Baloney Balderdash

Maybe I just like the sound of old VHS tape rips then. You know that is actually a desirable effect nowadays, VHS quality. Or was at least a few years back.

The bass doesn't sound like the album version either, it is much more raw sounding. Try actually listening to the two side by side.

Well, it might not be live, but it definitely doesn't sound like the album version either.

P Bass with stainless steel rounds, pick, and a Tech 21 Oxford, or Joyo Oxford Sound. I bet you can get pretty close with that.

I am partial to this live recording, just amazing raw P Bass tone!:

I have never tried the bass Elixir Nanoweb nickel-plated ones, only the guitar ones, cause I tune my main bass to G#, so I find the highest gauge Elixir guitar strings, gauge .080 fitting for that, I buy individual strings for a tension balanced set. The Nanoweb guitar strings are rated considerably higher on the brightness scale than the bass ones, and described as "bright", whereas the the nickel-plated Nanoweb bass strings are described as "warm", so assume there must be a difference in how they are wound or coated compared to the nickel-plated guitar ones. But for what it is worth new Elxir Nanoweb guitar strings sounds something like a week old or so regular XL D'Addario ones, and feels a lot smoother, then after about a week or so, with everyday playing, that new string zing will be reduced ever so slightly, maybe similar to 2 week or so old D'Addario strings, and stays that way for what seems forever. I aim at changing strings every 3 months or so, with daily playing, and by that time I haven't noticed any decline from how they sound after a week or so of everyday playing. By that time they do tend to have been sporadically miscolored, but that doesn't seem to affect the tone of them. From what I was told Stainless Steel Nanoweb bass strings are supposed to sound and feel more like fresh uncoated nickle-plated strings, and keep that fresh tone for what seems forever as well (they are rated considerably higher on the brightness scale too, and described as "bright").

Spot the difference: I also tuned it up to G# standard tuning, same strings.

In my opinion the standard old fashioned bent piece of metal bridge sounds best in this demo. And what I hear is that high mass bridges kills some upper harmonic content, and makes your tone less complex and rich, which by some might be perceived as making it fatter, but all it does is killing some of the upper harmonic content of your tone. The Babicz bridge is not really a high mass bridge, but that one sounds thin and brittle to me.

Maybe there is, but hardly for what equates to 200£. If you really are interested check my forum profile for the rest of my signal chain for my ampless setup. Seems to work brilliantly for me. Beside I already bought this amp, as the thread title suggests, so would be kind of silly not to use it.

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You didn't read the OP did you?

Yeah, I personally would never buy a bass that didn't have at least 22 actually accessible frets. Personally out of the basses you mention I would probably go for the Cort B5. That said mind I do not have personal experience with any of the ones you mention, but I do know Cort is incredible value for the money.

They are great, and very fun, instruments, for sure. If you are going cheap Harley Benton's take on it, the GuitarBass, is pretty freaking awesome, I got one, though while the stock Strat style pickups do sound genuinely great, they are way too noisy, so expect a pickup upgrade being necessary. Otherwise mine was pretty much perfect from stock, even with perfectly leveled frets right from factory. One thing you need to be aware of though, regardless of which Bass VI like instrument you end up buying, the really narrow, guitar like, string spacing will take some practice to get used to, to not stumble over the strings, both on your fretting and picking hand, constantly. Using a pick does make it a bit easier to handle though. Also be aware that the stock low E string is crap on most of these instruments, usually gauge .084, which is way too floppy to work properly, I would recommend a set with a gauge .095 low E string. Newtone makes amazing affordable custom sets: https://newtonestrings.com/ They do sell a readymade custom Bass VI set, but personally I prefer to put together my own, with my own preference in gauges, via their custom string set creator/specificator (or whatever such a thing is called, online app?).

I would definitely be partial to the Hagtröm Swede bass, I think that is more versatile, and honestly in my opinion sounds better. So unless you really love that specific thuddy Höfner hollowbody sound, I would without hesitation go for the Hagström.

It sounds very much like real played bass, but really heavily processed, produced and polished, like the rest of the track, and as is the custom nowadays, and not just with pop and mainstream music. Kind of like in the 80's, were just about everything would be overprocessed, just that production has become much more streamlined and polished, at least when we are talking mainstream music. A lot of of more alternative music will still be overprocessed nowadays, but used in a less streamlined and polished, and more creative way, more as an effect, rather than to create an over polished sound. Well, I suppose except for most modern metal, which tends to be really streamlined and over polished as well, but again I suppose to an effect of sounding cold and mechanical, rather than to be overprocessed for the sake of accessibility and easier digestion. Standard sampled bass usually does sound somewhat similar to the bass in this track, but is not as dynamically varied and lively. It would be extremely hard to replicate this bass midi programming it from samples and make it sound the same, to the point where it would be much easier to just hire a real bass player.