JapanAxe Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I have just come back from playing a gig in a small band accompanying a choir. The concert programme included arrangements of pop (Simon & Garfunkel, Madonna, Lighthouse Family), classical (Mozart), opera (Carmina Burana), swing (Sinatra), and musicals (Oklahoma, West Side Story). I used one of my Precisions with the tone set at about 30%, and didn't feel the need to change any settings all night. I wasn't being lazy, it just sounded great from one song to the next so I left it. Why do I mention this? Quite often someone's question about a flexible or versatile bass is answered in terms of the range of sounds available from two or more pickups and/or onboard EQ. Tonight's experience highlighted an alternative answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Don't know what other folk might think but I dumped the soapbars out my Zephyr today and added a preamp. Neck pickup sounds throaty and huge. Would quite happy use it for everything. Man alive !! I sound like a guitarist with a new pedal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (grin) Turned up at a session yesterday with my charts, preamp, favourite cans, leads....left the bass at home! The only one they had in the studio was this wesley jazz copy with just the bridge pickup. Left behind by a guitarist and never reclaimed, apparently! After re-fitting the A string (wound the wrong way and jumped out of the nut slot all the time) I used it to do two 50s style rock and roll tracks. A ballad and one that moved. Same experience as you - turned the tone full off, volume 3/4 up and it worked for both songs. Nobody was more surprised than me! Maybe we have all been looking at it from the wrong perspective all these years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I very rarely adjust tone or volume on the bass or the amp during a gig. Add or roll off bass & middle on the amp as required to suit the acoustics of the venue, any tone changes after that are due to where I attack the strings with my right hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1468738745' post='3092917'] I very rarely adjust tone or volume on the bass or the amp during a gig. Add or roll off bass & middle on the amp as required to suit the acoustics of the venue, any tone changes after that are due to where I attack the strings with my right hand. [/quote] Exactly this for me, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1468739728' post='3092921'] Exactly this for me, too. [/quote] Same here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1468737831' post='3092912'] (grin) Turned up at a session yesterday with my charts, preamp, favourite cans, leads....left the bass at home! The only one they had in the studio was this wesley jazz copy with just the bridge pickup. Left behind by a guitarist and never reclaimed, apparently! After re-fitting the A string (wound the wrong way and jumped out of the nut slot all the time) I used it to do two 50s style rock and roll tracks. A ballad and one that moved. Same experience as you - turned the tone full off, volume 3/4 up and it worked for both songs. Nobody was more surprised than me! Maybe we have all been looking at it from the wrong perspective all these years! [/quote] Ooops, I have done the same thing, in the past, embarrassing isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1468737831' post='3092912']Maybe we have all been looking at it from the wrong perspective all these years! [/quote] No [i]maybe[/i] about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) Steady on chaps!! Any more of this banter and we all won't have anything to talk about. BC will be empty! IBTL Edited July 17, 2016 by Grangur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydog Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Maybe we each develop our own tone(s) and sound(s) over the years, which is shaped by the bands we play in and the things we listen to? Having got there, I find the soundcheck is the time and place to get the off-amp sound that is 'correct' in the sense it is the tone I use for the project - only I know it. Then I try not to change tone or level throughout a set or session, unless something is wrong. It could be that the tone is quite different between projects, because that is what works and might involve a different guitar or amp/speakers. But always within a project I use the same tone and try to keep it consistent. So yes, I think ! LD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1468709605' post='3092869'] I have just come back from playing a gig in a small band accompanying a choir. The concert programme included arrangements of pop (Simon & Garfunkel, Madonna, Lighthouse Family), classical (Mozart), opera (Carmina Burana), swing (Sinatra), and musicals (Oklahoma, West Side Story). I used one of my Precisions with the tone set at about 30%, and didn't feel the need to change any settings all night. I wasn't being lazy, it just sounded great from one song to the next so I left it. Why do I mention this? Quite often someone's question about a flexible or versatile bass is answered in terms of the range of sounds available from two or more pickups and/or onboard EQ. Tonight's experience highlighted an alternative answer. [/quote] I've said before the vast majority of bass players need a P bass because it does what most people need it to do. If I hear a bass with a weak sound..it very very often isn't a P.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468748238' post='3092995'] I've said before the vast majority of bass players need a P bass because it does what most people need it to do. If I hear a bass with a weak sound..it very very often isn't a P.. [/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468748238' post='3092995'] I've said before the vast majority of bass players need a P bass because it does what most people need it to do. If I hear a bass with a weak sound..it very very often isn't a P.. [/quote]Er hang on a minute, that's a mighty sweeping statement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1468747115' post='3092981'] Steady on chaps!! Any more of this banter and we all won't have anything to talk about. BC will be empty! IBTL [/quote]Almost exactly what I was thinking. Just replace talk with waffle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468748238' post='3092995'] I've said before the vast majority of bass players need a P bass because it does what most people need it to do. If I hear a bass with a weak sound..it very very often isn't a P.. [/quote] Would you say this extends to 5 string too? Genuinely interested if people think that the 5 string P or P clone corners the market in a similar way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydog Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 If marooned on a desert island with a bunch of musicians (and no suicide pill!), and by some miracle a container of musical instruments washed up, I think one wouldn't complain that there was only one bass and no matter what is was, one would be grateful and cope whatever genre of music the musicians settled on. However, that is very different from yer own choice of sound to suit yer own choice of genre. In that sense, the Pbass might be the desert island bass, whereas other choices can better suit yer own choice of sound and genre. LD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Although I am an avowed Precision player, I wasn't suggesting that everyone needs a P to get a sound worth having - there are plenty of discussions on that topic already! It's more a question of what makes for a versatile bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'm a big fan of the Precision sound, I have split-coils on most of my basses in more or less the right position to get it, but I've never rolled the tone off that far for more than the odd song, and I need a much wider range of sounds on a gig: from hard attacking pick to slap to the more, erm, 'neutral' sounding stuff. On that, I can't actually think what the bass sound for Carmina Burana, Mozart or even the Lighthouse Family would be. I'm guessing 'vaguely chunky thud' possibly covers it? I can get a lot of tones from all my basses with my hands and onboard EQ (and pickups) which cover all that. And none of them are Precisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Tony Levin's take on it, first paragraph http://papabear.com/product/bassbook.html He does have a great sense of humour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1468753728' post='3093055'] Er hang on a minute, that's a mighty sweeping statement! [/quote] On the face of it maybe... but I've lost count of the number of times when a band has mentioned how good it was to have a foundation to play on..and when I ask what their bass player is using, I'm not surprised at the answers..or the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1468753980' post='3093059'] Would you say this extends to 5 string too? Genuinely interested if people think that the 5 string P or P clone corners the market in a similar way. [/quote] Sound-wise, yes, I would say a P5 is a good option but the low B on a well balanced bass also covers underpinning the band which is what a P excels at... and it really doesn't (shouldn't) get complicated Plus, people don't seem to want to pay £1500 for a 5st P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I cant get on with P basses, I have decided I only active five strings, neither things suit a P for some reason imo. I play quite an eclectic mix in my covers bands, I can get a suitable tone with playing style and cutting/boosting the treble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 [quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1468758618' post='3093119'] If marooned on a desert island with a bunch of musicians (and no suicide pill!), and by some miracle a container of musical instruments washed up, [/quote] With my luck it would be a crate of banjos!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydog Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Or Ukes......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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