Has anyone "switched" allegiance?

[Quilly]

Went through a spate of fender jazz basses both US and Mex always found them to be a bit 'meh'. Then went through a load of different brands from Sandberg, Human Base, Warwick, Music Man, Mayones. About 2 years ago I picked up a fender mex player precision and I absolutely love it. I was actually really surprised with the quality, playability and tone from this bass all at a very reasonable price point.  

[jazzmanb]

On 12/09/2022 at 12:07, Ralf1e said:

Yes I picked up my lovely old vintage Westone Thunder 3 the other day and for the first time in 30 years noticed it's neck dive.

It seems that having a Spector Euro5 LX and a Headless FF 5 string by Steven Hart guitars has spoilt me as far as playing comfort are concerned. oops!!

Had a thunder 111 back in the day,all neck no body , sold it in a year 

[jazzmanb]

Been lucky to play and own so nice stuff 

Ricks,Spector ,Fender ,musicman etc 

Always go back to standard scale passive mode 

My Sadowsky metro japan is the perfect Jazz bass in passive mode 

[Chienmortbb]

On 13/09/2022 at 09:11, gjones said:

I've always been a Fender man, who has occasionally dabbled with the odd Stingray.

 

But a few years ago I bought a G&L L2500 tribute and was amazed at how ridiculously versatile it was. It can do the P bass, Jazz bass and Stingray thing, without any drama.

 

If I had to get rid of my basses and could only keep one, then the G&L would be the 'no brainer' choice.

 

 

Now I am annoyed. I have just gotten over my NEED for a G&L and you post THIS,

[dclaassen]

18 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

Now I am annoyed. I have just gotten over my NEED for a G&L and you post THIS,

Funny how that works…I had a L2000 Tribute and just couldn’t get on with it.

[Ralf1e]

16 hours ago, jazzmanb said:

Had a thunder 111 back in the day,all neck no body , sold it in a year 

It looks a small body but its still thick and heavy. I have always thought it should have had a longer horn as the Arias did. I still love the huge bottom end sound but detest the guitar like top end in the active mode. It sounds silly to my ears.

[Ralf1e]

On 14/09/2022 at 07:48, Paul S said:

 

Gosh.  I make that 36,500 basses, not taking into account leap years.  Where on earth do you keep them all?

 

In the Tardis😂

[Ralf1e]

12 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Now I am annoyed. I have just gotten over my NEED for a G&L and you post THIS,

I bought a G&L 2000 tribute and now I have two more.

Two 4 s and one 5.

They are infectious, there is no escape ha ha ha😂

[BassBunny]

I've switched from 34" to 32" scale in a big way. Four basses sold, one to go, and replaced with one medium scale. Well one at the moment, probably another to come.

With the onset of a bit of arthritis, I tried a medium scale after reading how it made a difference to some other similarly affected players.

What a revelation. So much easier and more comfortable to play.

[Vin Venal]

Yeah, but the other way around. Always played Jazz basses or Ibanezs with skinny necks, partly cuz the neck width seemed easier, partly cuz I thought P-basses seemed boring.

 

Got the right P-bass and suddenly got it, and rarely play anything else now.

[Stub Mandrel]

I can't understand why some peple feel so strongly about jazz vs precision. I've decided I like both, although they are different.

[msb]

Once you’ve had both I think your opinion shifts more to middle ground. 
At least mine did. Used to be all about the Pbass , now play just about anything but , although I still have three of them.
Now I love the big chunky neck on one bass and the rail thin neck on another. I’ve discovered that with a little time I get very comfortable playing almost anything. I do find my approach does shift a bit using different basses , and I like the change.

 

I do seem to favour short scales these days.

[DGBass]

There was a time where I couldn't see past my pre-ernie ball Stingray. Mostly because it suited the grindy punk/metal tones I was so used to playing back in the day. I always had a good p-bass and a jazz bass in the wings but they were only used every now and then. I eventually sold the Stingray ( a regret when I gave up playing for many years) but retained the p-bass and the jazz bass. As an older player these days, I've really come to appreciate the merits of the p-bass and the jazz bass as super versatile for just about anything I need to play. I've owned two p-basses and eight jazz basses over the years so it's easy to work out where my allegiance is.  I've always felt supremely comfortable with a Jazz. The slimmer neck profile and tonal variation just work well with almost any style I need to play and as its mostly covers bands I play in these days, the Jazz ticks all the boxes. Saying that, I've owned my p-bass for 25 years now and if ever I need to rock out and generate some serious thump, you can't beat a real deal old school Fender USA standard Precision. It's a serious chunk of wood body wise and neck wise and is physically demanding to play. Thats why it comes second to my American Standard Jazz.  I did own another newer Stingray for a while and while it was a pretty astounding bass quality wise and tonally, I just never got back into the Musicman sound and have switched permanently to Fenders.   

