Is your favourite at home bass the same as your favourite gigging bass?

[fretmeister]

This thought occurred a little while ago.

At the moment my favourite bass is my Sandberg TT4. I love to play it. It's a Superlight so it's really easy.

 

When playing at home I set it up for both pickups or the bridge pickup and get a trad jazz sound out of it.

 

Then I get to rehearsals / gigs - playing the same songs that I've been practising at home, and all of a sudden I prefer a precision sound, if not a P bass itself as I like slimmer necks.

There's just something more grindy about the P that fits better.

 

Often I'll play the TT4 anyway but use the neck pickup only and EQ it completely differently to get close to a P sound. Or I'll take a precision.

 

It is the same tunes / arrangement and I'm sure the good old Fletcher-Munson curve comes into play, and I suspect I play harder at gigs than at home too. 

 

Anyway, it was just a thought!

[BassApprentice]

It's probably all down to the eq for you. The sound you get at home jamming/practicing is easier as you are the loudest instrument in that moment and you get a sound you really like.

 

In a band, we're all continually competing for space and volume so you'll  alter your EQ to cut through and find your space. Others have "their sound" and don't touch anything between home and practice but that's probably far more rare 😂

[WinterMute]

They would be, but I don't want gig my recording basses, so I have gigging basses and recording basses now. 

 

A 20th Anniversary SR5 and an ACG Krell fretless for the studio, and a Bongo 5 and "SR5" frankenstien fretless for stage, That way I'm not too worried about dings and scratches.

[BigRedX]

Yes.

 

I play at home to practice or writing songs for playing with the band. Therefore I use the same bass that I'm going to be using with the band. I also play at home standing up as that's how I play when I'm playing with the band.

[Paulhauser]

36 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Yes.

 

I play at home to practice or writing songs for playing with the band. Therefore I use the same bass that I'm going to be using with the band. I also play at home standing up as that's how I play when I'm playing with the band.

 

Exactly this. I practice on the same bass that I'm going to gig with and also I do it standing up.

My gigging basses (I have a couple that I use for different bands) see the most practice time.

 

I have a recording bass which I don't gig with. This is a Spector NS-5XL which is a favorite with engineers. Of all the sessions I've done since I have it this was  to be used. We tried others but this one won all the time (except for fretless cuts) I use this quite a lot at home, too because I love it but when I'm preparing for a gig I'll use the same bass I'll gig with. 

 

 

[martthebass]

The favorite 'at home' bass tends to swap and change but also depends on what I'm rehearsing/playing.  For the more 'modern' stuff I tend to favour my Status CW S2 but for most anything else the current squeeze is a G&L Fullerton Fallout shortscale.

 

For gigging it's almost always a Mikey Way Mustang.....nothing special sound wise but after a few hundred gigs with it it just feels like a pair of comfy slippers.

[crazycloud]

22 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I play at home to practice or writing songs for playing with the band. Therefore I use the same bass that I'm going to be using with the band. I also play at home standing up as that's how I play when I'm playing with the band.

Pretty much the same here with 2 slight differences. Sometimes I practice / study at my desk and use an ergonomic kneeling chair so the desk isn't too low, but I don't need to adjust the strap from standing. The other is an occasional coffee shop or small bar gig I do with a singer/songwriter and we're often on chairs, so for that I practice sitting, more a classical guitar stance, to make sure I don't mess it up for her. I use the same amp too for whichever one is coming up next.

[NancyJohnson]

I have a tendency to rotate basses...I haven't gigged for a couple of years, but in that time have done more than enough noodling/ponking at home and in various studios.   I suppose I have my favourite/#1 bass, but it's more a case of which one do I want out this week and whatever takes my fancy at the time for non-home work.  They're all set up more or less the same.

[Lozz196]

Yep, all the basses I will be keeping are 2013-16 US Precisions, just got to make up my mind whether it’s maple or rosewood which gets the vote - and tonight at band practice is where I’ll make the decision.

[BigRedX]

3 hours ago, crazycloud said:

Pretty much the same here with 2 slight differences. Sometimes I practice / study at my desk and use an ergonomic kneeling chair so the desk isn't too low, but I don't need to adjust the strap from standing. The other is an occasional coffee shop or small bar gig I do with a singer/songwriter and we're often on chairs, so for that I practice sitting, more a classical guitar stance, to make sure I don't mess it up for her. I use the same amp too for whichever one is coming up next.

 

One of the bands I play with recently did a couple of "acoustic" gigs. We were going to play sitting down until both the singer/guitarist and myself realised that it was going to require a lot more practicing to cope with different instrument position (on top of the fact that we all had to learn playing different parts to what we do when we play the songs in a normal band setting).

[crazycloud]

It can be quite physically challenging to play seated when you're not used to it.

[grandad]

Tend to favour a Tanglewood Violin bass at home.

Favour my Squire Mustang for gigs.

Usually sitting for both. 

Short scale instruments seem easier when seated. 

[Lozz196]

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Yep, all the basses I will be keeping are 2013-16 US Precisions, just got to make up my mind whether it’s maple or rosewood which gets the vote - and tonight at band practice is where I’ll make the decision.

And the decision is…

 

Maple

 

Identical basses, both set up the same, same strings, the maple bass just fitted in with the sound of the band better, with the rosewood being a lot deeper. We were all quite surprised at the difference.

 

So it’s 3 x US 2013-16 Precisions in black/black/maple, fave for home use, and one for each band.

