How much better is your current bass than your last one?

[Kongo]

[quote name='peted' post='499615' date='May 28 2009, 09:35 AM']GAS! I think there's a huge variety of options available to bass players and we're always thinking "what if..." e.g. what if it had 5/6/7 strings, what if the pickups were different, what if it had a 35" scale, what if it had fanned frets, what if it had lightwave pickups etc etc.[/quote]

+1!

Hell yeah on that! Most of my gear I love but have always be a "What if..." guy...like a band member said, I've bought so many now I have too many options for "What if...!"......Even now I'm enjoying my Jazz and chasing a Fender but I always get the "What if..." on a Stingray or G&L...Sucks.....

Guitarists just think:

Single coil or humbucker
Tremelo or hardtail
Floating, non floating or floyd Rose / Edge etc...

We have too much:

Scale
Pickups
Strings
String spacing
Frets
Headstock
Balance
Weight
Active
Passive
Fretted
Fretless
Fanned frets
Fret Groove
Bridge
Ramp
Finger / thumb rest
Mute

...the list goes on

[7string]

Last year, I got a James Tyler 4 string which is hands-down the best 4 string bass I've ever played. I wasn't looking for a new 4 string bass at all, but when a James Tyler bass came up at literally the bottom of the used list on The Bass Gallery's website, it was such a unique opportunity that the wife and I went and bought it. I'd never held a Tyler bass before, let alone seen one in the flesh so it was bought on James Tyler's reputation for instruments that are beautifully made and have a great feel.

Compared to my old Jackson (which I still have), the Tyler is lighter, the neck profile is a slightly different shape, the sound has more punch and presence (with a great Demeter preamp) and the overall build quality is way higher. Really it's a bit unfair to compare a late 80's/early 90's mass-produced bass to a hand-made niche built bass.

Edited May 29, 2009 by 7string

[Delberthot]

A small list of the basses I've owned over the past 20 years:

Marlin Slammer (my first bass), Riverhead by Headway, Spector European, 5-string Stingray, 5-String T-Bass, Squier SQ Precision, Fender '51 Reissue Precision, Wesley clear 5-String, 5-String Bass Collection SB305, Hohner Fretless, Ibanez Fretless, 1968 Gibson EB2-D Copy, Epiphone Gothic Thunderbird, Shine 8-String (modified with stereo outputs, 1974 Rickenbacker 4001 copy, gibson EB-1 Copy, Bolt-on Rick 4001 copy, 2 Rickenbacker 4003s, Squier JV Precision,Bass Collection 4 string Speakeasy, Bass Collection SB312 fretless, Bass Collection SB465 5 string, Washburn XB126 6 string, Ibanez SR1006 6 string, Mazeti 8 string, Fender Geddy Lee Jazz bass, Fender MIM Precision, another Musicman Stingray 5 string, 30th Anniversary Stingray, 20th Anniversary Stingray, 1989 lined fretless Stingray, another Rickenbacker 4003, Modulus Flea bass, Warwick Thumb NT5, Aria MAB 5 string fretless, Yamaha TRB6 II fretless, another Musicman Stingray, another new Fender '51 reissue Precision, Squier Vintage modified TB Precision, Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass Fretless, Melody Gibson Grabber fretless copy, Warwick Corvette $$ 5 string, Warmoth '57 spec singlecoil P bass, Fender 1973 Telecaster Bass, Rickenbacker 4000, 2 Jazz copies, another 5 string see through blue defretted.


I bought and sold the majority of these trying to find the perfect bass and in the end couldn't find it so had it made:




Its the best parts from all the best basses I owned and its a million times better than any one of them. Nothing can touch it and, believe me, I've been trying to find something to trump it purely to see if there is anything better in the world.

The short answer is that there is nothing better than this in my eyes.


Every so often you'll see a bass appear in my signature at the bottom but it usually ends up having 'for sale' next to it. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it just can't beat the Warmoth

Edited May 30, 2009 by Delberthot

[JTUK]

Depends on quite a few things, IMV.

best basses I've had have been a 75 Jazz and an early MM...pre Ernie Ball
Both were good plug in and play ...

