DiMarco

I seem to not be able to look at cheaper basses. I have tried to make it make sense but my heart is just not into it.
Picked up this yesterday as living proof I have most probably outgrown 'cheap'.

Guess I should stop thinking about it too much and just use the means I now have to enjoy making music as much as I can.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject guys.

Being mainly a five string player, I am amazed by how easy the thing plays with a massive fretboard such as this.
Just ordered a pack of Fodera strings for it which will arrive on wed-thu.
Must say the bass is pretty heavy but that's to be expected.

5 hrs drive but worth it. My first ever Yamaha product. A TRB JP1. Fixed action and intonation first then played it some. It needs new strings but sounds great already, very articulate. Neck profile is nice and thin. So far I am really impressed with it.

Yes we did. It is good to question yourself now and then, I think. I am openly wondering if I'd happily settle for cheaper lines of instruments, now that I have heard fine tone can be accomplished with a squier and the likes.

Years ago I owned an epiphone sg guitar that had me spend more time tuning then playing. Nowadays the difference isn't that lage anymore I reckon.

I sound perfectly fine on any bass. Am just wondering what I actually gained now that I have become more demanding about those instruments that's all.

No need to be petronizing mr krow. I have spent 30 years on fretboards.

I started out like many, playing on what I could afford in my early twenties.
My second bass was a Japanese Fender Jazz, better then my first (which I believe was a Fernandes).

Long story short, after 30+ years of playing and trading up I now own instruments said to be top notch. Brands are Fodera, Zon, Sadowsky etc.
I like to think I have a good idea about the quality of instruments BUT...

I saw a young lad with lots of talent totally rip **** up on a cheap Squier Jazz the other day. He sounded awesome and I was loving it.

So are we simply spoiling ourselves for no real good reason when moving on to "better" instruments?
Are the most pricey and iconic brands of instruments for lawyers, dentists, IT folk (me) and alike who pretend to be musicians?

I wonder what would happen if I would switch to the cheapest of basses right now. Could I come to terms with playing those again? Has anyone tried this?

When thinking back to my early gigging days, I do not think I was having any less fun with those cheap instruments then I am having right now with the pricey ones...

Have you ever thought about these things? I am wondering if I am the only one.

Any response is welcome.

Yes. Metroline is the equivalent to Warwick's German 'teambuilt' line. The more expensive series are made by the Warwick customshop and the top of the line is built by Roger in the U.S.

Chinese products make me think twice. I grew up in the eighties so chinese made makes me automatically think rubbish quality.

Posted the new Lobster review, not checking if it had been posted yet. Duh.

Not having a passive tone control on a bass sounding as bright as those Metro Express for me is a no go, especially since the bass and treb on the active pre are boost only.
Then again, the Fender USA Marcus Miller signature V was exactly like this, and those were costing around 2.5k back in the day...

2 hours ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Sorry for the potential thread hijack but @DiMarco, are you happy with your German Metro? How does it stack up against the Japanese equivalents? Presumably the Warwick factory hasn’t had the same QC issues as the Chinese-made Metro Expresses. 

Plays like a dream, sounds the biz. Thin neck profile, low action. Haven't found anything wrong with it yet. It has to compete with my Zon Sonus, Fodera NYC Empire and EBMM Stingray 5 HS neckthru. I did not have a proper Precision tone in my arsenal yet but wanted something more flexible then just a Precision and also have an active pre. Quality wise it is right up there with the others, tone wise the Fodera is still my number one instrument but that is a matter of taste.

The competition:

I bring a different bass from my little stack to different gigs and rehearsals because I think it is good practice to familiarize with each, and learn to make those work properly for you. Besides that it's fun!

Sadly no. Only the German one I got myself. I too am really interested in the actual quality.

Oh just found out the JP was introduced in 1994. '92 can therefore not be right.

As I am not a tall man, the 34" scale will be perfect for me.
Low B strings sounding tighter on 35" is fable. My Stingray5 neckthru is living proof of this.

I am picking up a TRB JP1 from 1992 next month. Back and forth will be a 5-6hr drive but I think well worth it.
Found this thread because I was looking for the function of that mids mode selector. So far I have found any "slap contour" found on basses or amps sounds crap and kills harmonics but we'll see...

Previously I owned a Warwick pro series Streamer LX6 which had zero character (but thomann were dumping them at ridiculous prices at the time) and a Chris Larkin Bassix - the prequel to his Reactor series which had really tiny stringspacing.
I am hoping the TRB will be a better gamble for me.

I have the Black Finger for a couple of weeks now and it does work wonders on a Pbass tone, bringing it to life in the mix with some valve grit and warmth. The unit is dead silent when I do not play so reports of BF pedals being noisy can be ignored at least for mine.

On a more punchy Jazz bass like slap tone though, the Cali really does take the cookie. This means I really want to have both. I haven't combined them yet but will see how that turns out @Jus Lukin.

Interesting bass. Do you still have it? How does it stack up to the Sadowsky basses you recently sold?
 

