I have no idea what I like

[RhysP]

I'm pretty easy when it comes to stuff like that.

I do have a list of total no-no's though, such as sunburst finishes & oil/wax finishes.

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

I'm monogomous with my Basses but the marriges don't last long!

 

My Bass selection is mostly down to ergonomics as technique, setup, strings, pedals, amps & cabs can do a lot for tone but can't do anything to solve a Bass that's difficult or uncomfortable to play.

 

I'm not fussed about looks but I know others are - so that makes me fussed! e.g. I like the idea of the Ibanez fanned fret headless Basses (given that one of their selling points is their ergonomics) and the looks are fine with me but one thing that's putting me off is if I do something like audition for a classic 60s/70s  Reggae/Ska band (which is the sort of stuff I'm into) it could negatively affect my chances if they feel the Bass doesn't fit the look.

How bonkers is this then! 

https://dingwallguitars.com/our-basses/custom-shop/super-p

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, RhysP said:

I'm pretty easy when it comes to stuff like that.

I do have a list of total no-no's though, such as sunburst finishes & oil/wax finishes.

I know what you mean, I have a real thing against a paint job that goes up the neck, you know, like on a Ricky, but I'd be fine if it was a lacquered neck, as long as I can see the wood through it. Why? Who knows. It's just a "thing"

 

[SumOne]

15 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

How bonkers is this then! 

https://dingwallguitars.com/our-basses/custom-shop/super-p

 

Nice! I Like their lairy NG designs too:

 

 

I like lairy designs and don't really care what others think about the look - until it comes to whether it negatively affects me getting into a band. I think something looking like that NG could be a negative factor to getting into certain bands that care about their specific image so it has the knock-on effect of me being more conservative in the looks of Basses I get. I can't see many bands saying 'we would have you in the band, but that white Jazz Bass just doesn't work with our image' (well, perhaps some particularaly image concious death metal bands would).

Edited February 7, 2022 by SumOne

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

I own multiple basses (4) and deciding which one to play is in the same category of deciding which shirt to wear.  Basses be bassy and they're all ones I like to play, having distilled my dislikes down into a concrete idea of what a bass should be to me.  It's got nothing to do with "level" - I don't have to justify to anyone how I spend my disposable income, it's not a competition and I don't have to be a bass god to "deserve" to own multiple basses.  They make me happy, and that's all that matters to me.

 

Love, your friendly neighbourhood silly multiple bass owning weekend warrior

 

Absolutely nowt wrong with that either. 😉

[kwmlondon]

7 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

Nice! I Like their lairy NG designs too:

 

 

I like lairy designs and don't really care what others think about the look - until it comes to whether it negatively affects me getting into a band. I think something looking like that NG could be a negative factor to getting into certain bands that care about their specific image so it has the knock-on effect of me being more conservative in the looks of Basses I get. I can't see many bands saying 'we would have you in the band, but that white Jazz Bass just doesn't work with our image' (well, perhaps some particularaly image concious death metal bands would).

Yeah, I really love those things! The only reason I didn't get one is this came up at a good price, and the preamp is a bit more... conventional - I recon you could, maybe, get away with it in more situations aesthetically. The Ibanez on the left is not mine... it is, however, one of the most gorgeous playing and sounding basses I've ever played. 

[kwmlondon]

6 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Absolutely nowt wrong with that either. 😉

Oh, totally. I'm just amazed when someone knows exactly what fretboard radius they want, string spacing, wood, nut material etc. I am just in awe!

[Newfoundfreedom]

1 minute ago, kwmlondon said:

Oh, totally. I'm just amazed when someone knows exactly what fretboard radius they want, string spacing, wood, nut material etc. I am just in awe!

 

Yeah, me too. I suppose it comes with lots of experience. Far more than I have. I'm the same when people start talking about low and high mids and frequency ranges etc. No idea. Half the time I can't even hear the difference. 

[iconic]

I think the problem with basses maybe their size......or lack of. 

