What do you like/need in a bass?

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

I've never really played bass. For the past few years, I've been thinking about laying off the guitar for a while (maybe giving it up altogether) and start playing bass. I wanted to be a bass player before I started on guitar, but it seemed like girls gravitated more to the guitar players. It seems like stringing and tuning a guitar is easier than stringing and tuning a bass. However, something about the bass still intrigues me.

How would it be harder in your opinion actually? To me its all around easier. Thicker and all wound strings lead to easier grip and most basses have the slot head tuners which you just stick the end into and start winding after you cut it. With a guitar you half the time have vibrato bridges which easily double or triple the work on changing them, and then you have tiny plain strings that constantly slip. Plus you have more strings to do on guitar. So why do you think?

 

[the aXeman]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

My Charvel's got it all when it comes to what I like with the exception of a {slightly} thinner neck than what I'd normally like...

I've grown kinda picky for what I like mine to have. I dig a standard scale length, heavier bridge, neck that's a little beefier when talking thickness. The biggest (and most important) thing to me is something that took me years to figure out... I dig flatter radiuses compared to rounder (think Fender) ones. It took me years to figure out why some necks felt totally clumsy to me and others felt like butter to me... Nut width I like it wider, like 1 11/16" or 1 5/8"... Pickups vary. If I want a regular J or P sound, passive is the way to go... If I want balls-out chaos... Active all day. I lean towards active pickups since they carry better for me... But yet, sometimes just taking an old P bass straight into an old SVT stack is all it takes... The heavier the better. I want a chunk of wood pulling me to the ground, not something that'll bounce around like a ping pong ball. Brighter woods that'll really pop seem to work better to my ear as well... It's all subjective to the player man.

 

[saladin]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

I was a long time P-Bass fan but recently took a chance on a Squier Jazz Bass Std. for $50 on craigslist.
After I replaced all the electronics and cleaned it up I was shocked to find it to be one of the most resonate
and nice playing basses I've ever owned. The biggest thing was that the neck wasn't tiny like most J-basses
but has a nice chunky feel to it. Best $50 I've ever spent!!!

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

4 string, medium to loose feel and a lot of vibration when played acoustically... plugged in I like a very rattly dirty sounding bass and prefer passive single coil basses. I plan on buying a classic vibe jazz bass soon as I'm using an active Ibanez bass I borrowed from my bandmate to see if my Traynor YBA-2b sounded good with bass and to see if I want to invest...

 

[SlowGrind93Z]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

Fat strings to drop tune it, at least 105s for as low as C lol 4 string bass, slick yet classic like a Esp Surveyor or Shadowsky basses that Jason Newsted used.

 

[uOpt]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

I prefer heavy basses

One important thing I am looking for is that there isn't too much of a sound difference between the same notes on different strings.

I want "something happening" during sustain, some variance in how overtones plays out.

I noticed that many basses have open strings come out a bit sharp during the first stages of sustain when you play hard, others do not. This also seems to be a function of what strings you put on.

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

Pretty much everything mention above I can agree on
- four strings
- tuning pegs that work well
- good tone
- good looks (are plus but not a deal breaker)
- good feel
- personality
- reasonable cost

and flat wound strings!

 

[ginormous]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

I grew up listening to the NYC studio recordings of the 60s and 70s, and got plugged in to that fat, chugging bottom end --
Fender Precision (usually strung with flats) through an Ampeg B15 Portaflex or something along those lines.

Then, I heard other possibilities. The slap styles of Larry Graham and Louis Johnson. The hyper-speed pluck of Stanley Clarke. Jaco. Chris Squire. Anthony Jackson.

My sound has to migrate between the boom, the slap and the articulate Jaco-esque fingerstyle. I lucked out when I got the LP Triumph.
I can be a chameleon with it, but it also has its' own sonic character. There's definitely enough bottom end -- it's a Gibson, after all.
It's on the heavy side, but it's what I need.

The feel is where it starts and ends for me; I can wire up a bass with all kinds of pickups and electronics, but if my hands don't feel comfortable I can't play it for 3 sets a night.

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

5 strings
Active pickups
Natural finish only

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

personality

^
This!

Sometimes, the choice of bass sound is as important as the notes being played. You may find yourself digging the funky bass line on a recording when you suddenly realise that the sound is not a stringed instrument but an analogue mono synthesizer.

In this sense, guys like Stevie Wonder, Prince and Bernie Worrell are brilliant players of bass rather than electric bass guitar.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: What do you like/need in a bass?

I like the look of fender basses. I love the feel of fender basses with loose tension and love single coil pickups that have some punch but are still deep when picked lightly or finger picking. I got a P-Bass recently and it is practically my dream bass besides the looks.. its plain black and white pickguard (BLAND) so I may change the pickguard to tortoise shell or pay to get it relic'd