Expensive bass or amp?

[alexclaber]

I'd spend the money on improving the weak link, whether it be bass, amp or player!

Alex

[Hamster]

IMHO, you're better off finding your ideal bass and then waiting to find an amp that gives you the tone you want. Otherwise you will have an excellent amp and then have to try to find a bass that sounds nice through it, albeit a bass that you don't really like but sounds good.

Hamster

[7string]

How much time to people spend playing through their big, loud amp anyway??

Chances are that most bassists have a little amp at home and so most of their practice/playing through that. If you're recording at home then a big amps no help either. There are a lot more occasions where a great bass will be of more benefit than a big rig.

It is amazing though how small and powerful bass amps are getting nowadays......

[Pixel Pirate]

I think that if i had the money, i'd probably spend it on expanding my cd collection. That would probably make the most difference to my sound, or at least the way i play. Although, if i HAD to choose between the two... gotta be a bass that feels and plays right, which still doesnt mean it has to be expensive....

[bnt]

The Bass, because you have to get to know it properly. These days you can get a decent sound without an amp, using an amp simulator like my little Korg or a SansAmp etc. You can always rent a good amp and get good results, with far less hassle than trying to play a rented bass.

Edited July 13, 2008 by bnt

[spinynorman]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='238409' date='Jul 13 2008, 11:24 AM']Would you rather spend a lot of money on a bass or an amp? I’m just interested on hearing people’s views on this because I’m in a bit of a dilemma and it might help me to hear the opinions of others. I’m talking over a grand here, probably about 1500 quid.
If you're regularly gigging then I suppose it’s a no-brainer that you really need your amp, but if you're not regularly gigging, do you think you can survive without an amp for a while…maybe 2 or 3 months? And would you downgrade your amp considerably in order to acquire a dream bass?

…decisions, decisions…[/quote]

"not regularly gigging" implies that you might gig sometimes (and presumably practice beforehand with the band). Turning up with a 1500 quid bass and then having to hunt about for something to play it through seems a bit odd to me. I like to have control of my own destiny. I worked out that, taking the bass I usually gig with and the rig which I think is a pretty good match for it in terms of quality, I spent 60% of the "budget" on the rig.

I remember a thread on another forum a while back, guy had been to an audition with his SVT rig and a Wal Custom. So he sets this all up, just ready to play when the guitarist wanders over, looks this all up and down and says "Hmm. I suppose you spent so much on the rig, you couldn't afford a Fender."

[Cantdosleepy]

Definitely Bass.

When you have just starting out gigging you will most likely be using the toilet venue's bass amp, or the headliner's amp.

When you are onto medium size venues you'll most often go bass -> Soundman's Behringer/Sansamp (sdepending on venue) DI -> Amp, so the amp is used more as a monitor than for the audience's listening pleasure.

When you get bigger still you are probably DIing and micing a sexy boutique thing that Ampeg 8x10ers would sneer at in terms of watts.

A bass you love the feel and play of will be the thing in your hands.

[bremen]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='238937' date='Jul 14 2008, 09:30 AM']I remember a thread on another forum a while back, guy had been to an audition with his SVT rig and a Wal Custom. So he sets this all up, just ready to play when the guitarist wanders over, looks this all up and down and says "Hmm. I suppose you spent so much on the rig, you couldn't afford a Fender."[/quote]

<snigger>


+1 for a nice bass, and a preamp so you can add power amps and speakers depending what sort of work you do.

[Toasted]

Both :smug:

[Dubs]

[quote name='Toasted' post='238945' date='Jul 14 2008, 09:57 AM']Both :smug:[/quote]

In an ideal world Joe, in an ideal world…*sigh*

[Toasted]

To really answer the question:

A good amp can make an average guitar sound better. I don't believe a good guitar makes an average amp sound better.

[wulf]

Bass. I often play in situations where I don't get to use my main amp rig for one reason or another but don't think I've ever done a gig where I've used my amp but not my bass. I do also tend to tote round my Bass Pod though, which can get some very good sounds out of a middling amp (or direct to PA).

Wulf

[peted]

Having got it very much the wrong way round myself, I think you would be better off concentrating on getting a better amp. I've got a £1000 Warwick bass, which is lush, but I struggled for a long time without enough money to get a good rig which meant that my gorgeous bass was pretty much just for show. It would have been far more practical for me to get an expensive rig and make do with a budget guitar (modern budget guitars are actually rather good these days).

The second poll talks about 'top of the range' amplifiers. I don't think I'll ever warrant the purchase of one of those, I'd much rather have a good value amplifier and a cracking bass, which is where I'm at right now

[bremen]

[quote name='Toasted' post='239069' date='Jul 14 2008, 12:24 PM']To really answer the question:

A good amp can make an average guitar sound better. I don't believe a good guitar makes an average amp sound better.[/quote]

Possibly, but there's more to the bass than the sound - it's got to be fun to play, stay in tune, not be uncomfortable (thinking about weight, neck dive)...

[gilmour]

I think the difference between a bass that costs £1500 and a bass that costs half that is very small. For that mark there are lodas of good Yamahas and other imports around, in fact the only kit you can't get for that is custom buils and rare instruments, and I know loads of people that own those but would never gig them!

Where as a cheap amp is a cheap amp and the difference between the two prices is much more significant. IMO etc etc

[quote name='bremen' post='239129' date='Jul 14 2008, 01:26 PM']Possibly, but there's more to the bass than the sound - it's got to be fun to play, stay in tune, not be uncomfortable (thinking about weight, neck dive)...[/quote]

I think these things really only affect bases in the sub £400 bracket, if you're playing a bass worth more than that and it suffers from going out of tune, intonation problems etc... I'd take it back to the shop.

Edited July 14, 2008 by gilmour

[spinynorman]

[quote name='bremen' post='239129' date='Jul 14 2008, 01:26 PM']Possibly, but there's more to the bass than the sound - it's got to be fun to play, stay in tune, not be uncomfortable (thinking about weight, neck dive)...[/quote]

Surely neck dive is just a "feature" of certain designs, not a quality issue. Otherwise Thunderbirds and EB-3s should be dirt cheap. I've had basses that were fun to play, stayed in tune and were nicely balanced that cost me £150 or less. The only thing they lacked was the right name on the headstock.

[Owen]

Amp.

If you cannot (or get someone to) set up the action and intonate your bass then is not cheap, it is firewood. If you got a 2nd hand £60 cheapie P, set it up and dumped a second hand (£30 seems to be the going rate) SD quarter pounder into it then you are good to go. If you want a J or a 5 or 6 then you will be paying a bit more, but you get the idea. Tone REALLY comes from a decent power section in your amp. A nice pre-amp is nice, but with a weak power section it is useless. Even not-as-good speakers sound better with a decent power section. Of course we could all (and some of us have) spend £silly on basses, but a well set up cheapie through a decent rig will do the job fine and dandy.

Edited July 15, 2008 by owen

[inyabass]

Ashdown 2 x 10 amp with cheap basses. Works for me. I'd love a "proper" Stingray though... The one in my pic is a copy.. There, I've admitted it.. what shame.. and the pic looks like it's been deliberately edited to cut off the logo on the heastock.. more shame...