 

If I was into old double decker buses... 

 

Motorcycles are a problem for me too.....V twins, I4s, single cylinder, 2T or 4T, triples....then there's the usage, track, road, fastroad, touring, off road in it's many forms, old or new. You can fit a fair number of bikes in a garage...😉

[Muzz]

I've often said (in various contexts) that I'm as shallow as a puddle when it comes to some elements of basses (aesthetics, especially), but beyond that, after a LOT of trial and error (thankfully not too costly) I know exactly what I like, and I can look at a bass and say 'That won't work for me' immediately. On the positive side, it's a bit harder, because I've been disappointed before, but generally I can get close ("I'll probably like that.")

 

Doesn't stop me keep buying Stingrays, for example, despite knowing they don't suit me at all. I do like a Stingray. And then, when I play it in a band, I don't...

 

On the multiple basses thing, I don't I've ever seen a rule that you have to be a professional to have several basses that do different jobs in different bands. And even if I had, I'd have ignored it.

[kwmlondon]

2 minutes ago, iconic said:

I think the problem with basses maybe their size......or lack of. 

 

If I was into old double decker buses... 

 

Motorcycles are a problem for me too.....V twins, I4s, single cylinder, 2T or 4T, triples....then there's the usage, track, road, fastroad, touring, off road in it's many forms, old or new. You can fit a fair number of bikes in a garage...😉

I'm allowed a one-in, one-out on things like bicycles, guitars, basses. This is a GOOD THING and prevents me getting carried away.

[iconic]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

I own multiple basses (4) and deciding which one to play is in the same category of deciding which shirt to wear..... 

I'm embarrassed to say I have just realised that I possess more posh basses than posh shirts...

[Muzz]

20 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

Oh, totally. I'm just amazed when someone knows exactly what fretboard radius they want, string spacing, wood, nut material etc. I am just in awe!

 

Hellooooo... 😃

 

Don't be amazed; it cost a fortune to get where I am... 😕🙂

[Silvia Bluejay]

There is also usually a chasm between what we, as bass players, like when we focus on playing on our own - refining our technique or reproducing our idols' sound or look, finding the tone that's perfect to our taste, the strings that feel like silk under our fingertips, etc., and what matters, or is needed, to play live with the band. The latter will very often bear no resemblance to the former.

For instance, @Happy Jack knows that, no matter how perfectly he dials his favourite sound in his rig in our home studio, by the time he's on stage with his bands I will have completely changed the EQ of not just what comes out of the PA but also of his on-stage rig ("Could you please roll off the low frequencies completely? [cue horrible, harsh, nasal sound] Perfect, thanks!". ) He may hate it at the time, but the live recordings usually vindicate me.

As for the make and model of bass we may play, punters usually can't tell the difference between a bass and a guitar, let alone a Status and a Precision. Even when the former is headless!*

 

* From an anecdote relayed by late, much missed Basschatter Colin Payne (Barneyg42). A punter at a gig asked him what Fender he was playing, as he'd never seen that model. He was playing a Status Mark King headless.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Silvia Bluejay

[kwmlondon]

16 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Yeah, me too. I suppose it comes with lots of experience. Far more than I have. I'm the same when people start talking about low and high mids and frequency ranges etc. No idea. Half the time I can't even hear the difference. 

I don't know, I think it's really individual. Some people play in a certain way and they know that some aspects of an instrument aid that and some hinder so they can be focused on what works for them, but I quite enjoy the challenge of adapting. It's like cars - I've driven so many that I get into a car or van and I just drive it. Some are nicer than others, some are fun to drive fast, others relaxing but I can be easily charmed by something interesting!

[Muzz]

2 minutes ago, Muzz said:

 

Hellooooo... 😃

 

Don't be amazed; it cost a fortune involves a fair bit of borderline OCD to get where I am... 😕🙂

 

[iconic]

Do proper guitarists have similar GAS?

