Hellzero

Don't you think that it's about time to admit that an electric instrument is before all an acoustic instrument, otherwise it wouldn't be able to produce an acoustic sound, so in fact moving air through vibration of the wood, certainly not as loud as an instrument with a thin top and back acting like membranes to amplify this movement by moving more air ? Once this is admitted, the same laws of physics are applicable, so tone coming from the wood as, in these acoustic instruments, there is no pickup (a typical Anglicism for microphone, that said). Try reading Félix Savart mémoire about the trapezoidal violin as it's full of informations and ways to understand the principles of tone without any computer assistance. Especially for @Killed_by_Death there's a science that uses both additive and subtractive synthesis to achieve similar results : photography. So even if wood only uses subtractive synthesis, a skilled luthier with trained ears, knowledge and experience will know exactly what to do to achieve a specified result by tuning the wood(s)... Then comes the electronics that will colour the sound to certain tastes or, better, that will be the most transparent possible to retain the original tone of the (acoustic) instrument.

Reversed engineering ?

It's Dave Richmond on bass, even if Brian Odgers have been considered for a long time to be the one on this Serge Gainsbourg fantastic record. 😉 Francis Darizcuren that I mentioned earlier has been working a lot with Serge Gainsbourg too and had that "knack bass" sound too. At that time, musicians were paid, but rarely credited.

5 years later, Mick... 😉

But the system is interesting soundwise, of course.

Wow, it's exactly what I'm saying since the beginning : I'm speaking of WOOD and it's the WOOD that is making the difference and the WOOD is, here, the only variable and because WOOD is not really predictable (won't enter another debate that has been around for so long), it's, strangely, the WOOD which makes the difference, not the rest of the instrument, but WOOD as a generic term, not a particular WOOD, but simply WOOD whatever species it may be. And to be complete, Le Fay pickups are not scattered wound, sorry for you. @drTStingray they do obviously hear a difference and say it, but simply refuse to admit it, because it's all their previous beliefs that are becoming questionable...

I discovered today that the earth is almost flat, but I'm not sure if the it's the center of the universe. Wood some body tale E ?

Because as I wrote, but as usual people comment without reading, the only variable in this experiment is the wood, but even with the evidences before their eyes or between their ears, people keep denying. Same old Galileo syndrome.

Funny, but now we have clever comments, with of course the usual "the OP is a donkey" comment. Looks like, at last, what I'm saying is read the correct way and not not immediately biased because there are the two mystical words tone and wood in the same sentence. For those interested, I have a solid scientific background including physics, biology and chemistry and I've been analysing thousands of medical studies because of my job. And worth reading this, until the end, about the other Toyota : https://phys.org/news/2017-02-concert-halls-japanese.html Also, for those who can't stand it, the summarised comparison of the 4 basses is, as mentioned at the beginning of the video, at 16'55''. You can even stop before the last sequence where the slap avalanche starts. 😉

Great ! Now I have two answers after reading all the comments. I'll be a bit harsh, but this is the plain truth. 1. Almost all posters can't read : I wrote that the tone comes from the wood, not the species of wood, as the only fixed and identical parameters are everything but the wood. And I never spoke of tonewood. 2. Almost all posters have hearing damages or problems as there's a huge difference between the 4 basses involved even if the player is Machine Gun Joe he is consistent enough to hear that it's obvious that all basses sound different, even in slap (and I do hate slap as I wrote too). And it comes from the wood, which, here, is the only variable. I feel a bit sorry as I was expecting more from this than the usual comments. I also never wrote that I could predict the tone from the wood as there are, as many said, too many variables in the wood itself, but it derailed immediately in that direction. That's why you have to try a bass or any instrument to know if it suits your tastes, whatever electronics it has or whatever wood is used even if the wood matters a lot as proven in the video ! Take care BC'ers.

It's certainly what @Killed_by_Death would answer too as he's just saying the same. Read back carefully what you've written. 😉

That said I do hate slap.

Funny, because you are just simply saying that the tone comes from the wood itself. Next.

These four basses have exact same preamps (passive only for this test), pickups and strings and were set up to the exact same precise adjustments... Same amp (Glockenklang), same settings, same cable, same place, same player, same noodling, same ... everything. A real test, for once. The only differences are the woods used. Use headphones or good speakers. See also here, page 15, for an article by the great Roger Sadowsky confirming that an electric instrument is before all an acoustic instrument and that if it doesn't sound unplugged, it won't sound better amplified whatever mods or tweaks you'll make :

Are you kidding @BigRedX, all Kramer basses with aluminium neck that I owned, except The Duke, had serious neck diving problems. And I owned or played a lot ! The last three (450 B fretless with new lightweight tuners to better balance it, DMZ 6000 B and The Duke Deluxe) were sold last year through this very parish. They are also on the very heavy side for 4 strings basses, ranging from 4.5 to more than 5 kilos for some of them...

And you could seriously hurt yourself with it. Or even kill someone... 🤦‍♂️

I know the story, don't worry, but I really lost interest in the band when it first stopped in 1980, so a long time ago...

I thought Brand X was a pure British band. What's this total mess ?

This is a Tides bass made nearby in Luxembourg : https://tttides-guitars.com/

That's an electrical power source and technically a battery, but I wouldn't pick up an instrument with a super capacitor in it. Lithium batteries tend to explode, super capacitors do burn (overheating at very very high temperature in fact) very quickly if charging voltage exceeds the maximum voltage of the super capacitor... Unmastered technology is always an issue.

On Warwick's the bridge is earthed. That said, @chyc the sound you're after can only be achieved using piezo pickup(s). You could get an approximation of it with piezo saddles in the bridge and a dedicated piezo preamp in your own Warwick, but the cost will become prohibitive. Why not buy a second hand Ibanez SRH500F or an amazing Ibanez AFR (the new generation is only fretted, but you could have it defretted or use a plectrum to get that Steve Swallow tone on a fretted piezo equipped bass). Concerning Marco's tone and solo ability, it's easy : listen to a lot of bebop soli as well as bebop walking bass lines and ... practice a LOT ! 😉 Monk Montgomery and Ray Brown II V I progressions are very good starting points (and ending points too). 🤦🏻‍♂️😂

Urm, urm, since when an active system doesn't require some electrical power ? These are the usual acoustic guitar suspects...