• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Your bass, your sound... why?

T

Thomas Kievit

Guest
May 19, 2012
3,614
1,906
35
#1
I had been thinking for a while : I'm interested to get to know from people, why they boughted the bass(es) they own?

Is it because of it's neat looks, it's aggresive or warm tones or maybe because you justed needed a bass guitar and just pick one out?

Share your story here in this topic and explain what your bass guitar(s) make the bass that has your sound!
 
#2
i actually prefer the looks of a jazz bass, but a stingray has a cutting sound without sounding too nasal plus i like the thick neck. So a ray has been my main bass in recent times, just for the fact that it can cut through the mix

Though i like to fiddle w my pbass from time to time with the tone rolled down.
 
#3
My MIM '95 Fender Precision I bought because I had to start somewhere and for $135 it was a good buy. Eventually I made it better.

Now my '78 G3 I bought because
1) I am a major Green Day fan
2) The crisp tone, just watch an old Green Day performance, it easily holds its own against heavily distorted guitars
3) Its killer looks
4) It is rather rare being produced for a little less than a decade and it is also one of the few good Gibson basses
5) This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DclAy1cd160 clinched it. I HAD to have it.
 
#4
Well, I bought my bass for increased playability, namely an Ibanez Mikro. As it happens to be the sound of it is ok, but I'm planning of changing the pickups at some point. My sound is sort of aggressive mid range sound, we do have one number in the band though that calls for a more warm bassy sound, that is accomplished with my EQ pedal.
 
#7
My Jazz was a bass I happened to like when I picked it up, rolled the back pickup off a little and dug in with my right hand. Did I mention it payed well, too?

My P is... Well, a P. But it's a special P. It's by far the lightest American P I've ever played, sounds awesome and *that neck.* Oh my god, what a comfortable bass to play.

The Squier CV is just a bass I wanted to put flats on.
 
#8
I've mostly been a Precision player (Played Ibanez basses for 8 years). I cut my teeth on a 1978 Precision back in HS and had that bass for 19 years in all. Again, after spending much of the 2000s with Ibanez basses, two BTBs and a Soundgear, I recently went back to the Precision (2011 American Standard) when I realized it was MY sound in the first place.
 
#9
It is late 2000, walk into GC and see bass hanging on the wall. Color and body style catch my eye. "Sale" tag catches my eye also. ;) Pick it up and pluck a few notes. Hmmm, comfy neck and well balanced. Plug it into amp, start turning knobs on bass. Ooh, many tone options. Quickly find "the" tone and must have it. Worked a deal right then and there and it's been my main bass ever since. Sold off all my other basses with in a few years of that purchase. Still gigging it as of today. :D
 
#10
I love the feel of Yamaha basses... For me, nothing beats them.

But, I joined a new band and tried a couple of Yammies with them, as well as a Warwick and a Squier. It didn't work. I discovered the tone I was 'hearing' in my head for this band was a p bass with flats... So I got a P bass, and put flats on it. Beautiful!

Still, it's not 'my tone'.... My tone is more modern sound, but the P with flats serves the band's music better, and that's cool with me. I have almost worked out how to emulate that sound with the Yamaha, but I guess the look of a Fender P in sunburst and a black pickguard also works pretty well with the band.
 
#11
My first bass was an Epiphone Thunderbird, and I bought it only for the looks. After 6 months I replaced it with an Ibanez SR305, and none of those basses could really get a nice, crispy, punchy sound. But now I'm playing with an Ibanez SR500. I love it, can get some pretty aggressive tones out of it (I play Stoner/Doom and Heavy Metal). Though I'm still in love with P basses.
 
#12
I originally couldnt see the appeal of the 'ray. Then when i was looking in to what bass to buy next i researched the tones I liked through out the year and turns out most of them we're 'rays, so the choice made itself. now that i have one i can see why they are sought after.
 
#13
Mr_Music90 said:
I had been thinking for a while : I'm interested to get to know from people, why they boughted the bass(es) they own?

Is it because of it's neat looks, it's aggresive or warm tones or maybe because you justed needed a bass guitar and just pick one out?

Share your story here in this topic and explain what your bass guitar(s) make the bass that has your sound!
Click to expand...

I wanted something with no onboard electronics.
To my knowledge no one made that at a sensible price point.
That's why I had my custom basses made.
Now my requirements are refined from what they were at the beginning, but twenty years later the no onboard electronics is still very much on.
 
#14
I'm using a Fender Deluxe Jaguar. I always liked my Jazz and the Jaguar is basically a Jazz bass with it's own flavor and a more unique look. It's got some minor issues, but nothing that can't be remedied. I go through stages. For a while my Schecter Stiletto custom was my one and only, and now I'm starting to feel the beginnings of Precision Fever. .So we'll see where that takes me next.
 
#15
I got my Jazz bass because it played and sounded (for me) way better than a P bass (I started out on a P knockoff). I would describe the sound as having powerful low and high mids, good low end, great growl, awesome snarly sound in the higher frequencies, and an awesome boost to lows and low mids when rolling the tone back. I don't think I'd trade my Jazz bass for anything.
 
#16
Low price, feels good, sounds good, low maintenance, realiable...not necessarily in that order. I make them sound how I want them to sound via how they are played(hands) and Line 6/Behringer V Amp Pro patches.

Usually, after a certain amount of time playing, you find that now matter what bass or amp you get stuck with....YOU sound like YOU. I'll grant you that using your own gear is the fastest way to get YOUR sound.

My current main bass is a P clone with a factory whammy made in the 80's and came with tuner upgrades and Seymour Duncan. It needed minor repairs(bolt-on neck screws replaced/reseated). $247.50. It is all of the first sentence plus the trem stays in tune!
 
#17
I buy basses that look good. I have to wear them while crowds of people stare at me (well, stare at things near to me, I am a bass player after all) so I don't want any ugly ones.

Turns out most basses play pretty well and sound pretty good. They don't need to be amazingly fast or have unbelievable clarity because, again, I'm a bass player - I'm not required to play very fast and nobody ever hears any nuance in my sound anyway.

So that's my advice: Get a pretty one and don't worry about anything else.
 
#19
I'm big on basses with unique tones...not so much on finding a "do-it-all bass" that makes it easier for me to transport my gear. My primary basses for gigging are my Warwick Corvette and my custom P-bass with a Dimarzio Will Power Middle in it. I have two "vintage" style basses (a squier CV 60's P w/ flats, and a squier vm 70s j w/ dimarzio model J's) and use those when the gig or mood of the song calls for it.
 
#20
I was playing my danelectro out one night and a local bass player said it sounded like a tuba. I had not thought of it before, but that is exactly what I was going for. Brassy, punchy, short notes that come in to drive the music and create space.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back