 

 

.....I have 2 strats, 1 tele, 4 acoustics but, I presume I caught this from my bass interest so, that may make me 'abnormal'? 

[Happy Jack]

5 minutes ago, Muzz said:

 

Hellooooo... 😃

 

Is it him you're looking for?

 

[iconic]

6 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I'm exactly the same. Although my response is the total opposite of many of the comments so far. I just can't see the point in having multiple basses.... 

I was like this once, a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away.....

[Muzz]

2 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Is it him you're looking for?

 

I was never happy with the video for that... 😕

[BigRedX]

10 minutes ago, iconic said:

Do proper guitarists have similar GAS?

 

 

.....I have 2 strats, 1 tele, 4 acoustics but, I presume I caught this from my bass interest so, that may make me 'abnormal'? 

 

Of course they do. 

 

I started off as a guitarist and for the longest time I had far more guitars then I had basses. I've also owned more synths at the same time than basses too.

 

Right now I have more basses than either guitars or synths but that's only because I play bass in two different bands that require very different bass guitars (and a back-up for each) and play guitar just for writing/enjoyment and use the (plug-in) synths that came bundled with my DAW.

[Reggaebass]

I found the custom build a tricky one, I did this and on paper and in pictures it was absolutely perfect , everything I wanted in a bass, and it was a superb build , but I could never really gel with it 100% , and ended up losing money 

[BigRedX]

9 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I found the custom build a tricky one, I did this and on paper and in pictures it was absolutely perfect , everything I wanted in a bass, and it was a superb build , but I could never really gel with it 100% , and ended up losing money 

 

IME most people over-think what they want when it come to spec'ing up a custom instrument. Every time I've had a custom bass or guitar made (I've had four) I've outlined when I wanted in the broadest of terms (mostly with regards to looks playability and sounds) and let the luthier(s) in question fill in the details. I don't care what woods have been used and what hardware and electronics has been fitted so long as they look good (to me) and function in the manner, and produce the sounds that I expect. 

 

For that reason I still own 3 of these instruments and the one I did sell was because I no longer had a specific musical need for it (and couldn't see myself having one in the foreseeable future) and decided that it would be better off with someone who would use it rather than sitting in a case under my bed. I didn't get back what I paid for it, but that is irrelevant to me because the way I look at is that any loss was far less then what it would cost me to hire an instrument of that quality for the time when I was using it.

[Bassfinger]

On 06/02/2022 at 21:58, kwmlondon said:

I know this is going to sound daft, but I really don’t know what I like in a bass. Precision? Love ‘em. Jazz? Great. Stingray? Lovely. Ricky? Gorgeous! Tight spacing? Fine. Wide? Cool. 20 frets? Go for it. 24? Whatever. Single coils? Great. OR humbucker. 

You're much like me. There's very little instrument wise that i don't dig.

 

I might choose different tools for different jobs, but I own them all because I like them all.

[LeftyJ]

I can safely say I get along with many types of basses too. However, there have been a few oddities in my collection that weren't for me:

- Narrow string spacing at the bridge is fine on a 5-string, but somehow I hated it on 4-strings (Hohner B2A, Aria SB-1000);

- Flat radius. I like a curved fingerboard or a compound radius;

- Narrow bodies. I like something to rest my wrist or lower arm on (again, Hohner B2A was NOT for me);

- Short (or absent) upper horns that place the upper strap button too close, and thereby move the nut too far away;

- 35" scale length. I owned two Yamaha TRB5II's, and they were fantastic. But despite having large hands, I didn't like the stretch in the first few positions.

 

Otherwise I guess most is fine with my. Gloss necks, satin necks, oiled necks, narrow nuts, wide nuts, longscale, shortscale, I really don't mind. 

 

Edit: Forgot to add I generally don't get along well with basses with only one pickup when it's moved too far from the neck! I'm not a big fan of the MM sound but it has its use, but closer to the bridge is a nono for me if there's no neck pickup to beefen it up. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by LeftyJ