Holy Grail of Basses?

shredaholic

shredaholic

New member
Most people seem to think of guitars like pre-CBS Fenders and late 50's Les Pauls as the "holy grail" of guitars, what do people seem to find the best sounding Bass guitars to be? Are there such instruments in existence, or are bassists less picky?
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

since buying an old Ric 4003, I can't play any other bass. Everything else seems dulL and lacking in cut.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

I've heard great things about warwick. Picked one up to play the other week at a shop. They feel so organic, and heavy to boot. I fed my bass playing bro instrument after instrument and the warwick sounded the fullest, next to a ernie ball stingray which was also a phenomial bass.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

Any Pre-CBS Fender. For me- Pre-66 Jazz Basses, before the blocks, before the binding. I suppose the 60-62 with the Slab Boards and/or concentric knobs. The maple finger board Precisions from 57-60 are probably the priciest.

Checkerboard Binding Rics are always in command.

Plenty of boutique builders have built severely incredible basses, but way too fancy pants for my taste.

For more modern "vintagey" stuff, the Sadowsky basses seem to be held in pretty high regard.

Some day I'll get Scott Lentz to build me a bass...

The Gibson basses aren't as well regarded as they don't really have a lot of "name" players and the basses themselves don't have that "Fender Bass" sound.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

An Alembic custom bass is probably hard to beat for pure craftsmanship,looks and everything. The Problem is that the same goes for the price.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

Man, I'm all about my Musicman Stingray! I wish I had a 4 string of it though
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+1 If you can afford one of the originals (late 70's early 80's) then you have my Holy Grail bass.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

saladin said:
+1 If you can afford one of the originals (late 70's early 80's) then you have my Holy Grail bass.
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+1

I'm not much of a bass player myself, but one of my friends owns an old Stingray and it rules. (Strangely enough, most of my favorite players play Stingrays, too)
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

Sprinter said:
The early 80's G&L, L-1000 & L-2000 basses are great choices.

Sprinter
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+1 I have a 81' L-1000. IMO one of the best production basses ever made. I'm suprised they seem to have fallen under the radar for most bass players.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

Hmm, when I play bass these days I play my MIJ Jazz Bass or a beater P-Bass copy however if I were going to really look into buuying a "Holy Grail" bass I would be looking at 50's P-Bass (both the pre and post 54 model) early 60's "Stack Pot" Jazz Basses, old school Rick 4001 (or better yet a 4000!), Hofner "Beatle", Thunderbirds...there are lots if cool basses out there but I am much less picky about Basses than I amp guitars.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

the guy who invented fire said:
but I am much less picky about Basses than I amp guitars.
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sorta me.

I play bass more, though I'm satisfied with almost anything as long as it can get bright enough...

I play guitar less, yet I lavish attention to detail :D

That said J basses look the coolest. Early ones. With blocks and binding.

And Ricks.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

As far as a specific holy grail bass, I'd say it's probably James Jamerson's P-bass. If I recall correct, it was stolen decades ago and never seen again. Jaco's #1 Jazz bass would probably be up on that list too. Personally, I'd love to see John Paul Jones' Jazz. The stories that bass must be able to tell are incredible.

In general, pre-CBS Fenders fetch huge money on eBay. Same with pre-Ernie Ball Stingrays.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

kmcguitars said:
+1 I have a 81' L-1000. IMO one of the best production basses ever made. I'm suprised they seem to have fallen under the radar for most bass players.
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Yes and no....

The prices for them are going up. I have a brother who is a collector and he's slowly seeing the price rise and players snapping them up now and playing them rather than tucking them away as investments.

They truly are a players instrument....and alot fo what is going on with the U.S. production changes has folks looking at the older ones and taking that leap.

Someday i need to either unload my L-1505 for a L-2500 or do the cap mod on it and give it some more low end. I love the feel of it, just not so much the tone.
 
Re: Holy Grail of Basses?

For Rock and Blues a Pre CBS "P" Bass, for Jazz, Funk and even a lot of fusion I would say a Pre CBS Jazz would be the ticket. Another great bass is an early 60's Gibson Thunderbird Bass. This bass has a huge sound, unfortunatley the necks are so thin the headstocks are prone to snapping off. IF you can find one with a good neck its a good find!
 
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