Bass Guitars

[Ant1981]

Ok guys, gonna get a bass for recording stuff and never know, may even get involved in some sessions with it. Been thinking of Ibanez, but what else can you reccomend and what are the reasons for these? I'm pretty much going to be doing rock and stuff with it really.

Whilst we're on the subject, I know this might be a silly question as after all my years using humbuckers and single coils in guitars, but as bass sounds are usually clean, this may be different, so what are the differences and benefits of humbuckers, single coils and split singles in a bass?

Thanks guys.

[nickcoumbe]

I bought a Tanglewood Rebel for exactly that reason (and because it was cheap) and errrrrr......................... I haven't got round to recording with it yet.

Plays ok though.

[thebigugly]

Well you are on the right track. For rock and such Ibanez makes great basses. My personal preference is actually Yamaha basses but i have yet to play on an Ibanez that i disliked. As for pickups it is a matter of opinion really. I personally do not like Split P pickups. I love the single coils from Yamaha and Ibanez and while i am not terribly fond of humbucking bass pickups i do like the Ernie Ball pickups. So as you can see it is a matter of preference and opinion. If you want something really great in the budget price range i have found the OLP Music Man stuff to be decent. And yes you are right that what works on guitars and what works on basses IS indeed a little different. So play around until you find what you are looking for. Oh another neat bass fact. Basses actually sound better for recording using small amps. So if this is a studio purchase you may want to bear that in mind when amp shopping so you don't buy a huge stack of 10's and 18's when a single 8" speaker at 15 watts will sound better on tape. Joshua

[frankfalbo]

You should consider the G&L Tributes. The pickups & electronics package greatly surpasses other basses in that price range, and the build quality is better than what you'd expect from that price range. They've got coil selectors too, so you can have the single coil jazz sound as well as the EB/MM sound, but I like the G&L sound better than EB/MM. I like the way a G&L sounds in the mix when a recording is completed.

[Ant1981]

Will an 8" sound better on recording than a single 10" too?

[bduersch]

Originally Posted by frankfalbo

You should consider the G&L Tributes. The pickups & electronics package greatly surpasses other basses in that price range, and the build quality is better than what you'd expect from that price range. They've got coil selectors too, so you can have the single coil jazz sound as well as the EB/MM sound, but I like the G&L sound better than EB/MM. I like the way a G&L sounds in the mix when a recording is completed.

Yeah, I'll second that (actually, Frank's words encouraged me to buy a Tribute L2500 several months ago). It is a beautiful, well constructed, great sounding bass for the money... I sold a Peavey Cirrus V, pocketed several hundred dollars, and in return got a much more versatile instrument. I haven't used it for gigging yet, but I have used it for a decent amount of recording and been very happy with the results.

Here are some pics of mine... it looks 10x better in person than in the pics.
http://studio.naughtybutterspoon.com...-l2500-all.jpg

I wish they'd come out with a Tribute fretless model... I'd be the first one on the block to buy one.

--B

[Epicus Furor]

Check out the '57 P-bass i have for sale in the Classified section. It's fitted with Seymour Duncan Quarter pounders (as used by Steve harris - Maiden) so it's perfect for heavy rock/metal ...

[Earthrug]

YOu dont mention if you want active/passive, budget or how many strings you want your bass to have. Anyway, I like my Ibanez RoadstarII Bass from the 80's (4 string). It's solid/ gigable/ recordable and has a single Jazz style as well as a P-style pickup. Sounds great and only cost me $200 used. I like the versatility of having both "traditional" kinds of bass pick-ups to choose from. I can also blend both for some "other" tones. If you are buying something new, I would go to your Fav' store with your budget and try out all the name brands they have in your range.

[Ant1981]

I dont really mind 4 or 5 string, dont mind what it costs. I use Japanese made Rg's, so that should give an indication on price ranges. I'm just unsure of the pickup selection on basses, and not sure if i need active or not.

[slugman]

Hey ant, I bought an older passive pickup Ibanez GSR200 for recording two years ago. Recently I sold that bass and got a Peavey six string with active pickups. The Ibanez had a great aggressive top end sound that I liked, but that was really the only sound I got out of it that I was fond of. The Peavey cost the same amount, has 2 more string, and more sounds, but not that one. Oh well. The Peavey was on clearance on Musicians Friend for $200.

I would recommend just going to a store and playing everything. The Ibanez bass felt familiar in my hands, it looked good, and I liked the sound. Had both a humbucking and a single coil pickup.

Note that, I always turned the volume on the single coil off after I took it home, because it picked up so much noise. No such trouble with the Peavey. I'm guessing cheap basses aren't shielded real well, just like cheap guitars, though I never took the back cover off either bass. Don't know how active pickups fit in that equation either.