Something Bright and a bit Gospel

[pmjos]

OK I'm in the market for something a bit Gospel, bright, lots of piano tones. What would you go for? Yamaha, MTD or Smith? any others???

Edited April 5, 2017 by pmjos

[Chris2112]

All of those basses will deliver in spades. I'm sure you know this as you've listed what are arguably the three top brands in Gospel music. My heart would want a Ken Smith but all three will do a tremendous job. I presume when you say Yamaha you are thinking of a Japanese neck thru TRB. Excellent instruments.

[Lo-E]

Just about any bass with modern electronics will allow you to dial in that sort of tone. Factor in some bright sounding strings and some modern sounding amplification and you should have lots and lots of options.

Play the bass you find the most comfortable and then adjust your tone to suit your playing style.

[Kiwi]

"Piano" tones? Gospel isn't played with basses that have "piano" tones, it's played with basses that have a nasteh midrange spike. Smith, MTD and maybe Warwicks, 80's Musicman Stingrays and Dingwalls will fit the bill - basses that use wenge in the neck and/or soft maple. Class D amps sound pretty good with them as they are fairly neutral sounding and don't scoop the midrange. For god's sake don't pair these basses with scoopy heads like SWR, Warwick or Eden heads though or you'll lose that pokey midrange (although Warwick basses and amps do sound good together).

If you want "piano" tones, go for something with a very stiff neck - Steinberger M-series, Modulus Quantum, Status Empathy, Zon Legacy or Sonus. Pair with SWR or Eden to soften the sound a little.

[Chris2112]

I should expand further on my initial post now that I have time.

Ken Smith, Yamaha TRB's and MTD's are ubiquitous in gospel music. Not because they are unique, not because they sound unique.

For one thing, Smith are the 'name' in gospel music. This is probably because they have a fairly distinctive sound and in the 80's, when the modern gospel scene really got going, there wasn't anywhere near the choice in boutique kit like there is now. A core of gospel players found Smith basses to be high quality and sound good and they became the aspiration of every gospel player around, in much the same way as Fodera experienced a surge in popularity as the modern fusion player's bass in the mid 00's. It helps that Smith have a strong midrange and a softer top end that means they sit well in a mix. The TRB and Ibanez SR followed along these lines, being high quality ERB's at a time when that sort of thing was uncommon.

MTD are a bit different, brighter and very modern. They have benefited immensely from having the endorsement of Andrew Gouche. They're the Smith of the new Millenium.


As for what makes an ideal gospel bass, I couldn't name a famous gospel player that uses a 'piano' tone as you would expect from an Alembic, a Status or a Modulus. To me, the piano sound is characterised by a fast attack, very even frequency response with a slow, enduring decay where all frequencies represented in the initial attack fade in unison. Gospel tends to be a more organic modern sound; lots of midrange to overcome the booming organs and synths but a softer top end to sit sweetly in what is supposed to be pretty easy listening music.

A boutique bass of your choice with humbuckers and nice top will look and sound suitably premium but if you're seeking brand cachet you have identified the big players already.

[pmjos]

Ok thanks guys, maybe my piano analogy was a bit off there. Is just that frankly the only one of the tree I have ever played is one MTD t Bass Direct. They were clear that whilst MTD was good, the tone varied a lot. Play before you buy don't order! Smith has always appealed but never tried one.

[chris_b]

Put "gospel bass" into You Tube and you get every bass from Wyn and Smith to Fender and Yamaha, and that's just the first page.

If you want to play gospel, it's a style, but if you want a great new bass with a good pre amp. . . . Where do you start? Fender, Sadowsky, Dingwall?

[pmjos]

I don't actually want to play Gospel............not that I have anything against. But its a range of tones that seem to be dominated by certain brands . I guess I am asking for views from player who use those brands what they favour and why. Why a Smith Rather than an MTD or a Yam....and so on. I note that the younger pro's seem to head towards Yamaha which has surprised me and perhaps I have never paid enough attention there.