Observation on Basses

[ch willie]

I'm giving a little run down of my collection. I'd love to hear your observations on the basses you own and play.


1978 Rickenbacker 4001. When I got it in 78, Rickenbacker had already switched from the toaster and horseshoe pickups to some plastic colored things with little knobbies for, I take it, pole pieces, basically the pups offered on the Ric 4003s and other models in production. When I changed to the horseshoe and toaster, my bass came to life. Whereas the bridge pup had been so thin that it was unusable, the vintage pups have bass and treble growl the Ric is known for. Other players like the newer pups, and I think mine might have been defective, but I liked neither the bass nor the neck pups in it originally. The neck pup was much better than the bridge pup, but still not as good as the vintage pups.

2012-13 Fender AmStd Jazz Bass--It does everything it's supposed to do, but I had a feeling that it didn't have enough body when it came to lower frequencies. But I liked it a lot for its famous attributes. I took it to the recording studio though, and it sounded so rich and full. And yet it still had the famous Jazz Bass growl.

2018 Fender AmPro Precision--As with the Ric and the Jazz Bass, I got the Precision because I knew what it would do, and I loved the sound of one so much. I haven't been disappointed with it. I want to buy a Jazz neck to put on it when I can get an actually AmPro neck.

2019 Epiphone SG long scale bass. I was surprised at how good this bass sounds, especially because it has a sound that's unique--doesn't sound like any Fender, nor any Ric--it does have a sound like a 70s Gibson bass, reminds me of the Grabber or Marauder. It's got a heavy neck and the neck dives make it impossible to play standing.

1962 Reissue Hofner 500/1. I saved this one for last because I am totally in love with it. My first Hofner was a CT series violin bass. That bass surprised me because I had expected a toy. It wasn't a hollow body like the German Hofner's, but it sounded very good. Very close to McCartney's early Hofners, but it wasn't close enough, and I didn't like the sound of the E string. So when I found a German made for a great price, I sold my CT and bought it. It is the best made instrument that I have, guitar or bass. It is so resonant that it's possible to record the bass just by mic-ing it. I love playing a short scale--as McCartney says, it allows you to sling it like a guitar and to come up with fluid bass lines. Well the 62 reissue nails McCartney tones but can do soooooo much more.

If I could keep only one of my basses, I would take the Rickenbacker, even though it's less versatile than the Precision and Jazz basses. Sentimental value, and I love the 4001 tone, my favorite bass tone.

[OldStrummer]

I'm the last person who should be responding to a thread like this. I hardly ever play the bass (heck, I can hardly play guitar!). But I own three.

The first I bought was a Dean Edge 09. It was used, and I bought it to see if I wanted to play bass.
The second was an Ibanez GSRM20 MiKro in Rootbeer Metallic. I really like this bass, as it's a short scale instrument, which fits me just like a guitar.
Last, I bought an Epiphone Jack Casady Signature 20th Anniversary bass, because Casady is one of my bass heroes!

I rarely play any of them these days, as I'm focusing more on improving my jazz and precision guitar fingering.

[Laker]

I was a sax player that enjoyed playing bass on a couple of songs in the first band I was in (started at 14). I soon felt that bass was my instrument and traded my sax for a used Fender Jazz in 1963.

As I said, my first was a used (I’m guessing) ‘62 Fender Jazz Bass. I was learning to play so maybe didn’t appreciate everything it could do. In ‘65 I traded that bass for a new ‘65 Precision Fender that I still own. It is a great bass that I played as my only axe until, around, 1975 when I purchased a ‘63 Fender Jazz with an old Precision neck on it. I think I played it once on a gig with that neck and then purchased a Mighty Mite neck that I had set up so that bass played the way I wanted it to play.

That ‘63 Jazz was the only bass I played regularly (I had a fretless Precision somewhere in this era) up until making the move to a five string. In the ‘80s my band did covers of songs where a five string was used on the recording and I got sick of de tuning and retuning during a gig so I purchased a Musicman Stingray 5. A great bass but heavy as all get out.

In 1999 I talked with Dan Lakin of Lakland basses and purchased my 55-94 deluxe 5 string that has been my main axe ever since. It is, to me, the bass that can do everything that I want a bass to do. For a while I did have a fretless twin to the 55-94 that I got while an endorser of Lakland basses, but after owning it for nineteen years and never playing it on a gig I sold it to a good friend. A bass like that should be played, not stored.

[DanTheBluesMan]

I wasn't aware that the Hofner that Macca played wasn't a long scale. I once played a Mustang bass that some guy at college had, and it was a total blast to play. But when it came time to buy my own bass years later, I went with long scale because, well, because it was a real bass length. Like the pros play. I guess Sir Paul can be considered a pro

ah, great, now I'm wondering about a Hofner. Thanks a lot, man

[ch willie]

I wasn't aware that the Hofner that Macca played wasn't a long scale. I once played a Mustang bass that some guy at college had, and it was a total blast to play. But when it came time to buy my own bass years later, I went with long scale because, well, because it was a real bass length. Like the pros play. I guess Sir Paul can be considered a pro

ah, great, now I'm wondering about a Hofner. Thanks a lot, man

Dan, I've noticed a trend in players using short scale basses. Lots of Mustangs being used by pro players. I don't see Hofners as much because I think they're too closely associated with Macca, but man, Hofners can do so much more than that one sound. I used to see Hofners and Mustangs as toys until I played one. Now, I'm lusting after the Gibson SGs that are going for about $1200. I won't get it though--going to pay off my house in just days and need to save every penny I have. Lusting for 335 worse. As soon as I get a steady job again, I'll probably treat myself to one.