Budget or not top of range P bass recommendation?

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Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
edited April 2020 in Bass
Thread update: After the advice here, I have decided to look into a P bass. Will mainly be for home playing as I don't gig currently, but a gig worthy one would be fine. Plan would be to get some flatwounds on it, and a bit of foam maybe!

Options seem to be, used MIM p bass, a squier P bass, bacchus, aria pro II (on ebay currently), Vintage V4, or else, like what I did with guitars in the past, look into a build, gather the parts and put it together....


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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    For live performance and recording work, you really need some means to amplify acoustic bass guitar. 

    If you will be mostly playing for fun, consider a bass ukulele.
    Be seeing you.
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    https://youtu.be/Hu7moTzhqJk

    My friend plays bass uke in a band. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    I should have also mentioned semi acoustic bass. I agree. A pickup would be good.
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    What about those Harley Benton fretless basses? For home use only? Very very cheap, too good to be true?
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Well, the absence of frets is one less thing to go wrong. 

    Judging by the photographs on the Thomann website, the hardware is cheap ‘n’ nasty. The pickups and controls are almost certainly super cheap.

    Upgrading any of these items will add to your outlay. In the longer term, it might make better economic sense to buy a pre-owned fretless Squier VM Jazz or Precision Bass - preferably, one with Duncan Designed pickups.

    Very very cheap, too good to be true?
    The same Thomann web pages include a kit bass guitar for £77 (€89). This should provide some idea of how much the finishing, assembly and labour cost.
    Be seeing you.
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    edited April 2020
    @Funkfingers very good points. The reason I'm leaning towards an acoustic fretless, is because I'm using an upright bass VST plugin for my ideas, and I am thinking an acoustic fretless could get me close to that upright type of sound, well close enough for home ideas etc but with more feel/sliding etc. The fretless acoustic sound would be in that general ballpark for me.
    But I suppose I could look at electric fretless too, though going by some of the video demos, they do sound very different again to acoustic models.
    I am watching a used crafter fretless acoustic on ebay this week. They're not bad for the money so will see how that goes too.

    But maybe an electric fretless with flatwounds might get me close too, and use some of the playing techniques I've seen on YT to mimic an upright.
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  • GrangousierGrangousier Frets: 2621
    I have one of those that I also got off Ebay - the preamp kind of explodes and makes upsetting noises (this is largely due to the previous owner, though, partly due to me, not at all due to Crafter), but acoustically it sounds great - I put Rotosound Trubass nylon-wound strings, and it does those Joni-Mitchell-era-Jaco-Pastorius sounds. Except, obviously, without Jaco Pastorius, but you know. 

    Tom at Feline valiantly stitched the preamp back together again, but I suspect I'm going to have them wire the pickup straight to the output. Not that this needs concern you, as I'm sure the one you're getting isn't knackered. 

    The Rotosound strings, though, I'd strongly recommend for your purposes. 

    Good guitar, though. 
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    I'm using an upright bass VST plugin for my ideas and I am thinking an acoustic fretless could get me close to that upright type of sound
    Ashbory
    Be seeing you.
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  • mbembe Frets: 1840
    I'm using an upright bass VST plugin for my ideas and I am thinking an acoustic fretless could get me close to that upright type of sound
    Ashbory
    With rubber bands for strings?
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    I think I’ll steer away from the Ashbory 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    I had a 70s Eko fretless acoustic bass a long time ago - purely acoustic. It was HUGE, but still not loud enough to really produce a useful volume to be heard with any kind of band, even just acoustic guitars and vocals. It actually sounded very nice though, so with a decent pickup system it would probably have been quite practical... apart from the size.

    I’ve played a couple of more modern ‘electro-acoustic type’ ones, and even amplified they just never had the nice deep boom/hollow upright-bass type sound of the Eko. I’ve actually got better results from a semi-solid/magnetic pickup fretless... I once had a 60s Epiphone Rivoli with knackered frets so I defretted it, and it sounded great. Still can’t understand why I sold that - and the matching fretted Gibson EB-2 :(.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    No amplified fretless bass will sound like an upright. Being fretted or not isn’t the issue - it’s the core sound. 

    An acoustic can sound closer - but imho not close enough. And of course they are no where near loud enough for live performance. Plug them in and you lose any semblance of upright sound.

    There’s a reason upright players tolerate the utter inconvenience of lugging around a massive instrument....
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  • WhistlerWhistler Frets: 322
    In a jazz context I know of a guy that uses one of those compact electric upright basses and it sounds fine. No doubt, for classical music only the real thing will do.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    I'm using an upright bass VST plugin for my ideas
    Which one?

    I use Spectrasonics Trillian. Even with extensive multiple layer sampling and semi-random playback, the machine gives itself away. 

    There’s a reason upright players tolerate the utter inconvenience of lugging around a massive instrument.
    Several reasons. Firstly, the sound. Secondly, there is something about the physicality of getting notes out of the beast. Once learned, this is a skill that experienced players are reluctant to throw away. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    I should say it would be for home use only. 
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    I'm using an upright bass VST plugin for my ideas
    Which one?

    I use Spectrasonics Trillian. Even with extensive multiple layer sampling and semi-random playback, the machine gives itself away. 

    There’s a reason upright players tolerate the utter inconvenience of lugging around a massive instrument.
    Several reasons. Firstly, the sound. Secondly, there is something about the physicality of getting notes out of the beast. Once learned, this is a skill that experienced players are reluctant to throw away. 
    It’s just a free one included with sforzando. 
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Thanks you lot, now I’m GASSING for that 5 string fret less acoustic bass ;)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    edited April 2020
    There’s a reason upright players tolerate the utter inconvenience of lugging around a massive instrument.
    Several reasons. Firstly, the sound. Secondly, there is something about the physicality of getting notes out of the beast. Once learned, this is a skill that experienced players are reluctant to throw away. 
    I'd guess that's why the Eko was at least in the same city, if perhaps not quite the same ballpark - it had a high action, a high archtop-type bridge (and actually a very slightly arched top), and to get useful volume out of it required a certain 'dynamism' in the right-hand, shall we say .

    And even then it was only roughly similar - certainly wouldn't pass for a real one if you listened closely. It was the closest I'd want to get physically though!

    One of these...



    Mine came to me with no headstock. Accidental, rather than Steinberger conversion .

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Nice but lacking in the sub-bass frequency range. 

    It’s just a free one included with sforzando. 
    I had to look up the Plogue Sforzando sample replayer plug-in. Basic sound quality seemed fine. The quality of the Contrabass samples is impossible to assess without getting to hear them.

    The usual tell-tale with keyboard-triggered samples of stringed instruments is that some of the note and lick choices would not come naturally on the real instrument. Including samples of handling noises and squeaks helps to improve the illusion.

    The same is true with MIDI drum tracks. My efforts at programming take an eternity. They are rarely as believable as a real time performance on MIDI trigger pads by a proper drummer. 
    Be seeing you.
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