Why do the old ones sound better?

[chris_b]

After 30 years you are probably so tuned in to this instrument that anything else is going to sound "off".

You could try the "Trig's broom" approach; replace the body for a lighter one, replace the neck for one that is in tune and doesn't have any dead spots or just get a new fretboard.

What ever you do is going to change the sound you've had for 30 years, so I'd just buy the best bass you can find and learn to love it for the next 30 years.

Maybe it's time for a complete change? Aston Barrett was happy with his sound when he changed to Lakland.

[bluesparky]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280669' date='Jun 24 2011, 10:50 AM'][b]Like your mom[/b], you could replace her with another perfectly fine mom or even a better one but it just won't be the same.[/quote]
Oof! for a second there i was wondering where that reply was heading!
Thankfully it wasn't what i expected!

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1280609' date='Jun 24 2011, 10:09 AM']Come off it DV, the body wood isn't going to make it louder. It's down to the 'tronics.[/quote]

Ah, yes you're right certainly. But the (oh dear god what am I starting) different tonal characteristics between a hefty maple body and a standard alder one will be there for the hearing (what I mean is, if you build it from maple, it will be a lot less fendery).

And 'tronics are just as debatable as woods, whilst differing pups certainly sound different or better, I'm not sure I could pick out the hand-wound from the scatter-wound from the machine wound, or the ceramic from the alnico in a line-up either.

[Pete Academy]

Someone bought an original '61 Strat in to our shop. As soon as it was plugged in you could hear how much better it sounded. As a bass player I hate the back pickup on Strats, but this was fat and smooth - no harshness whatever. The whole sound and tone was just amazing.

I've been after a Jazz for years and the '79 model I recently bought is a winner. It just sounds so much better than modern ones. I think older Fenders were a bit hit and miss. It's just luck finding the right one.

The best Jazz I've tried recently is the new American Deluxe, especially in passive mode.

[chris_b]

Just looked at Google and apparently some of the current touring Reggae players (Jimmy Cliff's, Burning Spear's & Wayne Wonder's) seem to be using 5 string basses these days. It might be worth considering one if you're going for a complete change.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1280728' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:26 AM']Someone bought an original '61 Strat in to our shop. As soon as it was plugged in you could hear how much better it sounded. As a bass player I hate the back pickup on Strats, but this was fat and smooth - no harshness whatever. The whole sound and tone was just amazing.[/quote]
It would be interesting to know if it sounded like that in '61, wouldn't it?

Or, could the pickups have mellowed with age, or something...?

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1280733' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:29 AM']It would be interesting to know if it sounded like that in '61, wouldn't it?

Or, could the pickups have mellowed with age, or something...?[/quote]

Good point. Now where's my Delorean when I need it?

[Clarky]

There's almost certainly a placebo effect - buy a vintage bass and you expect it to sound better, so it does. I have no doubt that I do that with my '63P. That said the sound engineer on our last recording session just raved about the sound of my bass so maybe I got lucky?

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1280728' date='Jun 24 2011, 03:26 AM']I've been after a Jazz for years and the '79 model I recently bought is a winner. It just sounds so much better than modern ones.[/quote]
I remember when the '79's were the crappy modern ones. It's just a matter of time until someone posts about how vintage their 2008 sounds compared to the new crap It's happened to the 60's, 70's and 80's so far.

I wonder if in the future [i]better[/i] will have a tangible definition? Till then it will just have to be like [i]cool[/i].

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1280733' date='Jun 24 2011, 03:29 AM']It would be interesting to know if it sounded like that in '61, wouldn't it?[/quote]
The old if aging made it sound better how could it have sounded better back then conundrum. And if it didn't sound better back then why do all the great old recordings have that better vintage sound? Could Leo build a guitar so awesome even he couldn't play it?

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1280740' date='Jun 24 2011, 03:33 AM']That said the sound engineer on our last recording session just raved about the sound of my bass so maybe I got lucky?[/quote]
I get that with any bass. Sound engineers will rave about tone when they don't want to spend time on your tone. It's the only way to get us to leave them alone.

