Bass nerds!

Dodgy rythym and thick strings here...

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Bass nerds!

Post by badmotor »

Talk to me. It's been years since I was a bass guru, but I need something good to record with on a budget (contradiction alert!). I think 5-strings will probably be the way to go... which out of these?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =502817164

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =503019908
Slightly better than the standard Rock basses maybe? Cheapish...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =503041195
I know it's 4... Korean right? I once played a Korean one the same colour, and it was a bit underwhelming but it might've been from a different era.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by rickenbackerkid »

most of the time i strongly dislike many active basses - so many of them have this big clean sound with tons of lows and highs that is hard to fit into a mix. The lows are too low, the highs are too high and the mids are not there at all, or too low.
The bass sound takes up HUGE amounts of mix space and it's an EQ war getting lows that don't fight the kick, and some string definition that doesn't fight the vocals.

I find that a passive P, J or Ernie Ball is the easiest thing to fit to a mix. If you want to get the super clean Big Lows sound, you can always use some serious parametric EQ after recording it.

Yamahas, Warwicks and the like often fill me with fear :sick:

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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by rickenbackerkid »

Oh, and I'd get the G&L, their asia made guitars are very well made, nice to play and sound great.

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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by capt abaham »

holy! the Specter will rule!

cheap too
Originally Posted by STEEL KAGE
As for the Vid, IMHO, the guy played the notes but had none of LC vibe or finesse...

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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by borge »

get a 4 string bass and 5 string strings.
You can get the low end range of a 5 without all the negative conotations that come with owning a 5 :wink: :wave:

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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by TmcB »

badmotor wrote:Talk to me. It's been years since I was a bass guru, but I need something good to record with on a budget (contradiction alert!). I think 5-strings will probably be the way to go... which out of these?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =502817164

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =503019908
Slightly better than the standard Rock basses maybe? Cheapish...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =503041195
I know it's 4... Korean right? I once played a Korean one the same colour, and it was a bit underwhelming but it might've been from a different era.
I would go for the G & L out of that lot, particularly if you're using it for recording. They have stupid amounts of options on board in terms of tone customization with the series/parallel and active/passive options.
IF that matters to you. The trade off is that you'll lose access to a straight P-Bass tone, which is often all you need to get a bass track to work with minimum fuss.
If having a million options isn't that important, I'd look at the spector, which has the P pup and a J bridge.

Hmm, actually the benefit of going with the Warwick is that you could put the pickups in series using a push-pull pot. It's like having one giant humbucker, and sounds quite P-Bass-ish. Something to think about.
But yeah, in terms of getting a reasonable bass with plenty of options, go the G & L.

5 strings aren't my favourite, mainly because I don't usually need the extra 5 notes and I'm not a fan of the B string tonality. I'd rather tune down.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by KentNZ »

borge wrote:get a 4 string bass and 5 string strings.
You can get the low end range of a 5 without all the negative conotations that come with owning a 5 :wink: :wave:
Have often wondered about this. Is it much more strain on the neck?

I love my 5 String Ibanez, but so rarely use that top G. BEAD could be a go.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by badmotor »

TmcB wrote:
5 strings aren't my favourite, mainly because I don't usually need the extra 5 notes and I'm not a fan of the B string tonality. I'd rather tune down.
Actually, this is a good point. I have owned 5's, but always like the 4's better for some reason. I like sounds similar to this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7n9gMzMhZc[/youtube]
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by Polar Bear »

The G&L is easily the best of those.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by capt abaham »

i ran my Jazz like that in the 90`s, just get your nut cut and your good 2 go.

you will have to find the right B string, some have long wraps and will need space between the nut and the tuner.

i didnt think they were makning them in Korea in the 80`s but i might be wrong. did they make them in Poland? same place they make FretKing and Wilkinson guitars and a bass i cant remember
Originally Posted by STEEL KAGE
As for the Vid, IMHO, the guy played the notes but had none of LC vibe or finesse...

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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by badmotor »

Hmmm. I'm going off the 5-string idea now.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by KentNZ »

badmotor wrote:
TmcB wrote:
5 strings aren't my favourite, mainly because I don't usually need the extra 5 notes and I'm not a fan of the B string tonality. I'd rather tune down.
Actually, this is a good point. I have owned 5's, but always like the 4's better for some reason. I like sounds similar to this:
Wicked discipline on the part of those musicians - rhythm section particularly. That bass player sat on the groove almost without change for 5 minutes. Good man! Drummer too.

Serve the song, eh? Nice.

I love repetitive bass parts like that, music moves around it. Actually, I like any musical part that can have the rest of the arrangement move around it...
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by TmcB »

That particular bass player is using a bass (looks like a Spector) with pickups in a similar style to the G & L, and on the back pickup in parallel, and isn't touching the B string I don't think.
Spent too much time with my Stingray to mistake humbuckers in parallel. Defo G & L if you like that tone.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by KentNZ »

I was just about to post a "you've got to have a 5 if you want to do THIS" and post a link to my favourite low moments... and. DOH. He's playing a 4 with a drop D tuner. And he's using a pic. Arrgh. Still, top bassline. Except perhaps for the slap bit which I'm undecided about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... daCSuujoBE

They've sucked the bass out of the mix quality on this video, but still. 1:20 is a big D bam-I'm-here moment. And a great little groove built around a low D.
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Re: Bass nerds!

Post by borge »

KentNZ wrote:
borge wrote:get a 4 string bass and 5 string strings.
You can get the low end range of a 5 without all the negative conotations that come with owning a 5 :wink: :wave:
Have often wondered about this. Is it much more strain on the neck?
I assume you're asking is a 4 string tuned BEAD putting more stress on the neck than it being tuned EADG?
Well it could be less or more, it's totally dependant on the string gauge/s used for each tuning. :)

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