Looking for a truly versatile bass

[alhbass]

I've owned a number of instruments over the years (though not that many when compared to some BCer's!), and currently have a Yamaha BB1024x as my main instrument. I love it, but naturally it has it's limitations tonally, so I recently purchased a Peavey T40 in the hope that it would offer me some different sounds... I was particularly attracted by it's apparent tonal versatility and capacity to mimic various classic bass sounds (Rick, Musicman, T Bird etc - see YouTube for many and various demonstrations..), especially the humbucking ones that my Yamaha doesn't do (of course).

It does seem to be able to make quite a variety of sounds, but I must say I've yet to fall in love with any of them... Maybe I just need to experiment more, and I might change the strings too (currently has La Bella flats on it). Anyway, it got me thinking about what other single bass I might consider trading my current ones in for... I'd welcome suggestions.

I'd be looking for something that would offer great P bass and PJ sounds (like my passive Yamaha), but perhaps something with the option of active circuitry too, so I could get some more "modern", full, fat tones that would work with soul/pop music as well as rock and vintage/funky tones. My musical tastes and interests are quite varied - I currently play in a kind of urban soul/dub-influenced pop band, but also love vintage funk and disco, and have been in many much heavier rock and blues bands so my influences range pretty much across the spectrum from Lemmy to Nate Watts! I know there always have to be compromises along the line, and that (probably) no single instrument can do everything - but I suspect there must be some basses out there that would do a better job than my current set up. If I sold both of mine I'd have something in the region of £1000 to spend, so that's my upper limit really. Might possibly stretch a little further if a very attractive option turned up though...

Suggestions would be very welcome.

Happy New Year one and all!

[BassBunny]

My first thought would be a G&L L2000 or L2500. Does a pretty good P-Bass, J Bass amd Stingray impersonation but with 36 different combinations of switches etc, it does have a sound of it's own. I always considered mine to be the "swiss army knife" of basses.
I tried both the American and Tribute versions and couldn't tell much difference for the price.

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1388666285' post='2324488']
My first thought would be a G&L L2000 or L2500. Does a pretty good P-Bass, J Bass amd Stingray impersonation but with 36 different combinations of switches etc, it does have a sound of it's own. I always considered mine to be the "swiss army knife" of basses.
I tried both the American and Tribute versions and couldn't tell much difference for the price.
[/quote]

This seems a fair suggestion to me, I had a L2000 Tribby for a while, very versatile....

[Muzz]

For a real spread of sounds, a secondhand Variax might be worth a look, tho the basses themselves aren't as good as the electronics. I've always fancied trying one in a band context.

[TRBboy]

Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor. Or a California if that's more to your taste. Superb verstaile basses that sound amazing and are a pleasure to play!

[FlatEric]

Hi.

Just some thoughts on your T-40.

The best strings I have found, so far, are Rotosound RB45 - up to those,
I found Picato were quite good.
I have bought Forty's with flats on and the range of tones is more limited.
Is yours a Toaster or a Blade?

As with most electric instruments, the sound you hear is also down to the amp.

I have 3 set-ups and they each offer tonal differences - maybe the mix of a T-40
and your amp, is not giving you what you are looking for.
They really come to life with a Sansamp or in my case a BD21 Behringer.
I don't always use it but in some situations, it helps "colour" the sound/tones.
A BD21 can be picked up for pennies on e.bay - may be worth giving that a go.

Cheers.

[grayn]

+1 on the G&Ls suggested.
Might want to take a look at a Gordon-Smith Gryphon.
2 powerful pickups, that each have 2 single coil and 1 H/B options.

Good luck.

[Machines]

I have a T-40 and an L-2000. Neither to me can do all of Precision/Jazz/Stingray sounds but they are as close.

If I wanted something to do it all (as close as possible) in one instruments I'd get a Lakland 55-02 (again !).

Edited January 2, 2014 by Machines

[ead]

One of my basses is an ACG passive P/J, nothing startling there, but it has a four-way rotary switch so that I can select bridge p/up only / both p/ups in parallel / both in series / neck p/up only coupled to a master volume and master tone. For a passive bass it has a real variety of tones and is really flexible. It's this one, and a new one (not in this finish) would set you back around £800 depending upon options etc:

[url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/2881/"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/2881/[/url]

I also have a G&L Tribute JB-2 that currently has the two volume controls plus a John East BTB stack replacing the tone control (the battery fits into the cavity nicely so no additional routing required). I'm going to change one of the volumes for a four-way switch as above as I think that will make it really flexible. ACG will also do this for you in a Graft spec for around £900 depending upon choices etc.

