Basses for digging in

[linusishungry]

I like to dig in quite a lot when I play bass. I currently play a Fender P bass because I love the warm fat round tone, but I feel it can lose quite a lot of that impact and sustain when you pluck the strings really hard. I feel like you get the best out of it when playing more lightly. So my question is, what basses are out there that people feel work really well and still pack a punch and keep their bass-iness and fat sound even when you're plucking really hard?

[Cuzzie]

Sandberg 

[bubinga5]

What cab are you using.? Might not be the bass at fault here. 

[hooky_lowdown]

What strings are you using? A more suitable string may be a simple (and much cheaper) solution.

[paul_5]

Jazz bass. Especially with Ernie Ball cobalt flats.

[Cuzzie]

Come on,  this is  bass chats

Needs a new bass, cab and amp

[fretmeister]

Play lighter.

[4000]

3 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Play lighter.

+1. Your tendons will thank you in later years. 😉

if you’re hitting that hard maybe you need more relief/higher action. 

[40hz]

Graphite, graphite, graphite!. My Status-necked Stingray and now my Modulus Flea were/are unrivalled when it comes to delivering when you dig in.

[Hellzero]

Try double bass with action at 2 centimetres at the octave and an old Schaller pickup at the end of the fingerboard. You'll get the bass you want and you'll be digging like a mad man.

Seriously, put some heavier gauge strings on your P-Bass, raise the action to 3 millimeters under the E string at the octave, have your neck relief correctly adjusted and lower your pickup. Then you'll be called the undertaker !

[paul_c2]

None of them are that good, due to the flat shape and dirt getting constantly trapped/building up around the bridge and strings. Also, its quite easy to get your foot stuck in the cut-out.

[Cuzzie]

Status neck fan here as well, phenomenal, unbelievable 

[Machines]

This is a question all about setup and nothing to do with the bass itself. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

[Muzz]

30 minutes ago, Machines said:

This is a question all about setup and nothing to do with the bass itself. 

This.

[chris_b]

31 minutes ago, Machines said:

This is a question all about setup and nothing to do with the bass itself. 

That.

[Doctor J]

Yep. If you can’t dig in on a Precision, it’s the setup not the instrument itself.

[bazzbass]

5 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Yep. If you can’t dig in on a Precision, it’s the setup not the instrument itself.

THIS

they are made to be treated rough

experiment with your pickup height

Edited July 6, 2019 by bazzbass

[Lozz196]

Yeah, action/pickup height/age of strings all factors in this, just a case of finding which combines the best for the individual.

[Jonse]

I like to dig in and I like to play lightly, but I only like to use one bass. 

P Bass + daddario chromes with low action + sansamp has worked for me for years. 

[Jazzmaster62]

On 05/07/2019 at 17:41, linusishungry said:

I like to dig in quite a lot when I play bass. I currently play a Fender P bass because I love the warm fat round tone, but I feel it can lose quite a lot of that impact and sustain when you pluck the strings really hard. I feel like you get the best out of it when playing more lightly. So my question is, what basses are out there that people feel work really well and still pack a punch and keep their bass-iness and fat sound even when you're plucking really hard?

Raise your action?

Seriously, what sort of question is this?

[hooky_lowdown]

Good to see the OP chime in. 🤔

[jazzmanb]

90% Fingers,i like the Jazz style set up .That back pick up is ideal for digging in on the last bit of string to get the bite .My Sadowsky metro really picks the tone up across onto the G and D strings without them getting lost.The other side of that is I like to move up and down the E string for max bottom end when needed 

[Muzz]

It's clearly a Write Only document from his POV... 🤔

[MattM]

Dee Dee Ramone.   That is all...