenbacker 4003, 1967 Guild Starfire, 1974 Fender Jazz. And plenty of the old girls, incl: 1952 P, 1954, P, 1963 P, 1968 T, 1969 T x2.

 

[smtp4me]

My first bass was a '77 Fender Jazz, sunburst, with the 70's era white/cream neck binding and block pearloid inlays, bought new. It is because of that instrument that I developed a preference for basses that are typically dual-pickup, single coil, and passive. Every bass I've owned since then fit this pattern except two: an Ibanez SR370F and BTB740PB, which were only different because of the active preamps.

(Edit: technically, the RB850 was not single coil, but I'm including it with the rest)

I have owned a total of 4 Fender jazz basses (currently a MIM Geddy Signature and MIM fretless), 3 Ibanez (RB850, the SR fretless and BTB from above), and two Rickenbacker 4003s (which I currently have one of) - so 3 basses total today.

Why? Because this type of bass feels and sounds like "home" to me.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

After over 25 years, ive come the conclusion that a Pbass is my favorite followed closely by a Jazz bass.

Single P....I seem to dislike the PJ combo for me personally.

JJ set up is incredibly versatile, my jazz got my through school and I could play any style on it from fusion to straight ahead jazz, to latin ,top 40 and I can go on.

I can post pics if any are curious, but there's nothing really incredibly special to see
..except maybe my green Frankenstein. Jazz pj body with musicman stingray neck. Hole where bridge jazz pup was. Its green tint you can see the wood and all the battle scares of years of gigs and....hmmm.....maybe abuse.

I'm with you on the dislike for the PJ - It can't really sound like a P or a J because of the wiring differences, and I don't like the sound when combined. I think we're in the minority though. . .

 

[overit]

My gear is usually based on bands I'm in and what the sound calls for. I had no bands for a while, sold my electrics ('81 L1000 & MTD Kingston Gouche 5) and focused on upright for a few months. I missed playing out and didn't know what band I would land in so I tried out some basses at the local GC and stumbled upon a used TRBX305. While it wasn't my first choice for looks, it was very comfortable and had a wide range of tones that would work whether I joined a hard rock band or an R&B band. I ended up in a hard rock band and it sounds great and looks good for the genre in white w/ the matching headstock. As one who always like having a backup and a lighter bass, I found a TRBX505 under 8.5lbs which is supposed to arrive early next week. Having two TRBXs will take away the worry about the durability of gigging with inexpensive basses and I like having the same neck feel between both basses. For me, it came down to comfort and versatility. The price was a nice bonus.

 

[Greg P Schmidt]

Hello, my name is Greg and I'm a bass whore. I like them all.