My musical taste is affecting my bass purshace...

[Pedro_Mendonca]

Hey guys!  I hope everything is fine with you.

I've been going for about a year to buy a new bass. However, my musical taste has changed the direction of my choice.

For example, I listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers, I want a Music Man Stingray. I listen to Greta Van Fleet and a Precision Bass is the best option. I listen to Marcus Miller and want a Jazz Bass.

Has it happened to you?

Best Regards,
Pedro Mendonça

Edited December 23, 2020 by Pedro_Mendonca

[Lozz196]

Agree, in general this has been the thing that has influenced my purchases of Stingrays over the years, however every time I’ve done this I’ve realised yet again that I just don’t like the sound they make when I play them.

[TheGreek]

Buy an Enfield with the SimS pick up system....covers all the ground.

 

[StickyDBRmf]

I bought a Chapman Stick to sound like Tony Levin. I'm resigned to the fact I sound like Marty Pirint (my real name). Seriously, it's the attitude, not the instrument. Confession: I have all the different pickups available on two different Sticks. And several basses. So I'm just being snarky.

[Marc S]

Yes, this has happened to me... And it's why I've got too many basses! Lol well, and because too many take my fancy 

Do you own a bass yet? If so, what is it? If not, then a P bass is a good place to start, IMHO. It's versatile, a lot of classic tracks and whole albums have been recorded using one, and I think every bassist should have at least one.

You could opt for a PJ - so you have a p bass, with some added Jazz tones. This is my own favoured pickup arrangement, I must say...

If you don't have a bass yet - just get one and start playing. And most of all - best of luck with it... Enjoy playing

 

[Jonesy]

All the time! I was listening to loads of The Jesus Lizard earlier in the year and then bought a Jazz. Every time I listen to Fugazi, I want a Stingray and I want an aluminium necked Electrical Guitar Company every time I listen to Shellac. 

Maybe it'd be safer for all of our wallets if we just made a list of bass players that use the gear we already have 😂

[spencer.b]

It's why I've got 10 odd basses

[bazzbass]

the answer is obvious, buy a Stingray,a P and a Jazz

[Bilbo]

Theyt all just sound like basses to me but I have got cloth ears.

[chris_b]

14 hours ago, Pedro_Mendonca said:

Has it happened to you?

No. I play everything on the same bass. IMO it's not worth trying to sound like your heroes. Chasing their tone and sound rarely works. Sound like you.

[LeftyJ]

All the time. I've long had a desire to find The One Bass that covers all my musical grounds, but in the end I've given up on that. I've owned many incredibly versatile basses with a huge range of tones and many different pickup configurations. I've owned P, PJ, JJ, JM, single MM, dual humbucker, dual soapbar. In the end I've stopped looking for basses that try to capture as many different basses in a single instrument because it's always a compromise. I've found I prefer dual pickup basses with simple electronics and without a load of switching options, because I just get lost in going through all the tonal options. My ideal bass just has a volume and blend (or two volumes), a passive treble roll-off and an active bass boost. It's all I ever use, and most of the time I'll have both pickups maxed and vary the tone with my fingers and by moving my plucking spot around. I don't care anymore, as long as the basic tone is good, the ergonomics and playability are good and I like the looks. 

[Lozz196]

12 hours ago, Jonesy said:

All the time! I was listening to loads of The Jesus Lizard earlier in the year and then bought a Jazz. Every time I listen to Fugazi, I want a Stingray and I want an aluminium necked Electrical Guitar Company every time I listen to Shellac. 

Maybe it'd be safer for all of our wallets if we just made a list of bass players that use the gear we already have 😂

I suppose I’m kind of lucky that most of my fave players use Precisions (big surprise of the year, lol). Still doesn’t stop the temptation though, I must just be weak  of will ☹️

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

No. I play everything on the same bass. IMO it's not worth trying to sound like your heroes. Chasing their tone and sound rarely works. Sound like you.

I think that’s the key, Chris, whenever I hear a bass line that reignites a Stingray purchase, as soon as I play it on said ‘Ray it just doesn’t sound right, whereas once I play the line on a Precision I sound like me again.

[ped]

I think it’s best to have your own sound, 100% - but it’s also great to own examples of the classic main types of bass so when inspiration hits you can plunk away on a P or slap a Jazz. It helps keep things fresh, they’re great to own from a collector/historical interest perspective and they help keep your signature sound grounded by way if easy comparison. That was my excuse anyway. 

[Maude]

I actually get annoyed with myself that I buy all these very different sounding basses, and then EQ or modify them to sound the same, ie, my sound. 

What's the point? 

 

But they do look perdy! 

😁

[Bilbo]

I have long thought that, whatever bass I play, I sound remarkably similar. I don't think the make or model of bass makes much difference.

