Looking for a bass to suit a guitarist

[zacanger]

I have the Epi Viola bass, it sucks. The hardware is crap, the wood is crap, the balance is all in the headstock, and the pickups might as well be fridge magnets. I just bought a Dean Edge 4-string, and I love it, despite how cheap it was. It's reliable and has a gorgeous finish. But it's not for guitar players. Spector makes some nice basses, though, check them out.

 

[mshilarious]

I have the Epi Viola bass, it sucks. The hardware is crap, the wood is crap, the balance is all in the headstock, and the pickups might as well be fridge magnets. I just bought a Dean Edge 4-string, and I love it, despite how cheap it was. It's reliable and has a gorgeous finish. But it's not for guitar players. Spector makes some nice basses, though, check them out.

To each his own. I started on a Fender American Precision in 1985. I much prefer the Epi, which I've had six years now. It's not because of scale length, because what I really like is uprights, but I can't afford one.

The Epi isn't quite a Hofner, it is laminate rather than solid top, etc. But it's a lot cheaper!

Saying the hardware is crap is simply untrue, the tuners are nicer than a Fender, nicer than either of the Gibson LPs I've had. The tailpiece I like quite a lot. Fit & finish on my unit is great, and the flaming is nice. Sure, the bridge isn't modern, but it's a reproduction of a 50 year old instrument.

Also, it's semihollow with a smallish body, so of course it will be headstock balanced. It's also a light instrument, I never got tired holding it on gigs. Finally, the pickups are supposed to be weak. That keeps the tone nice and bright. If you wanted hot pickups or actives, or if you like to roll off the tone all the way, you've got the wrong bass.

Why don't you sell yours?

 

[zacanger]

To each his own. I started on a Fender American Precision in 1985. I much prefer the Epi, which I've had six years now. It's not because of scale length, because what I really like is uprights, but I can't afford one.

The Epi isn't quite a Hofner, it is laminate rather than solid top, etc. But it's a lot cheaper!

Saying the hardware is crap is simply untrue, the tuners are nicer than a Fender, nicer than either of the Gibson LPs I've had. The tailpiece I like quite a lot. Fit & finish on my unit is great, and the flaming is nice. Sure, the bridge isn't modern, but it's a reproduction of a 50 year old instrument.

Also, it's semihollow with a smallish body, so of course it will be headstock balanced. It's also a light instrument, I never got tired holding it on gigs. Finally, the pickups are supposed to be weak. That keeps the tone nice and bright. If you wanted hot pickups or actives, or if you like to roll off the tone all the way, you've got the wrong bass.

Why don't you sell yours?

I gave it to my mother, actually. The hardware IS crap, as Epiphone hardware usually is. The bridge especially I dislike. It's awkward. The flaming is nice, and the finish, but I definitely disagree about the tuners, they constantly slipped and acted cheap. The pickups are bright and weak, but not in a good way, in a honky I'm-crap kind of way.

 

[c7sus]

Ditto.
It's because to have a vibration at a certain freq. ...... a string has to have a certain mass .
I'm a piano tuner and we've all heard little spinet pianos. They don't have any bottom end to speak of and even worse .... the bass notes on a lot of them have harmonics that are almost as loud as the fundamental.
The reason is that to compensate for the shorter strings ..... they have to double wind (even triple layers sometimes) the bass strings to get that extra mass. One of the consequences of that is the harmonics get louder. So they can actually sound like they're playing two notes at once. I've even heard tuners make the mistake of tuning the string to the false pitch rather than the correct one because it's so loud.
So on a bass either you're gonna have to use very heavy strings or if you don't (which is the normal way for most) you end up with much lower tension on that short string to get it tuned low enough.

That being said ..... they can sound decent I suppose, but I hate 'em. And I don't think they'll ever sound as full as a full scale bass.

Thanks for posting that. I've learned stuff on this BBS that you couldn't learn in 10 lifetimes of trying to figure it out by yourself.

 

[teknomike]

Just my $.02, as I was in the same boat as you (guitarist looking for a bass).

Long story short, I gave up on short scale basses mainly due to the sound, and bought a 4 string Ibanez EDA 900 (Ergodyne) with the bridge piezo's, and one active P/U.
The sound is phenomenal, and while not a short scale, has been very easy to play, and get used to as a guitarist. Thin neck, comfortable with a strap or on the knee. Give one a try if you can. YMMV

 

[teknomike]

Here's a link to a pic of the EDA, and my initial "review" LOL

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=120844&highlight=bass

 

[ggunn]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-RBX170-Bass?sku=511081

I picked up playing bass after playing guitar for many years, and this was the first bass I bought. It was inexpensive, easy to play, and has decent tone. I still have it; my brother (who also is a guitarist) plays it a lot now, and he really likes it, too.