What bass next?

Sporky

fretmeister said:

sparkly blue

You called? 

ICBM

Sporky said:

How often do you need, as an artist, to make rubber-bandy "bwaaaaang" noises? 

Nah, fretless is much more versatile than that - they only really do that clichéd 80s bwaaang sound if you put compression and too much midrange on them.

I use one most of the time in my prog/space-rock jam project because with fuzz, octave, chorus and filter sweeps you can make it sound really synthy...

idiotwind

ICBM said:

Sporky said:

How often do you need, as an artist, to make rubber-bandy "bwaaaaang" noises? 

Nah, fretless is much more versatile than that - they only really do that clichéd 80s bwaaang sound if you put compression and too much midrange on them.

I use one most of the time in my prog/space-rock jam project because with fuzz, octave, chorus and filter sweeps you can make it sound really synthy...

My favourite example for defending the versatility of fretless is The Chain aka one of the most well-known bits of bass ever, which was done on a fretless with a stainless steel fingerboard, and sounds nothing like "fretless bass".

stickyfiddle

No fretless tall on my thread! Even though I've been learning a load of Police lines lately and apparently most of those were fretless as well. Bah! 

Funkfingers

JCA2550 said:

prowla said:

The answer is always a Rickenbacker; it's just a matter of how long it takes you to realise it...

Took me 30+ years

Ditto. I knew that a RIC was inevitable but was reluctant to pay the price.

Sporky said:

stickyfiddle said:

Whitecat said:

Or the left-field answer - a fretless of some description.

Oh god, do I have to?

How often do you need, as an artist, to make rubber-bandy "bwaaaaang" noises? 

A lot of Seventies and Eighties John McVie stuff is fretless but he doesn't overdo the glissandi. e.g. The Chain outro bass motif is fretless. Listen carefully to the first note and you can detect the slide from open E to A at the fifth position.

roberty

Depending how much you want to spend Epiphone could be a shout. The bass player in my band has a Thunderbird Pro with active Gibson USA pickups. It was only £450 pre-pandemic. Proper neck thru. It is superb. They do some semi hollow type things I think

roberty

These thingees

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Epiphone-Jack-Casady-Bass-Metallic-Gold/19CP

DonnyMac

stickyfiddle said:

My band is playing a mix of motown, soul, disco, pop and rock and I have no intention of taking multiple basses to a gig, so it'd be nice to have something that could cover that stuff if I wanted (applying the usual caveats of "you can play anything on anything")

A Precision or Jazz would cover all those genres... but the Stingray was probably the best sounding bass I ever got to play. 

stickyfiddle

@roberty I gotta admit I'm never gonna buy an MIC Epiphone (or Indonesia etc). I just can't do it. Now if they did a USA Rivoli so go with the Casinos...?

I have a decent end of service payment from work so potentially happy to spend a decent bit to get something that could potentially stay with me forever. I'm honestly still tempted by that EB2 in Nashville, but the braz rosewood makes it a pain

stickyfiddle

Carter's can't do CITES for me, so the EB2 is off the table. Slightly sad but my wallet is happy..!

roberty

@stickyfiddle posh mode! Fair play that's a bit more exciting

stickyfiddle

 

And @Bridgehouse has just sent me a pic of something *very* tempting... 

Ossyrocks

I'd also say Jazz. 

My main squeeze is my P Bass, and I had considered selling my Jazz for a while as I was getting so comfortable on the P. But I did a little experimenting and ended up stringing the Jazz with heavier flats than I would normally use, and it really came alive. It's a Mexican Roadworn Series, and I'm now considering a pickup upgrade as I have grown to like it so much to play, but it still lacks a little something when amplified compared with the P (I know it's supposed to be different, but I'd like a bit more output and weight to the tone). 

I've found moving between the Jazz (38mm nut) to my vintage P (41mm nut) quite easy, but it is a bit of a leap up to my AVRI P bass (44mm nut). I'm still on the fence about a 44mm nut.