[Clarky]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280765' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:42 AM']I get that with any bass. Sound engineers will rave about tone when they don't want to spend time on your tone. It's the only way to get us to leave them alone.[/quote]
You are a cynical person aren't you

[Beedster]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1280740' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:33 AM']There's almost certainly a placebo effect - buy a vintage bass and you expect it to sound better, so it does. I have no doubt that I do that with my '63P. That said the sound engineer on our last recording session just raved about the sound of my bass so maybe I got lucky?[/quote]

+1 Clarky, people always say how great a vintage instrument sounds [i]after[/i] they know its age

Everyone use to rave about that old '71 that you and I have both owned, but it had modern PUPs, bridge, and circuit. It just[i] looked[/i] like it should somehow sound great. Don't get me wrong, it did sound great, but I don't think it's age was a significant factor, I've heard equally good sounding modern basses (my fretless 4003 for example)

[Beedster]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280745' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:34 AM']I remember when the '79's were the crappy modern ones. It's just a matter of time until someone posts about how vintage their 2008 sounds compared to the new crap It's happened to the 60's, 70's and 80's so far.

I wonder if in the future [i]better[/i] will have a tangible definition? Till then it will just have to be like [i]cool[/i].[/quote]


[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280758' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:39 AM']The old if aging made it sound better how could it have sounded better back then conundrum. And if it didn't sound better back then why do all the great old recordings have that better vintage sound? Could Leo build a guitar so awesome even he couldn't play it?[/quote]


[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280765' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:42 AM']I get that with any bass. Sound engineers will rave about tone when they don't want to spend time on your tone. It's the only way to get us to leave them alone.[/quote]

You're on fire this morning dude

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1280769' date='Jun 24 2011, 03:43 AM']You are a cynical person aren't you[/quote]
If you mean often right, yes

I just heard something I like that loosely paraphrased was, cynical is a name for those with insight that is not shared by those using the term.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Vibrating G String

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Beedster' post='1280775' date='Jun 24 2011, 03:47 AM']You're on fire this morning dude [/quote]
Piles acting up

[Clarky]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280777' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:48 AM']If you mean often right, yes

I just heard something I like that loosely paraphrased was cynical is a name for those with insight that is not shared by those using the term.[/quote]
OK, I just live in this apple pie and pixie dust world where, if someone pays me a compliment, I don't immediately leap to the conclusion that they are fobbing me off.

By the way, the recording session was just to record the bass. Oh, and the sound engineer was a bass player and a friend.

[Vibrating G String]

Yours acting up too?

[chris_b]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280758' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:39 AM']....Could Leo build a guitar so awesome even he couldn't play it?....[/quote]
Probably, as he was a very bad Sax player!

[Wil]

The best sounding bass I currently own is a good 15 years older than my other one.

It's also made of plywood.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280765' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:42 AM']I get that with any bass. Sound engineers will rave about tone when they don't want to spend time on your tone. It's the only way to get us to leave them alone.[/quote]

I was in the studio last weekend, and the engineer was saying how nice my sound was - which can mean alarm bells, as above.

But when I heard what he`d recorded, well I just had to agree with him.

Which was nice.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Lozz196

[paulflan0151]

A lot of it has to do with the pups, every time you hit the string the magnets demagnetise a little bit. After 60 years it makes quite the difference to the sound.

[Dad3353]

Ah, quite so, they just don't make anything any more like that good old '95 plywood. Now when I was a boy... (...[i]wanders along the corridor muttering to his walking frame, pyjamas half open and drooling slightly[/i]...)

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1280745' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:34 AM']I remember when the '79's were the crappy modern ones. It's just a matter of time until someone posts about how vintage their 2008 sounds compared to the new crap It's happened to the 60's, 70's and 80's so far.

I wonder if in the future [i]better[/i] will have a tangible definition? Till then it will just have to be like [i]cool[/i].[/quote]

It sounds better to [i]me[/i].

Edited June 24, 2011 by Pete Academy

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1280733' date='Jun 24 2011, 11:29 AM']Or, could the pickups have mellowed with age, or something...?[/quote]
and
[quote name='paulflan0151' post='1280848' date='Jun 24 2011, 12:26 PM']A lot of it has to do with the pups, every time you hit the string the magnets demagnetise a little bit. After 60 years it makes quite the difference to the sound.[/quote]

It's certainly the belief among a lot of Gibson users, that the magnets drop a bit over the years and how "there's no way to replicate that" etc etc.
[i]Not so sure that it's anything to do with hitting the strings though.[/i]
My SG hasn't had it's "proper" pickup in it for years, but I could kick myself for not keeping the P90 for it. It's on "my list" to get a new Gibson one if I don't find another vintage one at bargain price.
I did however get a SD "Broadcaster" replica bridge pickup for my Tele years ago & that's the dog's!

Edited June 24, 2011 by Big_Stu