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Your main bass, and why?

#161
A '74 P Bass. Sunburst with the original tortise pickguard and rosewood neck. Completely original except for the DiMarzio P/U. I have had a J-Bass, Gibson EB2-D, Rick 4001 and still have a '78 Musicman Stingray.
But the P-Bass? Well I started playing in the late '60's Jamerson, Babbit and Rainey were all I seemed to gravitate to. I still revert to those "root & fifth" grooves. The P-Bass was made for R&B I think ;)
 
#162
My main bass is now a 2000 Alembic Excel, I'm down to two basses. My P-bass is only played in church for about 2 hrs on Sundays. When doing show my Excel can't be beat for me when it come speed and tone.

AlembicFront.jpg
 
#163
My eastwood precision bass copy. It's the 2nd I've owned in my life (1st being a squier affinity pbass) It just punches through all the mixes i do in my solo act or with my bands. it's my go to bass. In 30 years, i'll probably retire it cause it's my pride and joy. But i've got my back up pbasses ( VM squier classic punk look, standard pbass x2 (one looks like paul simonon's pbass from london calling, the other is just like deedee's blk finish with blk guard maple neck 75) Precision basses for me are the most reliable. they're heavy, big sounding, and hardcore basses. Yeah i got a jazz, thunderbirds, but my main bass will remain that one true sound and feel that i love: Precision bass. Thanks fender/squier.
 
#165

What is your main bass, and why? What are your
back up basses, and why does your main get rights
over them?

My main bass is a Westone Electra X640N. I bought
it in the early eighty's. It has an 18 volt active elec.
I have never found a bass I like better that this. It
sounded better than all the old P basses and Jazz
basses I played, so I bought it.

It is also my first solid body elec bass.

8-6-8-1.jpg


A few months after I got the Westone, I was in a band
and needed a backup.

I found this Peavey Fury. It is a rugged bass that
sounds good with flats. It cuts through the mix like
a pro.

Here it is after my son used it for about a year.

3-9-1b.jpg


I had to paint it after that,

3-17-10.jpg


Tabdog
 
#166
My main bass is my Warwick Katana NT. Despite its significant heft, it has a huge, full tone that ranges from growly highs to subsonic lows all at once. The neck suits my hand perfectly.
http://youtu.be/n-iZR66ltRw
Skip to 3:30 if you don't want to listen to the whole song.

My back-up bass is my Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass. It's an all-around great player with a super-flat neck near the nut; my hands never get fatigued playing this. It doesn't have the full range tone of my Katana, but it does have a distinct growl that I like. In addition to being my stage backup in case anything happens to the Katana, it's also my drop D bass. The GL sounds better with a detuned E than the 'Wick, which gets a bit muddy.
http://youtu.be/pV05y1Sw_00

My secret weapon is the very heavy and not that attractive Variax bass, which used to be my backup/drop D bass but was retired. I now use it mainly for the Rickenbacker model when recording. It has a pretty nice neck and the range of sounds is amazing, but it's just not a bass I like to play on stage.
Invalid Link Removed
 
#168
My main bass in my originals band is my Modulus Q5. It's just got a great tone that fits in perfectly with the music. The low B is strong and authoritative. It's just perfect, I can't complain. It does need some new strings though...so I should get on that.
ModulusQ5.jpg


My main bass in my cover band is my Sadowsky NYC PJ5. It's very versatile, so I can cover all different kinds of music and tones with a single instrument. I also use it often in my originals band.
1.jpg


As for backups, I will take pretty much any of my other basses. I've got:
MIM P Bass
EBMM Stingray 4
Yamaha ATT-LTD II
IMG_0220.jpg

IMG_1121.jpg


There is nothing wrong with any of them, and I will use them as a main bass from time to time. I'm just more comfortable of 5 strings, so they usually get the nod. I would use the Modulus and the Sadowsky all the time, but I usually leave the Q5 at our practice space so I don;t have to lug stuff back and fourth all of the time.
 
#169
tabdog said:

What is your main bass, and why? What are your
back up basses, and why does your main get rights
over them?

My main bass is a Westone Electra X640N. I bought
it in the early eighty's. It has an 18 volt active elec.
I have never found a bass I like better that this. It
sounded better than all the old P basses and Jazz
basses I played, so I bought it.

It is also my first solid body elec bass.

8-6-8-1.jpg


A few months after I got the Westone, I was in a band
and needed a backup.

I found this Peavey Fury. It is a rugged bass that
sounds good with flats. It cuts through the mix like
a pro.

Here it is after my son used it for about a year.

3-9-1b.jpg


I had to paint it after that,

3-17-10.jpg


Tabdog
Click to expand...

That Electra x640n is even more beautiful than my passive x630n. Mine is so modded, that only the wood (body and neck) and brass nut is all Matsumoku. I wish I tried one of those once in my life, to hear what that active circuitry was all about. As for the x630n, I LOVE P basses, but everytime I play my Electra, I feel as if I don't really need a P any more (even if it's not a true P.)
 
#172
I have two... For Link Removed my main live bass is my Lakland 55-60 Translucent White:
DSC_7164.jpg

dees-269.jpg


For most of the other stuff I do, especially in the studio, I use my trusty old Fender Jazz Bass from January 1966. Fantastic instrument. It looks great, plays like a dream and sounds AMAZING. Is it the best bass I've ever played? Possibly. Probably. Yes, I think so.
DSC01301.jpg

dc4f5a83.jpg
 
#176
main bass: a fender mim classic 60's jazz, it's cheap, reliable and looks and sounds great. i don't have to baby it and the controls, hardware, pickups etc are really straight forward so i don't have to put much effort into making it sound the way i want.

back-up bass: Squire vm precision, i use this bass mostly for metal and it's always tuned in d-standard.
it doesn't get as much use as the jazz because it's more of a struggle to play, it has heavier strings on it because of the different tuning and when i play with fingers i play with a light touch, so i mainly use it for riffing playing with a pick.
 
#178
spector6.jpg
This came up recently with my band. There are two perfectly good basses at the studio (a MIM Jazz Deluxe, and an Ibanez Soundgear 300 or 400), which are the guitarists, but I don't want to use them. I like my Spector Euro because it feels right. it's easy to play. If I play another bass, I don't think I am as effective. Besides... look at that beauty!

my back up, would be my Ibanez Soundgear 800EG. It's lightweight and easy to play. It doesn't have the same attack as the Spector, but good enough as a back up.
 

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