Rob

UnclePsychosis

During lockdown I finally admitted to myself that Precisions were the future so bought one and sold my other (active, more modern) stuff.

Then I missed having two basses, so I bought a J. 

Be smart, be like me :-)

If you're worried about switching between the two, you could always put a P neck on a J body. Normally the other way round is more common, but it would be easy to do, especially if you are MJTing.

The other obvious alternative to a J is a Stingray. I've always wanted one, being a fan of Bernard Edwards and Tim C but in person I find I don't really like the tone they make. 

As for Ricks, spectacularly marmite. I'd be playing some before buying. 

stickyfiddle

UnclePsychosis said:

During lockdown I finally admitted to myself that Precisions were the future so bought one and sold my other (active, more modern) stuff.

Then I missed having two basses, so I bought a J. 

Be smart, be like me :-)

If you're worried about switching between the two, you could always put a P neck on a J body. Normally the other way round is more common, but it would be easy to do, especially if you are MJTing.

The other obvious alternative to a J is a Stingray. I've always wanted one, being a fan of Bernard Edwards and Tim C but in person I find I don't really like the tone they make. 

As for Ricks, spectacularly marmite. I'd be playing some before buying. 

That's pretty much my entire thinking summarised neatly. I reckon a Jazz (and particularly the one Bridgehouse is offering!) should theoretically be the perfect partner, and I can always try a diff neck on that if needed. My P has a 43mm neck (this is why I like building stuff!) so not such a stupid adjustment. 

I can definitely see myself having 4 or 5 in total eventually, but no hurry

Bridgehouse

stickyfiddle said:

UnclePsychosis said:

During lockdown I finally admitted to myself that Precisions were the future so bought one and sold my other (active, more modern) stuff.

Then I missed having two basses, so I bought a J. 

Be smart, be like me :-)

If you're worried about switching between the two, you could always put a P neck on a J body. Normally the other way round is more common, but it would be easy to do, especially if you are MJTing.

The other obvious alternative to a J is a Stingray. I've always wanted one, being a fan of Bernard Edwards and Tim C but in person I find I don't really like the tone they make. 

As for Ricks, spectacularly marmite. I'd be playing some before buying. 

That's pretty much my entire thinking summarised neatly. I reckon a Jazz (and particularly the one Bridgehouse is offering!) should theoretically be the perfect partner, and I can always try a diff neck on that if needed. My P has a 43mm neck (this is why I like building stuff!) so not such a stupid adjustment. 

I can definitely see myself having 4 or 5 in total eventually, but no hurry

You could drop a CS Precision neck on to my Jazz and apart from the sticker at the top nobody would know

As I said in the PM though, this is a 38mm Jazz neck but it's a more chunky as it's a bit wider at the 12th than others I've played so less 70's pencil and more early 60's "narrow P"

UnclePsychosis

The other thing is that vintage spex jazz necks are not *that* skinny anyway.

My 60s vintera is clearly smaller than my P neck but its still a decent handful. 

Funkfingers

Early Sixties profile P neck on a J body makes for a good instrument. Replace the middle/neck pickup with a split coils P type and you have the Reggie Hamilton signature model. The US model is well worth hunting for.

wellsyboy

ICBM said:

stickyfiddle said:

My band is playing a mix of motown, soul, disco, pop and rock and I have no intention of taking multiple basses to a gig, so it'd be nice to have something that could cover that stuff if I wanted (applying the usual caveats of "you can play anything on anything")

With that list it’s got to be a Jazz, although a Rick would do it quite well too.

You could always justify it by putting rounds on one and flats on the other… I would go with flats on the Jazz if you get one, but flats on the P if you get a Rick.

Agree - instinct says Jazz - everyone should have a P and a J !!!

Sporky

wellsyboy said:

everyone should have a P and a J !!!

And a pair of PJs.