I eventually went down a custom route when the maker informed me he would make me a better 5 string bass than the ones I was looking at at the time. He was right...finish and general craft is superb and unsurpassed from what I have seen out there. The input into it is fantastic and this alone will colour any thoughts I have for another bass.

The one thing I would change is the general out-of-the-case-playability and it is just too good to get knocked about.

For this reason I will look around for more of a workhouse but I can't get rid of my current bass.. I toyed with the idea but it isn't possible unless I give up playing for good.

My next 5 will have to be set-up like my current bass.. I can't go chopping and changing with all the probs I had going 4 to 5 string...

Edited May 31, 2009 by JTUK

[WinterMute]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='499513' date='May 28 2009, 12:21 AM']I sold an 87 warwick thumb 5 thru to buy an Alembic MK5 deluxe. Best move I ever made. I am a much better player because I now sound like I want to... result: I never put the Alembic down [/quote]

My Warwick was a 87 Thumb 5 thru as well, not many of those about, mine had EMG's and gold hardware. I didn't go for an Alembic though..!

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[Buzz]

How much better is my current to my last?

Well as my current in a Squier VMJ and my last bass (which I've still currently got) was a Jap non export Fender Aerodyne, I'd say roughly on par. The Jap does feel better all round, but I much prefer the looks and pup combo on my VMJ, and the body cutaways.

[TDM]

I only have 3 basses atm. A Jazz (which I've had for years), a Spector and a Thunderbird that I built myself.

The Jazz and Spector probably get equal amounts of use, because they are completely different in terms of sound, construction, looks and feel.

On paper I think the Spector is a superior bass in every way, and I was convinced of this as soon as I bought the Spector. But I realised the there are certain things I wouldn't use the Spector for so I think i've got the perfect combo. Hopefully when I fix up my Thunderbird I'll get a bass that's somewhere between the two.

Edited June 1, 2009 by thedonutman

[BassistJonathan]

Interesting question... people think Im crazy cos I always change my basses for something similar.

Squire pbass --> custom pbass ---> I now await arrival of my Duck Dunn.

Granted these are steps up in spec, but dont show a lot of variety.

Fender usa deluxe jazz --> jaguar --> fender geddy lee

I actually went down in price on these, just for the maple neck really.

If I had inifinite money I wouldnt have sold any off these, or the 6string esp and thunderbird I had.

Altho I have to say that without a huge price increase I wont be changing the stagg edb

[Lfalex v1.1]

I haven't actually got rid of any of mine yet!!

My first was a Westone Raider1, which in spite of the awful finish and spiky body is actually quite well made..
I got VERY lucky with my second bass. I started saving for a Fender Jazz, overdid the saving bit, decided to get a five string and discovered the Bass Centre (then @ Wapping) After a battle royal, a Vigier Passion V (S3) beat a Warwick Thumb NT V. Considering I knew so little then, I did well. Either of those two would still sit well in the collection, but I reckon the Vigier was the better choice for me.
Unfortunately, I just keep walking into random shops when I'm out and about, see something, have THAT feeling, pick it up and it turns out to be really good, so I purchase it (funds permitting)
Some good 'uns have got away in the process because I let people talk me out of it
Most notably a Ken Smith 6, An Early Modulus Flea sig, a Steinberger XL2, plus some others.

Otherwise, I just try things that are different to what I already own.
That'd explain the Warwick Infinity SN4, Yamaha Attitude and Status Streamline, then!

The most recent addition has been the Status. Damn fine instrument it is, too. Still not "better" than the Vigier. Just different!
It can make some very aggressive noises indeed when so persuaded.
I did buy a Fender Jazz in the end, and a good one at that!

Just keep trying instruments. Some you'll hate. Others you'll love. Quite soon you'll know exactly what you do and don't like. Then you'll reach the point that I think quite a lot of us on here have; The (grim) realization that no one bass can do it all.

The answer of course- buy lots (and enjoy!)