bass sounds...

siraxeman

What's up with me.....i actually prefer the bass sounds in my boss dr880 than my own actual really bass guitar?

guitarfishbay

So use those then?

Funkfingers

Chances are that the bass guitar samples in the DR880 are the usual Roland suspects, drawn from the Spectrasonics Bass Legends sample library. Laboriel, Miller and Patitucci. https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/legacy/basslegends.php

Freebird

It may be time to think about getting a new bass guitar 

Snap

lol,

Until I got a decent bass guitar, I would have said the same. I shuoldn't have been surprised how much better a good bass sounds vs a cheap or average one really. But I was,

siraxeman

My bass is the one I gig with - myself and the other guitarist in my band share bass duties. Tis a cheapo yes - Ibanez £200 jobbie with 2 humbuckers - sounds good at the fatter sounds...its the brighter snappy twangy sounds it just cant do at all that well. But methinks I'd need a bass with single coils for those sounds. The £300 bass I sold when I got this was that - the opposite, brighter n twangier but not as phat. The Boss DR880 thought has great sounds inside (and lots of 'em even upright bass), just I find it easier to just play the bass rather than program stuff in.

guitarfishbay

How are they wired? If series then you might have more luck with parallel.

But yeah if you want snap and bright then singles do that better. Try a Jazz bass and see what you think

Bridgehouse

siraxeman said:

My bass is the one I gig with - myself and the other guitarist in my band share bass duties. Tis a cheapo yes - Ibanez £200 jobbie with 2 humbuckers - sounds good at the fatter sounds...its the brighter snappy twangy sounds it just cant do at all that well. But methinks I'd need a bass with single coils for those sounds. The £300 bass I sold when I got this was that - the opposite, brighter n twangier but not as phat. The Boss DR880 thought has great sounds inside (and lots of 'em even upright bass), just I find it easier to just play the bass rather than program stuff in.

Get a P bass, a decent one, and glory in the sound of a split coil. You won't want anything else.

guitarfishbay

Bridgehouse said:

Get a P bass, a decent one, and glory in the sound of a split coil. You won't want anything else.

Except a Jazz and a Stingray.

Then you won't want anything else.

Or so I hope anyway 

Bridgehouse

guitarfishbay said:

Bridgehouse said:

Get a P bass, a decent one, and glory in the sound of a split coil. You won't want anything else.

Except a Jazz and a Stingray.

Then you won't want anything else.

Or so I hope anyway 

Had a Stingray, found I wasn't using it.

Tried so many Jazz basses and didn't find one that I liked playing

guitarfishbay

Stingrays are the least versatile of the 3 IMO, but have a recognisable sound that is very cool.

I love Jazz basses personally, but if your issue is with the neck maybe a P neck on Jazz body might suit you best if you ever build more stuff

Bridgehouse

guitarfishbay said:

Stingrays are the least versatile of the 3 IMO, but have a recognisable sound that is very cool.

I love Jazz basses personally, but if your issue is with the neck maybe a P neck on Jazz body might suit you best if you ever build more stuff

Current build is a PJ. I have a future plan to build a J with a P neck - probably not quite 1.75" but probably 1.65 ish

Snap

guitarfishbay said:

Stingrays are the least versatile of the 3 IMO, but have a recognisable sound that is very cool.

I now have Bridgehouse's Stingray and I'd say it is very versatile. Broad range of tones.

guitarfishbay

They are versatile, but they always sound a bit like a Stingray no matter what you do, especially the single H versions - which is a more distinct sound than a Precision or Jazz, at least IMO.  Despite only having one pickup, a Precision bass can sound good for pretty much any situation or genre, and through most overdrive/distortions/fuzzes as well.  I find Stingrays get more picky when you start distorting them a bit, due mostly to their core tonality.  I do like them quite a lot actually, but those are my observations.

As far as I'm concerned P, J, and Ray are the core classic bass sounds (in the same way I'd view Strat, Les Paul, and Telecaster with guitars) and any of them make for a good choice.

The feel of the necks on Stingrays is amazing, assuming you're doing the oil and wax maintenance as suggested 

octatonic

Agree with Monsieur Fishbay.
I have a P, J and a Stingray.

My core recorded bass tone is a the bass into a tube DI/preamp (a Groove Tubes ViPre) and then into a Distressor (a type of compressor) set to opto.
My EQ of choice is an API 550 but most of the time I track without it.
I haven't used a bass amp for recording since 2000- before the ViPre/Distressor I was using a Sansamp.

I prefer the Stingray for most of the music I do, I like how they distort under mid to heavy compression but the P and J are often easier to fit into mixes. The Stingray has a lovely rasp to it.

slacker

A band leader I used to play for called the Stingray the 'I am here' sound. I've had 3. Currently got the 2 band and just have all the controls on max except for reggae. 

DLM

Might I ask how old the strings are and what type/brand?

Snap

guitarfishbay said:

They are versatile, but they always sound a bit like a Stingray no matter what you do, The feel of the necks on Stingrays is amazing, assuming you're doing the oil and wax maintenance as suggested 

Yeah, they do, to be fair. And I agree, they do have a sharp attack to them. IT is the sound I have loved since I was starting out playing guitar in 1984! A sound I had been trying to emulate for years.

as for maintenance, not yet, I've only had it a couple of months. Tell me more.....

guitarfishbay

@Snap ;

Check the section for  

How do I maintain the "unfinished" neck on my Ernie Ball Music Man bass?

   here - https://www.music-man.com/faq

"An annual (or so) dose of tru oil and gunstockwax will help to keep the neck maintained; we use and recommend Birchwood-Casey Tru-oil, but any good quality gunstock oil will work."

guitarfishbay

After you've finished, with the wax, it feels like your thumb glides around the neck.  It's the nicest feeling neck finish I've ever played.

Snap

Thanks, everyone loves a gliding thumb right?