Bass Guitar

First of all, I'm really not a bass player. That needs to be confirmed straight up. However, seeing as buying a decent bass and doing a million takes is way cheaper than hiring a real bass player, I'm needing help picking out a bass.

I've been using a Mexican Fender Jazz that I equipped with Bartolini pickups through a sansamp DI. The Bartolinis definetly helped A LOT. However, I still don't have a really quality bass sound.

My initial research here seems to be saying that the main quality basses out there are basically just Fenders, Rickenbachers, and Musicmans. Comments?

I'm looking for a standard, rock-n-roll, quality tone with some versatility in the $600-$700 price range. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

There are some things you have to decide on:

passive or active pickups
passive or active electronics
number of strings

I really like passive pickups for any guitar/bass. The first bass I bought was a used BC Rich Bich from '85. Great instrument, cheap price. But in your price range I would look into ESP/LTD basses. If you can buy anything in the '400'-series, you'll have a fine instrument. They have neckthru basses, all have EMG pickups, and a really nice electronics package which gives you extreme versatility. Unbeatable in that price range, if you're looking for a rockinstrument.

I think Ibanez basses in the $400 to $600 range have extremely good bang for the buck. When I bought mine, the other two finalists were an American Fender PJ bass and a Warwick, both of which sold for around $1,000 street. I'm also primarily a guitarist and not a great bassist.

Have fun,
Jerry

ORIGINAL: barthowk

I've been using a Mexican Fender Jazz that I equipped with Bartolini pickups through a sansamp DI. The Bartolinis definetly helped A LOT. However, I still don't have a really quality bass sound.

I'm looking for a standard, rock-n-roll, quality tone with some versatility in the $600-$700 price range. Any suggestions?

Standard R&R quality? Lets see, standard, as in Beatles, Beach Boys, Motown, Stax, Yes, slapping, fingers, picks... I could go on. There are a lot of "standard" bass sounds. And many of them can be created by a Fender bass with the correct age of strings and a good DI like the SansAmp. Your Fender should work just fine. What kind of R&R are you trying to emulate? My Fender (a '72 P) has Bartolini's and I use the SansAmp. My strings are just about right, only two years old. For my band, I need to pluck with my fingers, and also use a thumbpick. Where you pick is just as important for tone as how you set your controls. Bridge = brighter, neck = mellower with more rich tone. I find that I get more control of the signal if I back off the volume and tone pots to about 3/4 full. My DI is set up this way: treble @ 11:00, bass @ 1:00, distortion varies between 9:00 and 12:00, presence is about 9:00. Of course, the settings will all be different for you and your instrument.

Hope this helps.

Oh, by the way, one of the best bassists in the world, Abe Laboriel, Sr., started out his studio career using a piece of crap Mexian bass that had he kept because it had a good neck. He just swapped out the pickups to make it sound better.

"the piece of crap played by a god" is verifiable. David Sims, the bass player of Scratch Acid, Rapeman, Jesus Lizard, has about the best rock tone ever. He plays a MEMPHIS! A local band up here in Norcal fomr the 80-90s Victims Family had this great bassist. He played a Hondo knockoff of the Dano Longhorn, with bartolinis.
Another often overlooked aspect of bass tone is strings. Some folks change them every week. Some keep the same set for years> James Jamerson of Motown fame used the same set for like 10 years. When he changed them, he lost his tone. I personally can not say enough about DR strings. Used to rock D'addarios but they changed them in the late 80's.

lo riders on one bass, sun beams(?) I think, on the tobias.

ORIGINAL: barthowk



My initial research here seems to be saying that the main quality basses out there are basically just Fenders, Rickenbachers, and Musicmans. Comments?

I agree with everyone who said that you should be able to get a good sound from your Fender bass. However, I have a buddy who's a great bass player and he loves his Carvin bass guitar.
I also like using my Pod bass amp modeler to record bass tracks.
Try looking here:

www.carvin.com

and here:
www.line6.com

Hope this helps.

Rick

ORIGINAL: barthowk
My initial research here seems to be saying that the main quality basses out there are basically just Fenders, Rickenbachers, and Musicmans. Comments?

20 year bassist here (since I was 10). Just like picking the "right" mics, mic pre's, etc., finding a "quality" bass is purely subjective. I've owned cheapy basses, intermediate basses, Musicman, Rickenbacker, and Spector USA basses. I have been an EMG fan ever since it turned my first bass (a $200 Aria Pro II) into an instrument that sounded 500% better than it did off the store wall.

A set of active EMG's will definitely improve the sound of a stock $400 - $500 bass. This may be a little too specific... but if you can find an 80's or early 90's Korean made neck-thru Spector copy IMPORTED BY KRAMER (not the ones from the mid-late 90's made by Samick), and throw EMG's in it, you'll love it for Rock. Check Ebay. I had one of these for years, all through college, and I loved it. I only got rid of it because I found a great deal on an American Spector (w/ EMG's).

Also, just to back up my view on this subject... I custom ordered a beautiful Musicman Stingray 5 string a couple of years ago. I was never able to get the sound I wanted from it for hard rock. And I was bummed to find out that EMG doesn't make a direct replacement pickup for Stingrays. So as soon as I found a deal on a 5 string USA Spector (w/EMG's), I jumped on it. Now I'm as happy as a pig in slop!

Also, I've recorded direct from my basses w/ EMG's straight into mixing boards, with some success. Personally, I like mixing a miked cabinet with the direct sound. But if you're not trying to go double platinum with what you're recording right now, going direct (with a DI box is probably best) just might suit you fine.

Rock on and Good Luck!