• 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 best sounding bass . . .

#81
The P-bass with the EMG pickup wired straight to the output. Just pure authority and kick-you-in-the-ass attitude. For me, I can easily see myself using it for the rest of my life and not NEEDING anything else cause that's basically my sound.

But, I love flavor and I love different things. So, I has other ideas for things that can be "best sounding" for me.


And oddly, I just LOVE how it feels. It's a P-bass body and a J-bass neck, which I can zoom on. Which is funny, because if I could have a custom made, it'd probably have a downsized J-body and a neck with wide spacing at the nut, but... this bass is just melded together perfectly. I'm very glad I decided to go the "maple board, hot-rodded P" route instead of the "unlined ebanol fretless, try to make it my dark, woody bass" and buy another one. This one turned out perfect.
 
#84
My best sounding bass is any of mine in someone else's hands....:help:





:rollno:

Seriously, my best sounding bass is my Natural Ash SX Jazz with the DR flats....incredible sound! It was good before, but the flats and the BAII have made a huge difference!

Second would be my SX P with the Rotosound flats, that was Numero Uno until I added the flats and BA to the Jazz....

Though this to may change when my Squier VM gets here.....
 
#85
Lowbrow said:
So call me an a-hole (lots of people like to), but a lot of you seem to say "I have 5 or 6 'best sounding' basses."

I say you're afraid to commit yourselves... but others say they're afraid I may need to be committed, so... :hmm:
Click to expand...

Afraid? No.

I think if you did only one kind of music, or music which encompassed a limited number of genres, then it's possible to have ONE bass which is the best sounding. Some people do nothing but play in a metal bad. Some do nothing but country music. Those are fine approaches, I guess. In those two situations, trying to determine which of your instruments is "best sounding" is relatively easy. For those who are involved in a number of different styles, having ONE "best sounding" bass is difficult or impossible.

You could say that if you were doing a "kind of Blue-era" Miles Davis tribute band, an upright would be the thing. And if you also did country music, a P-Bass might be "best sounding". One bass isn't going to cut it for both gigs as "best sounding".

Not that I want to reinforce stereotypes (like you HAVE to play a P-Bass in country music), but there ARE reasons why pros who are in the industry as session musicians and on tour have a bunch of basses.

Best to you.
 
#86
Exactly. All my basses, no matter what the cost, sound awesome, and they all do certain things well and others not so well. My favorite one right now is my modded P-Lyte, but it's not so much a function of the tone as the light weight.
 
#89
Lowbrow said:
So call me an a-hole (lots of people like to), but a lot of you seem to say "I have 5 or 6 'best sounding' basses."
Click to expand...

If they didn't sound great, I would have sold them. What is "best" anyway? How is it measured? My Conklin isn't rated at 9.5/10 best-o-meters and my CB didn't get a 9.224563254/10 best-o-meters.

Music is ART, not a competition. There is no best painting, so why would there be a best sounding bass? "Best" is reserved for competition and is something that can be measured.

There are times when a P-bass w/flats tone is what will work great with a tune. If that's the vibe, a bass like the Rob Allen MB2 would probably work, too. Something like a Fodera or Ken Smith might not fit as well in that situation.

Then there are times when an Alembic works really well and a Fender doesn't have quite the hi-fi zing.

The bottom line is that there are plenty of awesome bass tones that work in given contexts of music. Fender might have the best reputation, but the boutique companies seem to still sell basses for some odd reason.
 
#90
It does depend on the application, but overall my Musicman Stingray 5 with dual humbuckers seems to fit the majority of situations and sound fantastic.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the SR or Bongo basses yet (although I may have missed it)
 
#91
Hmmm.

Seems like you lead more complicated musical lives than I do. Sorry to judge based on my own criteria, and more sorry to have used the word "afraid," which tends to get people's hackles up.

I'll be sure to be a more polite a**hole in the future. ;)

Lowbrow.
 
#93
Today I very much like my 96 Fender Jazz 5. I just put on new D'Addario XLs(thanks swpyne :D), shimmed the back of the neck pocket to increase the neck angle- thereby making it possible to intonate the B(thanks Woody Boyd, Sacramento luthier :cool:).
Of course, next week I'll like something else best(see title). :rolleyes:
 
#97
Something about swamp ash, it just does it for me.
 

Attachments

  • closeupfinishedntsz.jpg
    closeupfinishedntsz.jpg
    51.5 KB · Views: 109

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back