ultimate bass

[henry norton]

Just thought I'd add to all the 'philosophical discussions' that have appeared on the forum lately.

With the introduction of versatile on board preamps such as the ACG ('cos Alembic and Wal hadn't realised the benefits of parametric EQs during the 1970s ) along with digital amp and speaker modelling, surely with a reasonable quality bass, amp and full range speaker a player could reproduce almost any sound?

It just shows the (relatively) small differences between the different ULSBs (universal long scale basses) are all about the players personal taste (or lack of) rather than what a listener really hears.

I've lit the blue touch paper and will now retire to a safe distance....

[waynepunkdude]

This is mine

[henry norton]

Looks wicked mate, but is the bumper crop of pups there for pose value or 'cos you couldn't be arsed to tweak the tone control on your amp between songs?

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='henry norton' post='403677' date='Feb 8 2009, 07:19 PM']Looks wicked mate, but is the bumper crop of pups there for pose value or 'cos you couldn't be arsed to tweak the tone control on your amp between songs? [/quote]


I love the idea because I'm forever split between p's and jazzes so I would be getting the best of both world.

[EdwardHimself]

You're pretty much right. I could plug a £100 bass into a £250 bass amp and you would have to be a bass player to, from hearing alone, be any the wiser- especially if it was a recording of a band. The thing is that playability is really the key in basses. Every bass feels different and maybe you haven't played a lot of basses but the differences between any number of expensive basses are by no means small. You might think the differences in feel and sound are small right now but go and have a play on a load of different basses and you'll see that they are not. But yes, it's all to do with the player's taste.

Edited February 8, 2009 by EdwardHimself

[henry norton]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='403690' date='Feb 8 2009, 08:38 PM']You're pretty much right. I could plug a £100 bass into a £250 bass amp and you would have to be a bass player to, from hearing alone, be any the wiser- especially if it was a recording of a band. The thing is that playability is really the key in basses. Every bass feels different and maybe you haven't played a lot of basses but the differences between any number of expensive basses are by no means small. You might think the differences in feel and sound are small right now but go and have a play on a load of different basses and you'll see that they are not. But yes, it's all to do with the player's taste.[/quote]

Well, acoustic basses asides, I started on Fender Jazz basses, then Jaydee, Musicman 4 & 5 strings a couple of custom basses and finally to my current Squier Precision with added J bridge Pup. All good basses, all played well and all with a versatility equal to the effort put into playing them. I've played these through Marshall, Peterson, a few different Trace rigs, an Alligator 2 by 8 inch combo, a GK 200MB and some high end EV cabinets. They all sounded good, some were louder than others and some were more portable but there wasn't that much in it, recording or live.

I play my Precision through a Behringer bass V-Amp now and have quite alot of fun messing around with the amp and speaker models but I'm pretty sure I could get the same range of sounds with a good EQ on the bass or the amp.

[7string]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='403680' date='Feb 8 2009, 07:25 PM']I love the idea because I'm forever split between p's and jazzes so I would be getting the best of both world.[/quote]

I had a USA Urge Mk1 and it was an amazing instrument. Any choice of pickup, passive, active or active w/mid boost gave the best of 3 worlds. It now lives with a guitarist who loved the 32" scale.

[johnnylager]

A Carl Thompson with Wal electrics that was on the 'bay a couple of years back. Most stupid thing I ever did, not buying that. Apart from binning that Della who's old man ran The Curlew in Leigh Park - she was filthy. Free booze too.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='7string' post='403889' date='Feb 8 2009, 10:48 PM']I had a USA Urge Mk1 and it was an amazing instrument. Any choice of pickup, passive, active or active w/mid boost gave the best of 3 worlds. It now lives with a guitarist who loved the 32" scale.[/quote]

I had a mate who had one and I couldn't get on with the 32" scale at all, it felt like a toy bass.

[Lfalex v1.1]

A Status Streamline.

Mine's on it's way...
Ticks all the boxes (for me)
Small, relatively light. Can go as hand luggage on a plane/fit in the car boot easily (on the top, of course)
Less prone to changes in temperature and humidity than most.
Sits well on the player, plays wonderfully. Sounds great. Of course I tried one before I ordered!
Oh, and I live less than an hour from the factory, so if anything does go wrong, help is at hand.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Lfalex v1.1

[mrcrow]

ultimate bass needs ultimate downstream hardware to bring out the best of the sound..which is what we are selling to the public
and if you are chasing the CD sound
ultimate recording studio equipment

[Kiwi]

I had a go on Ped's V-bass system the other weekend. Although it was still east to tell the difference between some sounds and the real thing, it probably wouldn't be noticed by the punters. The emulations also knocked the sounds from Line 6's Variax into a cocked hat. I wish I'd bought one a year or so ago, it would have saved me lugging three basses to gigs at one point.