You can't blend the pickups but that aside I think this is a really good way to get that kind of flexibility.

If you fancy grabbing your passport and crossing the pennines you'd be more than welcome to come and try them out.

[grunge666]

I concur the G&L L2000 Tribute can do no wrong.

[sbrag]

G&L L2000 is definately the most versitile bass I've played but if you like Yamaha BBs my old bb1100s is really versitile with Active/Passive and PJ it can sound like most things and you can often get them for about £250.

[6v6]

American deluxe precision?

[redbandit599]

Can't claim to have owned or played loads of basses in my time. But have a +1 for a Sandberg California, mine is the JM version and it does good 'impressions' of most things, I'd imagine a PM version may be even closer to what you are after.

The active circuitry is switchable so you can have passive or active at the pull of a switch (if you haven't added loads of boosted eq via the active circuity then there is no change in volume from to the other, which is handy.)

Dreamy neck too.

[eude]

Another +1 for an ACG Graft.
You won't get more bass guitar for under £1000 in my opinion.

Eude

[Lozz196]

The most versatile bass I`ve had was a Fender Deluxe Active Jazz - the US one. Could go from 95% Precision to sounding like Fleas work with Alanis Morrisette, to the funky sounds on Whams Club Tropicana, all with the actives on the bass, no need to touch the amp. Additionally, had the most non-active sounding actives I`ve ever heard on an active bass. Slightly smaller body than a regular Jazz so not too heavy, 24 frets with good access.

[discreet]

A Precision with an East P-Retro in it?

[url="http://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/p-retro/p-retro.html"]http://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/p-retro/p-retro.html[/url]

[BassBunny]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1388682717' post='2324773']
A Precision with an East P-Retro in it?

[url="http://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/p-retro/p-retro.html"]http://www.east-uk.c...ro/p-retro.html[/url]
[/quote]
Done that and nowhere near as versatile as a G&L. That said I would have to endorse an ACG Graft. Alan can position the pickups in the correct Fender "sweetspot" and the 4-Way rotary is great. A truly handbuilt bass for less than £1000.

[ead]

You don't even need to wait for this one...

[url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g0013-finn-4-string/"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g0013-finn-4-string/[/url]

[alhbass]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've always liked the look of Sandbergs (bit of a sucker for those relic jobs too - but I know they're not to everyone's taste), but I've yet to try playing one. As with the G&Ls.

I prefer more classic styling aesthetically, so not likely to go for the ACG type options - but i try to keep an open mind. Maybe if I tried one and loved it..?

[alhbass]

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1388668307' post='2324529']
Hi.

Just some thoughts on your T-40.

The best strings I have found, so far, are Rotosound RB45 - up to those,
I found Picato were quite good.
I have bought Forty's with flats on and the range of tones is more limited.
Is yours a Toaster or a Blade?

As with most electric instruments, the sound you hear is also down to the amp.

I have 3 set-ups and they each offer tonal differences - maybe the mix of a T-40
and your amp, is not giving you what you are looking for.
They really come to life with a Sansamp or in my case a BD21 Behringer.
I don't always use it but in some situations, it helps "colour" the sound/tones.
A BD21 can be picked up for pennies on e.bay - may be worth giving that a go.

Cheers.
[/quote]

Here's how little I know about T40s - I don't know whether mine is a toaster or a blade - what am I looking for? I have a Sansamp already, and yes, it makes most things sound better - but I'm hoping to find an instrument that I can get sounds I like out of without having to depend on the externals...

[BassBunny]

[quote name='alhbass' timestamp='1388699760' post='2325149']
I prefer more classic styling aesthetically, so not likely to go for the ACG type options - but i try to keep an open mind. Maybe if I tried one and loved it..?
[/quote]

If you tried one you would love it. I've got 2 and have cleared out virtually all my other bassses out. Alan does a "j-Type" although the Finn is very similar.

