Thinking of new bass

[chilisfan16]

Hi there, ive been playing bass for a good few years, been in a few bands and to be honest, im relatively in-experienced compared to alot of other bassists, so id like a bit of advice.

i started of by learning on this little encore precision, and then switched to a fender jazz. later i bought myself a sweet '96 musicman sterling, and i love my basses, and ive had them so long, ive forgotten about alot of other basses.

and i think it's time for a little change in sound, and i was wondering if you guys could, based on my basses ive played aleady, advise what make of bass i should go for?

i play through a line6 amp, which sounds better than most people would think, especially on the marshal setting, where the tone is absolutely fantastic for the jazz and sterling.

i play alot of agressive slap bass, while i look for a nice soft tone for fingerstyle playing.

cheers guys.

Edited May 28, 2009 by chilisfan16

[funkypenguin]

i would recommend you try a spector. they sound amazing, both slapped and plucked. how much are you looking to spend?

[chilisfan16]

im looking around the 1000 mark, nothing too high in the price range but a nice bass and nice sound.

[funkypenguin]

i would recommend a spector euro 4 in that case! try and pick one up secondhand if you can. browse the for sale section and see if you can pick one up!

[url="http://www.spectorbass.com/bass_euro_Euro4LX_1.html"]http://www.spectorbass.com/bass_euro_Euro4LX_1.html[/url]

[greyparrot]

[quote name='chilisfan16' post='500061' date='May 28 2009, 05:15 PM']im looking around the 1000 mark, nothing too high in the price range but a nice bass and nice sound.[/quote]


Look at a sadowsky. Everything you could want and more. For about £1000 2nd hand you can pick uo a nice one on here. Line 6 amps are great, i was playing a lowdown 300 yesterday, and the slap tone with a P bass they had in the shop was fantastic. I would love to try my sadowsky through it, and like you, i have very aggressive slap, and the compressor on the amp is great. Look into these sadowskys mate, i was very weary, but looked at all the sites, reviews harmony central reviews, and could not find a bad word about them. Spector are exellent as well, but can be on the heavy side, and the 5 strings tend to have very deep necks like the warwicks. The profile of the sadowsky is very slim. The 4 string spectors are more comfy profiles. again these have a fantastic sound, but having now owned both, i think the sadowsky has an unrivalled slap sound. Only bass i heard with loads of bottom and top and able to produce the most aggressive in your face slap sound i ever heard! (if you like that, which i do)

GP.

Edited May 28, 2009 by greyparrot

[martthebass]

If you're seriously into slap - Status. Second hand Series 2 or Stealth 2 on your budget.

Having said that I'm not into slap and I love my Streamline but you gotta get past the looks.

[chilisfan16]

Cheers guys, i was thinking about a spector before, heard they had nice slap tones, and you can tell from the old chilis stuff etc, they seem to have a nice high end sound.

the status basses ill have to go out and find, and check out how they play, do you know any records which use this bass?

and ill see if i can find any second hand sadowsky's, i would like a bass which retains the jazz shape but tith a new feel and sound altogether.

thanks alot for the help guys!

[steve-soar]

I don't think Flea plays Spectors basses, as for Status, Level 42, from the True Colours period, then from 2002, to the present day.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXZoowWAPZA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXZoowWAPZA[/url]

[TGEvans]

Flea played spector basses live for years,still uses them in studio too, as does chris something from silverchair, so they work well with that grungy sound too,spector all round matey. I got one of the korean models,had it for nearly ten years. had it defretted two years back, superb!!!!

[bassmeg]

[quote name='chilisfan16' post='500061' date='May 28 2009, 05:15 PM']im looking around the 1000 mark, nothing too high in the price range but a nice bass and nice sound.[/quote]


Dont know what this sounds like, but it does look great!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280349606434"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280349606434[/url]

Edited May 28, 2009 by bassmeg

[bassmeg]

I suppose it was you that bought the roscoe bass? I was dreaming of that bass in MY arms. What a loverly creature it is.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='chilisfan16' post='500156' date='May 28 2009, 06:10 PM']the status basses ill have to go out and find, and check out how they play, do you know any records which use this bass?[/quote]
There are plenty of clips on Youtube. Definitely try before you buy, as they can vary in brightness depending on the woods, age and neck joint but if you like attack, nothing compares to a Status. I'd recommend going for something with a neck joint if you don't need the sizzling treble. Chances are you'll be choosing what to cut out of your sound rather than looking for something to add though. Spectors can sound very tight and defined, the maple adds a nice compression to the treble but again, try before you buy as they can vary. Sadowsky Metros are a nice choice too.

If you need versatility from one instrument then Laklands are definitely worth a look. The 5501's do a nice impersonation of a 70's jazz bass and a passable impersonation of a stingray (but needs more depth). I guess you could say the upper part of the body is jazz-esque too!

[chilisfan16]

i'll check up some of the videos on youtube, and ill check out the laklands, i think theres a few in the shop in the city, but from your comments, im pretty attracted to those spectors, im gonna have to get to know the hiararchy of spector and the others before i start deciding which to go for!

Edit: which spectors are of much use for all-round style playing, slap/funkstyle/melodic etc

i can see a few euro's which go up to pretty high prices, but there are more reasonably priced legends, are the spector legend basses any good?

Edited May 30, 2009 by chilisfan16

[molan]

If you fancy a Spector then you'll easily get a Euro NT for a grand. There was a lovely one here that sold recently for £700.

I have a pair of US Spectors that I really like & the Euros push them pretty close for quality (at about half the price!).

Watch out for the narrower string spacing though if you're after a 5 string. personally I like it a lot but some people find it not as comfortable.

Rebops are definitely worth a try and ought to be cheaper than an NT, in fact you'd get a brand new Rebop 4 for leas than £1,000 if you search around.

If you're not in a hurry then I reckon you'd get a Modulus Flea for a grand. The latest incarnation is called the Funk Unlimited & they are about £1,400 new so I'm sure an older Flea would drop below your asking price. I had one of these for a while, definitely a very cool rock / funk bass (it'll do other stuff as well but just seems to 'feel' right to me in a rock funk scenario given its heritage, lol).

[chilisfan16]

cheers man, ill check out the euros and the legends.

and as much as i love the chili's bass style, i wouldnt go near the fleabass, since a. its basicly a musicman stingray that's all shiny and b. it costs twice as much! and i prefer the stingray sound aswell, but ive got a sterling!!!

i do like the sound of spectors, been having a look round youtube.

i think im going to go for one of those, i personally hate any 5-string bass, not for me. and i have pretty long fingers so i think a small string spacing on them wouldnt be too good for me, but i do like small spacings, on the jazz and sterling, but not too small, i like good space for my fingers to drive more power into the strings.

ill check out the spectors round glasgow, see if i can find any shops that do them anymore.

[molan]

I haven't played a Legend but I did have one of the very cheap Korean ones for a while & it wasn't particularly nice