Why I like a versatile bass

[tauzero]

Variax, that's the way forward.

[Number6]

I have found my Yam TRBX305 to be super versatile at a rock bottom price. The quality is very good and i have found you can get most sounds you require from it. All for under 300 quid

[TrevorR]

The tonal versatility is one of the things I love about my Mk 1 Wal. Like the OP I love being able to go from a plummy jazz tone to a punchy rock sound, to dubby reggae, to almost double bass with a simple knob twiddle and change of hand position (oo-er matron). Loved that when I was playing in a function band. I've shared before but it fits well here... I recall a teenage lad watching me intently at a wedding gig. In the second interval he came up and asked what effects I was using to get all those different tones. That evening my entire pedalboard comprised of a Boss TU2 tuner pedal...!

[leschirons]

I could gig with any bass I own be it 4 / 5 / 6 string or even fretless. It's nice to have a low B for some stuff but not insurmountable is it? A twiddle on the amp will give you a useable sound. Apart from that, will the audience or other band members really care? I doubt it.

[TrevorR]

[quote name='Vinny' timestamp='1458818292' post='3011136']
Don't forget to take into account the universal constant - 'During any given performance the number of people who give a monkeys what the bass sounds like is 1.'
,
[/quote]
[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1458818792' post='3011145']

This is also very true. We bassists obsess about tone, but almost nobody else can hear any difference between bass x and bass y (or amp x and amp y) at all! The rest of my family and my bandmates are utterly bemused by the idea that I would ever need more than one bass - after all, they all sound the same, don't they?
[/quote]
[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1458821623' post='3011202']

If you are happy with your own gear choices, you are more likely to enjoy playing. This means you are more likely to play well and look like you are enjoying yourself - and these are things that punters DO pick up on!
[/quote]
[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1458891437' post='3011833']

I could gig with any bass I own be it 4 / 5 / 6 string or even fretless. It's nice to have a low B for some stuff but not insurmountable is it? A twiddle on the amp will give you a useable sound. Apart from that, will the audience or other band members really care? I doubt it.
[/quote]

Thing is, we're not talking about minimum necessary requirements here, are we. Frankly, we could all manage a gig with one of those £60 basses from Argos and the punters wouldn't notice. This is about nuance and satisfaction and enjoyment. It's true there's probably only one person at the gig who notices specifically how the bass sounds but he's a very important person to me and I have a vested interest in him enjoying the gig.

And audiences do notice subtleties on a subconscious level. If you do Walking On The Moon with a thin nasal sound they won't enjoy it as much as if you do it with a deep, solid, dubby sound. Similarly playing Angels with a Peaches tone... I exaggerate for effect, of course but even though they don't know why, they know.

I agree with Conan, the more I am digging on the bass feel and look and tone, the more I enjoy playing, the more relaxed I am, the more I am in the musical moment and the better the experience for the punters. It's the opposite of the minimum necessary you can cope with, it's about maximising the experience for you, the band and the punters. And if you can self indulge a bit without being too anal or arsey about it (thinking about a guitar player I know who takes it way too far up his own orifice) then why not?

[Krysbass]

I pretty much agree with the original post. I own 4 basses; (2 x fretted 4-strings, a fretted 5-string and a fretless 4-string), but it's rare for me to take more than 1 bass to a gig.

This is mainly because I mostly play pubs and even though my rig takes up less floor space than any other band member's gear; there's usually not enough floor-space left for me to have another bass on stage without risking someone tripping over it; (probably me!)

So my most versatile, workhorse bass is my Ibanez SR600 4-string - it does a wide range of tones to support all the songs we play.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Krysbass

[Graham]

Personally, I agree with the OP, but possibly not in the way he means. I like to have a single, good, core tone; which for me is clear and punchy. I will typically then vary that through the set by adjusting my playing style, rather than by EQ or pickup changes.

What I do like though, is that the bass and amp have enough versatility that I can get that core sound in a variety of rooms and environments.

However, no-one should have to justify their choice, if it makes you happy and works for you, then it's the right choice

[Twincam]

Weirdly I've noticed on every bass I've had, and they have all been fairly different that I've always dialled in pretty much the same kind of tone and I don't vary much from that.
No two basses are quite the same but long as there capable of a good basic well rounded tone I'm happy.

[Twincam]

Too add I do find that versatile basses don't do as good a job as the real thing say a jazz, p bass or stingray or other distinctive tones. To me a versatile bass is like amp modelling they can get close to a tone but not quite the same thing.

[JTUK]

I'll be going after a certain sound that suits the style I'm going for... so once I have the bass that does that, I'm not after chopping the sound too much.

[Dan Dare]

I agree with JTUK. I have an overall sound I like and use that most of the time, with gentle modification to suit certain circumstances. I find a J versatile enough for my needs.

[sykilz]

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1458843002' post='3011518']

Basses for metal, most players of that genre seem to use active basses I wonder if it is the tight compressed sound of an active bass that is needed to fit into the mix?
[/quote]
Although there's always an exception to prove the rule...!!! ( and this against three guitarists)

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1458919518' post='3012134'] I have an overall sound I like and use that most of the time, with gentle modification to suit certain circumstances.
[/quote]

This is basically what I do. Certain songs suit a more "round" tone so I'll jump to the neck pickup a bit more and vise versa for a more defined sound.

There is a lot you can change simply by changing your right hand.

If the core tone is good the rest will be good.