[alhbass]

[quote name='alhbass' timestamp='1388699954' post='2325151']
Here's how little I know about T40s - I don't know whether mine is a toaster or a blade - what am I looking for? I have a Sansamp already, and yes, it makes most things sound better - but I'm hoping to find an instrument that I can get sounds I like out of without having to depend on the externals...
[/quote]

OK, so I now know that I have toaster pups....

[MikanHannille]

G&L
Lakland 55-02
Sandberg

They said it all.

[razze06]

I know this sounds a little trite, and you may be doing this already, yet I'm wondering if you couldn't get even more variety from an already versatile bass by changing your technique as well as settings on your bass?

Apologies if this sounds patronising, I really don't mean it that way.

[Dingus]

[quote name='alhbass' timestamp='1388665809' post='2324477']
I've owned a number of instruments over the years (though not that many when compared to some BCer's!), and currently have a Yamaha BB1024x as my main instrument. I love it, but naturally it has it's limitations tonally, so I recently purchased a Peavey T40 in the hope that it would offer me some different sounds... I was particularly attracted by it's apparent tonal versatility and capacity to mimic various classic bass sounds (Rick, Musicman, T Bird etc - see YouTube for many and various demonstrations..), especially the humbucking ones that my Yamaha doesn't do (of course).

It does seem to be able to make quite a variety of sounds, but I must say I've yet to fall in love with any of them... Maybe I just need to experiment more, and I might change the strings too (currently has La Bella flats on it). Anyway, it got me thinking about what other single bass I might consider trading my current ones in for... I'd welcome suggestions.

I'd be looking for something that would offer great P bass and PJ sounds (like my passive Yamaha), but perhaps something with the option of active circuitry too, so I could get some more "modern", full, fat tones that would work with soul/pop music as well as rock and vintage/funky tones. My musical tastes and interests are quite varied - I currently play in a kind of urban soul/dub-influenced pop band, but also love vintage funk and disco, and have been in many much heavier rock and blues bands so my influences range pretty much across the spectrum from Lemmy to Nate Watts! I know there always have to be compromises along the line, and that (probably) no single instrument can do everything - but I suspect there must be some basses out there that would do a better job than my current set up. If I sold both of mine I'd have something in the region of £1000 to spend, so that's my upper limit really. Might possibly stretch a little further if a very attractive option turned up though...

Suggestions would be very welcome.

Happy New Year one and all!
[/quote]

Without wishing to sound provocative, and hopefully maybe ultimately saving you some money in the process, I would venture that the problem isn't so much your bass(es) but the way you you are using them, or at least the way you are [i]thinking[/i] about them.

Firstly, no one bass that I can think of will necessarily give you what you describe yourself hankering for- maybe a Lakland 44-02 comes close in certain respects in so much as it will give a mixture of Fender and Music Man -inspired tones , albeit with a more modern twist- but at the same time, you already have a bass in the Yamaha that should cover all the styles of music you describe. That bass is incredibly versatile in its' overall simplicity, and can handle various genres with aplomb due to the fact that it has such a powerful and well- judged basic sound. I really think the problem is one of your own perception rather than[i] needing[/i] to buy new equipment to get the sounds you are after ( although it is always fun and interesting to try new basses, of course) . It sounds to me like you are slightly overestimating how chameleon-like you need to be. A really good fundamental bass sound can be applied pretty much across any musical boundaries.

I really don't know too much about the Peavey T40 except that they tend to be very heavy, and twenty years ago shops couldn't give them away. I am however, well-acquainted with the Yamaha BB2024X and if your 1024 is as close to that in terms of sound as they are reputed to be then if you use it appropriately then it is a tone monster in its' own right. It doesn't need a huge variety of sounds in terms of pickup settings and electronic gizmos because the ones that it has are so right that they are easily applicable to just about any music.

G&L basses sound great in their own right, so I wouldn't discourage you from investigating one, but by the same token a good passive Jazz Bass is incredibly versatile if you know how to use it and will give you a lot of sounds inaccessible on you Yamaha or Peavey. You could also think about buying an external preamp that you could use on any of your present or future passive basses to give some extra tonal colour. If you can locate an old Yamaha NE1 Nathan East Signature preamp secondhand they tend to be fairly inexpensive but sound fantastic and will work great with your bass to help you shape the sound a bit more if that's what you think you need.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Dingus