Bass Guitars

kingofpartick · Post by **kingofpartick** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 00:41

Whats your favourite Bass? Why do you play the Bass you have? Whats your dream Bass? What strings?

I have been using an Epiphone Jack Cassidy for the past year or so, it sounds really nice, and has a lovely earthy tone, but the top end still kicks through. It replaced a Starfire bass i had that the neck twatted off whilst on tour, which i keep meaning to get fixed.

I have a Musicman Stingray, but don't really use it as its not the right sound for what i'm up to. I used a Rickenbacker during the last recording sessions i did, and i have been after one of my own for an age, but they're so expensive in the UK its out of my reach. I keep meaning to try and pick one up when i'm in the States, but haven't had the free time when over there to search one out.

I've never beem sold on Fender Jazz basses, but i have tried a couple that sounded really nice. P-basses kind of make me think of "my first bass" which puts me off.

squirrelboutique · Post by **squirrelboutique** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 00:42

You play bass?

kingofpartick · Post by **kingofpartick** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 00:44

a wee bit

dear rose · Post by **dear rose** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:41

P basses remind everyone of their first bass I think. Mine was a p bass copy, and I couldn't look at one ever again. Gurgh.

My bass is an epiphone SG bass. I have to play 3/4 size because it's so heavy! Even though I am not exactly the smallest, but too used to fenders and hollowbodies = meh.

It's a cracking bass, but I've managed to break a whole bunch of things on it so need to take it to a shop. But since the boys in guitar shops scare me, I have just been using my boyfriend's to play live for a while. That's a Stingray musicman copy, which is very nice actually, and has a great tone (it makes slides sound so nice :))

Yay bass!

Does anyone know where I can order a spare tuning head for an SG bass by the way? Last time I asked in (several) guitar shops, they all gave me the impression that because it's a bass with two tuning heads either side of the neck, rather than fender style with them all up one side, I would have to import it or something ridiculous. I think they were just trying to rip me off though, but I've not had any luck on ebay/online as yet.

PHEW. long post.

bocken · Post by **bocken** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:43

dear rose wrote: Does anyone know where I can order a spare tuning head for an SG bass by the way? Last time I asked in (several) guitar shops, they all gave me the impression that because it's a bass with two tuning heads either side of the neck, rather than fender style with them all up one side, I would have to import it or something ridiculous. I think they were just trying to rip me off though, but I've not had any luck on ebay/online as yet.

That sounds ridiculous. Something like this should be fine, I think http://www.allparts.uk.com/catalogue/pr ... s_id=10870 - I'm not really sure where would be a good place to look for such things, I've had crappy service at most of the guitar shops in London, although Wunju are supposedly good, but they don't really do much bass-wise, and it's mainly 'vintage' guitars. But yeah, all you need is a standard tuning key, nowt fancy. They don't even have to match you know ;)

Right then. I've got a 1977 Rickenbacker 4001, in black, I mean Jetglo. I've owned it for 4 and a half years now, but I'd wanted one since watching the NME Brat gigs on channel 4, early 98, when I saw Mogwai playing Summer, and Dom Aitchison had his blue Ricky, and I thought I had to have one someday. After moving to London I sold my car and decided to spend most of the proceeds on a Rickenbacker, and found one on eBay. I hadn't even touched one in real-life at this point, so I was a little bit disappointed to discover that neck is pretty thick (I've been playing a Washburn XB200 since 95, with a neck that makes Jazz basses feel cumbersome), but the sound it makes is just beautiful, as is the way it looks. There's something about the way it plays that I just can't quite get to grips with, but I just feel like someone who spends all their life saving to buy a Ferrari and then realises there's no room for the shopping and it hates being driven slowly around town. Confused analogy, but what I mean is I love this bass. Even when I've thrown it to the floor, it was becasue of love. Oh shit, I'm in an abusive relationship with a guitar.

I recently bought a Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom, which I've detailed on the guitar thread, although it's more of a bass really, or it will be when I finally get hold of the right strings for it. And one day I'll buy myself a Fender Jazz, or maybe a Jaguar bass - I've seen pictures of a Jap-only white model, with an aftermarket tortoiseshell pickguard, and oh wow, it's possibly the best looking bass ever, although it'd be pretty hard to get hold of one.

bocken · Post by **bocken** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 13:12

Seeing as I can't afford a Jaguar bass for the time being, I'm going all muso-crazy and buying a Hipshot bridge for the Rickenbacker - it'll let me adjust the intonation and string height and stuff! It won't have the mute but I never use the sodding thing anyway - and a set of EMG pickups for my old Washburn, so that might start getting some action again. It looks stupid but it'd be stupid not to use it for recording if I can get it to sound good. Stay tuned for the next instalment in Jona Breaks Basses.

Outcognito · Post by **Outcognito** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 23:22

Fender Mustang bass for me, one of those Jap reissues. Nothing fancy and great to play - especially if you're used to guitar!Looks ace too!

bocken · Post by **bocken** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 16:32

bocken wrote:Seeing as I can't afford a Jaguar bass for the time being, I'm going all muso-crazy and buying a Hipshot bridge for the Rickenbacker - it'll let me adjust the intonation and string height and stuff! It won't have the mute but I never use the sodding thing anyway - and a set of EMG pickups for my old Washburn, so that might start getting some action again. It looks stupid but it'd be stupid not to use it for recording if I can get it to sound good. Stay tuned for the next instalment in Jona Breaks Basses.