[The-Ox]

agreed with this. I love my ACG but my band have stuffed me with a Gibson instead, with one massive humbucker. Don't think they appreciated my high end settings on the ACG, which I much prefer playing

[keefbaker]

[quote name='sykilz' timestamp='1458919872' post='3012138']

Although there's always an exception to prove the rule...!!! ( and this against three guitarists)
[/quote]

Yeah but you're talking Steve Harris there.. You don't play hard metal with a P, unless you're Steve Harris. You don't play metal with flats, unless you're Steve Harris.. Etc

[3below]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1458917290' post='3012111']
Weirdly I've noticed on every bass I've had, and they have all been fairly different that I've always dialled in pretty much the same kind of tone and I don't vary much from that.
No two basses are quite the same but long as there capable of a good basic well rounded tone I'm happy.
[/quote]

+1 Somehow I seem to make nearly all of my basses sound very similar. This encompasses active, passive, EMGs, etc etc. Physically they play differently, respond differently, some are more rewarding than others. Some record better than others (= more easily, less faff - Gibson SG, just DI in, add small amount of compression - result) but in a live gig at any volume that involves a drummer, all subtlety and nuance is lost IMO. Bass into PA combined with venue acoustics throws yet another set of factors.

[blue]

When, we have a decent size stage I will bring along my German made Hofner Club bass, Gibson ES-335 or my Gibson Gold Top Les Paul bass. Most places I play are to dangerous to bring those basses. So I have 2 trusty MIJ Fender Ps for most gigs.

Edited March 25, 2016 by blue

[sykilz]

[quote name='keefbaker' timestamp='1458936777' post='3012323']


Yeah but you're talking Steve Harris there.. You don't play hard metal with a P, unless you're Steve Harris. You don't play metal with flats, unless you're Steve Harris.. Etc
[/quote]
Spot on, and to be fair, not even sure Maiden qualify as metal nowadays, I've fallen by the wayside on genres recently!!

[Twincam]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1458948725' post='3012436']
When, we have a decent size stage I will bring along my German made Hofner Club bass, Gibson ES-335 or my Gibson Gold Top Les Paul bass. Most places I play are to dangerous to bring those basses. So I have 2 trusty MIJ Fender Ps for most gigs.
[/quote]

So you take the better basses too the dangerous gigs?















Only joking

[blue]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1458998147' post='3012692']


So you take the better basses too the dangerous gigs?

Only joking
[/quote]

My MIJ Fender Ps are indeed versatile. They are very nice, but not as cool looking as the Gold Top, ES-335 or the German made Hofner Club.

Blue

Edited March 29, 2016 by blue

[SpondonBassed]

I haven't played to an audience for over 30 years. Then I was playing my mate's perspex bodied, left-hand strung bass in the right handed postion. It was a right laff because I had also bought a Squier fretless jazz correctly strung for me and with a lovely "mwah" and was in the transition from getting away from what I was used to with the leftie and onto the Fender copy.

It all stopped shortly after that due to work commitments but I grew to dislike the Squier purely because of its size.

Nowadays I like to think of myself as slightly mellower and less concerned with fashion. I think a lot of folk buy Fender or Fender licensed copies simply because it looks like everyone plays them. I mean, for a beginner, what else is there to guide your choice if you haven't felt an instrument come alive in your hands yet?

With all respect to Fender users, (and I DO like their sound) I wont have another because I have limited space to practice and after playing headless for so long, I like the way it sits on the strap better than owt else. Funnily enough, the flip out rest doesn't work for me and I almost never play sat down. The sounds I make suit me and until I frequently play with others again I am not in a position to fine tune my choice of pick-up/amp combination. It doesn't bother me in the slightest what anyone thinks of my sound because I have yet to discover a personal style. I haven't got a complicated repertoire and until I expand the range of genres (I hate that word) that I can feel at home with... I can't reasonably expect anything recognisable in terms of a personal style of playing.

I am with the original post. I think a versatile bass is necessary if you occasionally want to dip your toe in the waters of genres alternative to the ones you are used to.

On the other hand, my dream bass, the one custom guitar that I would have made after a lottery win would be a headless with a decent mass and fanned frets to get the best out of each string gauge right down to the low B. That's just me and to quote Monty Python's Life of Brian - "Yes! We are all individuals"

Edited March 29, 2016 by SpondonBassed

[CamdenRob]

I have different basses for different occasions. A Wal for my original projects where I have the freedom to sound however I like, a P bass for when I need to sound like I'm using a P bass (The Wal cannot sound like a P bass) and a fretless for when I need that sort of thing

Versatile basses are obviously appealing (and a much better financial choice than multiple basses) but it's important to make sure the bass is offering you what you want from each of it's options and not ending up giving you an average approximation of the sounds your looking for... Does the P pickup solo'd really sound like a P? Does a J pickup or active humbucker really give you the J or Ray sound to the same standard a decicated instrument would?.

Sometimes basses that try to be all things to all people can end up not being anything to anyone...

Edited March 29, 2016 by CamdenRob

[sunburstjazz1967]

I'd take a versatile bassist with a jazz bass over a versatile bass with a player that is relying mostly on the pickup/tone options to get a versatile sound.

[keefbaker]

[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1459248326' post='3014684']
I'd take a versatile bassist with a jazz bass over a versatile bass with a player that is relying mostly on the pickup/tone options to get a versatile sound.
[/quote]

With a forum name of "sunburstjazz1967" that's not the biggest surprise. But you're completely right that if your playing, hand position etc isn't versatile then a range of pickups and tones is going to do pretty much nothing for you.

[sunburstjazz1967]

I wouldn't read too much into the name, lol.