[Dad3353]

It's lucky that I don't try to emulate any or all of my favourite drummers by buying Ludwig, Gretsch, Slingerland, Rogers, DW, Premier, Asba drums (and I've left dozens off the list, plus their variants of woods, wraps etc..!). My Camco does it all (although I've now an electro-kit, using Superior Drums 3, so...). For bass, I mostly play my Hofner Verithin, and it sounds very much like a bass to me (Disclaimer : I, too, have cloth ears...). It's true that I don't 'slap', or 'pop', or 'tap', or whatever this week's craze is called. Strings..? I've the same set of Rotosound Tru-bass fitted since I got the bass, a couple of decades ago. I'm not helping the bass industry much, am I..? 

[Lozz196]

@Dad3353 haven’t you heard the 11th Commandment, as a bassist thou shalt join Basschat and be plagued by GAS for the rest of your natural life?

[pnefc42]

Interesting anecdote from Brian May when recollecting his collaboration with EHV on the ‘starfleet’ project in 1983.

At one point during the session they swapped guitars (and 2 more personal instruments than BMs red special and EVHs ‘Frankenstein’ I would imagine you’re unlikely to top). The result?

”I sounded like me & Eddie sounded like Eddie!”

 

[el borracho]

12 hours ago, bazzbass said:

the answer is obvious, buy a Stingray,a P and a Jazz

That's what I have. I play mainly Ps but every so often I'm tempted by hearing someone play a J or a Stingray (like listening to AC/DC's new album earlier today). I just get them out of the case for a short time, maybe a rehearsal or a couple of gigs then go back to the P!

The only thing that spoils the simplicity of my 3 bass system is that they make Ps in different colours 😄

[Cat Burrito]

As well as the eternal quest for tone, I think it's a visual thing too. And I suspect it is something most musicians experience. 

[Crawford13]

Yup it is completely natural to be influenced by what you are listening to, and as others have said above it can be fun to experiment with different basses, buying used on the forum can keep costs down while you find the bass that suits you best. 

A PJ just feels like home to me, I love the extra bit of definition that the J pick up brings. 

Have fun experimenting, oh pick up an EQ pedal and your life might be nicer finding the tone in your head. 

[Paul S]

1 hour ago, Cat Burrito said:

As well as the eternal quest for tone, I think it's a visual thing too. And I suspect it is something most musicians experience. 

Absolutely.  If you listen to a lot of country music you are unlikely to want to buy a Warwick Vampire or similar.  If death metal is your bag then an Epiphone Jack Casady isn't likely to be high on your wish list.

IMO that's actually another box ticked for a Precision bass as the sound and look can squeeze into most genres.

[StickyDBRmf]

19 hours ago, spencer.b said:

It's why I've got 10 odd basses

All my basses are odd. (heehee). Due to many factors, mostly being broke after The Last Major Purchase - Chapman Stick 12 string Bamboo DBR with PASV-4 p.u. and MIDI p.u. - just shy of 4 thousand US - I wound up selling my Pedulla 5 string fretless - no "Buzz" finish on the fretboard and no markers, P/J Bartolini Active, for a pair of powered loudspeakers. Now here's the thing. I sold the bass because I wanted to focus on being a STICK player. After a while, a drummer friend nudged my thinking during a session where I insisted on playing Stick and said, "Marty, you're a great bass player, and the song would be better served if you played this BASS sitting here." It was some kind of 5 string active some-thing-or-other that wasn't set up right (it's intonation was good though), and I reluctantly plugged it in and NAILED it. First take, first interpretation, the engineer is booking me for his next project...                                                                                                                                                           So the next time I'm in my local music store - the one who's owner is my go-to guy for anything I can't do myself, he has used instruments and etc., there's a used 4 string ESP LTD active EMGs neck-thru hanging there, and I check it out. One setting I dial in Stanley Clarke, another Squire, another Jaco,  Wetton,...you get the picture. "How much?" "Two hundred." "Too much." "Two hundred."  No tax, right?" "OK." "I don't like the strings. Gimme a set of  D'Addario's and we got a deal." "OK." Another time, there's this Hartke PJ bass hanging there, Black finish scabbing off, no strap buttons, "$30, as is". So I grab it, it's playable, the neck is DEAD STRAIGHT. "What's the deal, did the guy kill someone with it?" "Close. The guy was living in a room-for-rent in a bad neighborhood and was worried about getting ripped off, bad period of his life, want's nothing to do with it." "Deal. It's worth more in parts, but I'm gonna rip the frets out." I took it home, the P p.u. shorted out, ripped the frets out, put buttons on it, right now it's "All Jaco, all the time" until I find something CHEAP to stuff in the cavity.                                                                          I have a few other "odd" basses, stuff given or bought cheap, one's a science project, an Ibanez 8 string from the 80's that I bought new for $750 and eventually ripped the frets outa, right now it has hum issues (it's active). A Danelectro Longhorn - Now That Doesn't Sound Like Anything Else - and an Ibanez acoustic. But unless I find something cheap&odd, I think I got the "basses" covered. You guys have a Merry Christmas!

[shoulderpet]

9 hours ago, chris_b said:

No. I play everything on the same bass. IMO it's not worth trying to sound like your heroes. Chasing their tone and sound rarely works. Sound like you.

Unfortunately this is true, definitely best to try and find your own tone and style and to find the instrument, strings and ano that best facilitates and encourages this