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  • a Bass question, help me out

    i have a few questions about basses that id like to hear some opinions on if you dont mind....what do you look for in a bass? what type of woods work for you? favorite pick ups? that sort of thing......just tell me what it is you are into as far as the perfect bass guitar

  • #2
    Re: a Bass question, help me out

    Ernie Ball........1 brand......and i will have one, one day!! But what you look for in a bass would be the same as in a guitar. How it feels. And everything else..

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    • #3
      Re: a Bass question, help me out

      Of the basses I've played, my favorites were the Fender Jazz for its neck width (narrow) and the Bossa OB-5 for playability - smooth as glass.
      As for specifics, I'd go with maple, alder, or poplar for the body, maple for the neck, and either rosewood or maple for the fretboard. I like the warmth of rosewood for 4-strings and the attack of maple for 5-strings (low B). Definitely prefer bolt-on to neckthrough, though.
      Having spent some quality time with my Jackson Winger, I really do miss my old Mexican Fender Precision. Neckthrough/ebony board definitely works better for a fretless (Pedulla Pentabuzz), though. I've found that neckthrough basses have a slightly darker/muted tone than a bolt-on, which is definitely more punchy. While EQ and pickups have a lot to do with it, the tonal differences in construction technique are really noticeable with bass more than guitar.

      As for pickups - hmmm - how about a Fender P-bass, an EMG bass hummer, and a Ric 4003 horseshoe? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

      Newc
      I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

      The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

      My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: a Bass question, help me out

        I used to have a rick 4001 which has a totally different feel to the neck than any other brand i've played. awesome tone , but the e string would pop off the nut under agressive playing.ricks are more flatter because they have a dual truss rod setup. personally, i've become really comfortable with charvel 3b neck thru basses and of course my custom shop jackson is still the best playing bass i have out of the 16 various basses i do have [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] if i could just get that rick sound!

        [ June 13, 2003, 07:04 AM: Message edited by: peabuddy ]
        The Truth Hurts Only If It's Supposed To !

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        • #5
          Re: a Bass question, help me out

          newc, you prefer bolt on to neck through, could you go into more detail about that for me?...interesting ...great answer by the way, thats how it should be done.....what about using natural woods or killer maple tops?...also, what about 5 string basses, do people really want those? what about hardware?

          [ June 13, 2003, 07:30 AM: Message edited by: Trillian Guitars ]

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          • #6
            Re: a Bass question, help me out

            Regarding neckthrough vs bolt-on for basses, I'm finding less resistance in the neck since it IS one piece of wood, which makes the low E or low B seem spongier or mushier. This works for fretless because you don't really want any punch, just string tone. With a bolt-on, the neck joint adds enough resistance to the pull of the string to make the string's tone punchier.
            My old Jackson Concert V 5-string was a bolt-on, and its low B was punchier than the low E of my Winger or old Student Concert bass. This is comparing the acoustic tone of each one.
            The relationship of a bolt-on neck and the neck pocket/joint is similar IMO to the scarf joint of the headstock - less wood bending in the same direction, which naturally means more resistance to the string's pull.
            I've also found neckthrough guitars have a slightly darker tone than bolt-ons, but it's not as drastic as the difference between basses.

            Figured tops and natural woods:
            To each his own, I guess. I'm not that big a fan of natural wood like Ash or Poplar, as it has very little or very plain figuring - looks like furniture wood [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
            A stunning or active flame or quilt pattern, or Lacewood, gets my attention [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] But that usually increases the price [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
            I'm also not really enthralled by trans burst patterns anymore. I'm truly digging the blue and green dyes on Warmoth's site, though [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
            But thanks to PRS, I'm practically sick of seeing highly figured tops.
            But that's strictly my opinion - others may want flame/quilt/spalt/birdseye bodies/tops.
            My guitar collection includes 4 graphics, and at least three solids that will be refinnished with graphics, so obviously I prefer those over natural/figured tops or solids.

