Warwick 5 thumb

[Terry M.]

38 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

Without wanting to get into 'the debate that shall not be debated', on a solid body electric instrument, the tone all comes from the pickups, electronics and strings, and of course the player/technique. 

 

Now, as a caveat to that, we have 5 senses which all work in conjunction to form perception of our surroundings. Whilst the wood itself might not contribute to the actual tone we hear, the haptic feedback we receive through our hands and bodies from the instrument helps to form our 'perception' of the tonality of the instrument. IIRC back in my Warwick playing days, they always felt very lively and vibrant due to the very hard, dense tropical hardwood used. 

 

I would almost guarantee though that if you put the same pickups, in exactly the same position, and preamp and strings on any other bass, with the setup the same, you wouldn't tell the difference on a recording.

Did you catch the part where I said I could be wrong? No way am I getting into a debate about this,life is too short for that.

[Kev]

44 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

I would almost guarantee though that if you put the same pickups, in exactly the same position, and preamp and strings on any other bass, with the setup the same, you wouldn't tell the difference on a recording.

Big nope!

 

Unless they're EMGs  

[Terry M.]

On 24/04/2025 at 11:47, Kev said:

Always the first test I give a bass.  If it doesn't sound good unplugged, it doesn't usually sound good amplified either, unless it's running something like EMGs.  Why? Don't know, but it's absolutely my experience of it.

Sorry to dig this up again Kev on a Friday afternoon but what about nuances like pickup placement? Can you or anybody explain how acoustically you can tell if it's in P,J or Musicman bridge position without plugging in? I've not lost any sleep over this but I've just been in Andertons and played a bass acoustically until a staff member handed me a cable so I could,you know,plug in,and it came back to me 😂

[Kev]

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

Sorry to dig this up again Kev on a Friday afternoon but what about nuances like pickup placement? Can you or anybody explain how acoustically you can tell if it's in P,J or Musicman bridge position without plugging in? I've not lost any sleep over this but I've just been in Andertons and played a bass acoustically until a staff member handed me a cable so I could,you know,plug in,and it came back to me 😂

Oh you can't really.  I mean if you're like me, your brain will fill in the blanks on that when you can see the pickup and where you're playing, but nah all I'm talking about is the general resonant quality of the instrument.  The more it resonates, the better it seems to sound unplugged, and that often translates when amplified.  Visa Versa, if a bass sound and feels dead unplugged, pickups don't do much to help. YMMV!