While I'd like to have an actual bassist for recordings, I'm still interested in recording myself just to see how certain ideas sound, improve those recordings skills, etc.. And of course if I am happy with the playing and it's a song where nothing too fancy is needed I might want to just keep the track and actually use it. So with that in mind, what's a bass that will sound decent to good on recordings and won't set me back too much. I would love an American P-bass but they seem like they are too much new and I'm not finding a local deal on a used one. How are the Mexican ones. On the other hand it could be something I end up keeping for a long time and wanting to have around and occasionally use. So lets say budget of 600-1200. Really what I want is something that plays well, has a good natural tone, and preferably doesn't need to have the pickups replaced to sound good. I had an RBX 374 and it was definitely ok to play but I wasn't that happy with the sound, so when I was moving I sold it. 5 strings is preferred.
PPS I might just buy something today and try it out since GC has 15% off and it's very easy to return it if I'm not digging it.
I was recently told that Fender Precision Basses tend to fill out the sound of a band in a much more well-rounded way than most basses. I'm not sure how true it is, but they do tend to have just a bit more of a focus on the low end, rather than the more prominent midrange you get from the Fender Jazzes.
I just got an OLP bass because they are cheap and look exactly the same as musicman. they dont make them anymore
How are the new stock fender basses? Probably going to hold out for a used american p bass to come my way
I hate to say it...but it's just a bass. Almost anything will be doable for amateur recordings and demos. I stole my ex gfs yamaha BB and that thing works fine for me whenever I need to record bass.
Jazz bass. More tonal flexibility than a Precision. Failing that, seeing as you're a guitarist perhaps something with a retardedly thin neck like an Ibanez Soundgear might fit the bill. Try before you buy though - I've heard some decent ones, but some have been terrible. They are made of firewood, after all.
Good to know, ill give the j bass another try and not be so hesitant to look for a decent ibby. How are thr middle of the road warwick basses?
Warwicks have a super distinct sound you can't really get rid of. I like the sound but that limitation isn't for everyone and if you're aiming for versatility I wouldn't recommend it. Also quality of instrument is practically a worthless necessity in the studio. A squire from China or a USA Fender will sound the same in the mix since so much EQ and editing is done to it anyway, not to mention it's a bass and will be meshed in the mix anyway so I wouldn't stress too much over that. Can't go wrong with a Fender Jazz, honestly.
...it's really not. I'm saying it just doesn't really matter. (it doesn't). Bass is just one of those things that is really hard to make sound bad.
no. but lets start talking about what knid of caps you used on your tone pot and how many winds are on the pickup while we're at it.
Well look at it this way... I am either going to end up buying one or the other. Since I have the choice I might as well make the best possible choice even if it matters only a smidge.
Go buy an old crappy bass, and a nice, high end bass. Record them both, and tell me there's no difference. I'm not a bass player but i've recorded a few in the past and I can tell you now that crappy basses are pretty obvious in a mix.
Yeah if you're doing a jazz bass solo album, but in a thick rock/metal mix you won't know, I promise.
The active Rockbasses are good, active pickups and made of alder instead of bubinga, so the Warwick signature sound isn't really there. The neck is very thin on them too, and you can dial a Fender Jazz or Precision tone in pretty easily because the pickups are quite versatile.
Will check it out! Tried a few today but wasnt digging any. The ibanez five strings keep tipping over, real bad. Is that default with more than four strings and you just have to use a strap? Overall the selection at gc was meh...
Almost every bass has a little bit of neck dive if you don't use a thick strap. Make sure that if you get a Warwick, it comes with the free strap locks they're meant to throw in, because those things do not stay on straps otherwise.
Depends on the style of playing/production, but anything with a semi talented player that sits nicely in the mix, it'll stand out like a sore thumb.
You're changing the argument; we're talking about two people playing two different qualities of a bass in the mix, not one shitty guy playing a shitty bass and a great player playing a great bass. Herp a derp.
In which case, whoever is playing will have their own bass to get the tone they want. Anything suggested so far will be fine for demos.
We'll see.. I am aiming for slightly better than demo quality and plan to have a decent interface, so i dont want noisy or otherwise bad pickups, but it seems like most of you are set on a mexican jazz bass being good in my price range, so ill keep looking into it. To clarify its looking more and more like i will be doing a lot of the songwriting and recording alone and getting people to record certain parts. There are some songs where the bass will be pretty laid back and ones where it will be more strongly featured... So it will be efficient if im doing those first ones and having someone great play the songs where it matters more. But overall i want this to sound good and am planning to do the best quality i can afford. Still, the point about how little the quality of the bass itself factors in vs how its played, recorded and mixed is well taken and should save me some money!
demo quality doesn't mean bad by any means, it just means it doesn't sound like a super professional studio engineer recorded it in an awesome studio and spent 20 hours mixing it. All the garbage i record for my band is "Demo quality" and I don't think it sounds "bad".
That's not what i'm talking about at all. If anything, it's the opposite. I'm saying, if you wanted to record a bass track, and you want it to stand out in the mix even slightly rather than just being a bunch of low frequencies that noone notices, having a shitty bass will definitely be obvious in the mix.
It's perfectly possible to make a cheap/shitty bass stand out in the mix if you know what extraneous frequencies you need to reduce, but yeah, generally there's more work involved. It comes a lot easier and sounds much more natural with a higher end instrument. Apart from that, bass presence has as much to do with how you EQ the guitars as it does with the bass itself.
Hope you're feeling better! How is the studio coming? Anyhoo my other housemate (Dan's brother) did some audio engineering in college and is a DJ and does like mixes and videography, ukulele and keyboards. If you need any of that on your tracks you should hit him up. And if you need a shitty out of tune guitar part hit me up.
Thanks man! Feeling a bit like myself again. Seeing an ENT tomorrow just to see how everything's going since it's been a few years since my last visit and the colds are getting brutal again. It's coming along here... once I have my recording interface I'm pretty much ready to get to work and will be gradually upgrading various things (and picking up the bass). Would love to have a jam w/ you guys some time and check out his mad ukelele skills. Going to be at work this/next week and then I'll hit you up!
Nah, havent made it to try anything else out. For starters it would help to find a five string j bass in stock.
EMBB Stingray. I'm playing a Bongo6 HH myself at the moment, but you can't go wrong with a StringRay5 either.
How's this guy (and his price)? http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/msg/2619283599.html No returns there, obviously, but I could trade my electric acoustic and it would be an alright deal for me.
Anybody try this? http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0136860306 I was quite happy with the MIM Jazz bass I tried, which was a 4 string Ash body one. I was also pretty unhappy with the Squier basses... I am willing to pay a bit extra to have a nicer feeling neck. Anyway, I can get one used for a decent price, so I am leaning towards buying one.
Periphery are using that bass for their next album, I do believe. You can't really go wrong with a Fender, honestly.
I saw them using some chrome ass looking bass. A Mayones or something. But I agree Fender should be a solid choice!
Ah nice! Not that I want a djenty bass or anything, but those guys are picky enough about gear that it's a good sign!
So I got that bass... new... which means I can return it. I dig the way it plays with the exception that the board looks on the dry side, and I can feel some rough fret ends, which I was not expecting at this price. One thing I'm chewing over is the fact that it has a master volume knob and a blend knob. I usually see Vol-Vol, which to me makes more sense. I realize why you would want a blend knob, to quickly change sounds, but the Vol-Vol setup is just more flexible! Anyone want to weigh in on this? It is still one of the nicer five strings I've played, probably the best in my budget, but I am wondering if I am missing out on any of the "classic" sounds by not being able to set the volume of each pickup independently.
