My musical taste is affecting my bass purshace...

[4000]

11 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.

That’s fine if you play the same on every bass regardless. I don’t. I play to the instrument, always have. And I know I sound different on different basses too; it’s been commented on in every band I’ve ever been in over the 40 years I’ve been playing, and outside band situations too. So I don’t really have a “me” sound, as such.

There seems to be a common misconception that because some people sound pretty much the same on everything they play, everyone does. It’s simply not the case.

Of course the irony of the above is that for the last couple of years I’ve only owned my Rickenbackers, but that’s partly because nowadays I have physical issues playing almost anything else. 

[Jonesy]

10 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

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 ☹️

I think the problem is more to do with the marketplace induced GAS rather than being weak willed........ That's what I tell myself anyway. Its not my fault and there's nothing I can do about it 😏

 

[StickyDBRmf]

4000 - Fretted. Fretless. The bass range of Stick in 4ths/5ths. And I play harder on the acoustic bass guitar than any other instrument. That was the latest addition to the arsenal. Yeah I sound different on different instruments. To a degree.                                                                                                                                                                         Then there's cassette tapes of my '80's band in rehearsal space where visiting musicians, or our very accomplished guitarist, would pick up any of my basses - fretless, fretted, 8-string - thru my rig and you knew it wasn't ME.

Edited December 24, 2020 by StickyDBRmf

[Jeffb28451]

Of course. Collect them all (perhaps not really economically practical) or trade if you can. If our fav player or band or the needs of our current group don’t drive  our purchases/desires ( or at least point in a general direction) then what does? 

[ubit]

Do what I did. Buy all of them!

[dclaassen]

I agree about having a P Bass. It just works for any situation. I go from country to big band contemporary jazz, and, weirdly enough, am finding that I like a 5 when reading charts, but not when playing anything else. So, I guess 2 basses are enough for me, although I miss having a 

J bass for the faster neck.

[Thunderbird]

I know that I will never be able to play like my bass hero's or sound like them so I just buy gear that I feel comfortable with and just go from there 

[LukeFRC]

On 24/12/2020 at 11:59, LeftyJ said:

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. 

Agree totally - I find too many options and switches takes the joy away for me. Ild rather a bass does one good thing well than 20 meh things. 

I also find that having too many basses leaves me parallelised with choice too much 

[bassman7755]

I thing I've only once ever bought any kit because some artist used it, way back in the day when I bought a marshall 50w master volume stack because thats what micheal shenker used. Certainly never been a factor in any bass gear I've bought, although the thing that been closest to tempting me is the tech 21 geddy lee signature pedal.

[bassman7755]

On 24/12/2020 at 10:48, 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 there are often hidden factors at play here, aside from the obvious tone-in-the-fingers stuff I think many classic guitar and bass tones owe a lot to how it was recorded, e.g. mic setup, effects EQ compression etc applied at the desk as much as they do to the bass and amp.

Edited January 6, 2022 by bassman7755

[SteveXFR]

You could have all the same gear as your favourite musician and still sound nothing like them because you don't play like them. 

Go to a shop with a good selection, try some and then buy the one you enjoy playing most. That way the only decision to make is what colour Stingray you want. 

[Jason Karloff]

Sound advice. 

[Jeffb28451]

Man, I think I made a mistake. I have more than a few ( simple?) basses to cover different sounds/ needs, but I just bought a 5 string Kinal with Mike Pope electrics. Six knobs, 3 switches, active/ passive. I’m not licensed fo this level of complexity! 

I’m not doing studio work, so it’s likely that I’ll be moving this one though…just too much for day-to-day,pub gigs.

 

MM, Ric, Jazz are pretty much my bailiwick, and my occasional delusions of competence re. more complex pieces have always bit me on my bum.  I gotta remember that I am just a marginally competent player in a bar band. Truth told, a J or P would pretty much do it for me, except for my raw gear lust ( which I quite enjoy, frankly!).