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Swiss Army Knife Bass


Stealth
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Given that unless you sit at the back of a function room listening though headphones to the original song, I doubt that anyone would really be bothered that the original song was played on a Fender P bass, and you're playing it on a 6 string Modulus. The most important thing is to play in time, and to play the right notes using as close as possible to the right feel for the song.

Edited by ambient
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[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1438965994' post='2839075']
Poor bass players... 'Anything will do.'

Can you imagine guitarists having the same discussion?
[/quote]

That ain't NEVER gonna happen! I can tell you this as a guitarist.

I think its very important to choose a bass you identify with - not just what is around (unless you're a hardcore post-materialist punk, a hare krishan etc etc.)

I still maintain the Warwick $$ is the best bang for buck in 'swiss army' department. Apart from that, you're talking a classic vibe jazz at entry level. The rest is string, fx, and amp selection.

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I took a my Skyline Bob Glaub and L-2000 Tribute to my covers bands first show last night. Played the Lakland for the first set and the L2000 for the second.

I have to agree that the L2000 is the perfect bass for the job, my band play a mix of covers from the black eyed peas to Neil Young. The L series meant I could prerrt much dial in any tone I needed. I think it's going to be my weapon of choice from here on in!

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[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1438965994' post='2839075']
Poor bass players... 'Anything will do.'

Can you imagine guitarists having the same discussion?
[/quote]

Yes, and they'd be just as obsessive about it, when anybody could tell them that a Variax would fulfil considerably more than all their needs.

If you can't make any bass work for you, you're not much cop as a bass player.

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[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1439040730' post='2839578']
If you can't make any bass work for you, you're not much cop as a bass player.
[/quote]

I think most people could get by. But, if you are much cop as a bass player, you might be thinking 'Hmm.. this isn't quite fitting the bill...'.

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[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1439043289' post='2839611']
If I genuinely believed that any bass will do, and that it is all down to the player, then I would sell everything, buy a Squier Classic Vibe P (which are cracking basses, btw) and put the rest towards a new car or a nice holiday.
[/quote]

But surely every genre of music has been played on many different types of basses. There is no standard bass for any as far as im aware.

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Well thats stirred things up

And its its been useful

I would not have considered G&L but a lot of you rate them so its time to give one a go. Ditto peavey

To those who say any bass will do You seem to be the guys with top drawer basses and amplification why waste your money if a squier p bass will cover any gig ? I would love to see you try to cover Ace of spades with a Hofner violin bass or Mr Pink on a Thunderbird. Yes the way you play makes a huge difference. You can dial in EQ our add effects to get variety but as the function band man said. Somtimes you just need to flick a switch or tweak a control between numbers to go from Bob Marley to Franz Ferdinand.

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[quote name='Stealth' timestamp='1439104106' post='2839916']
To those who say any bass will do You seem to be the guys with top drawer basses and amplification why waste your money if a squier p bass will cover any gig ?
[/quote]

Because I want a nice bass.

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I don't think that's what some are saying.
Of course those songs will sound better played on the original instrument, you would also need the right amplification as well to really nail it though. But there is no reason either of those songs can't be played on any bass.

I agree that a more versatile bass will help you sound more authentic, but it's not always about the bass used. Strings, fx, amp, cab, the way it's played all contribute to the tone we hear on the recording.

The G&L does sound like the right way to go though. I've seen a few west end
stage shows where these basses have been used and they sound very versatile, and I think that's the answer. Versatile, not authentic.
I've also seen quite a few covers bands (both clubs and weddings/functions) where the bass plYer is using a P or Jazz bass, and these two sound just as good in the mix no matter what the songs were.
If you are going for authentic then you won't get one bass doing it all, you will end up compromising for certain tones. My view is as a lot of music over the decades has been played on Fenders then that would be a good stating block. An acts as would certainly give you a much wider range though.

It's all good fun trying to decide what to get, I'm sure whatever you get will work.

As for the high end basses comment, well GAS and need are two completely different things IMO. Some people like buying and collecting basses, some convince themselves they have to have certain basses to get by, some are impulse purchases, some just like change etc. End of the day I don't think most take all their basses out to gigs, and I'm sure some rotate basses at gigs without much impact on the overal band mix anyway.

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[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1439041542' post='2839593']
I think most people could get by. But, if you are much cop as a bass player, you might be thinking 'Hmm.. this isn't quite fitting the bill...'.
[/quote]

That's nothing to do with ability. It's GAS.

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I love how these threads develop. Everyone chipping in with 'I love the way my bass sounds...'

Ambient summed this up in the first reply and was as succinct as anyone could be (and in truth shouldn't needed to have put an apologetic-esque smiley after it either). It's how you play.

P

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