Bassimist

Hi, 

I have the GP7SM 150 head and run it through my Mark Bass 15"speaker. I also own a Darkglass Microtubes 900. My Blues band mates usually prefer the sound from the Trace Elliot and at home, when I want to practice I find myself gravitating towards the Trace Elliot most of the times, specially if I'm playing flatwounds. It sounds really really great and the EQ is so useful. 

Hope this helps. 

Bought a bass from Perry last weekend. Great guy to deal with, stress free and the instrument was as described. Highly recommended! 

Thanks everyone for the input. 

I went one and changed the strings. What a nightmare!!! The two sets have very different tensions so the necks moved a lot (on opposite ways on each guitar) so I had to adjust trust rod, bridge, etc... The wood is still adjusting. 

Conclusions: The huge difference in tone was mainly due to the strings. The RW with Rotosound flats sounds very bassy, deep, smooth. The Deluxe with the TI Flats sounds a lot more transparent, brighter, metallic. So the sound characteristics follow the strings. In the meantime, I can hear that the RW is not as bassy as the Deluxe was and the Deluxe is not as open as the RW was so there is an element of the sounds that is still linked to the instrument (wood, finish, frets, neck, bridge, etc) but I don't think this difference would be audible in a live performance, in a mix. Does it make sense to you? 

This experiment made me realise that the string choice is a journey of major importance in the shaping of my sound. I wish I had known this before buying the RW. Anyway...

My personal conclusion is that I love the feel of the higher tension of the Rotosounds but prefer the sound of the TI. 

Any recommendations for my next set of strings? Maybe I should open a new thread for this...

I had the pleasure of trying one at my local guitar shop when I was looking for my first bass. Coming from guitar playing a short scale bass was appealing. I tried this model and like it a lot. Confortable, light. It sounded very nice but be aware of quality control issues. The one that I tried sounded good but the fret work was poor and the bridge pick up wasn't working (maybe the switch broke). It was brand new, out of the box. Definitely felt cheap compared to the Mexican fenders that I also tried. 

20 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

RotoSound Monel "Jazz Bass 77"

20 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

Perhaps TI Jazz flats.  Do you have photo of the headstock end?

BINGO!!! I just asked the previous owners and jrixn1 was right on the money!!! 

So, we have the Deluxe equipped with RotoSounds 45-105 I definitely feel a lot more tension with this strings. Deep tone. 

RoadWorn equipped with  Thomastik-infeld 43-100. Less tension and more top end on the sound. 

Makes sense!!

7 hours ago, hooky_lowdown said:

There are many factors to the sound - strings, body and neck woods (poly and nitro finishes), pickups (active, ceramic, alnico) all affect the tone. This is all before even going to an amp and cab.

Generally the strings have the biggest impact on one's sound, then pickups, then woods (Inc finish). Don't always dismiss what might be referred to as cheaper wood bodies, like basswood. Some basses no matter what they are made of, or how they are finished just sound better than others.

7 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

I would suggest until you have exactly the same strings on both basses they are going to sound different

7 hours ago, Paddy515 said:

Swap the strings over bass to bass and if the tones remain the same, thats strings out of the equasion.

I think the strings are the answer. I will try to get them both with similar strings to see the difference. 

19 hours ago, Bassmingo said:

The neck profile, radius, width and fretwire will be completely different on the roadworn compared to the deluxe so the dimensions are not exactly the same. That may have some bearing on your opinion. 

Hi Bassmingo, yes you are right. There's a bit more wood in the RW and the frets are skinnier. That's very interesting to think that this details might have such a big impact. 

19 hours ago, ezbass said:

The Roadworns are finished in a very thin nitro cellulose which will certainly make a difference acoustically. Also the infamous BBOT (bent bit of tin) bridge does seem to work really well on P basses as opposed to J basses, where hi-mass seem to be de rigeur.

Hi Ezbass, I do believe that the bridge is very important for the sound but the finish in the wood?? that beats me... 

11 hours ago, karlfer said:

P/J will nearly always have the Precision pup in a slightly different position.

 

Hi Karlfer, exactly 9,5 mm from the neck on both guitars. 

Thanks everyone for the insight.

I never considered the finish to be tone shaper. But yes, the Roadworn has almost no finish, it's very very thin. The Deluxe has a glossy finish all over. 

Another factor could be the weight. With the extra pick up, knobs, pcb's, bridge, the Deluxe is a lot heavier. Could that be a factor? 

7 hours ago, therealting said:

It looks like they both have different types of flatwounds, by the colour of the silks at the bridge end. That will be a big factor.

Can’t see the fretboard of the roadwork, is it also maple?

 Yes they are both maple boards. The strings are definitely different although they are both flat wounds. Can different brands sounds completely different? They are not cheap to buy until you find the ones that fit your sound...

Thanks

Wow, I'm impressed! In fact the Deluxe has Rotosound strings but I have no idea what model or gauge. I bought it second hand. I have no idea about the Roadworn. None feel bad, the Rotosound feel very smooth and I think there is a little less tension but might be wrong. 

Yes, completely neutral. But even unplugged I can hear the difference. Maybe the strings are the answer. I have no experience with bass strings and the way they can shape the sound. 

What do you think?

RoadWorn bridge:

Deluxe bridge

Hello Everybody, 

I just want to share a recent experience of mine with Precision Basses. I recently started playing bass and the precision is my favourite shape and I love the deep sound. So I bought a Deluxe Precision (mex made). For the ones less familiar with this model is a PJ configuration, active/passive, with a heavy mass bridge. Amazing instrument, very well finished, super confortable. Trying to describe the sound of this bass: very bassy, a lot of low freq, not very punchy but very deep like putting a cloth over a speaker. 

Then one day I tried a RoadWorn precision... and was blown away! I had to buy it (although I don't need two basses... ). I'm not a fan of relic jobs, specially fiesta red colours, but this bass sounded completely different than my Deluxe. It sounded super powerful, punchy and very transparent. The exact opposite of the Deluxe. 

One would think that the pick ups are making all the difference. But actually I feel more this difference when playing acoustically (although plugged in is also very noticeable). They are both equipped with flat wounds (not sure what make and how old they are). They are both made with similar woods, they have very similar necks, tuners, dimension is probably exact the same, but they differ greatly on the bridge. The RoadWorn has a very simple light cheap bridge. 

Is the heavy mass bridge really "eating" all the top end of my Deluxe sound? Can flat wounds sound so radically different? Or is it possible that the sound can be so extremely different from instrument to instrument even with the same wood choice? 

Let me know your thoughts!

Bought a Cab from Stew, my very first transaction on Basschat and he was great. Very communicative before the deal and supportive after the purchase.

Trade with confidence. 

Bought a bass from Ian, very nice guy, a pleasure to do business with. 

Hello, this is my feedback thread!!! Let me know how you feel!

Recommended!!!! Patrick sold me a Bass, the packaging was very careful. Nice guy to deal with. 

Hi, 

After many year noodling with guitars I decided to embrace the groove and I love it!!!! I'm currently playing a Fender Deluxe Precision Special through a Darkglass Microtubes 900 and a MarkBass NY151. After reading a lot in this very forum I decided to introduce myself and hopefully contribute to this knowledge pool. 

I'm a professional horticulturist, aged 35 and I'm based near Dorchester, Dorset.

I'm also looking for mates to make some sounds so I will be pleased to hear form you. 

Hi Stevie, 

I'm also interested, can you please send me a PM with the split prices? 

Thanks

Nuno