Woot - I finally got round to fitting the bridge to teh Ricky, and all went well unitl I lost one of the tiny screws that let you adjust the string spacing, so now there's a chance the D-string will be in a different place each time I go to play it, although I doubt it will move much in practice.

Apart from that it looks nice and it feels a lot nicer to play. Hooray.

Sylvie · Post by **Sylvie** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 12:03

I'm looking for a cheap 3/4 size or short scale bass that isn't just that boring electric guitar shape (you know, like a Stratocaster). I'm trying to get a Kay shortscale one on ebay that has loads of paint chipped off as I figure I can sand it down then paint it another colour anyway.

Anyone know where else I might be able to find one? When I say cheap, I mean preferably under Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100.

bocken · Post by **bocken** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 19:17

Presumably a Fender/Squier Musicmaster or Bronco type thing is a bit Strat-like, plus I don't think they make them at the moment, so could be hard to find.

You can get an Epiphone EB-0 for about Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£115 - http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en& ... a=N&tab=wf it's SG-shaped, and I'm sure they're short scale.

Hipshot sent me two new screws for my bridge, and a spare allen key. Yay!

dear rose · Post by **dear rose** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:32

I have an EB-0, it's fucking brilliant. and broken. but still. It's bloody heavy though.

crystalball · Post by **crystalball** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:22

Hello! I've been thinking about it for a while now but I've now decided to buy a bass and start learning. Ideally I'd like a short scale one, like Sylvie above, but there don't seem to be many decent ones around. There's the Fender Mustangone, which looks really nice (and I had a go on it on Saturday) but I am not sure I want to spend that much money just yet. Then I found this Fender Squier one. Does anyone know if it's any good for a newbie? I wouldn't want to buy something that would go straight into the bin as soon as I learnt to play two notes.

Sylvie · Post by **Sylvie** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 13:18

I gave up looking for a short scale bass in the end, but when I was looking eBay was quite good. I seem to remember Kay basses were short scale and looked quite pretty. I may have some links on my laptop, but it wouldn't start earlier so I'm on Andrew's. When I get on mine I'll see if I can find anything that might help.

There's Daisy Rock, but they can be quite expensive.

soft revolution · Post by **soft revolution** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 13:56

Out of those two - personally I'd go for the Fender Mustang bass for the quality. Though the best advice is to go into a shop and try them both out?

I use a Fender copy bass but only because I don't frequently use it for gigging and I had no money when I bought it. It's been alright but the action is relatively high around the 12th fret and I can have trouble getting a semi-decent sound out of it depending on what amp I use. If I were to buy a new bass now I'd go for a Fender original.

Dan Pop-o-matic · Post by **Dan Pop-o-matic** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 14:20

My dad has a Danelectro Longhorn, which is short scale. I really like playing on it, and am plotting to steal it from him. If you can find a 90's reissue you can get them fairly cheap. They're among my favourite looking guitars too.

Also, proper muso types hate 'em, and anything that pisses those people off is fine by me...

humblebee · Post by **humblebee** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 14:24

Super Furry Daniel wrote:My dad has a Danelectro

Did he name you after his bass? :)

crystalball · Post by **crystalball** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 14:46

Hehe!

Thanks you lot. I am way out of my depth, especially when Dunc starts talking about action getting high around the 12th fret (muso!) but thanks for pointing me to different directions. There seems to be more variety than I originally thought.

I went to a shop earlier and had a go on this Vintage bass. I don't think it's short-scale but it's definitely smaller than a normal one. Are Vintage guitars any good?

I don't want to spend Ã‚Â£400 on the Fender Mustang and then not be any good at it. I am never going to become a ROCK goddess with this attitude, am I?

Concrete · Post by **Concrete** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 19:53

crystalball wrote:Hello! I've been thinking about it for a while now but I've now decided to buy a bass and start learning. Ideally I'd like a short scale one, like Sylvie above, but there don't seem to be many decent ones around. There's the Fender Mustangone, which looks really nice (and I had a go on it on Saturday) but I am not sure I want to spend that much money just yet. Then I found this Fender Squier one. Does anyone know if it's any good for a newbie? I wouldn't want to buy something that would go straight into the bin as soon as I learnt to play two notes.

My sister has a Squier Musicmaster bass, which is basically the same as the Bronco you've mentioned there, but with a nicer scratchplate. Hers is good. Stays in tune well and the action's playable for inexperienced bass players like me. Absolute bargain at Ã‚Â£99, it was. It's a shame they don't make them anymore.

Richard at Regent Guitars in Leamington (http://www.guitars.co.uk) rates Vintage products. He knows about technical stuff I think - used to be a qualified PRS custom setup engineer and all that.

crystalball · Post by **crystalball** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 15:17

I got the red Squier Bronco in the end. It's small and sweet - now I have to learn the bassline in 'Caveman' and I am done. Hee!

Thank you all for your help.

Outcognito · Post by **Outcognito** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:34

crystalball wrote:I got the red Squier Bronco in the end. It's small and sweet - now I have to learn the bassline in 'Caveman' and I am done. Hee!

Thank you all for your help.

Brilliant!

anorak

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