[Tim2291]

I used my Ibanez for years, spent ages saying that I don't like Fenders... I still use my Ibanez, but spend a lot of time playing my MIM Jazz!

 

[JapanAxe]

I came to bass from guitar and brought with me the idea that more than one pickup had to be a good thing. I worked my way through various 2-pickup basses until I tried and bought a MIJ Precision. Ps have been home ever since, they just work for me.

 

Also since then I have had my ears opened to the joys of a single-pickup skinny-string in the form of a Les Paul Junior.

[BigRedX]

50 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

I came to bass from guitar and brought with me the idea that more than one pickup had to be a good thing. I worked my way through various 2-pickup basses until I tried and bought a MIJ Precision. Ps have been home ever since, they just work for me.

 

Also since then I have had my ears opened to the joys of a single-pickup skinny-string in the form of a Les Paul Junior.

 

More than one pickup is fine (pickup position is one of the few things that can't be accurately replicated with EQ IMO), just don't expect to be able to get a sound that doesn't disappear in the band mix with more than one active at any one time (unless you are running them in series).

[Chienmortbb]

4 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

More than one pickup is fine (pickup position is one of the few things that can't be accurately replicated with EQ IMO), just don't expect to be able to get a sound that doesn't disappear in the band mix with more than one active at any one time (unless you are running them in series).

I once accidentally followed a series wiring diagram for my DiMarzio P/J set (both humbuckers). The sound was so thin it was unusable for bass.

[BigRedX]

10 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

I once accidentally followed a series wiring diagram for my DiMarzio P/J set (both humbuckers). The sound was so thin it was unusable for bass.

 

I don't think I've ever seen Humbuckers wired in series in anything. However single coils in roughly the J-Bass positions work very well in series configuration.

[Big J]

Started properly on budget yamaha, then stuck to lightweight things .. then discovered old fenders. Had loads. Only got at 60th anniversary road worn jazz now … but I need a P so I’m on the look out.

[bnt]

On 12/10/2022 at 15:51, Chienmortbb said:

I once accidentally followed a series wiring diagram for my DiMarzio P/J set (both humbuckers). The sound was so thin it was unusable for bass.

That would make me suspect the two outputs were out of phase, so I would swap one of the pickup’s wires around. Even if the diagram told me exactly how to wire the whole thing. 

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, bnt said:

That would make me suspect the two outputs were out of phase, so I would swap one of the pickup’s wires around. Even if the diagram told me exactly how to wire the whole thing. 

No I wired parallel with the same colours together. Sounds great now. 

[Ander87]

I've a good example to share here next week  

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, Ander87 said:

I've a good example to share here next week  

You tease .   
Colour me intrigued.

[Bigwan]

I used to be dead against P-basses... Then I tried a really good one and it opened the floodgates so for a long time I was P-basses (or thereabouts) only, so much so that I have 5(ish). But since discovering Vigier(s)... Honestly? Everything else in the collection has been pretty much untouched, and I can't see that changing any time soon...

[Lw.]

When I first started playing bass I was completely against Fenders & P's in particular, I just couldn't understand why anyone would want that boring old design, single coil pickup, passive, BBoT bridge etc... I lusted after Warwick's endlessly until I finally managed to buy one at a heavily discounted rate - they were everything I wanted in a bass for a long time. 

 

Been through a lot of basses over the years and now mostly play a P bass, am soon to get myself another J after I sold my last one a few years ago & actually have a Mustang too. There's just something about the Fender shape & sound that I really enjoy at the moment so am a convert!

 

Still not a fan of red P's with white pickguards though - I think that must have been the basic model from Squier at the time I started & I can't shake that impression!  

I do still have my Warwick & whenever I play it I'm reminded how great it sounds - it's just not my current sound or aesthetic and it's a fiver so it very rarely gets played. Done so many gigs with it I'll never part with it, but she is mostly a case queen now.