[neepheid]

I'm omnivorous me.  I don't have an official favourite.  Whatever comes to hand, whatever takes my fancy, whatever clashes most spectacularly with what I'm wearing, what phase the moon is in, which one I haven't played in a while, home or away.

 

I guess I slightly favour the Jack Casady at home, but only because it's got a bit more acoustic volume about it when I CBA plugging into anything - so it wins on utility and sheer laziness.

 

[ezbass]

19 hours ago, grandad said:

Tend to favour a Tanglewood Violin bass at home.

Favour my Squire Mustang for gigs.

Usually sitting for both. 

Short scale instruments seem easier when seated. 

Playing a Mustang seated is the same as on a strap for me, the offset shape puts it right into that position. My ‘Ray SS, however, sits more to the right when seated than when on a strap. 

[Aliwobble]

For gigging I want ergonomics, stability, and tone so my Ibanez Grooveline wins by a mile.  At home, I’m more of a sucker for good looks so I want looks, and then Tone.  My Epiphone Jack Casady tends to win.  Unless I’m feeling the slab-like beauty of my Schecter 004.

[thodrik]

I have five main basses with each bass getting alternated every few weeks when I practice. I have owned all but one of my basses for well over a decade so I am familiar with them all to the extent that I can chop and change on short notice. The most played one at home is my 'new' five string as I am still familiarising myself with it as I have only owned it since 2016.

I might practice sitting down, I might practice standing up. When I practice sitting down I still retain the ability to play a gig, rehearse or record standing up, so it has never been an issue for me.  If I can't play something standing up that I can play sitting down then I take this as a sign that my strap is in the wrong position rather than I need to practice standing up more. 

[onehandclapping]

14 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

And the decision is…

 

Maple

 

Identical basses, both set up the same, same strings, the maple bass just fitted in with the sound of the band better, with the rosewood being a lot deeper. We were all quite surprised at the difference.

 

So it’s 3 x US 2013-16 Precisions in black/black/maple, fave for home use, and one for each band.

Just a thought…..,if the rosewood sounded deeper ,maybe change your eq to suit that bass,sometimes it can be “better” than the one you went for originally….

[Lozz196]

2 minutes ago, onehandclapping said:

Just a thought…..,if the rosewood sounded deeper ,maybe change your eq to suit that bass,sometimes it can be “better” than the one you went for originally….

Well in all honesty I reeeeaaaallly wanted the maple to win out anyway, so am happy both ways, the best sound and the ones I wanted it from. Maybe as I`ve used maple for years I`m just more used to eq-ing them. 

[Jonesy]

For practice at home I usually pick up my SG. It's super light, short scale and easy to get around. When gigging/jamming with the band then I rotate between 3 different basses.

[dclaassen]

I've always used the same bass for practicing and gigging. Now that I have both a fretted and fretless bass, I will play on both, but almost always use the fretted one on rock gigs. If I ever get a chance to use the fretless though, I will, cause I love the feel and the sound of it!

[Linus27]

Nope.

 

Bass for home and rehearsals is a Fender Precision with a high gloss maple fretless neck. Gigging bass is a Musicman Stingray SR4 with fretless Pau Ferro neck and my back up and other gigging bass if I fancy a change is a Fender Jazz with fretless ebony board and Barts. Recording bass is which ever one sounds the best but usually one of the Fender's. I can happily switch between all three for rehearsals and gigging as they all feel the same to me but I tend to lean towards the Stingray as the neck is the nicest.

[dclaassen]

8 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

Nope.

 

Bass for home and rehearsals is a Fender Precision with a high gloss maple fretless neck. Gigging bass is a Musicman Stingray SR4 with fretless Pau Ferro neck and my back up and other gigging bass if I fancy a change is a Fender Jazz with fretless ebony board and Barts. Recording bass is which ever one sounds the best but usually one of the Fender's. I can happily switch between all three for rehearsals and gigging as they all feel the same to me but I tend to lean towards the Stingray as the neck is the nicest.

Just curious...what style of music do you most frequently play?

[Linus27]

20 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

Just curious...what style of music do you most frequently play?

 

I have played lots of different stuff as I've been playing for 35 years. So started out playing the 80's stadium rock stuff so a bit U2, Simple Minds, The Alarm, Echo and The Bunnymen etc. Then Indie Guitar punk pop and part of the post Britpop scene. Q Magazine gave our album 4 out of 5 and said we were a mix of The Wonder Stuff, Green Day, Ash and Radiohead. Then a folky indie sort of band after that. After that was a sort of acoustic Motown Soul thing. Then 50's and 60's Rock n Roll playing stuff by Elvis, Little Richard, The Beatles, Chuck Berry etc. I now play in a band which is singer acoustic guitar who uses a vocal harmoniser, drummer who is very percussive and myself of fretless playing a lot of melodic or cello like parts. A sort of mix of Sigor Ross meets Damien Rice I guess. I've also done some electric music projects.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Linus27

[BreadBin]

I have my two 'workers' - 5 string Yamaha with frets and a 5 string Harley Benton without. I use these for all practices and for gigs.

Of the dozen or so left I have about 8 that rotate fairly randomly as sofa basses (often the choice may depend on what tuning the song I've decided to jam along with is in) or I will use whatever suits a recording as I have a selection of pickup and string choices available. My favourite is probably an Allen Eden Jazz (with P neck) as it really does play well.

Some are here for sentimental reasons or just as wall art!