[henry norton]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='404312' date='Feb 9 2009, 03:08 PM']I had a go on Ped's V-bass system the other weekend. Although it was still east to tell the difference between some sounds and the real thing, it probably wouldn't be noticed by the punters. The emulations also knocked the sounds from Line 6's Variax into a cocked hat. I wish I'd bought one a year or so ago, it would have saved me lugging three basses to gigs at one point.[/quote]

That's exactly my point - how many basses does a player actually need, short of the fretted/fretless issues. Does anyone remember that weird bass from the late 70s/early 80s that had a knob to wind the frets down into the fingerboard, thus giving you a fretless/fretted option? I think I saw it on Tomorrows World....

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='henry norton' post='405235' date='Feb 10 2009, 12:06 PM']. Does anyone remember that weird bass from the late 70s/early 80s that had a knob to wind the frets down into the fingerboard, thus giving you a fretless/fretted option? I think I saw it on Tomorrows World....[/quote]

I remember that!! Whatever became of that? It was demo'd by a german or scandi player whose name I missed at the time.
Can anyone better informed shed any light on it?
Cheers
Jules

[greyparrot]

Whatever is in the bass i have now (see sig) is the best preamp i have ever heard. Somehow it brings out the sound of the expensive wood of the bass, rather than to electronic. You may as well have a cricket bat with a set of pickups, with some of the preamps fitted on basses. The Spector sounds the same unpluged, as it does plugged in. That, i have never had before in a bass.

[Telebass]

The ultimate bass is simply the one you like playing the best, through the amp that you like the sound of best. The 'ultimate' bass is like the 'perfect' tone - a myth.

[Golchen]

For me the ultimate is more about the playability and feel. That can't be tweaked with digital modelling, unless it's gone a long way since I last looked.

[leschirons]

[quote name='Telebass' post='405776' date='Feb 10 2009, 10:44 PM']The ultimate bass is simply the one you like playing the best, through the amp that you like the sound of best. The 'ultimate' bass is like the 'perfect' tone - a myth.[/quote]

I agree 100%

[OutToPlayJazz]

This one...



I've never found anything else so playable with such fantastic tone, growl & punch. Sublime.

The new 5-string & the Streamline run it a close joint second, but it's difficult to imagine anything better than this one.

Rich.

[josh3184]

i'm disappointed there's only two pictures in this thread, I wanted this to be a porn thread of gorgeous proportions!

[EBS_freak]

I love my GBs. The GB Rumour 5 is about as perfect as I can imagine. It depends on the criteria that you are assessing it against though. As far as beautiful bass is concerned, it ticks all the boxes... but my next GB, will be my ultimate stage bass... and that will be a solid colour... but with a few twists that I have yet to sort out with Bernie. I would divuldge details... but I want some extra bits and bobs that haven't been done before!

[Hamster]

With the amount of bass trading on this site alone, I don't think anyone has found their Ultimate Bass quite yet! - I haven't but I've decided to stick with 3 basses - a Fender P, a Stingray amd a Lakland 5 string

[ped]

[quote name='henry norton' post='405235' date='Feb 10 2009, 12:06 PM']That's exactly my point - how many basses does a player actually need, short of the fretted/fretless issues. Does anyone remember that weird bass from the late 70s/early 80s that had a knob to wind the frets down into the fingerboard, thus giving you a fretless/fretted option? I think I saw it on Tomorrows World....[/quote]

Interesting point raised there. I read the review of the new Vbass unit and it starts by saying there are two types of bassist - those that have one 'trusty' bass which they use for everything, and those who have one of each type for various sounds. I am definitely the former, having found the one which feels best to me, but I do like having the typical jazz/pbass sounds in my arsenal. Problem was that I could never feel happy playing a P or Jazz because compared to my Vigier they just didn't play as nicely.

As a result the Vbass was the complete solution for me. It gives me all those sounds (or extremely close approximations thereof, mostly because I have tweaked them to how I prefer them to sound, you can get whatever you want out of the unit believe me) plus every effect I need, often with far more in the way of parameters than the usual single boxes. For example on my fretless the chorus affect is applied above 1khz. only.. plus it gives me polyphonic stereo synths which I am sure could only be made on a keyboard otherwise. All in all it does everything, but most of the time it just works as a superb clean pre-amp for my bass with the magnetic pickups, just like any other pre.

So without labouring the point any further, these two are my 'ultimate bass' for certain because they have a completely individual sound which I can call 'mine' but are very usable and versatile. They cut through perfectly, are 100% stable construction wise and I can knock them about a bit without worrying about picking up dents and so on.

Here they are, once again:



Cheers
ped

[henry norton]

J' adore le basse sans le manche, c'est tres belle monsieur le générale. (apologies for the bad spelling).

I think most higher end basses are versatile enough to cover most playing situations (with a decent amp/effects setup). Owning more than this seems a bit like collecting watches or motorcycles. You only really need one but you have more 'cos you like them and justify it by convincing yourself you 'need it' to cover all situations/sounds, (like my wife always seems to 'need' to buy more clothes).

Mind you, I do run two Triumph Bonnevilles, so I can't really criticise........

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='josh3184' post='406588' date='Feb 11 2009, 04:37 PM']i'm disappointed there's only two pictures in this thread, I wanted this to be a porn thread of gorgeous proportions![/quote]


The picture I put up is awesome though (it's my wallpaper at work)