            Hardware - the Kahler 5-string non-trem bridge at Warmoth or some other unit that allows you to adjust the string spacing. Once I moved the strings of my Concert V closer together, I almost changed my mind about selling it [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
            There's a 4-string version of the Kahler out there - don't know if it's just the 5-string minus a saddle, but I'm definitely liking that particular bridge.

            And as for 5-string vs 4 string - While I'm not a Jazz/Fusion/Gnu Metallist who NEEDS a low B, I look at it like a Floyd or 24 frets - I like it to be there when I DO want to use it, even if I don't use it all the time.
            4-string necks are definitely easier to play (more narrow) but sometimes there's a place where a lower note would fit better than going high (like hitting a low D on the 5th string rather than a regular D on the 5th fret/3rd string)
            Plus, how else could you do Judas Priest's "Love Bites" live? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]


            I wonder if a neckthrough bass with a maple fretboard might counteract the design's warmer tone? I'm sure there's also no way to use a flatsawn body tenon on a quartersawn neck and still use neckthrough construction. Even if you used a dovetail joint or scarf-type joint the tension at that point would be too great and the neck would pop off if it took a hard enough bump.

            Newc
            I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

            The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

            My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

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            • #7
              Re: a Bass question, help me out

              newc, i'm not 100% sure, but i think love bites is an eight string bass.
              The Truth Hurts Only If It's Supposed To !

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              • #8
                Re: a Bass question, help me out

                Actually it's a synth and drum machine together (liner notes in Remastered Defenders speak of a mssive black drum machine) [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
                But to do it live you need a 5-string. You COULD use an 8-string, but that kinda thing's pretty useless unless it's featured through the whole song.

                Newc
                I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: a Bass question, help me out

                  thanks newc, youve been very helpful and insightful.....i may be calling on you again later down the road for which youll be rewarded

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                  • #10
                    Re: a Bass question, help me out

                    also, what about body size....most of the modern basses seem to have smallish bodies and exagerated horns.....do you like these or do you like to see basses that closely resemble their 6 string counterpart?

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                    • #11
                      Re: a Bass question, help me out

                      Personally I would prefer a bass body to be slightly larger than its 6-string relative - say make a P-bass body slightly larger than a Strat body - just to help offset the weight of the extended neck. I realise one couldn't make a bass whose body was proportionaltely larger than a guitar body in relation to a guitar's body and neck measurements. Say the guitar neck is 26" long total, and the body is 24", then the bass would have a 30" neck and a 28" body. That might work for odd shapes like Explorer/Kelly/Warrior basses, but it'd be odd for a P-bass; it'd look like a giant guitar [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
                      Plus, I'm 6'3" so I prefer a larger body on a bass.

                      Exagerrated horns look ok on some basses, like the Pedulla or Modulus. I never liked the new Jackson Concert basses because IMO the Concert bass model was supposed to be Soloist/Dinky shaped. Had they given it another name, it woulda been fine.

                      But there are other ways to make traditional-shaped basses have better balance than the old Fenders - for one thing, strap pin location. Just about every Fender I've seen has the strap pin dead on the nose of the top horn and the other centered in the rear of the body.
                      Put the front strap pin slightly under the edge of the horn and move the rear pin up so that it's almost in a straight level line from the lowest tuner post and it should default to an upward angle.


                      Anyhoo, in case you missed the post in Non-CJ-Related - I finally got that check in the mail for the neck I wanted [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I remembered to tear it out this time but then lost the envelope - when I found it I just went ahead and wrote another - banks don't really like 2-month-old checks [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

                      Newc

                      [ June 14, 2003, 11:05 PM: Message edited by: Newc ]
                      I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                      The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                      My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: a Bass question, help me out

                        oh i forgot about that completely

                        strap button position is often overlooked by people

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                        • #13
                          Re: a Bass question, help me out

                          Yeah, sometimes the simplest things like strap pins yield the most drastic results.

                          Newc
                          I want to depart this world the same way I arrived; screaming and covered in someone else's blood

                          The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

                          My Blog: http://newcenstein.com

                          Comment

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