Why get a Viola Bass?

[Skokiaan]

Or one of these:


View attachment 2091666 View attachment 2091667

 

[B-line]

View attachment 2093503View attachment 2093505

IIRC, Sir Paul's was an Original Jazz Special, and they are $$$$. I'm sure he carefully considered his budget before purchase!

I think he used it on "Ebony/Ivory" recording?

 

[Skokiaan]

IIRC, Sir Paul's was an Original Jazz Special, and they are $$$$. I'm sure he carefully considered his budget before purchase!

I think he used it on "Ebony/Ivory" recording?

I don't know about the recording, but he used it in the video:

He most likely used his Yamaha:

 

[Asr4]

“Why choose a viola bass instead of a P-Bass”…
I'll ask you another question: “Why choose a P-Bass instead of a Jazz-Bass?”
The J sound is more brilliant, as the P is more warm.

With the viola, it is exactly the same kind of answer: the details of the sound.
The viola produces a rich, warm, medium bass, without the shiny sound of the J bass.

It could be even warmer (and less brilliant) with round wound. Not exitinct, simply less brilliant.
Medium global sound is something hard to get with a P-Bass, because it quickly becames slimy. But with the help of the hollow body, the viola produces a really nice and balanced medium sound. The passive design and the floating bridge makes it difficult to adjust an tune, with no help from the strange pots design.
Clearly, it is not a funky nor motown bass. But it could sound great, with rich and profund lows, mellow mediums, and a really nice-but-not-aggressive attack.
But with a little fine-tuning of the humbuckers and rewiring of the pots, you could make an easy to carry versatile bass, with a clear 70ies vintage sound.

 

[pcake]

i got mine because it was light weight. a hofner ignition violin bass weighs just over 4 pounds - one of my mikros weighs 5 1/2 pounds, the other 6 1/2 pounds, my mustang weighs i think 7.8 pounds.

 

[Old Blastard]

I routinely gig my Rondo-bought Douglas because it's pretty cool and plays fast and really responds to different thickness of picks as well as fingers.

Got it cheap used and fell in love with the way it played unplugged.

I have a lot of basses and all are different. Hollow, semi, slab; 34, 33, 32 and 30 and a wide cariety of pickups and I gig them all. Sort of drives the band crazy, but so does my dressing in a suit and tie for gigs. They just go "whatever, hold the bottom" and seem happy about it.