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Wrong bass 20+years?

David Jayne

David Jayne

Jan 16, 2006
16,337
8,096
Brookfield, CT
#1
I can't be alone here.
I'm a (now semi-retired) pro player. Paid the rent with it- you know.

I've found that I've been playing the wrong bass, for my entire career. 20 +years.

I always purchased the most exotic, hand-built, crazy basses money could buy, because I believed that those instruments would give me the best sound.......................


So, it's a P bass, Dave.
 
#2
dmusic148 said:
I can't be alone here.
I'm a (now semi-retired) pro player. Paid the rent with it- you know.

I've found that I've been playing the wrong bass, for my entire career. 20 +years.

I always purchased the most exotic, hand-built, crazy basses money could buy, because I believed that those instruments would give me the best sound.......................


So, it's a P bass, Dave.
Click to expand...

Maybe the Pbass is the right bass for you NOW.
 
#4
A "P" or "J" is always right. But there are some situations, you feel more comfortable with a custom made bass. But a "P" or "J" is a classic model and featured in so many original recordings, it just feels right when you are playing these tunes (especially Motown).
 
#6
Sounds like a familiar tune. Gone from Modulus Q5s 18volt multiband EQ Bartolini equipped with many switches and knobs to the Pbass. AHHHHHh home :^)
Just gotta get a fretless one now.
 
#10
dmusic148 said:
I can't be alone here.
I'm a (now semi-retired) pro player. Paid the rent with it- you know.

I've found that I've been playing the wrong bass, for my entire career. 20 +years.

I always purchased the most exotic, hand-built, crazy basses money could buy, because I believed that those instruments would give me the best sound.......................


So, it's a P bass, Dave.
Click to expand...

Had the exact same experience here, tho ended up with slightly different instruments. I gigged for years with, at first, my old 70's Jazz bass and then the rest of time (up until the mid 90's or so) with a pair of Ricks. In all that time I never could figure out why I was either inaudible or a wall of mud, and my hands and wrists hurt so bad all the time, especially after a gig.

It wasn't until the damage had already been done to my left wrist and I'd long since moved on to pursuing other ways of making a living that I finally realized the inherent problems with trying to gig with junk like that.

In my case, long since also retired from gigging, I ended up with my pair of Carvin Bunnies. Now I'm audible with teeny tiny amps and can get through an hour of practice with relatively little pain. I can even get through several cycles of "the chicken", which will allow me to jam with some of my "wind" friends (sax, trumpet, etc).

I don't miss the Good Old Days a bit!

LS
 
#12
I can say the same thing...kinda. I played a Guild B-301 for 20+ years, mostly because when I was young and playing alot, I couldnt afford anything else. As I got older, I still played around at home but it was just for fun. Now that I am playing seriously again, I sold the Guild and have had much better basses (for me). The Guild is a great bass but, heavy, terrible neck dive, and the neck was on the thicker side.
 
#13
Nobody said:
John Paul Jones played Fender basses for years but now plays custom Manson basses with neckthru construction and active electronics. Some people go one direction some go the other I guess.
Click to expand...

It's funny because JPJ was also hating life with a jazz bass earlier on than is probably commonly remembered. I remember reading an interview with him where he once said he finally had to retire his jazz from touring because it had gotten "too rubbery". Seemed like that was after the first few tours with it and when he switched to something else (an Alembic I believe).

I can definitely concur having tried to get through gigs with my 70's jazz back in college. I think the only reason the Rick sounded better to me was because I could at least hear the D and G strings on it, sort of. The E was about all I could hear on the jazz.

Eliminating the frets was another revelation of mine; I guess I just never had the strength you need to get a good sound out of a fretted. Now I just barely touch the strings on my Bunnies and these nice velvety notes just pop out of the thing.

So it just takes what it takes to get where we are....

LS
 
#14
Enjoy the PBass!
I played different basses for about 35 years before recognizing the beauty of the PBass - now I'm loving it! That doesn't mean I don't still see the value in other basses, boutique or otherwise. They're ALL good - well, I'm not sure about the goodness of the Mothman... But they're mostly good!
:D
 
#16
I've had both.
When I was younger, playing bass was all about ME, and I craved the individualism of an exotic custom-built bass.
As I got older, it was more about the music than calling attention to myself, I gravitated toward more "classic" basses with which I feel more connected to the years and years of musical history and sounds created on those instruments.
 
#17
Tastes change. Needs change. Gigs change. Times change.

I've been playing the same bass (while experimenting with others) for 7 or so years. I love my (not exotic by any means) bass (a Yamaha BB605 with Bartolini electronics) but recently I have been really enjoying the sound of a passive J bass instead. Played a really nice USA Standard but I can't really afford $1,250. The MIM right next to it sounded and played darn close for 1/2 the price so that might be an option.

I have tried to like a P. There's a Highway One locally that is super light, sounds like a P and has a nice neck. I like it, but for some things I do (contemporary jazz especially) it just doesn't seem to fit, and I can't have more than one bass (self imposed) to go along with my EUB.

There's nothing wrong with changing it up.
 
#19
Interestingly enough, if you asked your listeners if they liked the sound of your bass most probably would be able to tell the difference between a Ritter and a rubber band stretched between your big toe and index finger.

As long as you play it well, beating on 55 gallon drums and tapping glass bottles sounds great. I've seen street performers play the hell out of a 5 gallon bucket.

Music is in YOU, not the instrument.
 
#20
Maybe this is slightly off-topic, buuut...

If I take several basses out to play some night, I'll wind up not being 100% comfortable with any of them and switching around because I'm missing some high end here or some low end there that I THINK my other basses in the stand could have provided.

If I just take ONE bass, I adapt. I roll off the tone and play up by the neck to pull more lows, and use a pick by the bridge to get more treble. Got no choice, just brought the one bass.

Every bass I have has something it does REALLY well, and something it does not as well as another of one the herd. But, the Precisions and Precision-ish basses cover the spread better than most any other basses I use.
 

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