Finding "The One"

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Those 'brittle' sounding instruments still have bass in the timbre, it's just overshadowed by the high-end frequencies which are more audible to human ears.

I've found that just rolling back the treble-cut knob 'warms' them right up.

I've also found that if I need more bass I can bump that up in the EQ w/o making an audible hiss, but if you want to bump up treble with the EQ, here comes the hiss.

 

[tauzero]

On the original topic, I first found my "the One" when I bought an Antoniotsai 5-string fretted bass. I'd been looking for something as playable as my Warwick JD Thumb but in 5 strings, and that turned out to be it. The electrics were adequate but not the best and I later upgraded them. Later, I discovered Seis.

[Kiwi]

23 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Was that due to the overall rigidity, though, or the fingerboard material? Just thinking back to when I had a Status, which had a rather clattery neck.

It's the same thing where graphite composite is concerned.  Rob actually revealed he had a small batch of bowed necks in the 90's because the phenolic resin for the fingerboards wasn't mixed quite right.  He thought my modulus (and I'm guessing all the MM Cutlass basses I've owned)  had the same issue. 

[diskwave]

40 minutes ago, tauzero said:

WTF is a Jaco tone? I'm aware of his existence and that he played a fretless J using the bridge pickup but that seems quite a specialist application to describe as a general tone.

The Jaco tone is any bass tone that emphasises due to very short string travel, ie down by the bridge, the high mid to low mid spectrum with very little high bass and low bass. So the complete opposite of the solo Jazz/Rick front PU and to some extent the P bass sound.

And yes we hear it all time in high output twin pu active boutique basses where the active bit kind of allows that tone away from the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[4000]

1 hour ago, Kiwi said:

I like mahogany in guitars a lot.  I'm planning a couple of builds with mahogany necks (laminated) and bodies.  Basses are nice too, one of my self builds has a mahogany body and it's got a lovely mellowness and warmth to it despite a graphite composite bolt on neck. My spector 5 is all maple and, judging by the neck, soft maple too.  But there is a nice purr to the timbre.  My all maple Pedulla has less of a purr and is a bit sterile sounding but that neck is dead straight and rigid.  So the action is very low.

I like mahogany in guitars, or rather I should say, my favourite guitars tend to have bodies mostly built of mahogany. 😉

Interesting about the Pedulla & Spector as I’ve tended to find the opposite, but that could be down to electronics; most of the Spectors I’ve played have had EMGs (and various pre’s) and all the Pedullas have had Barts, which I normally dislike fairly intensely but which seem to really work in Pedullas.

The action on everything I have tends to be very low. If it won’t go very low - or at least passably low (1.5mm 12th fret G tops, 2mm 12th fret E tops) it doesn’t stay. 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, greavesbass said:

The Jaco tone is any bass tone that emphasises due to very short string travel, ie down by the bridge, the high mid to low mid spectrum with very little high bass and low bass. So the complete opposite of the solo Jazz/Rick front PU and to some extent the P bass sound.

And yes we hear it all time in high output twin pu active boutique basses where the active bit kind of allows that tone away from the bridge.

Interesting, my high output twin pickup active boutique basses don't sound like that. Perhaps you've fallen a bit too much in love with your own theory.

[diskwave]

5 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Interesting, my high output twin pickup active boutique basses don't sound like that. Perhaps you've fallen a bit too much in love with your own theory.

I don't have a theory its fact. The more the gear boosts the mid range the more ur gonna sound like Jaco.

Ok I'll put it another way. Ur twin active bass cuts thru the stage like a buzz saw/lead instrument and one would imagine that's why you play it...I guess ur not someone who wants to sit quietly underneath the band.

 

[tauzero]

14 minutes ago, greavesbass said:

I don't have a theory its fact. The more the gear boosts the mid range the more ur gonna sound like Jaco.

Ok I'll put it another way. Ur twin active bass cuts thru the stage like a buzz saw/lead instrument and one would imagine that's why you play it...I guess ur not someone who wants to sit quietly underneath the band.

You've obviously never heard me play. You really need another theory. And it is a theory, there' no facts in it at all.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I'm going to start reciting this every time I pick up my #1 bass:

 

[mikel]

On 09/02/2021 at 12:35, 4000 said:

Depends how good your ears are. They all sound very different to me. In fact I’ve hardly played any two instruments across thousands, of any make or type, over 40 years of playing, that sound exactly the same. 

Having no dead spots, no fret buzz etc (although I personally like a bit of buzz) doesn’t mean 2 instruments will sound the same. 