2 hours ago, Crawford13 said:

The tread is about the made in China models, I would like to think the the MiG models would be great. 

What I am saying is it is normal procedure to not only tighten the strings, but also the truss rod when a bass is shipped directly from factory.
They all need to be set up. If the retailer doesn't this means you will have to yourself. The instructions are in the manual and it is a 2 minute job.

Manufacturing or QC problems are bad frets, humming pickups etc. High action is not.

Dodgy retailer then.

Mine (mig) arrived with loosened strings and loosened truss rod, and setup instructions. Intonation was almost spot on after tightening stuff.

After letting it climatize for a couple of days I further fine tuned the setup. It plays like a dream now.

When jamming I find myself using the mixo shape a lot with its flat 7th. It kinda feels right and makes me come up with nice lines or arps pretty easy.

This made me stop and wonder: What patterns or shapes are widely used to jam or even solo by people who know what they're doing?
A guitarist friend told me he finds it easy to work from a minor shape when soloing.

I never really did any soloing myself really (I am not feeling self assured enough to), hence the question.

Or... should I just familiarize with all the different modes...

I wasn't aware of that. But back on topic maybe I am a nut for minor details. When the neck pocket isn't a tight fit, if fret ends feel rough, if the frets need levelling straight out of the box, if the electronics hum etc. etc. in a bass guitar I see this as a quality problem. I also understand if a brand pumps out thousands of basses on a yearly basis getting every detail perfect will not be rewarding. And I do understand for a large number of players the cost of the instrument is what makes it possible for them to start making music in the first place.

Me I have been spoiling myself by trading up over the last two decades. I used to not be able to afford the awesome basses that I now do own. Mind you, I did buy most of them used. There is a difference in quality. Maybe it doesn't matter to many people out there but it does to me. I enjoy quality craftsmanship and that is my point. The MiG Sadowsky five string P goes for 2700 euro at Thomann. I chose to buy this over a USA Fender because my previous USA Fender (which was about the same price) had a neck with so much warp I had to replace it.

Everything about this Sadowsky so far seems to be perfect. The action is really low, neck really slim and fast playing. P tone is great (which is what I chose a P model for in the first place).

So far the Warwick China story seems to not have gone all that well. Also the Sadowsky brand name not being allowed inside China because someone else as rights to that name must have been a downer. I hope Warwick will have been able to set everything straight by now. I am not interested in buying one of the cheap Chinese models, would look at Sire basses instead at that price level.

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Nope, I didn't anywhere say I personally wouldn't notice the difference. A KS makes a German Sadowsky look cheap; it's beautifully made. But it wouldn't make me a better bass player as far any band or audience is concerned. 

And surely you don't disagree agree that iPhones are made in China? 😉 

Iphones are assembled in china. Using bits and bobs from all over the place as far as I know.
Aren't the displays in them made by Samsung? I do know the batteries on a large number of them were bad and the powersupplies had to be recalled at a certain point because they were prone to catch fire.

I do hope the problems with those early copies have all been fixed though. Problem is bad news seems to travel faster and farther then good news does.

I agree with none of those points but hey. to each his own. If you don't notice the difference, for you there is no difference.

My german made Sadowsky P fiver is miles ahead of any Fender in the same price segment I played. Just saying...
Warwick are doing an awesome job in Germany.

I have never been impressed by any chinese made bass or guitar from any brand. What do you expect? World class for a few hundred quid? Keep dreaming.

Thanks for the responses guys. It is hard to find this kind of info if you don't know where to look.

Do bass amp manufacturers state the instrument input impedances and is there a difference between passive and active signal inputs other then the level?

Thanks again.

is this comparable to the mic vs high-z switching on audio interfaces?

The Bass Butler pre sounds really weak and spongy through the SVT-4 pro when hooked up to the instrument input.

Thanks lads, mixing and matching it is... It kinda bothers me though.
A lot of people have just one amp and will never find out how much mixing instruments, pedals and amps can have such a big impact on how strong the tone is. They might simply think the pedal not working well in their chain is simply a bad pedal.

So far the two old Trace Elliot amps and the TC Electronic make everything I plug into them sound good (the TC sounds a bit colder and more hi-fi). The Ampeg and Mesa are more picky on which instruments or pedals they like. I sold the Mesa just because it sounded harsh and ugly with active basses. When I eleborate on that in my mind, the latter two amps bring a lot of character to the game. Maybe throwing 'character' pedals like the Bass Butler on top of that is proving contra productive and these pedals are just meant to be used with 'pedal platform' amplifiers that allow you to build your tone on the effects board or with the instrument's active pre.

Maybe I should stop looking at the situation as a problem but rather as just having a large number of options.

The Ampeg by itself sounds really good, much better then the TC RH750. But the TC+Bass Butler sounds really good, too. Choices choices...
The rare and vintage Trace Elliot Hexa Valve beats both, but I only bring that amp out on rare occasions.