I envy your magic ears. The reason all those famous P  bass players sound different could easily be down to the strings and action they prefer, pickups, the amp and speakers they use, how they boost or cut the tone and the processing involved. I can get the sounds I like to hear out of almost any half decent bass, so I like to think I am lucky not to have magic ears.Saves me a fortune.

[TheGreek]

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

[ezbass]

18 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

Have any of the posts helped you focus your search?

[TheGreek]

Errr??

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, TheGreek said:

Errr??

I’ll take that as a no. 🤣

[Owen]

The One there is not is. From the chase only comes satisfaction.

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, greavesbass said:

I don't have a theory its fact. The more the gear boosts the mid range the more ur gonna sound like Jaco.

If a “fact” only applies to your own ears it is pretty much theoretical to apply it to any or everyone else.

i can boost the generic mids you suggest all I like on whatever I like but it’s not going to make me sound like Jaco on Hejira or something... Ffs - what frequency do I need to boost to sound like Jameson? Or Mingus? Or Flea ...

[LukeFRC]

45 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

One of the things I have kinda picked up on forums down the years is that it seems 5 string basses are harder to find amazing ones, whereas a 4 string more ppl are satisfied with a cheap Harley Benton or sue Ryder or equivalent. Have you found that? 
and with your four stringers - which is the ‘one‘?

[Paul S]

40 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

One of the things I have kinda picked up on forums down the years is that it seems 5 string basses are harder to find amazing ones, whereas a 4 string more ppl are satisfied with a cheap Harley Benton or sue Ryder or equivalent. Have you found that? 
and with your four stringers - which is the ‘one‘?

One of the things I have picked up on forums is that you may start a thread but, like children, you never quite know how they are going to grow up.  

[gareth]

On 06/02/2021 at 16:29, Lozz196 said:

I understand where you’re coming from Mick, I’ve found the right Precisions & Jazzes for me but simply can’t find the right PJ configuration bass. I’m thinking of just putting in a J pickup in one of my Precisions as this seems to the only way I’ll get the exact spec that I’m after.

Lozz 

As someone below has suggested the Fender Tony Franklin is a great pj - or also very good and half the money is the original (passive) MIM deluxe here 

 

[tauzero]

22 minutes ago, Paul S said:

One of the things I have picked up on forums is that you may start a thread but, like children, you never quite know how they are going to grow up.  

In 25 years of email lists, newsgroups, and web forums, I have come to the conclusion that looking at the subject rarely gives an indication of the contents thereof. The more ambitious posters can manage to go off-topic in the first post, let alone the first reply.

[tauzero]

And veering wildly back on-topic, my approach has always been to find a bass which is comfortable and has a neck that I like, and a decent amount of sustain (doesn't have to be till next week, enough so I won't need more because you can always stop a note but without an Ebow you can't extend it), and any deficiency in the pickups or electronics can be subsequently attended to.

[mikel]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

Why is discussing the merits of basses in general off topic?

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Congrats to those who have managed to keep this Off topic for so long...

Well I did identify a bass that ticks all the criteria you gave us in your OP Mick (the Yamaha BB735A), but was that was entirely ignored 😁

Tbf if I was getting a 5'er that wouldn't be my "one" (or even one of my "six") although it's still a LOT of bass for the money.

[4000]

3 hours ago, mikel said:

I envy your magic ears. The reason all those famous P  bass players sound different could easily be down to the strings and action they prefer, pickups, the amp and speakers they use, how they boost or cut the tone and the processing involved. I can get the sounds I like to hear out of almost any half decent bass, so I like to think I am lucky not to have magic ears.Saves me a fortune.

You’re really good at reading what someone has posted and running with it aren’t you?  🙄
Firstly, I was talking about all the basses I’ve ever played, which is clearly stated in my post. I also play everything acoustically before plugging it in, So that cuts out amps, speakers etc. Yes, strings and action plays a part, but everything plays a part, which is kind of the point. 

And hey, it’s not my fault if you’ve got cloth ears. 
 

 

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

One of the things I have kinda picked up on forums down the years is that it seems 5 string basses are harder to find amazing ones, whereas a 4 string more ppl are satisfied with a cheap Harley Benton or sue Ryder or equivalent. 

I have never had trouble finding amazing 4 or 5 strings. Obviously you are going to get a lot of cheap 'copy of a p, copy of a j' basses, there are no definitive 5 strings to just clone, so you have to think about it more.